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.
The production release of the Dreamcraft Asora is coming this Friday, October 11, 2024 @ 7p.m. PST. Those looking to snag one will be able to do so for $120 in the Dreamcraft Shop.
The production Asora is machined from 7068 Aluminum, with the following specs:
Brandon Vu recently announced that Offset Yoyo will be dropping titanium versions of the Outlier and Deviant yo-yos on October 7, 2024. The Outlier TITAN and Deviant TItan. Both of these throws are based off the recent “+” releases of each.
There is currently no information on the actual specs, or prices yet.
Dressel Design’s latest yo-yo, the Nimbus, will be pre-releasing at the New York Yo-Yo Contest on October 5, 2024.
From Dressel:
“Nimbus: Shinnosuke Ishizuka signature yoyo.
‘Like playing with a cloud’
Shinnosuke has been a valuable part of our team for years, and embodies the style, creativity, and uniqueness that we put into our brand and our yoyos. It was obvious he was the perfect team member archetype and super deserving of a signature.
Nimbus has a nostalgic feel in the hand and during play that’s reminiscent of higher-end models from 2009-2011, offering a nimble, soft handling that feels both easy-going and controllable.. this combined with its modern performance lends itself to effortless movement during your tricks. Nimbus encourages a relaxed approach to yoyo play, allowing for a more enjoyable experience. The bimetal rings and weight distribution lends itself to Shinnosuke’s swift changes in direction and speed during his combos.
To foster even more creativity, four stickers are being included with each design to make each yoyo unique in its own right. Unfortunately these do cause vibe when applied, so use at your own risk.
This is also our first throw featuring our new ‘Cloud Blast’; a new lower grit, fluffy blast that will be featured on our main line throws from now on.
We hope that this yoyo brings you peace and joy whenever you throw it!
Available at @nystatesyoyo with a full release coming in the next few weeks”
A 7075 aluminum version of One Drop‘s Wyvern is released on Friday, October 4, 2024. Redesigned slightly to keep it a similar weight (actually a bit lighter) than the original 6061 aluminum Wyvern.
Here’s what One Drop has to say about this new throw:
“Team member Andrew Daugherty was also a long time employee (the longest) at One Drop. If you bought a yo-yo from us in the last 12 years, it’s likely Andrew helped make it. If you came to our shop to take a tour you probably met him. His impact here and to the yo-yo community is substantial. We miss having him here on the daily, but we are blessed to be friends and to have him on our team.
The Wyvern is his signature yo-yo and it was made from 6061 alloy aluminum. Whenever a yo-yo is made from 6061 alloy that gives us the possible opportunity to make a Boosted version.
“Boosting” is making a 6061 alloy yo-yo out of 7075 alloy, but changing the design so that the overall weight ends up being lower even though 7075 is a heavier alloy than 6061. It takes a lot of tweaking to the design to make this happen, but we like to do it in a way that yo-yo looks the same and has the same or similar specs (except for the weight).
The boosted Wyvern was the last yo-yo that Andrew helped build, leaving us all with this final gift including the box art of the original and now the Boosted version. It sits at 63.5 grams overall weight (2 grams lighter than the Wyvern) and you can definitely feel that in play – it’s faster and has MORE spin inertia than the original. It has a small but distinctive change to the look of the hub so you can easily tell if it’s a Boosted version. The rest of the changes you can’t see are on the inside: weight shifted out towards the rim with a thinner wall (7075 is stronger and allows for a thinner wall). It’s always interesting to throw two yo-yos that feel the same in the hand, but feel vastly different in play.”
There will be four colors in the initial run: purple, green, blue, and brown. Each will retail for $74.
Specifications
Weight: 63.5 grams
Width: 46.05 mm
Diameter: 55.88 mm
Stock Response: One Drop Flow Groove
Gap Width: 4.47 mm
Bearing Size: Large (C) stainless steel (One Drop 10 Ball Bearing)
