I really like yoyo design, I suppose thats no secret.
Yoyo designers, I’m interested to here what you design criteria is for a new yoyo. Do you stick to specific ideas and criteria as a framework for your yoyos, or do you simply make whatever takes your fancy?
This is a question for people who design AND have their yoyos produced; not every Tom, ■■■■, or Harry that has access to a CAD program.
Whenever I design and make a yoyo, there must be some justification for its existence other than fun. They must fill a gap I feel is neglected in design, innovate or improve upon some standard in some way. This can be seen in any of my models.
I have been designing yoyos around the freshly dirty stem system and trying to create a weighted and balanced yoyo that people can produce at home that performs well and reliably. This has been great fun testing various infill patterns, amounts, and weight distribution internally and has led me to messing with different density materials as well. For me, I have been going function over form but designing what I like the look of.
But this has led me to designing my first yoyo that might one day be properly produced, and it’s been a fun and exciting process having an idea and building off of it.
For most of my yoyos, the criteria is something that hasn’t been done before, or something that has been done once or twice that I know I can do better.. all without sacrificing performance. If you look at our catalog, you’ll see a lot of this.
5050 - First 1:1 organic yoyo and one of the first string trick yoyos under 60g
Assassin - one of the first fully SS yoyos
Kanto - specs add up to 151
Fusion - unique bimetal weight ring design
Monarch - first modern machined plastic + AL hybrid that set the trend for others the following year.
Mystery Gift - titanium ringed yoyo for extremely low price point
Hybrid 5050 - first size D bearing hybrid yoyo and 1:1 hybrid.
Aspen - first titanium cap that’s set the trend for other ti cap designs
Connection - unique tribrid construction
Nimbus - cap sandwiched between steel and AL
6060 - first 1:1:1 monometal (thought it was the first ever but someone showed me a small run mini bimetal that hasn’t been fully released yet.)
Our other releases like oasis and emotion are a little more generic in terms of construction, but offer a really unique play feel. Oasis id even argue stands out with a unique rim construction designed for comfort.
Yo, the 5050 is such a great yoyo. Objectively, and you should add this to your record of accomplishments, it is one of the cutest yoyos of the modern era. However, to say a yoyo released in October of 2021 is “one of the first <60g string trick yoyos” is wild! Are there a lot? No, it’s still nowhere close to being one of the first. There have been unresponsive yoyos that light since at least ~2013 up to 2021 from Ace Yo, YYF, G2, Smashing/OPYOYOS, RCS and of course Strum Panzer. Also see Strum Panzer re: a hybrid d bearing and a machined plastic/Al hybrid. I think you’ve made, contributed to and influenced some great yoyos and deserve the hype but some of these are disingenuous at best, diminishing/disrespectful of other designers accomplishments at worst.
