Hey everybody,
I got my TopYo Raiser in a few days ago and haven’t seen many reviews on it. Now that I’ve got about 5 hours of play time in, I thought I would share my impressions so far.
Short review:
The Raiser is a good budget bi-metal. It’s fast, stable, and has a unique weight distribution. Its play’s differently than most yoyo’s, so much that there’s nothing like it in my collection. It has excellent build quality and superb balance, but suffers from subpar spin times. Who should buy it? Anyone that want’s something that plays a bit different than other yoyo’s in their collection, or someone that just want’s a good cheap bi-metal.
Long review:
Weight distribution:
Let’s get this out of the way right now, the Raiser has one of the most even weight distributions I’ve felt in a while. Despite being a bi-metal, a lot of the weight is near the center, in part by the steel ring being on the inside of the rims and slightly inset. Because of this, it does not feel “floaty” like so many other modern yoyos. At the same time, it doesn’t feel too center heavy because it is bi-metal. It’s very balanced.
Build quality:
The Raiser may be cheap but it’s not built cheap. This is a premium yoyo that feels as quality as it looks. The blasted finish is beautiful and a pleasure to hold, almost having a “soft” texture. The metal has a good weight to it, and all the parts feel like one piece. If I threw this down on concrete, I don’t think the rings would pop off. You know how some yoyo’s, even some expensive ones, just “feel” cheap? This one does not.
Stability:
I’m very impressed with how little vibe this thing has. I don’t know if it’s due to the build quality or the rim placement, but there is almost no noticeable vibe. In addition, the Raiser has a great tendency to resist leaning to one side. It’s actually good for horizontal play.
Spin times:
This is probably the biggest con of the yoyo. The Rasier has noticeably lower spin times than most other metal’s in this price range. We’re way past the point where spin times limit the tricks you can do, but with that being said, if you’re chaining multiple complex tricks together, you’re going to have to bind this one a little sooner than other yoyos.
Speaking of binds, this yoyo has one quirk that’s hard to explain. You know how most yoyos tend to sound different when they start slowing down, so you know when to bind? This one doesn’t, or at least it’s not as noticeable. There’s been times when I thought I had a plenty of spin time left before needing to bind, only to do so and not have the yoyo return all the way. After a couple hours I got used to it, and could better judge how much time I had left on the spin, but it’s something to note. Honestly, the high stability may be a contributing factor, because yoyo’s usually start to vibe and lean a bit when you’re low on spin time. I guess that can be both a pro and a con at the same time.
Finger spins and grinds:
Not great in either department. The center of the yoyo has an odd “bump” that gives the yoyo a horse shoe effect when doing finger spins. In terms of finger and thumb grinds, the soft finish on the yoyo creates a lot of friction that limits how long you can do them. Again, I really like the finish, it’s just not great for grinds.
Speed:
The Raiser shines here. It plays very fast. I especially like it for front style combos. The ability to resist leaning when doing brain-twister type tricks makes it very easy to throw in a lot of spins. Top notch in this area.
Design:
The Rasier has a classic shape and a lot of people will feel right at home as soon as they pick it up. Very no-nonsense in terms of extreme angles or dimensions. It’s almost exactly the same size as the shutter, but about 3 grams lighter. During play, to me it actually feels heavier than the shutter. It’s amazing how much shifting weight around can change your perception.
Overall play:
As mentioned above the Raiser plays fast. The more centered weight distribution not only increase’s the speed at which the yoyo travels, but also the speed it can change directions. Tricks like boingy boing and skin the gerbil are great because you can feel an added bounce when it lifts off the string.
This might just me, but I feel like the stability gives me more control over where I want the yoyo to go. For instance, my Edge has a wider gap, but I’ve been landing more Eli hops with the Raiser. The centered weight feels like there’s less of a tendency for the yoyo to deviate while in the air. Again, this might just be my imagination.
Other Thoughts:
During the first 10 minutes of playing with this yoyo I thought I made a mistake. The balance was really different, and it seemed way too responsive, sometimes binding in the middle of a trick. However the response pads broke in quick, and once I got used to the balance I really started to appreciate how it stood apart from yoyo’s of similar design.
Summary:
So that’s it. When you boil it down, the question is, “Should I buy this yoyo?”. If you want a stable, fast, and balanced bi-metal that won’t break the bank, and you don’t mind slightly sub par spin times, then yes, you should buy it. Are there better yoyo’s in this price range? Yes, however most of them would not play like this, and the Raiser definitely holds it’s own.
If you’re still reading this I hope you enjoyed my review. Thanks, and good luck in your buying.