“This project started with a simple concept: what if we made a yo-yo that had the exact same width and diameter? A yo-yo that was square in it’s proportions. 53 x 53mm to be exact.
This proportion makes the yo-yo really wide. On average these days, the width tends to be 70% – 80% of the diameter. A very average example is the SK at 75%. On the wide side, the Sugar Glider comes in at 84%. And on the narrow end, the Deep State is 50%.
What is really interesting is that if you just look at the 1to1, the width appears to be a bigger dimension than the diameter. It’s almost like an optical illusion. Put two of them next to each other, one standing up (see photo), and you can see that those dimensions are exactly the same.
In play, it’s very stable and has a huge catch zone which inspires confidence. The spin time is surprisingly long. It feels different.
Ships with Ultra Light Side Effects and starts at $59 for solids.”
“In Terraria, you need to kill the Moonlord to have a chance to get a Terrarian yo-yo. That chance is exactly 11.11%, repeating of course. It’s the best weapon in the game, and the best version is the one that rolls with the “Godly” modifier.
We are still waiting for details, but the Terrarian might be unseated as the best weapon in the game by the Legendary Terrarian. Keep an eye out for announcements from Re-Logic on that.
And as is now tradition, the Legendary Terrarian is also coming to the real world. We are using the same technique as we did on the Seven Summits and the Kuntosh 5000QV: the Legendary Terrarian is made from 7075 aluminum alloy (the original is 6061) and the weight distribution is changed so the total weight is less than the original, even though 7075 is more dense (weighs more). What that means is it looks the same to your eye in play as the original, but it feels totally different. You will notice the visual changes in the cup. This procedure is now known as “Boosted”.
“The Sugar Glider can be best understood with some background story on the Cascade.
We released the Cascade in July of 2012.
Prototype #1 was known internally as “The Wing”. It was certainly really different for the time and there was disagreement about how to proceed because we didn’t know it was good enough to release. Some team members were showing it off at Pacific Northwest Regionals that year and some really took a liking to it. For some reason that no one can remember they started calling it the “Glider King” and the name stuck. We initially decided to scrap the project entirely, but then chose to make a big revision and see what happened.
Prototype #2 was known internally as known “The Glider” and it had changed considerably from the first version.
Prototype #3 had some small tweaks and refinements suggested by Markmont and this is what was released as the Cascade.
Because the Glider King was well loved and lost to history as a cool early prototype, we decided we might be able finish this yo-yo as it was intended and came up with the Sugar Glider. The profile shape and the overall size are pretty similar to the original but with some important changes:
*We added some Projection Profile grooves on the lower part of the catch zone *We removed Side Effects to put in an almost flat hub *Weight distribution change to improve the spin time and feel
“It’s always intriguing to make a signature yo-yo. We always invite the player to contribute as much as possible to the design so that this important moment for them is the best it can be. A good measure of success is if the yo-yo is a reflection of the person. Ethan Cheung is a player on our team who is focused on competitive yo-yoing, but he doesn’t sacrifice any artistry in this pursuit. This rare combination makes Ethan stand out.
If you watch Ethan Cheung’s performance at Worlds 2018 in Shanghai you will notice precision, artistry, clarity, mastery. If you look at his signature yo-yo, the Virtuoso, you will notice the same characteristics. The 7075 aluminum alloy design is very focused towards function as a hard core competitive yo-yo with all the performance you would expect. If you look closely, you’ll also see the artistry with the clean flowing lines, the minimalist cup, the light bead blast, and the beautiful “projection profile” on the face of the rim giving a small nod to our first yo-yo, the Project.
Ethan explains his thought process on designing his signature yo-yo:
‘At a glance, the design is reminiscent of the Format:C: which was the yoyo that allowed me to push my own boundaries and place 10th at Worlds in Iceland. But if you look more closely, you’ll notice the grooves on the rim – a tribute to the original Project and the roots of One Drop. For this signature model, I wanted a yoyo that would allow me to explore more styles of movement, that complements any style of play thrown at it. It is this balance of comfort and performance, of minimalism and detail, that makes us proud to present: the Virtuoso.'”
“The Par Avion is a very big yo-yo. The biggest we have ever made. But that’s not where it’s name came from.
It’s not easy trying to describe the subtle differences of how different yo-yos feel in play. There is some good evidence that some (not all) of how players perceive these differences is subjective. We have released over 50 different models in our history and it’s clear for each one that some people like it and some don’t. It’s clear that there are various choices for what people consider to be their favorite One Drop. There is this phenomenon where whatever yo-yo you have been playing will affect how you perceive another one. It’s probably because your muscles and your feel are all adjusted to a particular yo-yo and so you try a different one and it feels strange – you need time to adapt. This phenomenon shows how even the same person will perceive the same yo-yo in different ways depending on when they throw it. Finally, it’s difficult to get agreement on the use of terms that are used to describe yo-yo play and a solid definition of what those terms mean. We have a worked with a PhD Physicist (hi, Dirty Birdy) in trying to quantify these terms but it’s a difficult task because there is no universal agreement of when and where the terms apply.
For this reason, we tend to shy away from describing how a yoyo plays in our product descriptions. We do it sometimes and to some degree, but mostly we feel it’s better if players decide for themselves.
One of the common terms used is “Floaty”. Clearly, a yo-yo can’t float. So what does “floaty” mean? Generally it seems that the term refers to the yo-yo having a lightness of feeling but not necessarily that it simply is light on the scale. It’s likely that the weight distribution plays a big role in creating this feeling. Some have described it as being easy to change the direction of the yo-yo. And there are other possible meanings.
“Par Avion” means “By Airplane” or “By Air Mail”. We chose this name because this yo-yo feels floaty to us and we just liked the sound of it too. Will it feel floaty to you? It may or may not and it will be interesting to see. The Par Avion started it’s design life as us wanting to make the biggest diameter yo-yo we could (as limited by the size of material we can put through our machine) – 62.5mm. We had also been making a lot of organic yo-yos so we thought it would be cool if there was an angular-ness to it. We weren’t sure how well it would play being so big but so far everyone who tries is really surprised – it plays fantastic. It’s fast, agile, and dare we say it, floaty. There we go using terms. But man, this yo-yo is surprising.
We were so impressed with the play that we named it for that. We have only done this twice before: Format:C and Downbeat.
We are looking forward to hearing how you describe the Par Avion in action.”
