Vs. Newton YoYo Concept’s Sky Walker: The force is strong with this one
A Review by Superpokenerd
Without further adieu, here is my review of the wonderfully machined piece of spinning art that is the Sky Walker:
I had been anticipating the Sky Walker’s release since Heath first announced Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts about a year ago. I don’t know what exactly drew me into the project but I am glad I was because following the development and success of Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts since its inception has been an absolute pleasure.
Specs:
Width: 42.00 mm
Diameter: 52.80 mm
Gap: 4.10 mm
Weight 65.50 grams
Bearing: C-Sized
Response: Flowable Silicone
The Sky Walker finally arrived in my mailbox in a modest cardboard box. With fingers shaking from excitement, I gingerly removed the tape from the box, poured out a deluge of green packing peanuts and saw the prize within. I reached in and pulled out another, smaller box with “Sky Walker” scrawled across it in pen. The box was the least of my concerns, however, when I opened it and pulled out a stunningly anodized Sky Walker, complete with black acid-wash and red splash; a color scheme so well fitted to Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader. Along with the yoyo, Heath had included 3 matching Chaos 422 stings, a spare axle, and a well-written care guide. I immediately threw on one of the strings and gave it a throw.
The first thing I noticed about the Sky Walker was that it was dead silent on a throw. From my experience, a silent bearing is a responsive bearing so I gave it a tug but, to my delight, the 10 ball bearing was, in fact, unresponsive and it did not come back to my hand. A yoyo that is this silent and smooth while still remaining unresponsive is truly a rare find. The Sky Walker behaves very well on the string, gliding almost effortlessly through anything I could throw at it. Granted, I’m not the most advanced player in the world but still I feel that this yoyo is certainly up to the challenge of being thrown on the world stage.
The Sky Walker has a great weight distribution to it and as a result is very stable. I can push it very fast and it doesn’t go off-axis; a true testament to the great design and machining of this yoyo. The gap is decently sized and allows for multiple wraps and gives the Sky Walker the ability to handle slacks and whips like a pro. The media blasted finish of the Sky Walker isn’t the best grinding surface in the world but it certainly gets the job done. I am able to consistently to finger and palm grinds with relative ease although the shape of the rims does cause it to tilt ever so slightly on finger grinds. From what I can tell, the IRG isn’t that big but, nonetheless, thumb grinds are still possible and I’m sure that grinding experts unlike myself will be able to make much more use of it than I can.
In terms of response, the Sky Walker comes with flowable silicone but it also accepts a variety of pads such as K-pads, YoYoRecreation sized i-pads, and Hat-pads. The silicone job in my Sky Walker was very well done and it gave very snappy and satisfying binds.
In short, this yoyo is amazing. It’s smooth, fast, and performs like few others can. The Sky Walker is a fantastic first yoyo for Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts and, after having the privilege to play it, I can say with confidence that I am most certainly looking forward to future releases from this great company.
