yoyorecreation - Liminal Autoscopy
| Specifications: | |
|---|---|
| Diameter (mm) | 54 |
| Width (mm) | 47 |
| Weight (g) | 66.5 |
| Bearing Size | C |
| Response System | 19mm pads |
Introduction
yoyorecreation has always had always had a certain mystique to me. Between their rarity in the US, exorbitant prices and pure-performance branding and design, old YYR yoyos always give a distinct playing experience. The Blink, 6ix, and Mr. Butcher are all some of my all-time favorites, with many others being personal grails to this day.
The Liminal Autoscopy made its first public appearance a few weeks ago at Worlds, used by seven-time 3A world champion Haijime Miura during his highly anticipated followup to his 2023 performance. With Worlds 2024 being the first contest I’ve attended since 2016 and my first as an adult, my anticipation was through the roof. Unfortunately, the new Autoscopy’s debut did not go as planned, with Haijime having three separate switch outs during his routine. Seeing this in person, you could feel the audience’s collective gasp at this uncharacteristic performance, but it was cool to see the crowd rally in support of him. I can’t wait to see what he does in 2025, as the tricks we were able to witness were unprecedented even compared to last year. Personally, I’d prefer a risky freestyle that might not run clean every time over something more conservative. Even if not completely successful, there is admiration to be had for someone who pushes the boundaries and aspires for greatness.
Specs and Pre-Throw Characteristics
The first thing that stands out about this yoyo is its uncharacteristic dimensions. Listed at 47mn wide, the Liminal Autoscopy represents a departure from the traditionally tall, narrow yoyos used in 3A (for reference, the Autoscopy is 43mm wide and the Blur Autoscopy is 40mm wide - I haven’t played either of them). Its 54mm diameter also falls on the smaller side of things, especially compared to modern yoyos. I personally prefer 52-54mm diameters so I love this, but it’s something to consider before purchasing. I have zero experience with 3A, but I’ll be interested to see if this is the beginning of a new trend in 3A design, or if the Liminal Autoscopy is an outlier designed to push the boundaries (much like its signature player).
This yoyo features a trimaterial construction, with a 7075 (or at least I’m assuming) aluminum body, stainless steel rims and a plastic outer ring. The yoyo comes raw, which I’m typically not a fan of due to the potential for oxidation, but the finish is surprisingly grind-friendly and I like feeling the machining marks haha. The wide H-shape is extremely comfortable, especially with its slightly smaller than average diameter.
from left to right - YYR Draupnir, YYR Liminal Autoscopy, YYF Miracle
Even bringing up the term “YYR vibe” might date me, but the Liminal Autoscopy is dead smooth out of the box and requires no tuning. I finally understand the “durability benefits” of this style of plastic rim, as I’ve hit other trimaterial yoyos on my apartment floor and they’ve remained dead smooth while traditional outer rim bimetals have not after similar impacts. One other small thing to note is that it has a slightly higher wall than a lot of the zero wall competition yoyos of today. This didn’t have any noticeable impact on play, but may be worth pointing out.
Play
The defining characteristic of the Liminal Autoscopy is its insane stability. This is especially noticeable at low RPMs; at points where with other yoyos I feel like I’d have to get out of whatever mount I’m in and bind ASAP before the spin dies out, I’m able to work through tricks and even do rejections without knocking this throw off axis. From what I understand, this is pretty typical for 3A yoyos, where spintime and stability come before everything else. However, the Liminal Autoscopy definitely doesn’t play like a more stereotypical 3A yoyo. Pacing-wise, this yoyo feels very middle of the road. It changes directions and speeds without any issues, but definitely doesn’t naturally lean towards faster play. It might come in on the “heavier” side of modern competition yoyos at 66.5 grams, but any weight it has contributes to its stability and power, and at no point does feel overly heavy or have the typical “bimetal sluggishness” - I’m guessing this is due to the wider rims allowing the SS to be distributed over a larger volume.
The one thing I noticed was the stock pads were definitely on the grippy side. I did encounter slightly more snagging than normal at first, but this didn’t impact spin time and wasn’t as noticeable as with the Super Scintillator.
Closing Thoughts
I think of the Liminal Autoscopy as a canvas - this yoyo ensures that the only limit a player faces is that of their own skill, and has the performance level to adapt to pretty much any style of player. This one took me a little bit to really appreciate, but the Liminal Autoscopy blends my personal preferences and raw traits in a way that, if I was much, much better at yoyoing and had ~400 more dollars laying around, I would pick this yoyo as my ideal competition throw.
5/5