“In 2012 we played around with a quite unique design for an under to mid-sized yoyo called the Phase. Eventually, we released a run of 30 yoyos in a cool soda blast grey that was unlike any finish we did at the time. After this limited run, no further Phase have been produced.
We decided to give this yoyo another go with slightly updated specs to reflect our design philosophy better. As an homage to the OG these 2023 Phase feature a very chalky blasted finish. We call the finish “Kreide”, German for chalk.”
Disclaimer: Please note that this Kreide-finish is not as resistant to scratches as traditional anodization. We recommend to throw the Phase with care when wearing rings or metal watches etc. to prevent undesired marks. The scratch shown here was caused by a titanium ring.
Prototype
The Phase’s prototype came out in August 2012 with a run of 10 yo-yos in a titanium colorway with a Candodize finish. The specs for this yo-yo are what were used for the first production run.
1st Run
30 Phases with a grey colorway and Soda Blast finish were made.
2nd Run
11 years after the initial release of the Phase, a new run of 32 yo-yos was released in white with a Kreide finish.
“The BIAS provides a classic overall profile without the use of a single curved contour. Lightweight, mid-sized and super smooth.”
Initial Run
The first run of the BIAS came out in August 2017. 20 Silver throws with a Polished finish were made.
2nd Run
In August of 2023 another run of 42 Pink BIASes were made with a Candodize finish. The weight of the yo-yo was increased to 65g. The response pads were also changed to 14x19x1.2 pads.
The Abyss started out as our first bi-metal yoyo in 2016 alongside the Prometheus. After the initial prototypes and the first run, we shifted our focus to the DR3I and eventually a full aluminum version – the AbysmAL. Both brought new design aspects to the general shape concept that we found to be very effective, both optically and playwise.
Bringing all these things together created the third iteration – the Golden Abyss.
Using a more rounded concave gap profile and anticone cup like the AbysmAL and the more delicate rim curves and brass rings like the DR3I, the Golden Abyss really turned out to be a revolutionary step from the original.
At 60 grams, the Golden Abyss glides through combos and lets the player relax and enjoy the easiness and smoothness. Thanks to the brass rims this does not come at the cost spin time or stability. Truly a yoyo to enjoy the time spent throwing.
Initial Run
The initial run of the Golden Abyss in October 2023 consisted of 20 Clear yo-yos and 20 Black.
“After successfully reviving some of our older designs we felt it was time to unleash something new and fresh for the ILYY line-up. Going through our models we realized there was no full-sized, medium width entry.
Full-size yoyos with a slimmer profile below 40mm always feel special when throwing them around. They ooze some kind of easiness and relaxing energy that wider yoyos usually lack.
It is named after a beloved German pastry, a jelly-donut without a center hole. Why? Simply because everyone who tried a Krapfen falls in love with it.
For our entry into this range we wanted something very ILYY-like that encapsulates our design language and philosophy in terms of playing style and understatement. We thus went with a very comfortable organic shape that inherits some of the Lio’s mojo but adds its own aesthetic style. We also decided this new yoyo should have a fade anodization, never seen before on an ILYY, but with grace and class. The Krapfen combines a fresh design with known and loved ILYY-aesthetics.
Weight was kept fairly low for the Krapfen at 62g due to the more compact design. It feels just right when throwing. With its beefy rims and carefully placed mass, the Krapfen is a great performer with plenty of spin time and power while still keeping the great feeling of easiness alive. We noticed a surprising effect when giving the Krapfen a few hours of undivided attention. It feels like becoming a standard issue of a yoyo. Something that would sit in an institute of standards. A yoyo that is used to compare bearings, pads etc.”
Initial Run
The initial run of the Krapfen came out in February 2023. 39 Red/Orange fade colorways with Soda Blasted finish were made.
2nd Run
The second run of the Krafen arrived in December 2023. This time 39 yo-yos were made with a Rosé/Blue fade and a Soda Blasted finish.
At ILYY, we do not necessarily follow the path of ever improving performance. Instead, our goal has always been to explore niches we haven’t touched before, regardless of performance. This led us to create yoyos like the Krapfen or the PYBIT, both by no means competition-oriented designs. Some of these considerations even became our standard at ILYY like the 4 mm gap width. Keeping true to this design philosophy of seeking untouched ground regardless of the outcome, there is one design niche we have not covered: a modern competition yoyo Being a competition-oriented design, it should reside above all other ILYYs in terms of raw capability, the usual limits and ideas left far behind, a true testament to power, stability and maneuverability.
This is the Numen.
All bi-metal ILYYs to this point featured an inner ring keeping the outer appearance of the yoyo undisturbed. While offering very slick and pleasing aesthetics, this is a compromise in terms of rim weight capabilities, as the ring cannot be placed in the outermost region of the body. The Numen’s performance-oriented concept clearly needed outer rings to benefit the most from the bi-metal construction.
In order to stay true to our slick and understatement design philosophy we gave the intersection area small radii to comfort the profile lines to a haptically and optically pleasing conjunction. Furthermore, we went with blasted and electroplated rings to take on the matte aesthetics of the blasted 7068 aluminum body resulting in a beautiful laid-back overall look.
On the inside, Numen also features a carefully designed transition between ring and cup. Aluminum and steel meet in the same beautiful way as on the outer profile rounding off the harmony-driven design concept.
7068 aluminum alloy allows for very thin material thickness down to (or even below) one millimeter. However, the Numen does not go that route. We purposely left the cup walls well beyond this thickness to further strengthen the overall construction and make the Numen more resistant to drops and undesired hits. The massive rims still provide a lot of inertia and give the Numen its immense power and stability.
Aside from the crazy PYBIT, Numen is our widest yoyo to date. It offers the widest catch-zone of all ILYYs. Its concave gap profile is derived from the Golden Abyss and expanded even more to enable fingergrinds like never before. Hitting even the most daring tricks is made possible thanks to the forgiving shape. The rims flatten out to allow for a nice hand feel.
Most of our line-up featured a 4 millimeter gap. We consider this gap width enough for most tricks and situations. This gap width also allows for snappy and tight binds of the entire lifetime of the response pads. For the Numen we increased to gap to 4.5 millimeters for maximum string layer capability. The Numen’s flush pad design retains tight binds and overall reliable response of smaller gap width yoyos.
The Numen features shorter bearing seats to allow for tool-less bearing swaps and maintenance. This yoyo is supposed to be played, bearing maintenance should not take away more time than necessary from play. Numen will not require any tools or pliers to access the bearing.
With the Abyss line we delved into the word of fingerspin yoyos using concave cup design. Even though perfect centering is possible with this construction it comes with a few drawbacks. Concave cup designs do not force the finger into the cup center, only really steep shapes may do so which come with other compromises in terms of mass placement. In addition (depending on the center of the cup) concave profiles are less stable to disturbances while fingerspinning.
The Numen solves theses drawbacks by introducing a convex cup design that mimics the concave outer profile. This pushes the finger right into the center area and keeps it there all the time. This strong push to the center allows the Numen to have a more traditional central hub without any dimples, anti-cones etc. Perfect centering is simply not needed with the Numen thanks to its convex inner cup design.
To further increase stability during fingerspins, the central cup features a small step as the transition from the concave profile to the center. These features make the Numen the best fingerspinning yoyo we ever made. Hitting the cup will ensure fingerspins no matter what. The traditional central cup design allows the Numen to use longer axles resulting in longer threads improving their durability. In combination with the shorter seats, risk of stripped threads is reduced to a minimum.
The Numen is without a doubt the best yoyo we ever made. It does everything any ILYY can but it does it a lot better. Longest spins, highest stability, widest catch-zone, best fingerspins, strongest (finger)grinds, easiest maintenance. If you want ‘maximum everything’ from ILYY, the Numen is for you.
Initial Run
The initial run of the Numen was released in February 2024 and was limited to 42 pieces in a Bronze/Black colorway with a Soda Blast finish.
