Still a very long while before the actual crafting process actually begins, but I have a mental picture of the Griffon! Here are the features that I have in mind for it:
-An exterior AND interior pairing of stainless rings, the interior-facing one having a lip to help allow for talon grinds
-Relatively exaggerated cup shape for even more aggressive weight distribution
-Stepped cup exterior for finger grinds
-Blasted texture for both the rims and body. Because it’s cooler.
-Cool looking griffon in the center.
Proposed dimensions (subject to change but will likely be within these parameters):
55.5-57 mm diameter
45.5-46.5 mm width
4.6 mm gap width
~64.5-65.5 g
Design phase has literally just begun but thought I would give you guys the above just as a tease. I drew from the Mowl M+ and C3 Hydrogen Crash as they are my favorite yoyos and I want to see if I can fuse the performance of those two while also doing some of my own innovation as well.
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fradiger
(the world is a beautiful cat and i must meow meow meow)
2
Bit on the wider side for a 3a yoyo, most of the purpose-built 3a yoyos I see are around 43mm ish if not slightly narrower. Generally they prioritize stability/spintime since the bane of 3a players is entering/exiting mounts that require setup (since they’re just time sink maneuvers that don’t click well in contests), so the longer the yoyos spin the better. Full disclosure I don’t play 3a at all just echoing the what I’ve seen/read.
Would actually be pretty interesting to see some 3a grind tricks, I can’t really think of anyone doing those off the top of my head right now.
You should check out what some 3a players are using and that might help too…the only thing I know is that Aliyah Tan is out here crushing it with two 80g Hades…supports what fradiger said about players prioritizing spintime
Look at the yoyos the best 3A players are playing with, notice the trends amongst the models, and then prototype based on feedback from sending the yoyos to extremely skilled players.
Also consider who your target demographic is that would purchase the yoyos. 3A is a rare style to see played, and the people who are good at 3A probably aren’t too interested in buying a pair of premium boutique yoyos for the style. Designing a yoyo with 3A as a primary focus seems like a hard sell, because the general yoyo consumer base seems to prefer slightly wider/lighter/less rimweighted designs that just feel better to play. 3A yoyos seem to be panned a lot by 1A players for feeling overly dense/sluggish.
You’d be releasing a design that will have to pull players away from their ~400+ dollar pairs of yoyos from Turning Point/Yoyorec/Hydrangea, that are all designed and tested by legendary 3A players. Or competing against stuff like the Cyber Crash 2 as a budget 3A option for people who don’t want to invest too much money into the style. Designing an expensive 3A yoyo without being a 3A main or really wanting something specific that the current options available aren’t catering to kind of seems like designing a yoyo for a demographic that doesn’t exist.
Your name changes have me a bit confused you started with hydra then went to Griffen? Are you making two different one?
Anyways the specs you have listed are very odd for 3A in general. Not that they can’t work but it makes me wonder how many you have looked at to compare. Do you play 3A personally? Are you sure you want to target the smallest market of throwers?
I would suggest studying current 3A throws more and get a better understanding of them before going to deep into theory crafting. Then if you don’t play buy some 3A throws and learn at least a couple things with good and bad 3A yo-yos.
I suggest you don’t design one. Opening a yoyo brand and then designing yoyos you dont know how to design and expecting success might be, well, hubris.
Nothing wrong with throwing out the question if you have some idea already. That would be getting a gauge whether your ideas are on the right track and enabling you to adjust, but asking with no foundation already is not wise.
Play 3A for a minimum of 1 year, then consider designing and releasing a 3A yoyo.
It’s a two-part thing. First is a statement about a yoyo i haven’t even thought of yet for 3a (the hydra). The second is for the Griffon, which is a 1A yoyo
A super-hyper rough draft of the Griffon’s profile from the hold, very slightly scaled down (drawing is roughly 90% of the size of the actual yo). It is very subject to change, but this will be representative of the overall shape of the yo. The black stripes on the yo represent the interior set of stainless rings.
