Format:C Gen 2 Recessed Cup Proto
The proto before the final release of the Format:C Gen 2. It’s slightly heavier, and the cup is stepped down.
Only 8 units were made.
Fluke
From Freshly Dirty:
“The Fluke is the signature yo-yo of our very own Wes Shuck. It is his ideal design for laid back everyday use, while still retaining a spirit of creativity and flow. The design is entirely the vision of Wes, with the original prototype even being hand produced with Wes’s assistance back in 2018 in his home state of Michigan. The Fluke comes in 2 versions, a blasted and a brushed finish. The blasted version features a split beadblast along our signature “sight lines” in the gap to minimize string wear and provide a nice visual contrast both inside and outside of the sight line.”
Johnny Scrabble Edition
From Wes:
“Living in Boston you find many strange things and meet many different people. My journey to the national yoyo contest started after work, traveling through the millions of people downtown for the Celtics parade after their championship win this year. I eventually made it on the bus heading to Philly and sat next to this wonderful man named Johnny Scrabble!!
He’s a Philly native whose love for the Celtics runs so deep he had to be in Boston for the parade (decked out in the sickest Celtics merch). He has the name Johnny Scrabble because he teaches students across Philadelphia how to play Scrabble, working on improving literacy within the public school system by creating an after-school activity for kids to learn and hang out together.
After having great conversations that lasted our whole ride to Philly we parted ways at the bus stop, and my national yoyo experience was off to a wonderful start! Johnny’s selfless service to his community and passion for his mission impacted me and the entirety of the Freshly Dirty team with whom I shared his story. We decided to make a special edition color after him — spreading the news of his great work! -Wes
To learn more about Johnny here’s a link to a bio of him and his work. https://phillyasap.org/asap-hero-highlight-johnny-scrabble/“
Dingo Gen 2
From One Drop:
“Oh my. Where does the time go? The original Dingo was first released in November of 2009, when we were just 2 years into making yo-yos and this was our 5th model. We’ve now made 95 models (more if you count all the Benchmarks and an extra one for the Perspective).
The original Dingo was a pocket size mini that played well and spun a long time. It had the round pressed nut axle system that we were using at the time. We did a few runs like that. In October of 2014 we released one more run but we replaced the pressed nut with a tap-through axle. And that was that.
It’s now been 10 years since we made any Dingos and in recent years we have been getting lots of requests to make more. The Dingo enjoys lots of love out there (we appreciate you). Once we decided to go ahead with doing more, it seemed clear that updating the design was the play.
The diameter is the same as the original: 46mm. We stayed with a tapped axle but changed the cup to have a flat floor. This allowed us to use the awesome Dingo stamp in the middle of the hub rather than off to the side. We then opened up the catch zone by smoothing out the curve and increasing the width a bit to make it easier to play and have more room for string wraps. Finally, we reduced the weight down to 57.8 grams (the original was a hefty 63 grams) to bring the weight into proportion with the small size. It feels more well rounded and modern now but still has the same pocket size mini charm.”
Rainier
From One Drop:
“The Rainier is the biggest mountain in the Cascade range.
This yo-yo started as a simple idea: What if we took a Cascade, scaled it up, and shifted all the weight to the rims? We used that as the starting point and then refined the design to end up with what could be argued as our best performing yo-yo to date.
More specifically we scaled up the diameter to 56.4mm and the width scaled up to 48.4mm in keeping the same proportions as the Cascade. The Cascade has a ring of weight down in the cup. We got rid of that and thinned out the profile as much as possible and put all the weight out at the rims.
In play, it gives you a feeling of confidence because it feels so stable and spins for a long time. However, when you want to speed up or change direction, it feels really nimble. Team member, Lukáš, from Hungary, is going to be using the Rainier as his primary competition yo-yo.”
Wyvern – Boosted
From One Drop:
“Team member Andrew Daugherty was also a long time employee (the longest) at One Drop. If you bought a yo-yo from us in the last 12 years, it’s likely Andrew helped make it. If you came to our shop to take a tour you probably met him. His impact here and to the yo-yo community is substantial. We miss having him here on the daily, but we are blessed to be friends and to have him on our team.
The Wyvern is his signature yo-yo and it was made from 6061 alloy aluminum. Whenever a yo-yo is made from 6061 alloy that gives us the possible opportunity 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).
The boosted Wyvern was the last yo-yo that Andrew helped build, leaving us all with this final gift including the box art of the original and now the Boosted version. It sits at 63.5 grams overall weight (2 grams lighter than the Wyvern) and you can definitely feel that in play – it’s faster and has MORE spin inertia than the original. It has a small but distinctive change to the look of the hub so you can easily tell if it’s a Boosted version. The rest of the changes you can’t see are on the inside: weight shifted out towards the rim with a thinner wall (7075 is stronger and allows for a thinner wall). It’s always interesting to throw two yo-yos that feel the same in the hand, but feel vastly different in play.”
