Sometimes you come across a yo-yo that feels right. It may not be your favorite throw, most powerful, longest spinning; it’s just so comfortable. For me, that’s the Turner Return Tops Buoy.
I first encountered the Buoy when participating in a Pay if Forward box for the Alchemik Tyrant. When the yo-yo arrived, I found a Buoy in the box. Eager to play the Tyrant, I immediately took it out and spent a ton of time with it. Eventually, I got to the Buoy. Something clicked. I found that throughout my time with the Alchemik I was picking up the Buoy more and more. It wasn’t a conscious thing. I just kept gravitating back to it. It was smooth, and comfortable, and lent itself very well to my style of play.
I was disappointed to see it go when I had to move the box on to the next person, but that’s the way of these things. I don’t purchase very many throws throughout the year, so I put the Buoy on a wishlist and went on with my life. Then, shortly after taking over the Archive, I started reaching out to companies to get their information and to see if I could try out some of their products. Turner Return Tops sent me their entire catalog to try out, and in there was a Buoy. It was a joyous reunion.
Out of all the throws TRT sent, the Bathysphere and Scrub stood out to me. In the end, no matter how much I played with each of the yo-yos that came in the box, I still gravitated toward the Buoy. It’s comfortable in the hand, has a smooth bind, and seems to just flow on the string, handling my limited set of tricks with ease. Its 57mm diameter didn’t feel overly large to me and combined with the 63.3g weight, it feels very floaty when thrown.
The Buoy isn’t super powerful. Its spin times aren’t as long as other throws out there. It’s just a fun yo-yo to play with. Once again, I was sad to see it go when I sent the box back to Turner Return Tops, but now I’m more certain than ever that this is a yo-yo that I need to have in my collection.
I’m by no means an expert or competitive player. I enjoy unique yo-yos that feel good to play. So far, the Buoy is one of my favorite yo-yos in terms of overall playability. I may enjoy throwing others more for a time, but I feel like in the back of my mind I’m always thinking about when I’ll get to throw the Buoy again.