The Operator: SoM First Impressions
Honestly, I wouldn’t change much, if anything, about the Operator at this point. I absolutely love everything about this yo-yo. The design has that bubbly, comfortable rounded organic feel that I wouldn’t want to mess with. It’s already perfect in my hands.
The engraving on the inside is stunning and completely different from any other yoyo I have in my collection. The grind finish? Phenomenal! It’s got that palm grind capability that screams killer finish. I wouldn’t touch the grooves or rings on the inside either because even though they are a bit wide, they make thumb grinds super smooth and easy.
The YYBC weight ring gimmick that we might be shooting for, it’s still a good feature. I don’t think all the o-rings need to be uniform/interchangeable for each model we would be coming out with. I tried the larger ones from the original Workhorse model, and they added some nice rim weight. Even though they rattled, you couldn’t tell during spins and they stayed in place, so it’s a non-issue for me. If I ever wanted different rings, I’d just hunt them down online or at a hardware store, so that’s no big deal on my side.
As for the response, it’s perfect. Tight binds, no slipping, exactly what you want in a yoyo. The matador spikes are hands down the best I’ve ever used, I can’t stop matador spinning it and I absolutely love it. Pull starts and matador spins legitimately feel like cheating, haha, it’s great.
Overall, it reminds me a bit of the Bathysphere, which I already love, but the Operator edges it out in my book because it is a little less centerweight feeling for me. It does tilt a little from time to time, but honestly, it helps me focus on correcting bad habits. That’s not a dealbreaker at all.
All in all, if we shipped this yoyo as-is today, I’d be happy. You can always pop in some different rings for added rim weight and stability if you want to customize the feel, but the shape, feel, grind, weight, spike, and response are nearly perfect as they stand, which is incredible for a first proto. I’d hate to tweak the design and lose what makes this yoyo special already potentially.
My only tiny nitpick is the occasional tilt, but that’s probably more on me than the yoyo. It’s something I can work with happily for what I have in my hands right now or fiddle with o-rings on. If there is a way to add just a smidge more rim weight without any worry of changing everything else I’m playing right now, that’s cool, if not, I’m on board with team Ship It!
