MagicYoYo Z04 Review - BenM36 Review Thread

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

Hey everyone,

I’ll be posting reviews in this thread. Please let me know if you have any feedback!

Since no review is complete without an arbitrary rating of some kind - yoyos will be scored between 1 and 5.

This score will be a combination of raw performance, how well they serve their intended purpose (i.e. slimlines and organics will not automatically be a 1/5 because they’re not as stable as bimetals), and my personal taste.

Previous Scores:
5/5
YYR Liminal Autoscopy - 5

4-4.5/5
YYR Savage - 4.5
C3 x W1LD Dinosaur in the Wild - 4

3-3.5/5
C3 Super Scintillator - 3.5
MYY Z04 - 3.5
YYF H.O.T - 3

2-2.5/5
HMYY Drop - 2.5

1-1.5/5
YYF Too H.O.T - 1

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

C3YoYoDesign - Super Scintillator

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	58.02
Width (mm)	58.2
Weight (g)	65.2
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm pads

Introduction

My feelings about C3 have always been somewhat complicated. In spirit, they’ve always been one of my favorite brands - their team contains some of my favorite players, and I really vibe with the way that they present themselves. However, this has not always carried over to my experience with the yoyos themselves, although I really wanted to like every C3 I’ve played. I owned several of their older models over the years before I stopped yoyoing - some of the ones I liked include the Trident, P.wave, Halo, Sceptre, H5xChief, Movitation, M.O.V.E and Token, and some of their throws that were not a satisfying experience at all include the original Master Galaxy (did not feel like it spun even close to long enough), H5 (heavy but for no reason), Electric Flash (see comments on the H5), Di Base (see comments on the Electric Flash) and original Krown (although I’d be willing to give that one another try - my main issue was that it was super slippy on a throw which may have been a pad issue).

Fast forward a few years and we have the Super Scintillator, which is what we’re here today to discuss. I’ve never liked super wide yoyos, but seeing enough Instagram reels on another store’s page of Rei Iwakura doing cool stuff with it influenced me into becoming set on at least trying this yoyo at Worlds.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The Super Scintillator features a hollow stainless steel ring (which I’d be super curious to see the cross section of) and a polycarbonate outer rim. I had always thought trimaterial yoyos were kind of a dumb gimmick, and I think the “safety” selling point is, at best, exaggerated. However, I’ve come around on them - there’s potential for interesting developments in weight distribution, although now that I’ve played a few I mainly just enjoy the appearance and tactile feel of PC rims. The version I have, according to the description, is 65.2g due to the coloring of the stainless steel, while the raw SS versions are 64.9g. After playing the lighter version (albeit very briefly), I’ll say that they play exactly the same. If you’re able to notice a difference in play, I’d suggest getting into wine tasting.

from left to right - C3 Super Scintillator, W1LD Wildnerness 7075, C3 Galaxy Diver 7075 v2

At 58.2mm wide, which eclipses the diameter by 0.18mm, the width of the Super Scintillator combined with its pronounced H-shape profile makes it quite jarring to hold, especially for someone with smaller hands like myself. Flick restarts are my default, but the wide catch zone and (relatively) narrow rims make this super unwieldy so I’ve switched yo snap starting it. Discomfort aside, I don’t think changing the profile would make sense when considering what this yoyo is going for, which is to have as much catch zone and grind area as possible.

Play

Once it’s out of your hand, the experience throwing the Super Scintillator becomes much more familiar. It doesn’t feel heavy in the same way that super-rimweighted bimetals do, but there is a ton of kickback on a throw; I’d guess that this comes at least partially from the response. My one gripe would be that the stock teal pads are a little too grippy for my preference (although not enough for me to switch them out). The response pads do not protrude and cause string rub (which is my #1 yoyo setup pet peeve), but I’ve cracked my knuckles pretty good a few times while playing with the Super Scintillator - I’m sure this can at least partially be attributed to user error.

I’d describe the pace of play as agile for its size - it definitely doesn’t have the top end speed that typical fast yoyos do (for reference, my benchmark for speed is the Anglam 1 Remaster), but the Super Scintillator never feels like you’re forcing it to do anything. I think this is due to its volume to weight ratio - while 65 grams doesn’t sound exceedingly light, when factoring in how large this A good analogy would be the weight classes in Mario Kart - I’d say the Super Scintillator would fall firmly into the Medium category. It doesn’t lack power or ever feel like it doesn’t spin long enough, feels pleasantly light on the string, but doesn’t fall into the “floaty/designed for fun” or “power-driven performance” archetypes.

The stability of this yoyo, despite the light weight for its dimensions, feels like a natural product of its width (which makes sense if I remember my rotational inertia principles from physics class correctly). While stability was not designed to be the primary selling point, the Super Scintillator is not unstable by any means, and can handle sloppy string hits without being knocked off axis. I feel like the intention of the design was to be a canvas of sorts for unconventional tricks. Grinds (on any body part that doesn’t touch the SS rims) and fingerspins definitely stand out, as the beadblast and flat fingerspin area make these tricks unbelievably easy and give you the spintime to experiment and get creative. The extreme catch zone provides a pretty wide margin of error when attempting slacks and body tricks that require awkward body contortions or string hits you can’t see (such as neck tricks and hops behind the back). The width can get in the way when working with tighter/more intricate mounts, but this shouldn’t really come as a surprise and while I don’t believe in “tech yoyos” this was clearly not the design focus of the Super Scintillator.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, the Super Scintillator is a fun yoyo that fills its role perfectly. As someone who definitely doesn’t have the technical chops to be bothered consistently by the width, I love it as a go-to throw that allows me to do standard tricks without a whole lot of focus, or gives me a “training wheels” amount of catch zone to practice more acrobatic moves. I definitely don’t think the shape will appeal to everybody, but if the Super Scintillator piques your interest I highly recommend it.

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3.5/5

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

Throwback Double Header Review:

YoYoFactory - H.O.T

Specifications
Diameter (mm)	56.4
Width (mm)	45.7
Weight (g)	67.3
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm pads

and Too H.O.T

Specifications
Diameter (mm)	56.4
Width (mm)	44.6
Weight (g)	67.0
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm pads

Introduction

The YoYoFactory H.O.T, released in 2012, came out right in the thick of what I consider to be YYF’s golden age, joining a lineup which contained during that era some of my favorite YYFs of all time, such as the Catalyst, Super G, and MVP/MVP 2. Harold Owens III, hot off one of my personal GOAT freestyles at Worlds, debuted the H.O.T at 2012 US Nationals, taking third place after winning the contest the previous year. Twelve year old me desperately wanted to get my hands on one of my favorite players’ signature yoyo, and ended up owning a couple during different parts of my initial stint with yoyoing.

Ten years later and armed with an adult’s disposable income, I wanted to reacquire some of my old favorites. I also ended up picking up the H.O.T’s sequel, the Too H.O.T, at Worlds this year, which I had never played during its initial release in 2014.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The H.O.T sports one of the most pronounced organic bell shapes I’ve seen on a yoyo. There is not really any nuance to its profile; there are no edges or cuts in the profile itself, and the catch zone flairs out into a rim that feels sharper than you’d expect. The cup is also very smooth, save for a small axle bump, and the engravings do a lot for this yoyo aesthetically, especially the ones on the lip.

The Too H.O.T is slightly narrower and features a slightly more angular profile, and the combination of these two traits result in it feeling less organic and more like a traditional H-shape yoyo in the hand. The new logo looks cheap and generic in my opinion, and the yoyo’s overall appearance is less refined than its predecessor. Factoring into this as well is the finish on the Too H.O.T, which offers similar performance on grinds but doesn’t feel or look as nice.

from left to right - YoYoFactory H.O.T, YoYoFactory Too H.O.T

Play

Released before the idea of the competition bimetal hit the mainstream, the H.O.T was marketed as a “performance yoyo catered to Harold’s style of play”. How does it stack up twelve years after its release?

Its 45.7mm width falls to about standard by today’s benchmark, making it a little ahead of its time in that regard. I’d describe the H.O.T as on the solid side of things, but does not feel sluggish and responds well enough to direction changes. This results in a pleasant string presence, and the yoyo navigates through rolls and string formations quite easily. The weight distribution also makes regens easy compared to yoyos with similar widths. While it can go fast, it doesn’t feel like it really wants to be pushed. I think this is where the H.O.T shows its age the most; compared to modern competition monometals its stability doesn’t quite match up, even though I wouldn’t categorize it as unstable. The wide catch zone and low walls lend themselves well to horizontal play, although when pushed to the limits you may notice a smidge less stability as well. The one other thing I noticed was that the lip of the yoyo can feel a little sharp on the catch. While this isn’t something I personally care about, it was noticeable at times, especially on horizontal catches.

We then move onto the Too H.O.T, which boldly asks the question: what if we took everything about the original H.O.T… and made it a little bit worse? Despite having virtually the same weight, the Too H.O.T feels like a brick on the string relative to the H.O.T, and this extra weight did not translate into any noticeable increase in stability or power. While the heavier string presence of the Too H.O.T made it a little more natural to play fast, it did not feel responsive to changes in direction. The rims felt equally, if not a little sharper on the catch. But hey - at least they added a thumb grind lip!

Closing Thoughts

Harold Owens III remains one of my favorite players of all time, and I’m happy to report that his signature yoyo still holds up in terms of performance to this day. The Too H.O.T felt less like a sequel and more like YYF changing the design to reduce the price point as much as possible. I never got one when it originally released because I thought it was ugly, and it’s good to know I made the right choice. If I didn’t already own it for collector’s purposes, I would never buy a Too H.O.T.

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H.O.T - 3/5

Too H.O.T - 1/5

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

yoyorecreation - Liminal Autoscopy

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	54.0
Width (mm)	47.0
Weight (g)	66.5
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm pads

Introduction

yoyorecreation has always had always had a certain mystique to me. Between their rarity in the US, exorbitant prices and pure-performance branding and design, old YYR yoyos always give a distinct playing experience. The Blink, 6ix, and Mr. Butcher are all some of my all-time favorites, with many others being personal grails to this day.

The Liminal Autoscopy made its first public appearance a few weeks ago at Worlds, used by seven-time 3A world champion Haijime Miura during his highly anticipated followup to his 2023 performance. With Worlds 2024 being the first contest I’ve attended since 2016 and my first as an adult, my anticipation was through the roof. Unfortunately, the new Autoscopy’s debut did not go as planned, with Haijime having three separate switch outs during his routine. Seeing this in person, you could feel the audience’s collective gasp at this uncharacteristic performance, but it was cool to see the crowd rally in support of him. I can’t wait to see what he does in 2025, as the tricks we were able to witness were unprecedented even compared to last year. Personally, I’d prefer a risky freestyle that might not run clean every time over something more conservative. Even if not completely successful, there is admiration to be had for someone who pushes the boundaries and aspires for greatness.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The first thing that stands out about this yoyo is its uncharacteristic dimensions. Listed at 47mn wide, the Liminal Autoscopy represents a departure from the traditionally tall, narrow yoyos used in 3A (for reference, the Autoscopy is 43mm wide and the Blur Autoscopy (his 1A model) is 40mm wide - I haven’t played either of them). Its 54mm diameter also falls on the smaller side of things, especially compared to modern yoyos. I personally prefer 52-54mm diameters so I love this, but it’s something to consider before purchasing. I have zero experience with 3A, but I’ll be interested to see if this is the beginning of a new trend in 3A design, or if the Liminal Autoscopy is an outlier designed to push the boundaries (much like its signature player).

This yoyo features a trimaterial construction, with a 7075 (or at least I’m assuming) aluminum body, stainless steel rims and a plastic outer ring. The yoyo comes raw, which I’m typically not a fan of due to the potential for oxidation, but the finish is surprisingly grind-friendly and I like feeling the machining marks haha. The wide H-shape is extremely comfortable, especially with its slightly smaller than average diameter.

from left to right - YYR Draupnir, YYR Liminal Autoscopy, YYF Miracle

Even bringing up the term “YYR vibe” might date me, but the Liminal Autoscopy is dead smooth out of the box and requires no tuning. I kind of understand the “durability benefits” of this style of plastic rim, as I’ve hit other trimaterial yoyos on my apartment floor and they’ve remained dead smooth while traditional outer rim bimetals have not after similar impacts. One other small thing to note is that it has a slightly higher wall than a lot of the zero wall competition yoyos (or maybe this is the new design meta?). This didn’t have any noticeable impact on play and would actually help with rejections due to the yoyo’s slightly smaller diameter.

Play

The defining characteristic of the Liminal Autoscopy is its insane stability. This is especially noticeable at low RPMs; at points where with other yoyos I feel like I’d have to get out of whatever mount I’m in and bind ASAP before the spin dies out, I’m able to work through tricks and even do rejections without knocking this throw off axis. From what I understand, this is pretty typical for 3A yoyos, where spintime and stability come before everything else. However, the Liminal Autoscopy definitely doesn’t play like a more stereotypical 3A yoyo. Pacing-wise, this yoyo feels very middle of the road. It changes directions and speeds without any issues, but definitely doesn’t naturally lean towards faster play. It might come in on the “heavier” side of modern competition yoyos at 66.5 grams, but any weight it has contributes to its stability and power, and at no point does feel overly heavy or have the typical “bimetal sluggishness” - I’m guessing this is due to the wider rims allowing the SS to be distributed over a larger volume.

The one thing I noticed was the stock pads were definitely on the grippy side. I did encounter slightly more snagging than normal at first, but this didn’t impact spin time and wasn’t as noticeable as with the Super Scintillator.

Closing Thoughts

I think of the Liminal Autoscopy as a canvas - this yoyo ensures that the only limit a player faces is that of their own skill, and has the performance level to adapt to pretty much any style of player. This one took me a little bit to really appreciate, but the Liminal Autoscopy blends my personal preferences and raw traits in a way that, if I was much, much better at yoyoing and had ~400 more dollars laying around, I would pick this yoyo as my ideal competition throw.

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5/5

[Lex]

I’m really enjoying the format and writing style with these reviews, they’re very thorough.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Liminal Autoscopy, I think I’ll have to cop one when a colour I like releases since those specs are right up my alley.

[YoyoGeezer]

I was thinking of writing a review of the Liminal Autoscopy myself. After reading yours, I do not need to. Well done review.

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

C3yoyodesign x W1LD - Dinosaur in the Wild

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	57.01
Width (mm)	53.07
Weight (g)	64.5
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm pads

Introduction

W1LD and C3yoyodesign are two of my favorite yoyo manufacturers currently on the market. Since I’ve gotten back into yoyoing, most of the new companies that have popped up haven’t really piqued my interest. W1LD has been the exception to this. I’m a huge fan of their signature wing profiles, and this combined with their unapologetically wide designs results in a design language that feels unique and fresh in what has become an unbelievably saturated market. It didn’t feel like there was very much hype/interest for this yoyo when it was initially announced, and I would say it’s been at least partially overshadowed by the release of the Adrenaline. I absolutely love collaboration yoyos, and have always been a fan of C3, but for some reason I didn’t try this when I was at Worlds. However, after reading reviews I knew I had to pull the trigger.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The Dinosaur in the Wild sports a 6061 body with titanium rims. For $200 retail, I personally feel like springing for 7075 wouldn’t have been too much to ask but with the way the yoyo is built this probably wouldn’t have really made any difference in play. Despite the width, this yoyo is extremely comfortable in hand, and the beadblast used is extremely smooth, although the masking at the center of the catch zone goes up higher than I’d expect.

Too often I feel like companies just take two existing designs and mash them together, rather than incorporate their signature design cues into something new. The Dinosaur in the Wild unfortunately falls into this category. Reusing what appears to be the exact same rims from the Galaxy Dinosaur feels a little lazy to me, and visually I would’ve rather they been worked into the rest of the profile a little more seamlessly. Even the engraving, while still awesome, is pretty much a rehash of what we saw on the Galaxy Dinosaur. Another minor disappointment is that this yoyo uses the C3 box, which isn’t an issue but with how cool W1LD’s packaging is I would’ve preferred something more premium.

My biggest qualm with this yoyo is the durability; which, admittedly, is probably part of the cost of having such huge titanium rims. Out of the box it was dead smooth, but I’ve dropped this yoyo one time - from about 2-3 feet up onto wooden flooring while it wasn’t spinning - and there is now a small but noticeable string vibe which hasn’t been fixed by swapping the bearing/axle or pushing the rims back into place (they didn’t appear displaced but I figured it was worth a try). It’s still smooth on grinds and is overall a minor gripe but for the price it does sting to have it vibe so easily.

from left to right - W1LD Wildnerness 7075, C3 x W1LD Dinosaur in the Wild, C3 Galaxy Diver 7075 v2

Play

I feel like I’ve done a lot of complaining up to this point, but don’t get it twisted; the Dinosaur in the Wild is a treat to play with. In my opinion, it’s a direct upgrade to both the Wilderness and Galaxy Diver (I haven’t played a Galaxy Dinosaur). For those unfamiliar with either - this yoyo is extremely capable. Titanium rims have the unique ability to combine power with floatiness, and this is definitely one of the main characteristics of the Dinosaur. It’s the perfect combination of being light and easy to throw, while being supremely stable and powerful like you would expect from a competition bimetal. If you took a Hinemosu and stretched it out to 53mm wide, I’d imagine it would play very similarly to the Dinosaur in the Wild. Horizontals and large maneuvers are as easy as you would expect.

Others have remarked a sort of “initial hesitancy” to accelerate with both this yoyo and the Wilderness. While I agree it’s present, this is much less pronounced with the Dinosaur compared to the Wilderness, and overall the Dino feels more precise in its movements and plays with a little more character. My (unresearched) theory/guess for this sensation is that it’s just part of designing such large yoyos, due to the fact that their mass is spread over a larger volume and the air resistance from the larger lateral surface area of the profile.

Closing Thoughts

The Dinosaur in the Wild came with a lot of hype (AKA Gingie gave it an SS rank). Is it everything this collaboration could’ve been? I don’t think so. Could you get comparable performance at a lower cost? Definitely. However, the feeling during play of titanium rims is not something that can be replicated with stainless steel or in monometals. If this yoyo looks like something that would appeal to you, I guarantee it won’t disappoint you.

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4/5

[SmashYoyos (Jesse)]

Ive been enjoying C3, but find myself underwhelmed that some of their offerings arent 7075. This was one. Way out of my budget but i really questioned that choice. Makes it feel like you are paying premium price for just rims.

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

yoyorecreation - SAVAGE

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	56.0
Width (mm)	50.0
Weight (g)	68.0
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm

Introduction

Ayumu Kasuga was not a player I was familiar with until recently, but two years in a row of 100 gecs at Japan Nationals was enough to make me a fan. I think it’s reasonable to say that nobody’s currently doing it like him when it comes to body tricks, and his signature yoyo, the yoyorecreation Savage, was made to accommodate his demanding style of play. This is a yoyo that has a lot of intrigue surrounding it, and despite it being released in 2023 there hasn’t been a whole lot in the way of reviews on it. So how does it stack up?

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The Savage is a trimaterial yoyo made of 7075 aluminum, stainless steel and polycarbonate. The stainless steel rims wrap around the entire lip of the body, and a small part of them are visible in the cup between the plastic and aluminum. This means, if I understand it correctly, that the plastic is pressed/fit into the inside of the steel ring, rather than the other way around. Without giving it too much thought, this seems like a great idea to me - this setup means if you hit the yoyo on the ground, the plastic absorbs both the contact with the ground as well as the force of the impact while affecting the alignment of the steel rims as little as possible. So far my theory has been supported, as I’ve hit this yoyo on the floor a couple of times and it’s remained dead smooth.

The Savage sports an ever-so-slightly rounded wing profile, which bears some resemblance to the yoyorecreation 6ix, one of my personal favorites. This yoyo is extremely comfortable in hand as well as on the catch. At 50mm wide, the Savage (apart from its counterpart, the Savage55) is the widest offering from YYR to date; while wide, it doesn’t necessarily fall outside the new norm of competitive design.

The YYR store exclusive colorways feature an awesome engraving in the cup, and while fingerspins suffer due to its presence I find that the hub design of modern YYRs don’t lend themselves particularly well to these tricks to begin with. While I think the engravings they do on the rims look good, their standard hub design is pretty visually bland so having something different in the cup is a welcome addition.

from left to right - YYR Sigtyr, YYR Savage, YYR 6ix

Play

This is where my opinion might be a little controversial compared to other reviews on the Savage I’ve read. My initial expectation for this yoyo was an uber-rim weighted, heavy throw that rips its way through tricks with brute force at the cost of control - something like a wider, lighter Collapsar. Drawing from my previous experience with yoyorecreation: 63-65g outer ring bimetal = dense feeling and stable, so 68g outer ring bimetal = denser and more stable, right?

When it comes to speed, weight distribution is infinitely more important than the number of grams. I’ll call out the YoYoJam Phenom (69g) as a historical example of this. For a heavier yoyo to truly feel both “fast” and “zippy”, there has to be some degree of center weight. I’d describe the Savage as a modern version of this archetype. Because of this, in the past “speed” yoyos often came with a degree of instability due to this design philosophy. While this may sound like a bad thing, YYR has balanced the weight distribution in a way that results in play that is both speedy and stable. Is this the most stable yoyo in their lineup? No. But I am not calling the Savage unstable or lacking in any department when it comes to performance. Instead, I think it feels like a welcome departure from today’s common formula for competition yoyos of “as light and as rimweighted as possible”.

I personally don’t find the Savage to be fatiguing to play with. At the risk of sounding like a boomer - 68 grams is not that heavy, and the weight is distributed over a large body. This yoyo accelerates extremely easily, and never feels like a rock on a string. While it definitely isn’t light/floaty, it doesn’t feel dense in the way that, for example, the Sigtyr does. The best play comparison for the Savage that I can think of is that it feels like if YYR designed a sOMEThING yoyo. In my opinion, it plays like a larger, more stable Slasher or an Anglam designed for today’s meta (note that I have not played either of their wider models, the Yuiga or Phenom, so I am unsure how they compare).

Closing Thoughts

I think this thing is awesome. Despite being marketed as the wide yoyo of yoyorecreation’s lineup, the Savage’s width does not feel unnatural. It definitely lends itself to the fast and aggressive play of its signature player, but in my opinion is pleasant enough for anyone to enjoy.

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4.5/5

[Lex]

Fyi, while I think it was the widest in their lineup at release, YYR have since released the Savage55 (55mm diameter and width) which is now their widest yo-yo.

Another great review, interesting to hear the contrasting comments on its weight. I do wonder if the plastic outer rims contribute somewhat to the avoiding an overly dense feeling as the Toru 0.999 feels quite light itself with them.

[hieuyoer123 (Trung Hiếu Nguyễn)]

the silver color is super heavy, i do feel fatigue the first 2 weeks getting used to it. Black and green are light feeling. but it does tricks so well and are great for consistency. BUT snaggy. However savage is my top 1 fav

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

Hollywood Modern YoYos - Drop

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	60.0
Width (mm)	55.0
Weight (g)	69.0
Gap Width (mm)	5.5
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm

Introduction

I’d heard of Hollywood Modern YoYos but didn’t have any experience playing with any of their lineup. The Dopamine is an homage of one of my all time favorites, the RecRev Freq.wav, but other than that they had never really been on my radar.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ross at Worlds, who was super nice (and bought a No. 9 I was selling!) and actually let me try the Drop. In all honesty - I wasn’t sold and wasn’t planning on buying one. However, I’m a huge sucker for trends and Charli XCX fan (although I still think Charli is her best album, as the pictures indicate) so the crossover between yoyo and music I like was enough to convince me to buy one.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

This is definitely a big yoyo at 60x55mm, but it doesn’t necessarily feel unwieldy. I think this is partly because it’s proportionally large (55x50 are pretty widely accepted dimensions these days, so 60x55 scales directly up from that), and part of it is a mental thing - with the thick plastic rims, it doesn’t look like it’s big. In the hand, it feels pretty nice for its size and is easy to catch. The 3D-printed plastic feels pleasantly soft, and while you can feel the printed layers in the profile it’s not something I mind or dislike.

The Drop is listed as “69 grams but feels like 66”. I don’t think this is accurate, but I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with its weight (yoyo body positivity!) - I’d imagine this statement is more marketing to not scare away people who think anything over 65-66 is too heavy (which I personally think is crazy).

My biggest (visual and therefore subjective) gripe with the Drop is that I think it’s, well… ugly. I’ve always disliked the Hollywood Modern logo (enough to dissuade me from buying a Dopamine), and having the website URL and the logo circling the cup is a definite turnoff for me. Luckily, the brat summer version doesn’t feature this, and the neon plastic is super bright and visually striking.

from left to right: CLYW Yeti v2, HMYY Drop, W1LD Wilderness

Play

The Drop plays pretty much how you would expect it to. This yoyo is slow and heavy, but neither of these things in a bad way. It’s a big yoyo made of (relatively) low-density plastic featuring thick walls, big rims and a fingerspin cup - that has to manifest itself somewhere. It can be pushed to an extent, but going fast is definitely not its forte. This allows the Drop to be very stable and powerful for a plastic; these traits combined with the wide catch zone make string hits and horizontals super easy.

I’m so curious about the 5.5mm gap - to my knowledge, the C bearing width is 0.187 inches, or about 4.7498mm. I’m not saying I don’t believe Ross - sometimes it can be difficult to get binds to catch on the Drop, but once they do the pads are super grippy so the actual return (and subsequent throw) never feels slippy.

The Drop fingerspins and grinds much better than a glossy polycarbonate plastic would, and the hubs do their job well and allow for pull starts as advertised (although it’s a little tough for me personally because of my small hands. However (and I might just be pickier than the average thrower), I wouldn’t describe the amount of vibe the Drop comes with as minimal. It’s definitely noticeable out of the box, and could reasonably be described as vibey. One other side note - I’m not sure if it’s the specific plastic used or the shape of the yoyo but I love the sound it makes!

Closing Thoughts

I worry this review comes off as negative - I liked the Drop. I think a lot of my issues with it come from a cognitive dissonance between what it’s being marketed as and the role I envision it playing in my collection. I think 3D printed yoyos seem like they’d make the perfect everyday throw - cheap, easily replaceable, eye catching, and supremely capable. However, this isn’t what they’re being marketed or sold as. This is a fun, high performing yoyo, but if it doesn’t already interest you I don’t think it’s a must have.

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2.5/5

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

MagicYoYo - Z04

Specifications:
Diameter (mm)	56.7
Width (mm)	49.1
Weight (g)	65.4
Bearing Size	C
Response System	19mm

Introduction

To say MagicYoYo has come a long way has been an understatement. When I first started throwing, I feel like the consensus on them was that they were a cheap option from China that weren’t accused of stealing designs like Aoda (and to a lesser extent Auldey), but weren’t held in super high regard either. Was this product of the anti-Chinese propaganda ubiquitous in the US at the time, or valid criticism? I would say a little of both, but mostly the latter. Back in the day I had the T5 Overlord and N12 Shark’s Honor, their two most lauded models (as I remember) due to their respective similarities to the yoyorecreation Sleipnir and Duncan Barracuda. The N12 in particular marked the start of a change for MagicYoYo, as they started to incorporate more premium elements such as beadblasts and higher grade aluminum into their products.

Today, MagicYoYo is known for its affordable prices, great performance value and accessibility to beginners. The Z04 is the first modern yoyo from their lineup I’ve tried - I don’t really feel the need to buy budget yoyos these days, but the trimaterial build at this price left me intrigued.

Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics

The specs for the Z04 are largely par for the course for a competition yoyo, adhering (approximately) to the common 56mm x 50mm x 65g build. I think

The aluminum > stainless steel > plastic structure here most closely resembles the Trion Crash and Miracle, which also share modified wing shape profiles (with the Trion Crash having a little more H in it). I prefer this shape over the more narrow-rimmed V profiles of an Upheaval or Flash, as I think the wider rims are much more comfortable; this comfort is enhanced in the Z04 by the soft polycarbonate.

The bearing it came with came lubed to high hell, which made it pleasantly silent but a little responsive at times. Not a big deal, as you can break it in or swap it out, but worth mentioning.

from left to right: C3 Trion Crash, MYY Z04, YYF Miracle

Play

The Z04 plays in a way that I would best describe as balanced. On the string, it plays pleasantly light and is very responsive to your movements. The 49mm width makes string hits during zoning and horizontal tricks super manageable, and the response bump in the catch zone helps avoid string rub (although this does make rejections slightly more difficult).

On a throw, the Z04 has minimal kickback and doesn’t feel overly rimweighted or sluggish at all. This leads it a little bit into jack of all trades, master of none territory - while not lacking per say, the spintime and stability of the Z04 is noticeably lower than something like the Upheaval while still falling definitely into the competition/performance category. This’ll probably only affect you if you’re a beginner or really pushing the yoyo in terms of speed/combo length.

I’ll take this opportunity to differentiate what I think of as “agility” vs. “top speed”. Agility is the pace that feels natural when throwing a yoyo, while top speed is how fast a yoyo goes when you’re propelling it to go as fast as you’re physically able to, as well as how well you’re able to control it. Since how fast a yoyo plays can be pretty subjective, here are some references for my personal gauge:

Examples of:

• Low agility, low top speed: OD Downbeat, YYR Triplet, HMYY Drop
• Low agility, high top speed: YYR Savage, sOMEThING Anglam One Remaster
• High agility, low top speed: Atmos Fruitloop, CLYW Beater (floaty stuff is generally what I’d put into this category)
• High agility, high top speed: C3 OG Speedaholic, W1LD Noradrenaline, YYR Draupnir

The Z04 is an agile yoyo, but when you push it you don’t feel as confident in its stability as you would with something like a Savage or Noradrenaline.

There was a small vibe out of the box (in BST terms I’d describe it as smooth, but not dead smooth). This is not something that I found to bother me (or even really noticed), but as I feel like the standard for today is glass smooth out of the box (and this is a yoyo review) I thought I’d make note of it.

Closing Thoughts

The MagicYoYo Z04 does a great job of balancing performance with being fun and easy to play with - not quite matching the power and stability of popular competition bimetals, but providing more personality and lending itself better to casual throwing.

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3.5/5

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

Interested to hear people’s opinions on the default/top speed part of this review! Also, I’m hoping to record a couple combos to post here as a form of credibility (I’m definitely not amazing by any means, but feel like I’m proficient enough to tell if a yoyo is good or not).

[Georgekouts (George Koutsostahis)]

When I want to explain this notion I use a different vocabulary. I define as speed or agility the yoyo’s swiftness when it comes to changing direction. If i wanted to explain this to a non yoyoer I would say to notice the speed of the yoyo travelling from one string to the other while doing boingy boing or a 1.5 eli hop after a standard throw and a chill pace that can serve as reference point. To put it into perspective in regards to my collection: My dd emotion is faster,more agile than my c3 galaxy diver v2. This would be my interpretation of your “default speed”

On the other hand, I would define as power (or top speed) that sensation you get when you throw the yoyo in a chill/hard/extremely hard way and the difference that comes with each throw in terms of “feeling”.

Imagine this scale starting from a flowy and chill throw moving to a focused and concentrated throw ending up to “I am overstimulated and/or I want to blow out some steam/stress/ I want to become Ryuichi Nakamura when I grow up”. In that sense, my diver is nore powerful than my emotion. (I know I compare mono yo bimetal, I am just trying to make a point).

While you could simply say that the yoyo goes at a higher top speed as you say, it is not just that that changes. Nor is it just the spinning speed or duration of the bearing spinning. It is the entire behaviour of the yoyo. Taking into account our reflexes’ limitations, we can say that the harder you throw, the faster the yoyo spins (top spin), the harder it becomes to control the “default” speed. So in the extremes, there is a diminishing return effect.

Those are my 2 cents.

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

I agree with the agile part - maybe a better description would be speed vs. agility. My understanding of “power” doesn’t necessarily correspond with speed or RPM though. If you throw a yoyo with different strengths, you’ll be able to swing it around with the same amount of effort.

Would you agree with these definitions?

• Power: how long the yoyo spins (given the same strength of throw)
• Speed: how fast you can make the yoyo go without losing control
• Agility: how a yoyo handles directional changes
• Stability: how resistant a yoyo is to changing axis
• Float: largely subjective combination of the above, caused by centerweight
• Kickback: what angle the yoyo unwinds in relation to the angle you threw it at (similar to whip in lacrosse)

[Lex]

Perhaps an alternative attempt at an intuitive term for “default speed” would be pacing?

I agree with your description of default Vs top speed, though I do think top speed as described starts to mix in stability a tad (as to go faster you often need a bit more stability to compensate). But with terminology like this it does all start to feed into each other a bit and get messy anyway so I guess it’s unavoidable.

[Georgekouts (George Koutsostahis)]

Power: how long AND HOW FAST the yoyo spins. Agreed!

[BenM36 (Ben McChesney)]

Okay I’m not trying to be difficult I just think this stuff is interesting lol

But as I understand it, the more rimweighted a yoyo is and the bigger its diameter, the lower the rotational speed. However, these yoyos also retain their spin for longer which is part of where the feeling of power and stability comes from.

[Georgekouts (George Koutsostahis)]

Yeah. The total weight as well as its’ distribution also play an important role. A yoyo can spin relatively fast but of it is too light it feels kinda hollow when spinning. Y-03 Hertz comes to mind.