[b]Specs:
- Weight: 66.40g
- Width: 41.7mm
- Diameter: 56mm
- Gap: Adjustable (3.4mm max) (Correct me if I’m wrong.)
- Response: Hybrid (O-Ring and Starburst)
- Bearing: YoyoJam Stock (Not Stainless) .250 x .500 x .187 in (C Sized)
First off I would like to extend a huge thanks to Rick Wyatt and Yoyojam for making this yoyo hit stores… You turned my opinion on how yoyos perform and my perspective a complete 360. Thank you both!
Hello. I’m Mi, and this is my complete review on the YoyoJam Kickside.
I’d like to begin by saying that there is no reason to disclude yoyos that are affordable, or plastic, from your collection or to not throw them because this yoyo is one of the most amazing plastics (or yoyos in general) that you will ever drop your fingers around.
I will begin this review as if I’m just recieving the yoyo to summarize the first moments of play. At first, as always, I noticed the standard green, plastic, transparent YoyoJam box gave the illusion that this yoyo was to be in the undersized category. I think it does this by excluding the yoyo edges from immediate view. However upon pulling the yoyo out of the box I noticed that it was actually fairly average sized. The shape was fantastic, it fit great in the hand and the Celcon body was a nice waxy layer that did not slip, but gripped my hand even when I was holding it loosely… To explain the feel… imagine putting memory foam around a yoyo, and sinking your hand in it for a day. It sits perfectly, nestled around my middle finger.
Now for a plastic yoyo, just like all first buyers, I had my reservations. I thought that it would feel cheap, breakable. I thought that the light would hit it incorrectly or that it would smell. I thought that there would be parts I could possibly hurt my hand on, or that it would be as rickety as a 50 year old roller coaster. Boy was I wrong. Sitting at the end of the string in its smooth creamy white, it was amazingly classy. It felt solid, like you could use it for target practice and it would just keep on kicking. The caps were glossy, removable and customizable, but I prefer to keep them out. If you’re into caps, however, they look amazing on this thing. They do not hinder the performance at all in my opinion, unless you love [*1]IRGs in which case I recommend leaving one or both of them out.
When I first threw down, the yoyo was responsive[*2]. Even loosening the gap to its largest setting the yoyo remained responsive. The bearing comes packed with lube, and requires cleaning[*3] (and re-lubing if possible) to play unresponsively. It comes with a normal yoyojam bearing, not a speed bearing, so it is not stainless steel and you have to clean it properly, keep in mind. Keep it away from water! However if you are just starting, playing it stock[*4] for a while is a great choice for learning foundation tricks since its varying levels of responsiveness.
Since I was already obviously out of the section meant for responsive tricks, I got to modifying it very lightly. I did some basic YoyoJam unresponsive mods which come true with the plastic line, including shaving the o-ring down[*5] and cleaning the bearing. Since this yoyo comes with a hybrid type response system[*6] you are going to notice that there will be a slight buzz coming from the starburst design on one half of your Kickside. This is to let you know you’re touching the side so you can adjust your string placement and become better at centering the string. It could also mean that you should loosen the adjustable gap that comes included with the Kickside just by unscrewing the yoyo a bit. Like I said, this yoyo is unbelievable for handling the varying skill levels of yoyo play.
After cleaning the bearing and shaving down the o-ring as mentioned before this yoyo played perfectly unresponsive. It was amazing. The cool thing about it was the yoyo was unresponsive at its TIGHTEST gap setting! So if I was in the mood for tricks that need a larger gap to practice on I could adjust it to almost double the gap length without shims or spacers.[*7] Kickside seems to be friendly with any kind of string imaginable, and outperform all of my other yoyos even the metals. It can handle any kind of whip or slack (that I can do, at least) trick and come out a champ. You can even grind with it, which is weird for a plastic, but I wouldn’t recommend keeping it stock if you care about something like grinding all that much.
Upon getting some mixed feelings about the initial setup with the hybrid response I got some opinions from friends of mine that it would possibly be a better idea if I buy a second one. Now, I had NO reservations about that what so ever. At 15 dollars USD you can not NOT afford to pick one of these up, or two like I’m explaining now. I was like YEAH SURE I’l get another one, I would use them to learn 3A, right? Well I had another plan… Since I’m not a great modder like Icthus, Luke or Cyclon[*8] I bought a second and third one to swap out the starburst half with the other Kickside’s o-ring half. Thankfully my yoyos both came with opposite sides. The o-ring half of my first one had the axle in it and my second one had the axle in the starburst half so they were like male and female Kicksides. However if you would like to remove the axle yourself you can do so by putting a rubber band around the axle and twisting it out with a wrench. Thankfully mine came as opposites, so I shaved down the new o-rings and placed the two halves together.
WOW
The binds were super tight. There was no more buzz of the starburst, since I did not need it for string placement anymore, and the yoyo as a whole felt a heck of a lot more smooth. It moved up and down the string like butter, and only came up when I told it too. After removing the o-rings and putting in some high temperature gasket maker silicone[*9] everything was perfect. The absolutely perfect modded yoyo. As if it was ‘made’ for my hand, and delivered on every trick with ease and taste. I play the yoyo at a medium gap setting with a dry bearing (I like the sound) and 100% poly string and I can say that I would not go back to any of my other yoyos in place of this cheap 15 dollar plastic. It’s too classy, too smooth, and just feels right in all cases. I have not have vibe problems, or noise problems from the bearing. The caps have never gave me issues, and Ive never had balance problems either. It plays smooth, and balanced all the way from when you throw a proper breakaway to when you bind and wonder why such a cheap yoyo is giving you the performance of high end metals.
In short. This yoyo is made of a durable material called Celcon. A lot of other Yoyojam yoyos like Lyn Fury, Atmosphere are made of this material. It’s perfect for 5A because no matter how much damage you throw at this yoyo it will ding and scuff just like a metal but never crack like a polycarbonate plastic. I recommend this yoyo for all skill levels from beginner to professional. It’s a great yoyo that has not achieved the level of admiration as it deserves, and I hope that this 15 dollar masterpiece by Yoyojam is recognized for what it is in the coming years.
You can buy this yoyo at YoyoExpert: Here
~Mi
Annotations
*1 IRG stands for Inner Rim Grinding. It’s when you use your thumb or something else to suspend the yoyo in the air by capturing it underneath the inner rim on the outside.
*2 Responsive and Unresponsive is a term used to describe how the yoyo returns to your hand. Unresponsive means it stays at the end unless you do a trick to get it back up, and responsive means it will come up with a tug like a traditional yoyo.
*3 Cleaning. Refer to here: Youtube Video
*4 Playing it stock means it is played as it comes out of the box.
*5 Shaving the o-ring. Refer to here: Youtube Video
*6 Response System is the thing on the inner wall of the yoyo that is used to catch the string and pull the yoyo back to your hand. The types are Silicone, Cork, Starburst, Rubber. There are others but this yoyo uses rubber o-rings. They are black and can transfer so I recommend changing to Silicone when first you can.
*7 Shims and Spacers are used to increase the gap size larger than stock, or adjust it. You can add shims to the inner part of the bearing seat (you can home make them out of plastic) to space the bearing from the seat without letting it be loose. Think of it as a nut that grabs the inside ring of the bearing to keep it spinning while providing some space between the yoyo and the bearing on the inside.
*8 List of trustworthy modders: Link
*9 Silicone your yoyo. Refer to here: Youtube
