I’d Like to Officially Introduce You to…THE PLUMP!
Hey there friends, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about something special and exciting!
As one of the honored members to join team Return Bottoms, the brilliant mind of @AudreySickburn has done something special for me and I wanted to hype it up a bit for the community, and give a little history of how this came to be.
I can’t thank them enough, and hope you all will get a lot of fun out of this in the future!
Sickburn Yo-Yo Workshop / Return Bottoms Thread
SoM Signature - The Chronicles of The Plump: A New History Lesson
During the ancient times of the late 90’s, when the playgrounds were ruled by Fireballs, Butterflies, and the magic of “Splitting the Atom,” the seeds of obsession were being planted. Fast forward through a 25-year hiatus of “adulting,” a re-introduction to the hobby, and an encounter with the mad scientist behind Sickburn Yo-Yo Workshop / Return Bottoms, and we come to the birth of The Plump.
The Vision Quest
It began when Andy approached me with a challenge: To design a signature throw. While I love the strange and unique for certain (as I am also strange and unique, a given with my Florida roots), I thought to myself, “I also want something comfortable that people can gravitate towards.” I thought about some of my favorite aspects of my favorite throws, like the curve but performance of the Path, the play of the Orca, and the comfort and feel of the Butterball.
I wanted big, oversized, but not monstrous, and comfortable but able to help with learning tricks easily. Good spin times, good stability, but also a monometal that felt like it had a soul, while also commemorating the journey I had been on.
The “0.5A” (or 1.5A?) Revelation
It wasn’t entirely about the shape though, for me, there seems to be a modern gaping hole in the universe, the 0.5A realm. Some of my favorite tricks were from the days of the Luminator and Dark Magic, where a yoyo didn’t just fall dead on a string but lived in a state of Semi-Responsive. I wanted something where you could hit a “Skin the Gerbil” combo without a snag rocketing it back to your knuckles, yet with a simple, confident tug, the yoyo would still return home faithfully. Less half-spec aggressive response, and more like the purposely flooded C-Bearing designs. A design built for response first, but also ready to go full unresponsive the second you swapped in a dry bearing (instead of the other way around). Modern responsives have shifted more towards the slim and fixie side of play, while I was looking for a really good old-school feeling responsive chonker, that could also handle string stacks.
The Hippo-thetical Inspiration
As the technical specs were being envisioned (58mm of height, 47mm of girth, mid-to-high 60’s weight, and a nub of some sorts), a strange realization occurred. Due to my kid’s relentless repeat-viewings of Madagascar, a rhythmic chant began to echo in my brain, exactly how I like my yoyo’s: “I like 'em big, I like 'em chunky…”
The Moto Moto Song
This yoyo was going to be a vibe, it was now going to be a Moto Moto in aluminum form. It needed to be big, curvy, and plumpy (plus, now we can call the hubs “Hippo Nippos”).
The Naming Rites
We were briefly considering “The Chunky” (but this was too much like peanut butter) and “The Double Moto” (which seemed too much like a lawsuit), and since Dreamworks wasn’t returning any of my e-mails, we finally landed on The Plump. It’s smooth yet silly, gets the point across, and is still a nod to the ear-worm that wouldn’t escape me during the whole project.
The Final Design
The result Andy came up with is a masterpiece of Savannah Watering Hole Engineering. Reminiscent of an overinflated Fat Tire, it’s a yoyo that’s big, but will ride with you through chill sessions. Has some weight and rim to it that will keep it spinning yet still feel comfortable (and good for thumb grinds). And most importantly, is primarily designed for those old-school responsive throwing sessions while peeking its head into the 1A realm. Living where 1A used to be, but bumped to modern performance, while also easily being able to swap to unresponsive play without having to change the axle. It’s a new responsive that respects its elders and equally lives for the future. You’re going to look at this and say (in your best Moto Moto voice) “girl you’re as quick as you are huge.”
The Plump is born, a design that respects the roots, but also brings the juice.
Side Note: Profits for this design will support the Dogs for Better Lives (DBL) organization.
They rescue dogs from shelters and train them to be Hearing Assistance, Autism Support, Facility dogs, etc. Giving them a special education, then placing them for adoption into a home where they become a life-saving partner.
This is an excellent organization, because not only are they saving animals, but it roughly costs tens of thousands of dollars to train and place just one service dog, and they help provide these animals to those in need free-of-charge. Additionally, 100% of public donations go directly to their programs.
