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?







Specs

Diameter: 54.1mm
Width: 36.1mm
Effective width: 22.38mm
Weight: 71g approx
Response: D-Ring (aka Silicone O-ring)
Bearing: Size C Large (Uses Auldey Concave stock)

Impressions

First time I saw the Photon, I immediately screamed “YoyoJam Bootleg!!!” seriously, for those who don't know, the Photon is essentially based on the failed YoyoJam Synergy. And the resemblances don't just end there, as we shall see. The yo-yo comes in a delightfully mismatched Yellow/Green colour combo. Something guaranteed to catch your attention by stinging you straight in the eye, kinda like a barb plant snagging on your underpants but hey, whatever works. The body is slightly undersized, with a massive gap that makes you wanna make crude jokes.

In the Box

The review unit had been used and was loaned to me by a friend, so I can't comment about the in the box experience. However, having seen the box itself I must say that Auldey had really worked a lot on the presentation. The yo-yo sits in a cocoon of transparent plastic, allowing you to see the yoyo clearly without opening the box. The details are also listed and categorised neatly and clearly on the side of the box, in the most elegant form of broken English I've ever seen.

Out the Box

Holding it in my hand, I was surprised to find it heavier than I thought it looked. The website states the weight as approximately 71g. Woah. The shape of the main body is of a conventional rounded convex butterfly. The sidecaps complete the look, cowling up the yo-yo's diameter completely. My impression of them? Flimsy. The wiggle about a lot even though they are snapped on tightly, which I fear may affect the spintime and cause vibe. And ooh, what's this? A KonKave? Ahh, no. It's just Auldey's regular steel version of it. The one I got tarnished quite badly within a few days, so I had to switch it out with a regular flat SPEC for the rest of the review. The response is called a D-ring, which is basically Auldey's version of the classic YoyoJam O-ring response, but made the way it should have. Flush against the sidewall. The silicone rubber it's made of is not quite grippy but it gets the job done.

On a Throw

Woah.
Noisy as hell those sidecaps are.
Anyway, just like I feared, the flimsy nature of the sidecaps caused the yo-yo to wobble, BAD. But after about 1-2 secs the sidecaps catch up with the yo-yo's spin and suddenly, it became a smoothie. I tried pullstarts while holding it and indeed, there was only a marginal amount of vibe, impressive for a plastic. Playing the yo-yo takes some getting used to. It's heavy, yes, but give it a push and it zips past. Not bad. The overall stability is great, once you get past the sidecap wobble. Catching the yo-yo is a peculiar experience. If you catch the yoyo by the sidecaps and not the main body, the yo-yo will still spin in your hand. All in all, this yo-yo will take some getting used to.

Opening up the yo-yo is a bit of a chore, you have to wiggle to caps back and forth until they slowly wiggle off the bearings while creaking all the way. Once off I finally realised why the yo-yo was smooth: It was using the solid spin technology. The Hubstack posts and the axle unit are made out of one piece of aluminum, and coupled with the Nickel-Plated Brass rings molded to the plastic, makes for long, smooth spins. The yoyo can be played without the caps, but it is a bit weird to be honest. Kind like a modernised version of the ol' skool slimline yo-yos.

And finally, the most important aspect: How is the hubstack play? I have to say, it's acutally pretty awesome! Have you watched Mikhail T's Synergy demo? If so, you should be well aware of the potential of full body stacks. You can simply grab that yo-yo straight out of the air midtrick, no problem. You'll be mixing juggling moves into your combos in no time. The faults, however, are felt only when the sidecaps need to “spool up”. The wobble it creates would certainly be hated by most. Regens are for the most part, difficult. The sidecaps will bleed out the spin if the yo-yo's spin is reversed suddenly, so there's very little spin left even after a powerful regen. Grinds? What grinds? Just grab that thing and let it gyro in your palm. That alone is way satisfying than grinds.

Overall rating

To sum it up, this is simply a novelty yo-yo at best. Slightly poor execution but overall very decent, but great at what it made to do. A little weird for those of us who are used to solid, rigid throws but once you get used to it, immediately lots of great tricks will begin to flow.

Final Verdict: Keep it or Kill it?

Coming in with four counts of patent infringement the defendant is guilty as charged. Yet, the creative freedom from not having to adhere to U.S. Patent Laws produced quite a remarkable and practical product. And therefore...

Final Verdict: KEEP IT.

The novelty factor alone is enough to guarantee a place for this yo-yo in your overcrowded case. Plus, disappointed fans of the Synergy Project will be delighted to finally have the yo-yo that YoyoJam couldn't bring to them.

As for Auldey? Not quite out of the woods yet. But they will receive a bit more respect from me this time around. Just a little bit.

Here's a promo vid I made a few weeks ago:



Written and edited by That Fat Guy with the Fritzy Hair. Special thanks to Mr. Kiing for loaning the Review unit.