I got the Belladonna colorway.
I am not speaking from a high level performance viewpoint. Because I am not a high level player. But my view comes from a few decades of throwing around hundreds of yoyos. I just get a general comparative ‘feel’ for the yoyos.
And I enjoy comparing yoyos based on their different shapes and weights and sizes, etc.
And then comparing the top yoyos within a certain shape… to the top yoyos in another shape.
The Phidias falls into the Sb2 and Deep State shape category(closer than to other shapes), etc.
If you glance at the shape without looking directly into the gap. The yo-yo has no real ‘original’ look. It almost looks like it would be a metal looping yo-yo.
It when you look into the gap, you see that ramped up ledge towards the response area.
Personally I am not sure why that stepped area ‘works’? But it does.
Mine is dead smooth. Has a lot of punch(powerful feel on the string). It’s very stable. Very directional. Yet it doesn’t feel heavy on the string. The Phidias shape lends to a powerful and smooth throw down. And it has a good feel on the catch(very friendly rim shape).
Because the step gives a low wall effect. Minor shifts in hand angles don’t make serious changes in yoyo plane changes like high wall yoyos do. The Phidias stays in plane very well and spins long.
It is very unresponsive because of the minimum drag obtained through the shape. Yet comes back with authority with a simple bind that works superb with those built in steps. Very interesting engineering.
A very excellent yo-yo within the general shape. A very excellent yo-yo for the money.
A very excellent first impression that did not fade at all even once I got to the second impression stage. > with one small exception.
Those ‘step ups’ creat a small ‘ledge’. As you move through trick segments. You can actually feel the string hitting the edges of those projected . As the string hits those projections, you can feel a ‘click’. It doesn’t happen every second. But you will know exactly what I meant. Because most yoyos do not have that effect.
Another yo-yo that does that is the Bite Size yoyo. It has the Click effect also.
I personally don’t care for the clicking feel of the string deflecting off the ledge.
But the performance of the yo-yo more than offsets that minor carping. It is just an unavoidable side effect of the wall Configuration.
Amazingly good yo-yo. Surprised the heck outta me.
Mentally, I had a preconceived idea to not expect much beyond a certain play level. Simply based on what doesn’t seem to be any kind of Superman shape, etc…
What a pleasant surprise to guess so incorrectly. Looks are deceiving at times.
Would love your thoughts on how it plays as well!