From Diverse Animals:
“The Disaster!! is the second yoyo from the homebrew brand Diverse Animals. Designed over four iterations for optimum stability and agility, the Disaster is actually the first yoyo that Diverse Animals conceived. Feel this unique yoyo dash between your hands, careening through tricks like one of those fancy-shmancy ‘trick yoyos.‘ Hand-machined Delrin halves, hand-machined aluminum spacers, flowable silicone response.”
From Diverse Animals:
“The Nano is the signature yo-yo of Patrick Condon. It is larger and heavier than most yo-yos on the market, but this mass has been carefully balanced. While not optimal for high speed technical play, the Nano excels with smooth, flowing playstyles.
Like all Diverse Animals yo-yos, the Nano is hand crafted. It is machined from Delrin, a low friction plastic, and sports the Diverse Animals aluminum SPR. The axle and threaded inserts are steel. Because of the handcrafted nature, colors may vary.”
From One Drop:
“The Artifact is a collaboration with our long time friend Alex Whitney, formerly with Yoyocommunity.
Here is Alex’s description:
“I’m proud to introduce the Artifact, One Drop’s first small-bearing yo-yo.
The Artifact was originally released as a collaboration between myself and Yoyocommunity in 2013, taking inspiration from Japanese designs of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Back in 2013, small-bearing yo-yos were less common than they are now (which considering that they’re still uncommon nowadays says quite a lot); this made the Artifact incredibly unique for the time but also presented its challenges. There was no standardized response pad for a small bearing yo-yo, and overall yo-yo manufacturing and design quality hadn’t quite reached the levels it has today. I’ve always felt this design could achieve more, which ultimately left the project feeling incomplete for the past 12 years.
Small-bearing yo-yos have a unique feel on the string compared to the industry standard Size C bearing which makes them quite enchanting to play with. Because the bearing diameter is smaller, the string will actually wrap around the yo-yo more times when you wind it up. This means when you throw it, the yo-yo is going to spin faster, and you’ll be able to bind even at low RPMs. The difference in play is simultaneously subtle and striking and makes for a refreshing change compared to many of today’s other models.
I approached One Drop — who live 1.5 hours South of where I grew up and have watched me go from an awkward teenager to a full-fledged adult over the last decade — about releasing an updated version of the design built to modern standards. Something that could go toe-to-toe with today’s designs performance-wise while maintaining the small bearing size. Suffice it to say, I was absolutely ecstatic when they agreed to partner on this project! Building from an unreleased prototype from before Yoyocommunity shut down, we aimed to stay true to the original design and kept the V-shape profile, mid-step rim, and of course the Size D bearing. We tweaked the hub design, increased the diameter slightly, boosted the alloy to 7075, lowered the weight, and fitted it with new response pads from our friends over at Freshly Dirty.
The end result is one of my favorite playing yo-yos ever. I hope that this yo-yo sparks a newfound sense of wonder and adventure in your tricks, and can show people what a small-bearing yo-yo is truly capable of. Much like the name suggests, the Artifact is a true gem, and I’m excited to get it into everyone’s hands!”“
From One Drop:
“The name means “Dark Side – 6061”. This was the internal working name during development and prototyping. We like that it sounds like an 80’s sportbike (ZX6R and that kind of thing) and the wonderful artwork by Clifton reflects this. 6061 is obviously for the aluminum alloy but what is the Dark Side?
This is going to be a little peek behind the scenes. Our good friend and resident PhD physicist, Dirty Birdy, has been doing a deep dive into yoyo physics. He’s actually mapped out every yo-yo we’ve made into a kind of 3D space called the “One Drop Yo-Yo Universe” which reflects certain physics characteristics. In the middle of the map is what he calls the Vibe Zone. If a given yoyo model maps inside the Vibe Zone, then it will likely have some design vibration (sometimes known as “pulse vibe”) – this is vibe caused by the design and not the manufacturing. As models land further away from the zone on either side, they become less likely to have design vibration. We call the right side of the Wall the “Light Side” and the left side the “Dark Side”. Dirty Birdy called it the Dark Side because we had explored it less until we had a deeper understanding of its potential. The math is complicated but generally speaking the more weight a model has away from the center, along the axle, the further to the left it will end up in the Yo-Yo Universe.
As a point of interest, this whole thing started many years ago when Dirty Birdy wanted to see if he could map out the physics of seemingly subjective play characteristics like “floaty”. He gathered data of what yo-yo models were considered “floaty” and then tried to see if there was something in the physics tying them all together. While that work continues, things progressed into the current implementation of the Vibe Zone, Light Side, Dark Side, and other cool stuff.
Recently we’ve been exploring the Dark Side and designing models to intentionally land there. The ThruLine and the 54 Gen 2 were both like this. The DS-61 moves as far into the Dark Side as we can within the limits of 6061 alloy, mono-metal, and sub 57mm diameter(our standard material size). We used our thin pads and an 8mm axle to reduce as much center weight as possible. It ended up being much further left into the Dark Side than any other model we’ve done before.
We think it looks cool, and in play it has amazing spin time, stability, and agility – much like a sportbike.”
From Sengoku:
“The first monometal model with M-shaped design.
Following in the footsteps of the Samurai and Shinobi, this is the first monometal model with an M-shaped design from Sengoku.
By extending the body width far beyond the effective width, the weight is positioned away from the center, achieving high stability. Even when the spin weakens, it maintains its posture until the very end of your throw. You can feel the hard and sharp playfeel for a long time, making you want to move it in various directions.
The special surface treatment also creates a distinctive tactile sensation unlike any other.”
