For christmas this year my friend got me just what I wanted: a beginners 5A yoyo. Expecting a FHZ or Throw Monkey, I was ecstatic when I opened the box to see a brand-new YYJ Pinnacle
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
When I opened the generic YYJ box, I pulled out a slick looking red yoyo with a red counterweight already on the string. This helps 5A noobs see how exactly the counterweight stays on the string and such. One thing to note: The dice is NOT the Takeshi bearing die. Other than the counterweight, I noticed the mirror caps looked really nice and the body looked perfect for 5A play. So far, I was pleased. I opened the yoyo to see… what?!? SOLID SPIN AXLE SYSTEM!! Wow my expectations were already blown out of the water. But then I looked closer… I already saw a metal shaving from the bearing seat. From unscrewing it once, it already began to strip on me. Needless to say, some of my expectations dove headfirst underground again. :/.
PLAY:
After getting over the disappointment of cheap axle systems and such, I threw the yoyo down. First thing I saw: Smoooothness. Alot of smooth. Expectations started digging back up from underground. The I binded, and it was snappy as ever. I always do my most complex tricks first to see how it handles, so I dove right into Superman and brent stole… it came up on the brent stole. Yep, the bearing was lubed up and responsive… expectations began a downward climb AGAIN. I swapped the stock bearing for my clean SPEC, but much to my surprise, the Pinnacle became vibey as all hell. The bearing screeeeched so much to the point my ears hurt. It was unresponsive but yielded terrible sleep times, loud noise, and vibe. My expectations fell straight into the core of the earth. At this point, I was about to give up, but then I decided to use Andre’s trick. I put some thin lube in the stock bearing, swapped out the SPEC, and played. My expectations flew up into the air and exploded like a firework on the 4th of July. The Pinnacle finally played like a yoyo worth $20. I was really pleased.
OVERALL:
The Pinnacle is YYJ’s second stab at the 5A market, and is competing against Duncan. This is probably in direct competition with the “Freehand” series of yoyos. Is it better? Yes, yes it is. I love this thing now. It sets a new bar for all-plastics. Is it Yoyojam’s best Celecon model? Up to you, because I know some people on this forum worship the Kickside.
THE VERDICT:
Throw or no…?
Yea, throw this. Buy this one. NOW. (But thin lube the bearing)
On a side note: I still don’t know why my good spec played so crappy in this… huh, weird…