Opinion: 7yoyodesign arc

7yoyodesign is a new company from China, and the first product from them, is called the arc. Not using capital letter for the name as requested by Zhang, as to not to confuse with a previous yoyo he did.

So 7yoyodesign is out to be different, in short, in my interpretation:

They feel that makers have been focusing too much on performance when producing a yoyo, they neglect the feeling a player gets when you're throwing, or just simply holding it. They want to produce a yoyo that is great in not just performance, but also comfortable to hold.
What you'll see in their product, for instance the color, will be black, white, and green.
Also, gone are the rigid, complicated shape and weight rings.

When I chatted with Zhang, he mentioned that they're creating something that give players the first hand experience of "UltraFeels". How I would explain this is, it's like... wearing a shoe but feeling like it's not there. You'll be playing the yoyo with such ease.

Now I was already wondering what to expect of this yoyo, that was a couple days ago.
And this morning I got a surprise package, opened it and this is what I received.
Take a look at the unboxing video from another entry. In my opinion of course, I think it look really nice. I thought it look pretty okay from the pictures, but I really like what I got in the mail. immediately snapping pictures for Facebook and Instagram, put on the string that came with it, which I think was a Kitty String Fat, and give it some throws. I really like it, ALOT.

Now the specs before I move on, 54.1mm diameter,  43.1mm width, and 64.1g in weight.
First feel I get from it, because of the shape, it actually feels a little bit smaller than it actually is, rather comfortable to hold. The weight is alright, it doesn't feel heavy or light, somewhere in between, I would say, feels like a 65-66 when you hold it, feels like a 64 while spinning, and it spins really long, and smooth. Vibeless smooth. No vibe on both string hold and the finger test. The arc handles everything I threw at it, I still can't do horizontal stuff so yea, but I think this thing can handle it well. I'm still a starter at finger spin, so I attempted, and I do think that it's really possible for players who are real good at it.

Now I can't really say it feels "tranparent" when I was playing with the arc, "transparent" is a term 7yoyodesign used to describe the feel that "UltraFeels" is refering to, but what I felt might be it.
All in all, I would really say the arc is a really nice yoyo, competition level, leisure too, something worth throwing. I haven't switch between throws today ever since I got it.

Now, 7yoyodesign just release this yoyo, I think, yesterday, in China. It might be in some good online stores, or you could get it straight from Zhang. The 7yoyodesign arc will cost you about 129USD, sans the shipping. You can contact Zhang at yuukimicky@163.com, which is also his PayPal address for the time being. But it's best you check with him through the email.

If any of you have got a different opinion of this yoyo, do feel free to comment to this entry!

Jason Lee - China

Seven Swords Yoyo

I was browsing through some auction site and came upon these yoyos made in China, they're all from the same maker, if I actually get it right, Seven Swords is the name of the maker. I'm not translating the yoyo's name though, as not to confuse people who are gonna search for the yoyo and get wrong info instead. So here are the pictures.

Diameter: 49mm

Width: 40mm
Weight: 62g

Here's another that comes in two versions.

this one is a side by side comparison with the first yoyo.

and here's a special edition of some sort I think, which I kind of dig.

 Diameter: 51mm

Width: 38mm
Weight: 64g

Here's another one with two versions. First, the normal edition, supposingly.

And then there's the Dragon edition.

 Diameter: 52mm

Width: 40mm
Weight: 66g

Not much info except for the Specs, anyone fill me in with info if you know of any?

Opinion: Shuang Huan Sniper

My first impression when I saw this is, it looks like the C3YoyoDesign Darkstar, which is one of my favorite yoyos. However It does not play like one.

I don't have the specs for it, but it feels a little bit over size, like a slightly bigger Darkstar, when you hold it in the hand. Feels maybe like a 67-68g yoyo, it didn't felt like it when you hold it, but kind of feel so when you start playing. The bearing seat aren't too tight, you can take apart easily, and also the bearing can be removed easily.

 First of all, I would like to say I kind of like this yoyo, but like I say, I have a different liking to yoyos compare to most. The Sniper has a pretty wide catch zone, from the way it's design and the way it feels during play, I would say the weight's made to be distributed to the outside. I think it feels a little floaty, which is probably why I like it, it does not feels very solid. On a string hold test, it does have that wee bit slight roughness, finger test however, feels fine, could be just me. The grinds weren't great, normal I would say. Horizontal like always, I'm not sure man, apologies on that, my horizontal suck. However, the Sniper's got this IRG-ish lip thing on the inner rim, that may be possible to do IRG stuffs though, but I failed to do so. Once again, I would say it feels like an oversized Darkstar in the hand, but does not play like one at all. Like most yoyos I've tried, it handles stuff I threw at it, actually, which yoyos nowadays don't? probably just a matter of whether you like how it felt when doing the tricks. I would say I'm comfortable with it, I would compete with it. But it's always better to try it out yourself, maybe if this yoyo is released under a different brand name, it would have gotten better impressions by other players.

2013 Shen Zhen City Yoyo Contest

More freestyles here!

Winter Holiday 2012

C3yoyodesign presents: Team C3yoyodesign China - C3 Chapter

Opinions: TopYoNation Mercury, Mercury L, & Paladin

Like I mentioned in the opinion on TopYo Earth entry, I'll be talking about these 3 TopYo yoyos in one entry. My school re-opens next week and I'm afraid I won't have time again, so here goes.

TopYo yoyos are yoyo I would really recommend to players, because like I mentioned, they're really great yoyos, if you play with them blindfolded, or maybe, without telling you the brand and without any logos on it, you probably won't know it's from China. China yoyo makers are really stepping up their game, their yoyos are getting better and better.

Before I move on, all the TopYo yoyos I've received came with their own 10-ball concave bearing, and what seems like the CBC response pad. More photos~

TopYo Mercury.

Specs: 54.11mm diameter, 42.64mm width, 66.3g.

I love the Earth, but I dig the Mercury too, it is really nice to play with.

The Mercury is just a little smaller in diameter than the Earth, in fact the shape's very similar, while the Earth's shape have a more rounded outline, the Mercury have a straighter cut. And even though the diameter difference is very little, when hold in the palm, you feel the difference.

On a string hold test, there is no single vibe, finger test is very smooth, in fact I've dinged it a couple times, it does not affect the play and smooth one bit, bearing haven't lock up on me yet. The bind is tight. The bearing seat is snug, not too tight, bearing can be removed with a regular bearing removal tool, I used a C3's. The one I got is a CYCC2012 edition with raw surface, but these days grinding wasn't much of an issue for me, but if you gonna get one, it's probably gonna be anodized, so the grinding should be better. The Mercury is very stable and provide very long spins, regular stuff like combos, slacks, and whip are great too, it's fast and smooth on the string, within fusion combos, and not snaggy, so far it hasn't tilt on me throughout a combo just yet. Horizontal did not seem like an issue to the reps. 

I would say if you like the feel of the Earth, but you prefer something slightly smaller but not too undersized, do try the Mercury!

TopYo Mercury L.

Specs: 58.66mm diameter, 44.55mm width, 67.4g.

The Mercury L is a larger version of the Mercury, thus the L I guess? I'm not really sure if that's the reason though. But they don't really feel the same in terms of play, the Mercury L is just a little larger than the Earth by about 1mm in diameter, but nearly 2-3mm larger than the Mercury, definitely a difference when holding it. And the shape's kind of different, even though they're the same yoyo with different size. Look at the photos below.

From the last photo above, you can see clearly, the shape outline of the two yoyo, while the Mercury(right) have a slight step or H-profile on the inner catch zone, the Mercury L almost have a straight cut all the way to the wall. The Mercury L, although still as smooth, in my opinion, does feel a tad different from the Mercury and Earth, and for an oversized yoyo, it feels really nice to play with, in fact, it does not really feel like an oversized when played.

On a string hold test, the Mercury L does not vibe, WeiXuan accidentally ding it pretty hard on the ground while filming, leaving pretty deep scratch, but still, it didn't vibe, finger test was still smooth, doesn't feel a tad bit of vibe on the yoyo. Bind is tight, with the same response and bearing. The Mercury L I got is a orange anodized one, however, it's different from the Earth which have a more beadblasted feeling to it. Most oversized yoyo have a slight throw-back feeling, but the Mercury L does not have this feeling, at least I didn't get that feeling when I play. If you get this feeling do leave in the comment section for the benefit of those who might want to get one. The Mercury L provide very long spins and definitely stable, it doesn't tilt when played fast, very sturdy on the string, combos, slacks and whips are all fun and nice, it's smooth and fast within the strings during combos, and even though oversized, it can still be played fast, maybe because of the 67g weight, I think it's considered light for a oversized yoyo in my opinion. Like mentioned it does not play/feel like an oversized yoyo, in fact I think it'll be a pretty neat competing yoyo, of course I would choose the Earth over it any time though, but that's just me, do try out the Mercury L if you have the chance!

TopYo not only have the regular and oversized yoyo, they also have an undersized one, the Paladin.

More photos.

TopYo Paladin.

Specs: 51.54mm diameter, 41mm width, 66.6g.

On first look, it looks exactly the same like the Mercury, but that's because of the raw finish and shape, the shape's very similar to the Mercury, but have a wider/longer inner catch-zone, the slight H-profile in another words, it also have this small step wall that the Earth, Mercury and Mercury L does not sport, also, the Paladin have very thick rims compared to the three other TopYo yoyos, probably to compensate for its weight and size.

I usually dig undersized yoyo, I like the YYF 07 888, the Messiah, the DreamYo/Macau Man, the Adegle Glaze, etc, but even though the Paladin is nice to play with, I don't dig it that much. Even though, I still find the shape nice to hold, because it's not the sharp edged shape, but a more rounded one which is comfortable.

So this one haven't really been dinged yet, on a string hold, it does not vibe either, finger test is fine too.

Bearing seat on this is snug, very easily removed with a bearing removal tool.

Even though undersized, with thick rims, at 66.5g, it doesn't feel heavy on the palm. The bind isn't tight like the other TopYo, it can be slippy at times, the response pad does not seem recessed, however, the string gap does seems a wee bit wider than the other TopYo, but it could be due to the size and shape that's causing that visual error, I'm not too sure, I can't find any measurements anywhere.

The Paladin, even though undersized, provide pretty long, powerful spins, probably due to the huge rims, however, I feel the stability isn't as good as the other TopYo, it tilts when played fast, for me.

Other regular stuff like string/fusion combos isn't much of an issue due to the relatively wide catch zone, it helps on front style tricks too. Reps tried horizontal tricks and it was achievable. Like the Mercury, the Paladin I got is a CYCC edition that is raw, which is mentioned from the beginning in this article of the Paladin, so the grinding surface probably won't be as good as compared to anodized one. I mentioned that I don't dig this as much, because of the bind, it's not tight enough for me, but do give it a try if you get to, you may like it.

Overall, I would really recommend, again, TopYo yoyos to players, once again, no discrimination here, but most of us know there's this feeling a China made yoyo gives us, and TopYo does not have that, they're definitely great yoyos in my opinion and you guys should give them a try, in the near future, I believe the term "China made" yoyos won't be used often, because of the rapid mass improvement of their yoyos.

Do leave your opinion on any of these yoyos in the comment section if you've tried them before, but have a different opinion to mine, for the benefit of those who may be wanting to get any of these yoyos.