Ten YoYo Drop Bear Review
Wabbit and Roo recently released their third yoyo following the incredibly successful Wet Whistle that brought wide yo-yos into mainstream play and the Decapod which has been touted by many to be an amazingly solid throw despite some minor to barely noticeable vibe on some of them. One of the amazing things about Ten Yoyo is that Wabbit and Roo stray from recreating the same yoyo over and over again and instead have a strong H-shape yoyo in the Decapod, a wide boy in the Wet Whistle and now a more traditional yoyo in the Drop Bear that plays like a dream and is anything but traditional!
I received my Team Ten Drop Bear in silver with blue splash last week and following a fun-filled 7 days of play I can say that this yoyo will not only remain by my side and out of the case forever but is going to be receiving a new sibling!
Yes, its that good! So good I bought not one but two!
Drop Bear Specs:
63.5 grams
56mm diameter
41.75mm width
4.6mm gap
Crucial Grooved C size bearing (.250 x .500 x .187)
The Team Ten edition is just beautiful and the choice of colors shows care in one’s product.
The Drop Bear is available in 5 colorways which include 2 splash (Team Ten Silver (pictured) and Blue or Black and Yellow) and 3 solids (Orange, Red, Blue).
Coming from a fine arts background I am always impressed by clever packaging and Wabbit and Roo have some of the most creative designs I’ve seen in a while. The Decapod came in a foam meat tray complete with humorous labeling which held the specs. The Drop Bear though, this fierce competitor is hidden behind a box that resembles a packing crate that one would expect King Kong to jump out of and head for the Empire State Building. The yoyo is held securely in a cardboard cube with a cylindrical hold that contain the Drop Bear in a snug and honestly very cool pouch with the Drop Bear design on it.
My hats off to Wabbit and Roo! The key to success is all in the detail!
Inside the incredible box you get:
The envy of the animal kingdom…the Drop Bear in your color choice!
Drop Bear pouch
1 Throw It Forward yoyo to get someone else started on our passion
Ten Yoyo sticker (not pictured but they are cool!)
2 Custom Blue strings from Jenn at Twisted Stringz (ain’t she just great!)
Build:
Wabbit and Roo “built this yoyo from the ground up” and the hard work and effort really show in the final product. The dynamics of this yoyo are truly impressive and although at a glance it seems to be a simple sloped design along the catch zone it actually contains 2 gradual steps to the response groove. This design lends to a very comfortable shape in the hand with a catch zone that allows for some fast play. The rim weight distribution allows for some pretty impressive spin time and the outer edge is sloped just enough to allow for that added comfort that doesn’t exist in some yo-yos. At first glance I thought that there was a lack of a functional IGR but once I tried to throw in a thumb grind away the Drop Bear went leaving me with a grin from ear to ear like after my first kiss but much more exhilarating. The finish on the Drop Bear is that ever-so-lovely smooth to the touch but ever-so grindable that we all love and the finish is really breathtaking with the colors the guys chose! One of the beautiful features of the Drop Bear is the absence of any type of axle hub inside the cup similar to what is seen on ILYY’s. The Drop Bear is pure bliss and the cup slopes gracefully from the IGR to the floor to a slight hub that is round and very pleasing.
On a Throw:
One of the interesting things I have noticed over time is that yoyo dimensions and weights vary by small measure; grams and millimeters (as long as you go metric) and the slightest variance in these specifications can really make or break a yoyo in terms of playability, physics and aesthetics. The Drop Bears specs for me on paper were on the slightly larger and lighter side but when I held it up to my Decapod specs I was seriously surprised at how floaty it felt in comparison to its heavier feeling brethren despite some similarity in dimension and weight. It truly does float and yet holds enough weight and well proportioned mass to handle high speed play without sacrificing accuracy thanks to the carefully thought out 2 step catch zone and precisely weighted rims. I mean we all have yo-yos that play fast, that are like a rock on the string but a gem in the hand and those that float as though filled with helium and yet how many of us have a yoyo that can handle all those attributes so well? You can hop this yoyo with ease and yet do a high speed transition with little to no effort since the weight is at that sweet spot we all love. One of the great things I love about my Decapod and that I notice on my Drop Bear as well is that the angle of the wall is built to not only reduce contact with the string which is advantageous for players of all caliber but it also helps to keep a nice loop open for slacks and whips. One of the elusive tricks for me has been consistency in suicides and with the Drop Bear I have noticed a changed from 7/10 successful suicides to 9/10 which is a great improvement on the design of the wall. Few yo-yos in my opinion are able to pull this off and it takes the engineering background of Ten Yoyo to really take this into consideration.
Stock bearing and response:
The Drop Bear includes a Crucial Grooved C size bearing which I usually play in my Evil-Yo’s and Decapod. I know that some find them to be detrimental to multiple layers of string but when it comes to reducing catch zone /string friction you really can’t go wrong with this choice. Wabbit and Roo take the time to test, clean and deshield the bearings which I love because out of the package the yoyo is ready for me to play and it takes one step of the process out of prep since I play all my yoyo’s without shields. (Just a preference! I know, the shields have a purpose but seriously, when a bearing goes I have a spare, just like the spare tire in my SUV. And…I hate deshielding for cleaning only to have to try and reinstall the C-Clips). The response system comes from pre-installed One Drop Flow Groove Pads that provide consistent, tight binds. I personally tend to go back and forth between the Flow Groove Pads and flowable in my Decapod and both are wonderful choices if you want some tight binds. The advantage to this type of response system is that a yoyo that has a response groove that accepts Flow Groove Pads can easily be transitioned to flowable since the groove is definitely sufficient to handle flowable without the threat of wearing down prematurely; something which can be seen on other yo-yos with smaller response grooves. Once these pads wear out I plan on trying some flowable in my Drop Bear and will update with my thoughts.
Now I love all my yo-yos and over time my collection has grown BUT few, actually only 3 so far, have remained out of the case and with me at all times and the Drop Bear has become one of my daily yo-yos. Like many I play as well as collect but in reality my collection of multiples comes down to the idea that when I play to entertain at work I really don’t want a yoyo that has any scuffs…call it vanity if you wish but I prefer to call it an excuse for my yoyo obsession - an obsession that the Drop Bear has filled so very, very well!
