(sorry this might be late, but I have been traveling and didn’t get the time to write this until a few days ago)
C3 Yoyo Design: Di Base
The Di Base(dee baw-say). What a name. According to the website, it means "basic." according to my Italian speaking friend, it translates into "from base." there is a similarity, but this is besides the point.
So as you know, I bought this yoyo because I hosted a thread where you the people decided what I should review. I did this because I was bored and sprouted an idea, and because it's fun asking people of their opinions.
So of course, it took about a week before arriving (I was in a time crunch as I was leaving to Reno for a while). But I got it a few days before I was to depart.
The box it came in was that type of plastic that looks blasted. When you open it you see a little divider in the middle of the yoyo, two weight rings, and a Kitty String(my favorite). When I was unscrewing it, I discovered this yoyo had what hate; an overly tight bearing seat. It's my pet peeve of the yoyo world. I prefer easy-on/off bearings so it takes away the need for pliers, or in this case, the jaws of life. The surface is blasted so it has that 'cloudy' look to it. It has a very nice glow to it and the laser engravings are pretty awesome. It is a tad slippery, but that's what makes them fun. Over all, greeting this yoyo was....who am I kidding. I unpacked it, put the string on, and started throwing.
The first throw was little wobbly due to my unfamiliarity to the shape. After four or five, I got it to stay still, but there was still a small vibration present. The response on this yoyo is practically a Duncan friction sticker. These pads are big. Bigger than, for example, what YYF, YYJ, CLYW, etc use. I have been throwing it for a few hours(total) and the response still shows no sign of rubbing off.
*sorry for the lack of pictures*
When it came down to judging the stability, I was already having a jolly time with this thing. The stock weight makes it a little humming bird. It’s wicked fast doing rolls and rotations(it can get a tad slow doing off-axis tricks). It’s also fast doing more bodily tricks. It can also take a decent amount if string before biting(new pads, remember). The stability was good for a 55$ budget metal, but is still less than what I wanted. So I decided to add the weight rings. Being my first C3 yoyo, or any brand that includes rings, I was worried they would make the yoyo very quake-ish. To my surprise, it was just as smooth as without them. And it turned into an even more stable, controllable hummingbird. The speed decreased a hair but it didn’t matter: it just kept going. Due to the already large rim weight, the weight rings gave this thing a ton of spinning power. Just ask my hand. You can feel a difference in weight, but nothing that would deter the feather weight throwers.
It was weird because even though it would start tilting and get off center, it still spun the same speed and returned with the same force. The way it is shaped allows for minimal tilt when when hitting the string, and the grinds are very pleasurable. However, the flat bearing in this yoyo still got the best of it. It kept messing things up. I'd be in an awesome trick and instantly the yoyo would be sideways. So to take the stability to the next level, I threw in one of my KonKave bearings. And the stability went to OVER 9000!!!! Not really, but it did nearly double it's ability. Made it a bit smoother to, not significant but still noticeable.
The closest thing I can compare it to in terms of size and stability, is a Skyline. I've played with a few Skylines and they didn't really impress me with what I was expecting. In fact,* I think the Di Base is more playable then the Skyline. The Di Base is very stable, but it's no Messiah(I don't think anything could be).
OVERALL
This is a very excellent choice as a first metal, or another metal to your collection. If you buy it, you won’t regret it. It’s pretty, it has a good size, and it’s stable enough to learn the next level of advanced tricks.
I take my hat off to you C3.
(the following is an idea I had for scoring any yoyo on several categories. This is based on my opinion. Be sure to check the scores individually, as the overall score may not be as high as proclaimed in the review. It is far from perfect.)
(the scores are based on stock specs: how thus yoyo played out of the box with it’s own material.
Scoring is out of 5
Stability: 3.5-4(with/without weight rings
Grinding: 4 (it slides good but keeps tilting on you finger)
Speed: 4.5
Response: 5
Maintenance: 3 (the lower the worse)
Smoothness: 4
Shape/comfort: 3.5
Horizontal: 3
Appearance: 4
Total: 31.5(32)
I should do another people’s choice review. This was fun.
