History / About
The Dunk is Jake Bullock’s debut yo-yo, born from a pandemic side project that became a career. Jake had been yo-yoing since 2003 and was part of Team Anti-Yo from 2006–2009 but never released a signature model during his competitive years. After reconnecting with the scene at Worlds 2016 and creating his Instagram (@jakebullockyoyo) in 2019, Tyler Severance connected him with factory contact and designer CJ Atkinson.
Design began in 2019, inspired by three of Jake’s favorites: the outer rim curve is nearly identical to the Qubit (Core Co.), the inner bump was inspired by the bubble profile of the Gully (Good Life), and the Tourney (Duncan) informed the goal of a powerful, stable 5A throw. The first Green prototype used Snow Tire pads, which Jake liked but couldn’t source at scale. The second Red prototype switched to 19mm pads with only minor rim rounding before production approval. Jake packaged every Dunk in Chinese food containers — the cheapest box that fits a yo-yo — with hand-drawn art on each, a concept borrowed from Doc Pop’s Buzz-On Element X packaging. He had originally planned the artwork as a one-time limited edition touch but has drawn every box ever since.
The first run sold out in 10 days; Jake immediately ordered 300 more and Magic Yo-Yo turned them around in 2–3 weeks, which Jake attributes partly to COVID-19 making his the only active order at the time. Early buyers noted the Dunks arrived smelling unusually pleasant — Jake was packaging them in a soap store. He moved to packing at home after the Slim Dunk. The Bapezilla half-swap (May 22, 2020), featuring custom bobber counterweights by the late Chris Deemie, started a tradition of a Bape-inspired colorway on every new Dunk release.
Charity editions followed: a GITD powdercoat was auctioned for BLM bail funds in June 2020, an eggshell powdercoat for the Scales Collective Racial Justice fundraiser, both with 100% of proceeds donated. The Copper Dunk (December 2020) fulfilled a long-held dream — a copper-plated version of his own yo-yo — but the first batch had significant plating issues and only 6 sellable pieces made it to the website. Each came with a hand-drawn one-of-a-kind trading card and care sheet. Because the Copper Dunk cost $145 — more than three times the original Dunk price — Jake went all-out on the presentation to justify it.
Later in the Dunk’s life came the Titanium Dunk (Ti Dunk, 2023): same 54.3mm diameter, 45mm width, 65.2g in full titanium with a KonKave bearing and Freshly Dirty pads, priced at $299.99. Jake teased it on Instagram as a preorder, calling it “the ultimate Dunk experience — seriously. If you like the Dunk, this is the one.”
The Dunk Rebound (2022) brought the same profile in 7075 aluminum with a D-size bearing (64.7g, 54.2mm diameter, 45.3mm width) for higher RPMs and added durability, taking Freshly Dirty D pads.
