iYoyo Hidra (winterstorm) on zipline skyline III is quite good.
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Pretty middle of the road for me. Not super powerful or floaty, but It’s got good spin times and control. It’s lacking some density compared to what I normally throw.
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Krapfen, now featuring a fresh silicone recess and an NSK DS bearing.
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You’re getting good at silicone! Looks flush and clean 
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The pride and joy or “ol‘ reliable” of course.
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Thanks! It’s actually pretty recessed. I just make a small mess to do a card recess and peel the excess off once it cures lol. The whole process only takes me a couple minutes total now, so I’m def getting a lot more comfortable with it.
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Flowing your own silicone is a great skill to have.
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Thats smart and probably the best way to do it. Unlike me who treats it like it’s open heart surgery
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I can’t recommend it enough. The personalization and consistency in response is unmatched by any pads you can buy, in my humble opinion of course.
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Make sure to store your silicone in the fridge to get some extra mileage from it.
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There is also the benefit of being able to (easily) replace the worn out response in old yoyos that pre-date today’s 19mm slim standard.
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I’ve actually just kept it in a plastic bag under my desk. I’ve had this tube for about 5? months now and have done several yoyos with it during that time. After removing the nozzle I just let the silicone cure a lil bit at the top to kind of seal the tube so it’s air tight.
I read some people put a nail into the tube or put it in the fridge, but that doesn’t really seem necessary. Maybe I just haven’t had this tube for long enough though.
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Yes it takes veeeery long time to get dry, I used to have the motorsil D (the red one Italian version) and after 7 months basically it was a block of rock, keeping it in the freezer keep it nice all over its life.
Actually just recently I started to use pads as it’s impossible to find in UK that silicone, I tried another one red and wasn’t the same thing.
Also omg you have those bearings I am looking for them everywhere and it’s all sold out!
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So I’ve had these Dark Magic 2 halves minus the guts for years and just today I found that OD side effects seem to work great (after fiddling with some spacers). So yeah playing around with this today.
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This yoyo looks like something I would like. How does it play?
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In your hand it has very classic yoyo dimensions, think Freehand-ish. The unwind during the throw is extremely smooth, there’s almost no kickback to speak of. In play there’s only enough presence on the string to let you know where it is, it’s light, fluffy, and eager to respond to all of your motions. The trapeze width is slim enough to let you feel like you have the level of plane control you get from a high wall, but the angle is spread out enough that you can be relaxed while playing and don’t need to focus your attention to plane keeping.
It’s not some amazingly stable yoyo, though you can easily relax while playing it, it doesn’t demand extra attention, but only if your yoyo play is decently clean to begin with. It’s got enough spin time on it that if you’re struggling to land a trick on this, you’re going to be struggling to land that trick on any yoyo. This yoyo won’t spin for long enough to just let you totally zone out while you’re in mounts to consider your next movements, so it does encourage thoughtful and intentional play. The decision to use a curved wall over a response step also means that if your plane keeping does get bad and your string starts dragging against the wall there’s going to be a lot of friction and you’ll kill all the spin pretty fast.
The 4.0mm gap means that you can play right up until the end of the spin of the yoyo and you’re going to get a tight bind back to your hand. I play with XL thickness string and I did find it to be a little snaggy out of the box, but I’m going to just immediately say that this is a skill issue on my end. With the silicone recess I put in there’s zero snagging with XL string. I have zero issues with the gap width, but I think some players who only play very modern yoyos or have sloppier play might have an issue with it.
When the yoyo comes back to your hand the massively curved rims feel amazing in your hands. There is no hard edge on the yoyo. Every single spot on this yoyo will melt right into your palm and caress your fingers. The soda blast on it feels fantastic and silky in your hands. The guys at ILYY have mastered hand feel on their yoyos.
If you remember Panoramania when those dropped, I think the Krapfen is hitting all of the same notes as the Panorama. This is the yoyo that I’m going to be leaving on my desk for a very long time to come. If I want to pick up a yoyo and just throw a quick trick or two and put it down, this is the yoyo I’m going to reach for. I don’t think this is a yoyo for everybody. For people who want a competitive and high performing yoyo, skip this, this isn’t what you want. If you want something unique, or a yoyo with some gimmick that makes you excited, this yoyo has nothing to offer you. This is a yoyo for somebody who wants just an extremely solid basic yoyo to just keep coming back to for some quick tricks/casual sessions.
There’s no gimmicks, no frills, it’s just an extremely comfortable and solid yoyo that feels good to play.
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You sold me. That sounds awesome!
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ZGRT
Janus
Breaking my fixed axel streak for my Birthday
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Nice present and Happy Birthday 
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Happy birthday!
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