Hello, thanks for stopping by…
After having bought so many good throws over the past 2 years, its hard to find something else that plays as good but feels radically different. At least for me, I felt I kinda plateaued and needed something new. Sometime last year I had seen the Monster and Super Wide being played before but it just didn’t click and I didn’t feel a draw. I had tried the Super Wide that day though and felt it just wasn’t for me, felt too unstable. Well, a loooong while later after that, like maybe about 5 months ago I got my hands on the Monster and got hooked.
Look: The Monster has a massive, thick, and chunky beastly form that looks like a rolled out V. In fact I always equate it more to the Chinese Diabolo than anything else. I mean its like a mini Diabolo. And when you play it, it kinda looks like one so for me this is a Diabolo hehe. The Finish on it is nice looking under various light exposure, such as Sun, or Tungsten or Fluorescent. The purple looks quite cool and matches nicely with any color string you may have. I tend to use Neon Green and Yellow the most with it. It’s quite striking and is a guaranteed attention getter. In fact its more attracting than your typical yoyo shape because again, its so wide, chunky and Diabolo looking!
Feel: In the palm this is the fattest feeling throw I have ever felt. I like it, it’s smooth, chunky and fat. The matte, satin finish, makes it comfortable to hold too. The Monster’s a fine name to be sure, but I woulda called it the “Big Chunk” hehe, because that’s just what it feels like in the hand. When you only play the monster for a good while and nothing else,say like 2 or 3 weeks straight and then go back to a full size or undersize throw, It’ll feel absolutely foreign. It makes a full size feel like and undersized, and an Undersized feel like a Mini. The rims are rounded yet quite acute feeling. A player with adult hands will feel the rims dig into the palm but its not uncomfortable and returns are comfy enough. If your a teen or preteen, you might feel it oversized with regards to its width. Maybe.
1A Play: I had the urge to start off with a sleeper which I do sometimes to test the design’s overall spin integrity and because a lot of people ask, how long does it sleep, etc, so let’s get it outta the way first. The Monster blew me away. I thought I’d get 4 to 5 minutes tops but on the first try with the stock Central Trac bearing I got 7:04 which blew away several of my other throws like the Rockstar 2012, Super G, and SPYY Supra, in this regard. I don’t know anyone who combos over 2 minutes anyway, but still, most impressive. With further trials and a cleaned bearing, surely get it past 9 minutes.
Moving on…
The Play on this is better than I had initially expected. It has excellent balance and is incredibly solid feeling, SOLID. On the throw you will find it has a lot of torque and momentum. It is not the smoothest throw out there, but the force behind it more than makes up for it. The first thing you’ll notice that it has incredible spin times. A lot of spin. Especially with regard to horizontal or sidestyle play. You’ll need to practice your breakaway technique on this one because upon landing the trapeze you’ll see the monster shake a little bit, but as I said, it has no bearing in the long run because it’ll smooth out in about 5 seconds. One of the tricks I found to help keep it smoother through the break away is to guide the string with your throw hand finger (middle finger works) until it lands and this cuts down the vibey feel quite a bit. On a front throw, make sure you flick your wrist extra fine and you’ll get a smooth throw. There is some vibe during play, not tremendous vibe, but I’d call it a hum.
On the string the Monster is heavy feeling. It’s a slow player, but The Monster can play somewhat fast, but you really need to push it. As you guide it through your combos, you’ll find its very pleasant to look at. It has reasonable float as it does catch some good air. And it is quite nimble for its design. When you do Black Hops for example, you can this quite well., The width of it, will force you to compensate during certain tricks. Or you can look at it as improving your skill set. For example I had trouble going through “And Whut” when coming out of the 1.5 mount. If you don’t space the string far enough you won’t get the throw out of the loop. On the Wrist Mount, you have to make the triangle extra wide to land the Monster, etc. And on the other hand, Spirit Bomb has never been easier to land! Eli Hops til 1000! hehe. Slacks, Whips and Triangles seem so much easier on this. The wider target really helps. There is a nice wide gap on the Monster accomodating several layers of string and it has Zero Drag. The binds on this are also very very good. Stops on a dime. It does seem to wear string out faster than my other throws though, so you’ll need to change string often for optimum performance.
As far as grinds go, I find its best at finger and Inner Rim Grinds. Because of the width, during palm grinds it tends to fly off left or right. You kinda have to move your palm around to keep it stable during the grind. I was really impressed with the IRG this can do though. I thought it’d tip over for sure but no, it holds position and grinds IRG’s as well as your standard size throw.
5A Play: I tried this out for 5a and felt it was relatively good. The advantage is its very easy to throw 5a style as your index finger easily wraps around the gap for good torque on the throw. The only item I feel weakens its performance here is its weight. Its heavy, so this makes you wanna throw the counterweight with even more force but even so, if you don’t combo fast enough, your Monster will sink. This could be said of other heavy throws too, but its about the Monster’s feel.
Conclusion: I love this thing, as I feel its a great 1A player. It has a very distinct presence and it has a HUGE FUN FACTOR! I mean its MONSTER FUN. Hehe (sorry pun intended). It’ll draw lots of attention, plus its a lengthy lengthy LENGTHY spinner, and that counts for a lot. And it will also improve your skills. So if you’re wanting something to stand out in your collection (like REALLY Stand out), and are looking for something that is just plain different, check out a Monster. I just hope they come out with some Black ones.
