underlined stuff for skimming
Overview:
For a new yoyo company, this yoyo’s gotten a lot of drama. I was pretty disappointed in the community’s reaction as a whole since most people haven’t played it. As for those that HAVE played the first raw protos, they were fairly impressed by the resulting play, but thought the Wolves needed some additional refining. Then again, a local yoyoer, who is known for strong yoyo opinions, told me “this yoyo is fine the way it is. I honestly don’t know why there’s so much drama about.”
About a month ago, one of my friends decided to give me his to review. He got one and thought I should get others to try it at our club. I currently have a black anodized proto with improved specs. Got lots of different opinions from people. In sum- it is a unique throw and definitely has an extremely fresh feel compared to most yoyos on the market today. It’s about as fresh/different as a Cascade, honestly. It catches everything, has great agility and speed/pacing overall. It still needs improvements no doubt, but it’s overall a solid yoyo.
Throughout this review, I’ll give comments on potential improvements and such. (denoted by *) It is a prototype, after all.
*btw, Wolf follow game #toostrong
Stats:
Weight: 67 grams
Diameter: ~57mm
Width: ~47mm
Bearing: C bearing
Pads: Standard 19mm
(~approximated using a Bonfire)
First Impressions:
It has almost the same finish as Walter. Pretty nice for grinds. Feels good in hand.
Fairly comfy and nicely rounded. Super agile/light for it’s weight. Great shape. Cup looks really good. Distribution looks really interesting/fun. Extremely wide. Spikes are sharp. Nice and smooth on the string; a little vibe on grinds and spikes though.
Response:
A little snaggy on multiple wraps and speed combos. For my daily stuff, it’s pretty good, tech and all. *Could be improved by recessing the response a bit, changing the pads up, or widening the gap. It is a bit late or loose on binds sometimes. Some fat kitty could resolve this problem, though.
Play:
It’s got that fresh, just-tried-a-Cascade feel. Super unique and light. Smooths out stuff and pops rejections so hard. #bestrejections2015 Catches everything. Everything. The width gives it so much character. Especially good if you like stuff that sticks to the string a bit or is very smooth/flowy.
It’s super good for follow and follow type tricks, i.e. hipster whips. Surprising actually. Speed is on point and easy to pace your hand/whips. So expressive all around. You can almost stop at the end of any direction change (you can hold it at the end of the string of each boingy for a good while, for example). Holds momentum, if that previous description is too vague. As said before, kinda snaggy on multiple wraps. *Gap could also be too small or response type doesn’t fit too well. Especially important to know if you like speed combos.
Performance wise- you can push it if you’ve been refining a combo for a good while. Works well with close knit stuff; not too big for chopsticks. As previously mentioned, you can be extremely expressive or more creative with direction changes. It’s pretty forgiving if you do unorthodox stuff (Rojas or Christe, for example). Even if you take your time or mess up, it will make it through the combo. Above average sleeptime, especially for how wide it is. You do need to pay attention to tilt, though. Not so good for horizontal. Ok for regens. Good for 3-D type stuff. Good for tech.
*Reducing the width/diameter and adding rim weight would fix some issues. While unique and good as is, the Wolf could benefit by being more evenly distributed (as opposed to being extremely mid weighted). Rounding the edges of the inside rims would be a plus too.
*SPIKES ARE TOO SHARP. EVERYONE I HAVE MET HAS SAID THIS - EVEN NON YOYOERS. They’re actually good for regular side-style matador. A bit vibey, probably cause they’re really long, but still really fun to catch. They’re NOT good for horizontal matador or pull starts. It’s painful, to say the least. Even if you have calluses. Read as PLEASE FILE OR ROUND THE SPIKE FOR YOUR NEXT RUN.
But if you don’t do matador, the spikes are fine and don’t harm your play at all. They’re pretty far recessed in the cup. Not much reason to get mad at how sharp they are unless you do fingerspins. I haven’t tried fingerspins with the Wolf, and I don’t think you would want to either.
Overall, it’s a good and fresh yoyo. like #DANG- if you didn’t get that already. I applaud Yoyoski for the fresh/original weight distribution. *It could definitely be a little less wide to give it a tad more stability in horizontal. Possibly a flattened and more “OD SE” shaped spike and more centerweight to help with overall feel or regens, if you like those. Everything else is on point - including the spike.
SADLY, the quality suffered a bit. Some anodizing got into the threads, and it hurt the performance of the yoyo overall. The machining seemed a bit off as well, but bad things happen sometimes. The quality of the first prepros was #killer, though. I hope the Timberwolfs make it to a final, production run.
Pros:
-GREAT FEEL (think of a “new” Cascade)
-best at rejections, by far
-extremely expressive
-good speed, especially for follows and the like
-agile (M10 “I’m a can of air” light)
-smooths out tricks
-catches everything while remaining maneuverable
-good finish for grinds
-holds momentum
-forgiving
-ok for matador
Cons:
-still pretty wide/awkward
-weight distribution makes it awkward at times
-not good at abrupt direction changes
-snaggy in wraps
-sharp spikes
-spikes are no
-NOPE
-unstable in horizontal
-don’t do horizontal matador pls
Undetermined:
-fingerspins
Rating:
7/10
Play worth/Actual:
75/95