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)




Impressions:
In the box
This yo-yo was a loaner, in quite a good condition other than a few dings and scruffs. No comments on the packaging, except that the pictures I found looked alright.

Out the box
The Fly Blade comes at me as a kind of a blocky, 8-bit version of the Dark Magic. The sharp edges, straight contours are really off-putting in my opinion and in the palm it was simply appalling. Evidently, the designers weren't concerned with comfort. The metal rims don't look like they were perfectly molded to the plastic, and on closer look, you can see an obvious gap between the metal and the plastic. Doesn't look too good at this point.

The internals are quite different than the Sunshine I reviewed previously. The Fly Blade sports a pair of large Pads, almost Duncan sized pads, but for C-Sized bearings. And the Axle employs the same screw head groove rather than the allen key hole which makes tuning and maintenance a more approachable affair. Only criticism is that the pad as still made of the hard, slippery material as the ones on the sunshine.

A few things to praise: One, the Rims are nickel plated, something that YoyoJam should have implemented on most of their yo-yos rather than the raw aluminum that blemishes after a few days of play. Two, the IRG is much deeper compared to the Dark Magic, which made catches so much easier.

Specs:
Diameter : 56mm
Width : 39mm
Weight : 65g approx
Gap : 4.1mm
Response : Aoda Large Pad
Axle/bearing : Size C Steel

On a Throw
This Yo-yo vibes and Wobbles a lot, curiously, on one half only. I checked with the owner whether this was a result of the dings but he indicated that it had always been present from the start. The wobble doesn't really affects the play experience for me, but nitpicky players should note. The yo-yo is rather sluggish for a 65g yo-yo, and doesn't feel like it has much rim weight, even though it is a hybrid yo-yo. Then, I did a bind return and boy, those blocky rims sure did my hands good. Not as painful as I anticipated, but it was still really uncomfortable.

Grinds were decent, with thumb grinds standing out thanks to the deep rims and the plated rims.


Overall Rating
Eh, not the best of yo-yos. Would be fine for those who are looking for a budget throw but expect nothing more.

Pros
Really Cheap.

Cons
REALLY Cheap.

Keep it or Kill it?
Honestly? It's not all that bad. It's just inferior to the yo-yo it was based upon. But if you're fully capable of owning a DM2 and bought this instead, please kindly slap yourself. Hard.

FINAL VERDICT: Keep at your own risk.

This review was brought to you by the absent minded fool.