Making an oversized yo-yo has been a massive dream of mine, literally and figuratively. Sometimes the stars don’t seem to align… until now. I had intended to release a larger Bowl before a mini one last year but ran into dead-ends and roadblocks on the journey.
The BIG (there’s that adjective again) problem was sourcing 7068 aluminum bars that could be anodized with great color-pop and consistency. There were no issues 2 years ago when producing the regular sized Bowl 7068. But most recently, I had prototyped another yo-yo, the upcoming “Heavy Duty”, with 7068 aluminum bars obtained from two different suppliers – the anodizing process created blotches on all 10 samples. I decided to give away all the prototypes to those who bought yo-yos from RSO, and to my delight, they are still in circulation throughout the community today.
I felt it was not worth the risk due to the much higher costs involved in producing an oversized yo-yo. Material costs are based on the amount of material required and these bars, sold by weight, are massively heavy compared to standard sizes. As a general rule of thumb, the aluminium bars have to be about 2-3 mm thicker than the target yo-yo diameter. With the 66mm Bowl XL, we had to buy 72mm 7068 aluminum bars since there were no other sizes in-between. This added a lot more cost in materials on top of production time to lathe away all that extra aluminum to arrive at the 66 mm diameter. Here’s a tip for the next time you’re deciding what pizza size to order: when you increase the diameter of a circle, the volume essentially increases by a power of 3. We also had to invest in tooling to create an anodizing rig to cradle those bigger yo-yo halves, then add in more post-production costs because fewer yo-yos may be anodized at a single time due to the size increase. And finally (I know, you get the point by now), shipping is more costly due to the higher volumetric weight. Here’s another impact (I said finally, but I didn’t mean it): material costs and freight are experiencing hyperinflation and prices for these commodities have increased since I started dreaming about “GOING BIG!”
Fun fact: the 7068 Bowl XL costs almost double to make compared to the 6061 Bowl mini.
Fast forward to early 2021. Due to the limited yet sufficient availability of quality tried and tested oversized 7068 aluminum bars combined with the immense popularity of the Bowl series, I decided that it’s time; time to revive the Bowl XL project so you can see why I’ve been obsessing over this big dream.
IT’S HUUUGE
Make no mistake, the Bowl XL is a gigantic yo-yo. It is one of the most enormous yo-yos ever made. Put this in a pocket of your tight-fitting pants, and you’ll get a decent Jason Derulo bulge. Don’t be surprised if you hear, “Is that a Bowl XL in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?” The goal of the Bowl XL was to pack the usual floaty play-feel of the Bowl series into a Godzilla-meets-Mothra-sized hefty package. So I took the original Bowl CAD and gave it a dose of Viagra. A super-charged one where the effects would last infinitely. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t need to bring your tool to the doctor. The yo-yo retains the “for your hand pleasurable” organic shape of the Bowl series.
People often say, “it’s not the size but how you use it.” But what if you could have both playability and size? At only 1g heavier but 10mm bigger than the regular Bowl 7068, you’ll be thrusting in and out of your tricks effortlessly. The fun is guaranteed to last as long as you want, without tiring out at the climax of your trick combos. How awesome would it be to supersize your way through a session of maximum-sized yo-yo play?
NOT A ONE-MINUTE YO-YO
Bowl XL prototype in rose gold (with maroon 19mm Type 40 Landing Pads) and the production version in blue (with CLYW slim / G2 G-grip sized Landing Pads)
The Bowl XL prototypes were equipped with 19mm response pads. As with most development processes on newly designed RSO models, 10 prototypes were made and sent to a selected few with their RSO purchases. Everyone loved it, but felt it did not gain enough rotational momentum when launching down the string on the initial throw. And sometimes, as a result, the yo-yo often came (back to the hand) prematurely. Nobody wants a 5-second combo unless you’re ordering fast food through the drive-thru. After much deliberation, I attributed this to the response pads, which were changed on the production version to the CLYW slim / G2 G-grip size. Wait until you experience the massive BANG!
So what is the science behind this mystery concoction? With thinner pads, the yo-yo actually makes fewer 360-degree revolutions with string contact compared to thicker pads. Larger yo-yos also make fewer of these revolutions compared to smaller yo-yos when they unravel from the string. Combine these two factors and the momentum is significantly reduced. The thicker CLYW slim / G2 G-grip size response pads made up for the shortcomings and made the production version of the Bowl XL last longer on the string. The Bowl XL has enough stamina to spin all night long.
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
From left to right, Atmos Projects Pomelo, Sengoku Bakemono, RSO Bowl XL, One Drop Par Avion, CLYW 2018 Sasquatch.
Yo-yo’ing isn’t just shallow fun; it’s good for you too. Finding your flow releases a flood of the hormone oxytocin, improving your mood. Regular throwing may improve your cardiac health through movement, reduce stress through flow, and increase self-esteem through improving every session. Reducing stress has been shown to help improve sleep. So choose your yo-yo like how you would pick a life partner: wisely.
It has been said that just like the noble Sasquatch, the “too big yo-yo” is simply a myth. Some go as far as saying it is an unplayable paper-weight that should be reserved for those who can’t afford a monster truck to overcome some hidden deficiency of self-consciousness.
But trust me when I say that too big yo-yos are very real and may pose a problem. The CLYW 2018 Sasquatch (71.4mm diameter, 78.9g) and the Sengoku Bakemono (68mm diameter, 85g) might be too overwhelming for the common folk. The Bowl XL weighs as much as a regular-sized yo-yo – you can play it for hours and never have to tell the story of your painful “first time” or how you got a hernia playing a “too big yo-yo.”
The One Drop Par Avion (62.4mm diameter, 65.2g) has much more palatable specifications. Due to the less float compared to the Bowl XL, the experience might be a little… similar to that of a married couple who has been doing it the same way for decades. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In such a scenario, I would suggest moving from the bed to the floor, the bathroom, or the kitchen counter for a change of scenery. But… that is not my place to get involved.
The Atmos Projects Pomelo (65.3mm diameter, 61.3g) is the closest thing you would get to the Bowl XL experience but its play-feel would be described as “lightweight” rather than “floaty”. It may perform like the young dude you just met at the club that you may struggle to instruct and control, if that is your fetish. The extra 3.4g of weight in the Bowl XL puts you in the driver’s seat.
Tip: Yo-yos do not make their own natural lubricant. If it is in short supply, playing the yo-yo may be a rough and unforgiving experience. Most lubricants are safe to use with your Bowl XL.
Don’t miss out on the Bowl XL! Because at the end of the day, and during your yo-yo play…
SIZE MATTERS.
P.S. The above comparisons are all made in good fun. They are all great yo-yos which are special in their own way, and part of my collection. Have a laugh will ya?
From left to right, Yoyofactory Mightly Flea, RSO Bowl XL, Doc Pop Executive
THE COLORS
Green – Legendary Anaconda. The most epic colorway that needs no explanation. Many often boast that they have one but they do not. Inspired by the CLYW Wintergreen Peak.
Pink – Pink Tractor Beam. Rumoured to refer to a very important body part, from the song Here In My Room by Incubus, from the album A Crow Left of the Murder.
Blue – Blue Veined Aristocrat. Refers to a long critical organ which increases in size like the hulk, with veins showing. Inspired by the gowns of French Aristocrats of the Seventeenth-century.
Plum – Plum Tree Shaker. An Eighteenth-century term for a certain human appendage.
Legendary AnacondaCLYW Wintergreen PeakPink Tractor BeamHere In My Room is a song by Incubus, from the album A Crow Left of the Murder.Blue Veined AristocratFrench aristocrats from the Seventeenth century.Plum Tree ShakerFresh ripe blue plums on tree in summer garden
A SPECIAL EDITION – RSO’S FIRST SPLASH COLORWAY
Long Dong Silver – RSO’s first splash colorway is a tribute to one of the greatest performers of the century, and inspired by the colors of one of my favorite fast food restaurant, Long John Silver’s.
Long Dong Silver’s
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
EMBROIDERED PATCH
A PAIR OF CLYW SLIM / G-GRIP SIZE TYPE 50 RSO LANDING PADS
NEON GREEN THICK STRING
The artwork, by ATILA, features Mr Colton “Taekwondo” Xxxtra Long, an up and coming performer.
I first spoke to Russell Andert, the maker of the dert and its various iterations, in November 2020. It was challenging to get hold of him, given that he has (by choice) decided not to jump on the social media bandwagon like everyone else. He literally has zero online presence. With the help of Andre Boulay of YoYoExpert, I managed to contact Russell via email. After a few back and forths, a Zoom conversation followed.
Russell is a machinist himself and one hell of a genius yo-yo designer (more on this later). Back in the day, he machined his yo-yos using leftover metal bars using a CNC mill. Conversely, other brands tended to make their yo-yos on a CNC lathe. What is the difference, you might ask? Put simply, the cutting tool moves in a mill while the raw material moves in a lathe. With the raw material turning, it is much easier to make a perfectly concentric yo-yo. Making a playable yo-yo on a mill is a challenging endeavour; just ask One Drop (their first yo-yo, the Project was made this way.) Due to the lack of raw materials, derts were made in tiny quantities. People love them, and they rarely pop up for sale on yo-yo forums. Today, Russell is still a machinist pondering about unique ways to make yo-yos.
Russell agreed to collaborate with RSO on our first Zoom call, after I pitched to him my vision for the collaboration and showed him RSO’s past projects. He revealed that he had previously turned several people down. I was extremely fortunate! Collaborating with Russell was an absolute breeze. I felt he was unequivocal in his thoughts and direction for the project, and he never fails to meet the deadlines set.
We actually completed the our collaboration project at the beginning of 2021 but I had to release it later due to various RSO projects already planned.
BEAUTY IN SIMPLICITY
The design of the various dert releases, starting from the first 6061 aluminium dert in 2006, through the mini iterations of the dert (the baby, eli and KC, for example), to the legendary 7075 aluminium dert in 2008, had straightforward designs. They all had organic shapes with reasonably high walls, primarily inspired by the Duncan Freehand, one of Russell’s favourite yo-yos of all time. Being the inquisitive machinist Russell is, he had most recently meddled around with more unique designs such as the Pop-A-dert, a bimetal design that can open beer bottles. He talks about it in a YouTube feature with Doc Pop below.
The standard dert shape essentially consists of a single arc at the catch zone and another arc in the hub joined with a straight line at the rims. Even the signature dert nipple is a simple cylindrical shape. The dert logo engraving on the nipple is the stock RomanS font from AutoCAD, a program both Russell and I are very familiar with.
From the start, we were in agreement that we would do a titanium yo-yo and to stick to the minimalist design philosophy of the dert series. Choosing which model to remake in titanium took us a while due to the number of models he had made, but we eventually settled on the mid-sized OG dert.
The OG dert design went through multiple iterations (Russell himself cannot even remember how many). The OG dert started as a 6061 aluminium, 52 mm, 58.5g yo-yo. After a few refinements, it became what Russell thought was the “best” version made out of 7075 aluminium, with a diameter of 53 mm and weighing 68g. The 7075 version was also the biggest run he had ever made. This 7075 version was the starting point of the titanium dert (which we affectionately call derti).
The response groove had to be modernised. We also felt that some weight reduction (we decided on about 63g) would make the yo-yo play better. It merely took me 5 minutes to thin down the walls of the 7075 dert CAD Russell sent me to arrive at the derti design. Fun fact: Russell had himself made a small run of 4 titanium versions of the dert back in the day, but it weighed 72g and is unacceptable by today’s standards.
We were extremely pleased with the prototypes and did not make any design changes to the production version. The resultant yo-yo plays in a sweet spot between floaty and solid. I would go further and say that is the best playing RSO to date. You would have to throw it to realise the beauty in its simplistic design.
Engraving on the 7075 aluminium dert.Engraving on the derti prototype. 3 prototypes were made.
THE ART OF EUPHEMISM
The customer base of RSO has always been slightly older. Both Russell and I wanted to do something more suggestive with the artwork for a more mature audience. We thought it was a fun idea to have a simple-looking yo-yo and artwork with mature innuendos, a play on the “derti” name.
There was only one person I had in mind to do the artwork – Jason Week. It took us a few weeks to brainstorm the different components of the artwork.
A box art look-n-find certificate comes with every derti – can you identify all of the words and their related art? Jason also added a few hidden “69s” in the artwork for good measure, so start hunting when you receive your yo-yo!
“The Rainier started with the idea of scaling up a Cascade and shifting the weight out to the rim and turned into a performance monster. It was one of our first “Dark Side” yo-yos and among our best performing models. It seemed natural 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). Given that 7075 is a heavier alloy, if we took the same design of a 6061 yo-yo and produced it in 7075, it would end up about 2.5 grams heavier. We have done this in the past and called it “GZR Edition”. Turns out to be not as interesting as Boosted because the weight distribution is the same so it plays very similarly. Changing the weight distribution is how to make the feel in play change which is why we do Boosted and not GZR when we make a 7075 version of a 6061 model.
The Rainier is optimized for rim weight at essentially the limits of 6061 alloy. We have a hard limit on what we consider the thinnest we can make the body. We can safely go thinner with 7075 alloy which is what we did: thinned out the body and added rim weight while maintaining the same profile shape. The result is a yoyo with considerably more rim weight, but a total weight of about .5 grams less (or about 3 grams less than if we just ran the same design in 7275 – see above). The Boosted Rainier is further into the Dark Side than the original. It’s even more of an extreme design.”
“The dance of a yoyo is like the graceful descent of a falling feather, delicate yet purposeful. It moves with a rhythm that mimics the wingbeats of a bird—each throw, each catch, a movement of intention, a call to the sky. Yoyoing, much like a bird’s mating dance, is a communication of passion, a form of expression that speaks without words, yet speaks volumes.
The Corvus: Named after the crow, a bird that symbolizes adaptability and intelligence, is built to dance with gravity, and to embrace the flow. The Corvus nods to the birds that soared before it, yet its design sings a new song. Think of it as nature’s hybrid vigor— blending lineage into something wholly
Featherspin Throws is a passion project born for the art of yoyoing. This is just a start, but if the way of the birds has taught us anything, it’s that every great journey begins with a single, powerful wingbeat.”
Initial colorways are:
“The Nest” – Brown Acid wash
“The Bird” – Lavender and Purple acid with grey Splatter
The success of the Mecha-Bapezilla made me contemplate whether I should make a more competitively priced aluminium version so that a broader range of players would be able to try an RSO. Sonny and I had initially planned for a Bapezilla 3, a 54mm diameter version of the Bapezilla, which was almost 4g lighter than its predecessor. They were made in both C and D bearing versions. About a dozen of prototypes were made, and most were given away to RSO collectors.
C bearing prototypes of the Bapezilla 3 were anodized in the standard green and blue. The D bearing ones were anodized pink and black, a tribute to the Anti-Yo Fluchs.
One D bearing Bapezilla 3 prototype was put up for auction at the Scales Collective Fund Raiser for Social Justice (courtesy of Sonny) and raised a whopping 700 USD. Not too shabby for a 6061 aluminium yo-yo! Sonny loved the prototype, but I did not feel it was interesting enough for an RSO release. My main gripe was its floaty play-feel and its shorter nipple, both of which are uncharacteristic of the Bapezilla. Unfortunately, the Bapezilla 3 never made it into production, although I have had some requests for it to be made.
The Bapezilla 3 prototype (it was “Untitled” at that time) grossed the second highest amount at the Fundraiser for Social Justice auction, only second to the Scales Edition Mecha-Bapezilla.
I wanted to retain the aluminium Bapezilla play-feel and retain its looks without replicating the Bapezilla 1 for 1. This ultimately led me to the End – Part II project. The End was essentially a modified Anti-Yo Eetsit. It was the brainchild of a boutique company, Yes, Absolutely (consisting of the duo Doc Pop and Phil Cox) and meticulously machined by Nick Corea. The Eetsit had its fair share of problems, which were rectified with the End modifications, but these, in turn, created a new set of issues. More on these later. Only 22 pieces of the End were made, of which 17 were put up for sale.
I approached Doc Pop at the beginning of this year, and he agreed to collaborate on our first Zoom call. The guys from Anti-Yo, Sonny Patrick and Kiya Babzani, graciously gave us their blessings for the project.
THE END OF ALL PROBLEMS
To explain the End – Part II’s design considerations, I would have to start from the Eetsit. The Eetsit had a critical design flaw. There was no wall separating the bearing from the pads, causing the string to occasionally slip between the bearing and the yo-yo half (Fig.1, pink arrow). Modern yo-yos have a wall adjacent to the bearing (Fig. 1, green arrow), which avoids this problem.
Fig. 1 Eetsit bearing seat on the left, with the pink arrow showing the point where the string tends to slip in. Modern yo-yo designs have a wall adjacent to the bearing (green arrow), preventing string slippage. CADs are not drawn to scale.
Players resorted to two methods to mitigate the problem of string slippage on the Eetsit. The first method involved sanding down the bearing seat (Fig 2, yellow boxes), allowing the bearing to sit deeper within its seat (Fig 2, red and green boxes for comparison), but resulted in a reduction in the gap and width of the yo-yo. The second method involved using thicker response pads which was a disaster for tricks requiring multiple string layers.
Fig. 2 Before and after sanding down the Eetsit bearing seat. The bearing seats deeper within the seat (red VS green rectangles).
Modifying the Eetsit to the End involved machining a completely new bearing seat. The bearing was sunk in, the material around the bearing seat removed, and concentric rings called Schmoove grooves added. The resultant yo-yo had a 1mm reduction in its width (from 40mm to 39mm). Although removing material around the bearing seat helped to compensate for the decrease in gap brought about by sinking the bearing deeper, it also made the walls at the catch zone slightly higher. These modifications completely solved the problem of string slippage because a wall was created adjacent to the bearing seat, akin to the bearing seats of modern designs (Fig 3). However, this created another fatal problem – the walls at the yo-yo hub were too thin. As a result, the End was not durable and could literally break with enough force, particularly around the nipple (Fig. 3, blue arrow).
Fig. 3 Addition of Schmoove rings to the Eetsit halves. This made the walls of the hub paper thin (blue arrow) and easily breakable.
The End had a couple of other problems. The surface had a very aggressive blast which increased the risk of string cutting. Nonetheless, I must concede that the blotchy finish on the OG was beautiful and full of character. Some of the numbers engraved on the nipple were also not central. I presume this was due to the difficulty in aligning the yo-yo with the laser machine.
Broken OG End #2. Notice the paper thin walls.Lopsided number engraving on Bryan Figueroa’s OG End #10.The only B grade End – Part II (Prelude) for sale, #32 with a lopsided number engraving.Although the OG End had a blotchy and rough finish, it was beautiful.
The approach I took for the End – Part II was to replicate precisely what Nick Corea did while making only bare minimum changes to the design, so as to avoid the problems of the OG yo-yo and retain its original play-feel. I thickened the walls of the hub slightly (it is still only about 0.8mm on the End- Part II, but a far more durable thickness). I wanted to keep the weight of the OG, so minimal weight was shaved off from the rest of the yo-yo body and added to the thickened hub. The unsightly machine lines at the rim were also cleaned up. The End – Part II is not identical to the original but plays extremely close to it.
A small batch of yo-yos was kept raw. These are polished to a mirror finish and look gorgeous. I hope to see some custom anodization done to these as a tribute to the bootleg nature of the OG run.
TRADEMARK SCHMOOVE GROOVES
Did you know the that Schmoove was spelt “Shmoove” without the “c” back in the day (see picture below)? Schmoove grooves are basically cuts in the catch zone adjacent to the bearing. These two recessed circles were a key component to The End design because they significantly reduced the surface area of string contact and friction with the high walls of the End. This was even more important with the narrower gap as a result of the modifications. The word SHMOOVE was engraved into the pad groove of the OG End.
Engraving on the End – Part II was more expensive than usual because I had explicitly requested that the machinist make two trips to the engraver. One to engrave the word SCHMOOVE, and one after assembly to engrave the external portion. This is to ensure that the external engravings on both halves will line up correctly.
An OG End prototype, still in the possession of Doc Pop today.Notice the spelling of “SHMOOVE” instead of “SCHMOOVE” on the OG End.An email dated 20 November 2007 from Nick Corea to Doc Pop, detailing the specifications of the Schmoove Grooves.
ART BY DOC POP, COLOR BY ATILA
The OG End was given its name simply because the Yes, Absolutely guys thought it was funny to release their very first yo-yo and call it “The End”. They had intended their next release to be called “The Middle” and a third yo-yo to be named “The Beginning”. The engraving on the OG End was inspired by the pixelated look of video games of that era.
For the End Part II, I wanted a cohesive theme between the art and engraving. The art concept I had come up with was a tongue in cheek reference to the modification process of the Eetsit, and the problems that came after it. As an owner of The End – Part II, looking at the box, it would feel like watching a movie of the Making of The End from start to finish. The cover art has an easter egg brilliantly included by Doc Pop – can you find it?
Can you find the names of Sonny, Kiya, Nick, Phil, Taka, Doc Pop and Elvin on the cover art?
I did not modify the shape of the rectangles of the engraving on the hub, but instead converted them subtly to film strips in keeping with the movie theme. The logo was inspired the album by The Doors of the same name. A bag of popcorn in the form of an enamel pin is included in the package for your enjoyment.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX
POPCORN ENAMEL PIN
A PAIR OF 19MM MAROON TYPE 40 LANDING PADS RESPONSE
CUSTOM STRING BY ARLEQUIN STRINGS
Sketch by Doc Pop.
The strings for the End – Part II were made by Arlequin (not his real name), an RSO collector from France. These are super fat strings composed of 33% polyester and 66% nylon. These are made to last longer than bulk polyester string and are equally suitable for both slacks and whips.
THE END – PART II (FINALE)
There is a massive demand for the End – Part II, and I have received countless messages on Instagram after it was announced.
People have asked – why did I make so few? I had initially ordered a much larger run of the End – Part II, but most of the run turned out to be B grade due to anodization. This was attributed to subpar 7068 aluminium bars. My machinist had graciously agreed to remake the rest of the batch. The B grade halves would be recycled.
As this is the first run of the End, it is called the Prelude.
I will be taking this opportunity to refine the End – Part II further. Expect subtle modifications to the Schmoove grooves and slightly rounder rims. I will still be engraving the numbers on the yo-yo for the second run, and they will also be made out of 7068 aluminium. The second run will be called the Finale.
If you are a big fan of the End, you have to own both runs even though their differences are subtle. If you miss out on a Prelude, don’t worry because there will be enough tickets to the Finale for everyone.
