“The MiJo saga continues…and this time it changes into a polycarbonate suit that brings on warmer weather vibes and new attitude for a totally different play.
El MiJo Polycarb retains essential elements of the original version of El MiJo like the functionality of interchanging the different types of bearings to experience different play styles that goes from wide unresponsive to slim fixed axle. It also maintains the same cup design and shape.
What is different?
At the moment of deciding to use polycarbonate, we knew some big changes had to happen to the OG design.
With the use of polycarbonate, we took advantage of the characteristics of this material and made El MiJo, unlike the previous versions, solid rather than hollow. By doing so, the width was reduced by approximately 5 mm and the weight by 3g., resulting in a slimmer, lighter and more pocketable throw, which we love!!
These changes made El MiJo Polycarb unique to its predecessors. It feels fast, snappy and very comfortable to hold and to carry.
Why the change?
We made this version of El MiJo as we wanted to have all the features of El MiJo but in a plastic throw. There is something about transparency and translucency that creates visual appeal in designs.
Transparency and translucency work together to achieve great optical effect. Using a translucent material can mimic smoke, fog, and clouds and creates a soft, dreamy effect.
We don’t know but for us, El MiJo Polycarb emanates summer vibes… you know, those long sunny days, chilling out and having your throw ready for whatever comes your way.
“We are hyped that El TiO is now part of our family of slim line throws. The time we took to design, test, make adjustments has paid off!
We confronted many challenges along the way due to the specific dimensions we wanted El TiO to have and to be aligned with El MiJo family and the difficulty to machine those specs with using titanium.
El TiO is the uncle of the El MiJo family (literally! Tio means uncle in Spanish).He is that favourite relative everyone loves to spend time with.”
“The dimension, shape and material of this throw adds the desired power we envisioned the Libero to have.
This time we were fully focused in utilizing aluminum 7075 to balance the weight along with the shape we wanted to have for this throw. The base of the shape of the Libero is a V shape which combined with tall rims creates a hybrid V-H shape. This combination makes the Libero fall in between the Basilisk and the Qi, but the result is surprisingly unique.
We tested a handful of prototypes to reach the weight distribution, performance and aesthetics we wanted to have for the Libero. We made the rim wider to move certain part of the rim weight away from the outer diameter. That way, the Libero ended up playing more nimble without compromising spin time and stability. We also wanted to have a wide catch zone to improve playability and land easier on the string.
Libero plays competitively due to its characteristics, weight and dimensions. Its stability and nimbleness makes the Libero easy to control and to perform combos quickly. It is also capable to play horizontally and its spin time is impressive.
“Janus Titanium (Ti Janus) is the variation of OG Janus.
Why titanium?
We maintaned all the elements from OG Janus to accomplish performance and design. This time, we wanted to use Titanium to take advantage of all the enhancements this material can bring to a throw. Titanium has a particular hardiness that allows reducing the thickness of the walls and bring weight to other areas to improve performance. The walls of the Ti Janus became now thinner but the shape and design we envisioned remains the same.
Another great benefit in using titanium in the Janus is the durabiity it will have at the moment of throwing it into your pocket or even at the moment of hitting a hard surface.
“This project is the result of many hours of work, trials, testing, R&D, and many other stuff that are probably missing in the number of things we explored while developing this project.
When developing this project we had one thing in mind: creating a yoyo with an interchangeable bearing seat to accommodate different bearing sizes and widths. We started playing around with few concepts to more or less understand if this idea could become in a potential project.
Having that feature in mind, we went ahead and prototyped this system with aluminum body material and with few different type of shapes just to have an idea about the possibilities in using this modular system.
By playing around with the design and the different prototypes, the idea of incorporating it into a wooden throw blew our minds as this would be the perfect candidate to also bring another element or functionality to the system: fixed axle.
Having the experience in designing El MiJo, we decided to also bring such versatility to this design and make this wooden throw capable to use fixed axle and ball bearings.
The concept finally started to have a better shape of what we were looking to accomplish originally. The Alebrije then was born.
Alebrijes are surreal creatures from an oneiric (dreaming) world conformed
by physical elements of different fantastical/mythical and real animals. The creatures typically have the four classical elements as part of them: earth, water, air and fire. Around that idea, we wanted a throw to have different elements such as: wood, aluminum, different bearing sizes and types.
One of the characteristics of alebrijes is their multicolour designs and the way we wanted to express that is by adding different colours to the bearing seats and to the outer caps to contrast the beautiful tones of the natural wood.
Due to the nature and characteristics of the wood, the process of making this throw required the utilization of CNC to accommodate the modular bearing seat system as precise as possible.
The effort and resources invested in this throw were out of our original scope but the final result was worth the effort.
We are planning to bring the Alebrije to life for Fixed Axle February. At this point we will be only able to accommodate approximately 50 units. More information about when and how to order will be available at our site, IG or by DM.
