Aoda Fly Blade Review

Fly Blade
Aoda

Coming up after the Sunshine is another Aoda, this time a Dark Magic “Bootleg” called the Fly Blade. Other than knock-off full metals Aoda also dabbles in the Metal/Plastic hybrid market with quite a remarkable line of yo-yos. Will the Fly Blade be any different than it's full-metal relative? Or is it just another pile of metal slapped onto a piece of plastic?

(More after the break)

SpeedTeam Black & White Video

contact me @ victorkaxx@gmail.com if you're interested in getting one (M'sia only)

Duncan Metropolis

A pretty detailed look at the Prototype Duncan Metropolis, special thanks to Dimi for letting me post this up!

No definitive specs, but I can say that it's mid-sized, the weight is just right, it's pretty stable and great for fast play. Also, it's important to note that this is not going to be under the Screaming Eagles line. It's expected to be about the Raptor's price range.

Note: The bearing is standard C Sized but Dimi had a Centre-Trac bearing installed as per his personal preference...just a heads up.

See you at CYYC2011!

A little preview of what we've been up to lately

Aoda Sunshine Review

Sunshine
By Aoda

Sunshine, sunshine...With such a beautiful name surely it has to be something good. Unfortunately coming from the infamous Aoda, I expect things to be cloudy, with a slight chance of raining scatballs. Yep, Aoda is the brand that most would love to hate. Yet there is a 9.12% of the yo-yo population who consider Aoda a godsend, a brand that gives the yo-yos they want at bargain prices. So just to be fair, I'll stay on the fence for this interview. So let me slip on my bermudas and sip up a lil lemonade as I try to enjoy the sunburn.

More after the Break!

Congrats to the winners of AP2011!

TAKE THAT!



Christopher Chia made history by becoming the second person to take the title of 1A at the Asia Pacific Yo-yo Championship since it's inception. Many congrats to him for a title well deserved!

Results and more after the jump!

Auldey Photon Spirit Review

Photon Spirit

by Auldey Yo-yos

Auldey has a very turbulent relationship with the international yo-yo community in general. Having made a reputation for selling cheap knock-offs of popular yo-yos that hate seems wholely justified. But suddenly as recent as 2008 Auldey began to develop their own original designs and after having brought in Chinese National Yo-yo champion and talented yo-yo designer “Takuto” Luo YiCheng, Auldey began churning out designs that anyone would drool on. One such offering is the Photon Spirit, a yo-yo that had been envisioned by other yo-yo makers but never successful in execution. Will Auldey finally shed it's bad reputation and prove it's worth to stand amongst the giants of the yo-yoing world?

Auldey Blazing Teens 3 Photon Promo

A promo I made for the Auldey Photon, the infamous YoyoJam Synergy lookalike. Special thanks to Mr. Kiing for loaning the yo-yo and to Ryan Han for the filming.

Review will be up soon!

Strings : A Yo-yo Documentary

Strings Sizzle Reel from Strings: A YoYo Documentary on Vimeo.

A documentary is in the works which deals with the 2010 World's yo-yo Contest in Orlando Florida, Following six players as they take on the Yo-yo world's equivalent of the Superbowl, or the World Cup. Following Andrew Bergen, Sebastian Brock, Miguel Correa, Tyler Severance, Jensen Kimmitt and other famous yo-yoing personalities and witness the side of the WYYC that happens beyond the stage.

This is great stuff. Not only we get a first-hand insight to world's, we also get to experience worlds without even being there. I strong encourage everyone to head over to The Production People's Kickstart page and hit em up with a donation. Or you can purchase one of Dr. yo-yo's Yoyoskills.com patch and Yoyoskills Photographic Review book where part of the proceeds will go towards funding the project.

Also check out Strings Vimeo channel to see some other teaser footage for the Documentary. Have fun!

Rant #1

Ok so this is gonna be my first attempt at ranting about things that matter to me in Yo-yoing. I'm probably gonna suck but who cares?

So today is Thursday... No wait it's Friday. Damn it's just past midnight. I'm sitting in my parent's room, making strings, watching some of CizreK's AstroJax stuff (Which I must say is pretty wicked).

So lemme see, first off we have lots of things going on for this year, so far we have a Yo-yo designed by the community, an upcoming documentary on the world of Yo-yoing looking for funding, and designs that just look plain silly. So what about this week?

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First off we have the New yo-yo from Hspin and that is the Beyond Envy. So what those evil geniuses at Hspin have done is take the out-of-this-world concept that was the Envy and pay it a long overdue revisit. And I must say, it actually looks playable. Word is the the pros at EYYC have given some positive response, but it remains to be seen if this semi-new concept will have an impact on the widespread H-shape. Meanwhile, you can go and grab one of these babies and try them out if you wish.

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Second thing I'd like to rant about is the appearances of Newbies that have been spontaneously erupting from place to place. Normally I would welcome them to our close-knit family with open arms but sometimes I just wanna choke em.

Well, fact is the top question that everyone asks when it come to yo-yos is "Will it spin long?" Honestly, guys. Stop it. Just because your yo-yo can spin for 20 minutes doesn't exactly make it the best yo-yo in the world. Try throwing an 80g Buddha King 2 and tell me your wrist don't feel sore.

Seriously, if I were to make a guide to buying/choosing yoyos the first warning I want to put there is : "DON'T EVER ASK 'WILL X YO-YO SPIN LONG". Lemme explain to you guys why it's such a pointless question :

a) most good yo-yos spin for more than 2 minutes
b) 2 minutes is more than long enough since most tricks last for only 20-30 seconds.
c) most of us yo-yoers don't give a damn due to the reasons stated above
d) it immediately marks you as a complete newbie

Seriously, there are lots of factors when it comes to choosing a good yo-yo, and spintime is not a major factor. So do us a favour and ask this question instead:

"What is your favorite yoyo? What do you like about it?"

Almost immediately you'll be swarmed with comments why the Peak is the best, or why the FreeHand is such a joy to have and immediately your eyes open to a whole new dimension of yo-yoing. And it'll make you look less like a n00b. It's a win-win.

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Third thing I want to rant about is the appearance of yo-yos so weird they can only come from Mars...



...Or China. Wait, what?

Anyways the SuperWide is a yo-yo as obscenely designed as it is wholely controversial. In case you haven't been in the loop, the design was first reported as a design made by Aoda. And why is it so controversial? Aoda is famous for making Ripoffs of other companies. ZING!

So what everyone is think goes along the lines of "ZOMG YoyoFactory is Ripping off Aoda? What Sell-outs! I'm not buying a Genesis again! Oh look, puppies." In actual fact, the issue is not as bad as it looks.

Well for one, Have you guys noticed how closely YYF is working with China now? A lot of their low to mid ranged products are made in China. Augie went in to support the Auldey campaign. YYF was a sponsor of the Chinese Nats. In short, we're seeing a bromantic cooperation between two companies that will in fact benefit us all.

And it's worth noting that as of late, Aoda is coming iwth more orignal stuff. Check out their latest catalog! It looks like they're trying to make amends.

But the real issue is that YoyoFactory is a company in it for the money. In some aspects I agree, BUT... I don't blame them.

Because who makes such a big company like YYF and NOT need money? It's a fact that someone makes a big company so he/she can make money. And if they can make tons of it why not?

Anyway that aside, let me just say that oh mother of all that was holy that is one stupidly wide yo-yo. It's like the designer could nail trapezes and said "Hmm, why don't I make a yo-yo so wide, it's impossible to miss a trapeze?" Seriously, that is one idea that sounds good in your head then you try it for real and realise it wasn't such a good idea after all.

Well, granted, a SuperWide design has it's perks (Easier hops, easier laceration hooks to name a few) But I must put this down as a yo-yo that exists solely for the novelty factor. Because let's face it: Who buys a yo-yo so wide it can't fit in their pocket? or your case for that matter? I bet Superman must be a bre-oh forget it, it just wouldn't fit.

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And thus ends the first rant post on badyoyoreviews. Maybe next time there'll be more stuff to rant about. *yawn* I'm tired. Maybe I should throw some good old 5A. a little bee-sting here an-ah, damn what? Did my yoyo just explode? Oh. The knot came loose. Now I gotta go dig it out from under the bed. Be back another time, fellas.

one lazy afternoon...

...I randomly decided to shoot a short vid.

An Aoda and An Auldey

Spotted these on SY blog







The orange one is an offstring yo-yo by Auldey. The silver one is called the Aoda Litte, and apparently, it's a really really small yoyo. Jayson of SYblog describes it as small at the DreamYo Pxy, which in itself is really really small. Kinda interesting.





Also worth noting is the Spacer/shim system of the Auldey Offstring. They have a regular thin spacer, but under it you can stack up washers/shims to increase the gap size, which makes it interesting to say the least. Plus it uses Auldey's version of the solid spin, which should make for pretty stable spins.

The specs of the Offstring is as follows:

Diameter : 68mm
Width : 46.5mm
Effective width : 36mm
Weight : 70g

The name according to the Auldey Webpage is AnYingZhiYue, which literally means the Moon in Darkness.


Go check out more pics here:
Auldey Offstring
Aoda Little

Sierra Is Back Online! (Non Yo-yo related)

...of sorts.

Saw this on bitsandjoysticks.com and it's basically about this site sarien.net which is hosting these old adventure games by Sierra from the late 80's/ early 90's.

This interests me since I grew up playing these games on my Mom's old computer, and going through them again is like a trip down nostalgia lane... all the hours spend on figuring out that last piece to the puzzle so I can move on to the next stage of the story.

It's really fun though if you're the patient, puzzle solving guy. I'd recommend you head there and just try it a little bit to see how "gaming" has evolved since those early days.

bitsandjoysticks.com
sarien.net

SR-71 Teaser Promo

Ryan Han's Newest Video, featuring the SR-71 by YoyoJam.

Full vid coming in the not-so distant future.

I Faked My Death

I felt a little sick this morning. This might be the cause.

Auldey's new stuff!

Saw this when I visited auldey's Yo-yo Webpage
Looks like Auldey's making more Player Editions now. Sweet.
Here are the pics screened from the webpage. They're descriptions there which I will translate to the best of my abilities.

Disclaimer: These translations are my own interpretation and/or loosely translated from the original Chinese text. I don't claim that these translations are 100% accurate but it should give an idea about what is being conveyed in chinese.



Auldey HuoHu (Fire Fox)

- Full Metal yo- yo with grooved outer area.
- Grooved outer surface for an improved feel, and for improved grind performance.
- The Internals uses a Dual O-ring design, and an optimized weight distribution.
- Auldey's Evolution Level Competition Yo-yo, signature series by Takuto Luo as used in the 2010 Chinese Nationals




Auldey JianKe (Swordsman)

- Bi-Metallic Design
- Full Sized, Prescision Balanced, Stable Spin.
- Laser engraved, great aesthetics.
- Auldey's Evolution Level Competition Yo-yo, signature series by Lee Wai On (CN 2010 1A 3rd) as used in the 2010 Chinese Nationals




Auldey TianMaShenGong V (Peagasus's Arrow V/Unicorn's Bow V?)

- H-shaped yoyo (?), a new generation of H-Shaped (?) metal Yo-yos.
- Prescision Built, Extra wide body, Super Strong Spin, Ultra Stable.
- Laser Engraved, Beautiful looks.
- Auldey Evolution Level Competition yoyo, signature series by Lue Ren Ye (?not sure whom?)




Auldey HuangJingHuoYan (Golden Flame)

- Unique Metal Rim Construction
- Balanced weight distribution, dimensioned for Asian hands, nice, comfortable feel.
- Beautiful rims construction, Excellent spin ability.
- Undersized, Great for hops, Complex String Tricks, flexible performance.

That's all for now. There's also the Titanium Yoyo and the Metal Photon featured, but I think singaporeyoing.com got them covered pretty well. Will update as soon as I get more info.

Note: Since these Yoyos are equipped with Auldey's version of the KonKave & Hubstack Technology, they might not become available in the US as depicted here.

Auldey Yo-yos

Update - Updated with PinYin for the Name then Translation
Update - Grammar Police made a house call. & Additional Info

Auldey Ultimate Photon (aka YYJ Synergy-inspired yo-yo)

Saw this at the Singaporeyoing.com blog. Looks like a metal version of the Photon. Sweet.

I tried one of the Photons owned by one of the kids at the Yo-Blitz Meetings. It's certainly a very interesting yoyo. Think of it as a yoyo having oversized Z-stacks.

In case you don't know, this yoyo is actually based on a concept by YoyoJam, inspired by the success of the YoyoFactory Hubstacks, called the Synergy. Unfortunately, it was canceled before production due to problems with the Synergy's performance.

Here is a video demonstrating the possibilities of the Synergy concept, performed by the incredible Mikhail Tulabut of Team YoyoJam.

Johnnie Delvalle aka John Steel's Newest Vid. And probably the sickest one yet. Great to see him back in action after such a long time.

Hitman Pro drops at YoyoExpert

Yup, the classic YoyoJam yo-yo is back with a Vengeance.

I've tried one of the Protos that Ryan owns and I have to say, this is probably my favorite YoyoJam yet. It's small like an ENEME, Grinds/Stalls like an X-ConVict, yet plays like the Classic Hitman. It's really hard to believe how JD managed to get all of these qualities into one yo-yo, but he did.

And BTW, those are real Carbon Fiber Caps.

YoyoExpert as well as YoyoNation has these in stock. Better grab em quick cause I bet they'll sell out FAST.

YoyoExpert
YoyoNation

Happy New Dot, & Dude...Where's My Post?

Hey, Ya'lls, sorry that there's been a HUGE delay in updating this blog. I had my exams to worry about, a Family vacation and now my Laptop had just been revived from the dead.

The good news is that for 2011 I'll be handling a lot of new things. But the goal of this blog shall remain unchanged. I will still be making reviews of Bootleg Yo-yos, good or bad. But on the side I would also try to post anything that interests me in the Yo-yoing world as well. This would include videos, new products or contests, events etc.

Speaking of which, did I mention that 2011 will be a good year for East Malaysian players? The SRYC (Sarawak Regional Yo-yo Championship) was such a huge hit that it will be a yearly event now. And there's another event on the drawing board, the Borneo Open Yo-yo Championship (BOYC). If things go smoothly this could be one of the biggest Yo-yoing events on the Eastern side of SEA.

Also, after a rather positive response from players at the MYYC, I would also be making/selling yo-yo strings part-time through web order. The Company I'm affiliated with, Spin Maniacs, now has 2 lines of string products. The first is the Butter String, a smooth 100% poly string very suitable for fast string play. They come in different thicknesses and textures, as well as many variations of colours. The second one is a new, experimental string for 2A, called Bungie String. This 100% poly string has a unique quality of maintaining it's smoothness and sponginess even after hours of looping play.

Big shout out to Azmi of Kaki Yoyo Kedah And Ryan of Team Yo-Blitz who used Spin Maniacs Butter String to take the Title of 2010 MYYC 1A Champion & 5A 2nd Runner-up respectively!

For more information about the strings including pricing and shipping please email me at victorkaxx@gmail.com. I'd be happy to entertain any inquiries.