Yoyofficer have brought out some good throws in their short time on the yoyo scene, and the Pause is no exception in their small yet powerful line up.
Construction
The pause is a small yoyo with a diameter of 51.97mm and a width of 40.74mm. The first thing to catch your eye when you remove it from the box is its shiny, rich colour that really pops out. The laser engraving on the cup is very detailed and clean looking with a miniscule ‘Yoyofficer’ within the Pause logo. It is a very basic looking organic design curving in almost to the response grooves to minimise contact with the string yet still enable horizontal play. It has a rather deep lip in the cup that is slightly inverted on the inside enabling thumb grinding. Overall, it has a very simple design that is still quite appealing.
Weight
At just 64.6, you know it’s going to be a real mover when you want it to be. The weight feels just right for its size and it is certainly heavy enough to deliver decent spin times. Any heavier, the yoyo would probably feel like a rock on the string and any lighter the stability and spin time would likely suffer. Due to its weight, extended play is also easier to maintain fitting Yoyofficer’s goal to create a fun yoyo for just relaxing.
Response and Bearing
The Pause is fitted with Yoyofficer’s standard black silicone pad. In my experience they are reliable a perform tight snappy binds. The bearing is a standard flat 8 ball bearing. Many people feel a bit down when a string centering bearing isn’t provided stock, but this yoyo does not suffer from this. I found that the bearing performed very well throughout long and varied combos and is a perfect match for the yoyo. There are just some models that are designed well to use flat bearings in and this is definitely one of them. For those of you who care about this sort of thing, the bearing is also rather quiet for an 8 ball.
Playability
When you pay around $26 for a metal yoyo, you really aren’t expecting much - and rightfully so. However, the Pause delivers some surprisingly good performance for the price. It can perform advanced tricks without having a tendency to tilt too much. This is surprising considering that flat bearings open up the way for this particularly in less rim weighted yoyos. They really have worked magic in getting the weight distribution just right to avoid this from happening.
It can handle tricks with multiple string wraps around the bearing very well without snapping back to punish you or fizzing out in a hurry. I said earlier that it has a lip that opens up the possibility of thumb grinding, but I still found it difficult. With practice, I’m sure they could be performed consistently. Its glossy finish does severly limit finger grinding, but contrary to popular belief grinding can still be performed somewhat with care using a glossy yoyo. I was able to pull of grinds that lasted a couple of seconds. It can perform horizontal play satisfactorily, but finger spins can fizz out pretty early due to the generous engraving in the cup combined with its small size. Don’t rule them out though - they might just take a bit more practice.