CompanyYo-yo BrandEst. 1996
Custom Products
Custom Products (originally Mesa Custom Machining Corporation, also known as Custom Yo-Yo) is a precision machining company based in Gilbert, Arizona that produced a line of all-aluminum yo-yos starting in 1998. Founded in 1987 as a machine shop, the company entered the yo-yo market at the height of the late-1990s yo-yo boom, offering CNC-machined aluminum yo-yos with ball bearing axles and their proprietary Performance Ring response system. At its peak the company produced up to 75,000 yo-yos per year.
Custom Products became known for two distinct product families: the butterfly-shaped AXL/AXL Elite line for string tricks, and the MAG series — a collectible run of three series featuring intricately machined side cutouts resembling automobile wheels. They also produced the compact Reactor/Chain Reactor mini yo-yos and the AXLerator, an Imperial-shaped looping yo-yo. Premium gold-plated variants — the GoldenEye (Modified shape) and GoldenFly (Butterfly shape) — were released alongside the standard models. The Chain Reactor design was developed with input from player Eric Wolff, who pioneered the response pad concept later adopted across the company’s full lineup.
Custom Products was sued by Playmaxx/ProYo for patent infringement related to their ball bearing and response system, a dispute that shaped the industry. By the mid-2000s the company had shifted its primary focus to paintball equipment and accessories, and yo-yo manufacturing ceased. The yo-yo product line continued to be sold through the customproducts.us website on a limited basis for years afterward, though no new models were introduced.