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For the about the past two months there has been images floating around social media of the “Co-lab” Yoyo. A collaboration between two smaller but very well liked companies in this ever growing industry. MonkeyfingeR and G Squared decided to create a yoyo that was a fusion of designs between the MonkeyfingeR Ape-X and the G Squared Triton. Both throws can be argued that they are the best each company has put out to date. With that said I have yet to try an MFD Ape-X but from what I’ve heard from friends in the community they like it A LOT. So I am here to give you my thoughts on the Co-lab and my very first review on YYE forum!
Specs
Diameter: 56.5mm
Width: 44mm
Weight: 68.5 grams
Bearing: Size C 10 Ball Flat (.250 x .500 x .187)
Response: G-Grip Pads
Finish: MonkeyfingeR Bead blast and Ano (its wonders on the hands!)
Now I know that G Squared out sources machining their yoyos through Onedrop, and who wouldn’t everyone at Onedrop knows what they are doing. However the Co-Lab was sourced through MonkeyfingeR’s machine shop, but I would never have guessed it wasn’t made by Onedrop, the machining on this is just that good. The Co-lab takes design elements of the G Squared Triton with the hub spike, projection grooves and a some what round profile towards the center of the yoyo its also sports a raised response lip that was masked off before bead blasting. It flares out with angles and rim you can see that were taken from the MonkeyfingeR Ape-X. In the hand it feels good, the mix of the organic shape and the angles feels different but in a good way. In the hub the Co-lab sports a inner raised ring for added rim weight that isn’t directly on the rims itself, from there it smooths out to a nice cup where it meets at the Hub spike in the middle. Overall it has a wonderful design that combines the Triton and the Ape-X strengths which is also very pleasing on the eye, in my opinion. ;D
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Now you look at the specs and everything seems great to have on a full sized yoyo, until you look at the weight. Yeah on paper it looks heavy, but on the string it carries it self with confidence. It can go fast when you push it, and it takes slow and flowy with ease. The weight distribution on the Co-lab is thought out even though its on the heavier side of things.
The Co-lab comes stock with a 10 ball bearing that spins great, its even better when you throw in some V4M lube. Response is G Squareds G-Grips pads (which are made by Square Wheels Yoyo company). Now, my personal preference with yoyos is this when it comes to response.
- If it doesn’t have a flow groove, I most likely won’t buy it.
- Replace the pads to Centex Red RTV gasket maker, I don’t mind doing a little work to get my yoyo how I like it to perform.
90% of my yoyos are RTV Siliconed, with that said I saved the G-Grips in the Co-lab just to give them a chance and see how I like them. To my surprise I quite enjoy them, they have a nice snap to them and tight binds are there, G Squared G-Grips really get the job done! Though the first day of play you have to give them a little break in time, it just felt to me that the pads weren’t gripping very well, but that resolved itself after some good play.
When the time comes I will replace them with my usual response.
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My Co-lab I received was the G2 Team colorway which was light Blue to Pink fade. Which sadly isn’t being released to the public. BUT all hope is not lost, because there is a whole bunch of colors that MonkeyfingeR and G Squared came up with, most likely to suit anyones needs. I also like to point out those guys at MonkeyfingeR are ANO WIZARDS and Jake from G Squared picked some awesome colors!
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH your probably bored now so I will talk about the play of the yoyo. Its stable, I mean very, super duper stable. The Co-lab plays with purpose, you know where it wants to go and it does to. It glides nicely through string tricks, hops are good, re-gens are very good too. The Co-lab can take plenty of string wraps without loosing much momentum. Where it really gets fun is with finger spins, the hub has plenty of room for two fingers, make for ton of fun. Also grinding in general is wonderful due to the projection grooves and the awesome bead blasting, and yes its SMOOTH. Horizontal play is good too, Im not the best at horizontal but what I gather from my experience is it can definitely handle it. Now where I think this yoyo really shines is how well it handles 5A! Its so stable it kills 5A pinwheels, butterflies, bee stings, and rolls without breaking a sweat. I bet it would make a good 3A player to, but I don’t own two or have tried 3A at all haha. Overall the play is awesome, it handles what you throw at it and then some!
MonkeyfingeR and G Squared really hit it out of the park with this collaboration. Also the box art is pretty dang cool too!
This guy comes out April 18th (tomorrow) at many online yoyo stores. I really enjoy mine, I may even have to get a second one :]
