So I traded for a Duncan Metropolis a while back. Here’s a fast review.
The Duncan Metropolis — a Mini-review
Love at first sight?
Nope. The thing felt funny… its drastically modified H-shape hit on all sorts of weird places in my hand no matter how I held it. It also seemed small to me. For some reason I always thought it was bigger. It is definitely lighter than what I usually prefer and there was NO place for an IRG. Anyone who knows my style knows I do love my grinding and this just had no where for my fat Vienna sausages to go. Didn’t think I was gonna take it, honestly.
And then… he threw it!
Here is where you hear the immediate recant of all the negatives I just mentioned… usually. Not so this time. Honestly my first throw of the Met’ was devestating. It was a trade, as I had mentioned, and had been seeing play by its original owner. What he neglected to tell me was that he never took the original cotton string off of it and put a proper string on it. When my manly-man side hand throw thundered out that poor piece of cotton didn’t stand a chance. It snapped at the apex of the throw and the brand new Metropolis skittered like a flat-out Ferrari on ice across my buddies Italian tile floors.
So needless to say, seeing as I put an inch and a half scuff on his mint Metropolis, I traded him despite my initial negative impression. I also got a Raptor in the trade, but that’s a different review.
He threw it — again!
So I got it home and put a good string on it and attempted that first throw again. It has a good strong spin that felt like a heavier throw. It seemed to like to play like a heavy throw, too. It liked more deliberate and methodical movements and with my swinging style it seemed a good fit. Even though there is no way I am ever going to IRG the Met’ the very thin profile of the H-shape wings makes for a very low-friction surface for palm grinds and there’s just enough space inside the H for my index finger to get a good solid finger grind. In fact my only beef with an otherwise comfy throw was that it rolled! This thing would go from straight on strong to flop over dead in about twenty-five seconds. I haven’t done so many UFO’s in my life as I have in the first few days of playing with the Met. I have used other H-shape yo-yos and I have noticed with my play style, this is a common thread with that design for me. I was bummed.
Let sleeping dogs lie? Not on MY watch!
Being the tinkerer I am and seeing the potential of the Metropolis, I couldn’t leave it at that. I was determined to figure out how to defeat my tilt demon. I tried throwing differently with some success, but as soon as I picked up a more traditional throw I would have to re-re-learn all over again. Not so much fun. Then on a whim I threw a center-trac bearing in it. Maybe the eighth of an inch dip in the bearing would make a difference?
Holy mother-of-pearl!
It was like a switch has been flipped! That tiny little sink in the center of the spin was just enough to go from roll-over to rock solid! Spin times went from good to awesome and I was able to tell it what to do when I wanted it without any issue. I even found that though a steady player it may be, when I want to hit the gas it obliges with a smile and an Elvis lip curl.
I think that if the diameter was just a hair larger a standard C bearing would work well for me, because that would naturally make the center of gravity larger and put the string closer to the middle of it — maybe for the 2.0 version? We will see.
Is that’s your final answer?
So, even though I am deprived of my beloved IRG’s and the Met’s tendancy to chew through my slick-6 faster than any of my other throws, this puppy is fast becoming my main throw. It has definitely changed my opinion on H-shapes and has even boosted my confidence of performance. Now I just need to get some more center-tracs to do replace the one I moved out of my DV888. Duncan has done a great job on this one for sure, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
I <3 Duncan all over again!
