One Drop CODE1 Prototype – My thoughts.

So, unless you guys have had your head buried in the sand for the last few weeks and months, you’re probably aware of the One Drop CODE1, the upcoming yoyo from One Drop which has been designed almost entirely by our very own message board.

Well, since YoYoNation will be exclusively retailing the CODE1 when it drops, David at One Drop was kind enough to send me a Prototype to test for myself.

First, let me talk a little about my One Drop pedigree so you know where i’m coming from, I’m a big fan of the OG Project and the MarkMont, i didn’t get along with the M1 or the Dingo, the Y-Factor and the MMN both fell into the category of nice yoyos – but not something i’d play with over other stuff, and i absolutely love the 54.

With all that said, i was extremely interested to see how the project of letting the community design One Drop’s new yoyo would turn out. Would the wisdom of crowds prevail or would too many cooks spoil the broth?

Well, my initial impression is that the CODE1 is One Drop’s best yoyo to date by modern competition standards. What do i mean by that? Well, all of One Drop’s previous offerings have been excellent, smooth, long spinning, unresponsive yoyos built for the modern age. But the CODE1 defeats them all in one important factor, high speed stability. In a pressure situation such as a contest freestyle you do not want to worry about your yoyo falling over, or spinning off plane. The CODE1 copes with this pressure as well as anything i’ve played, powering through tricks with consummate ease and poise.

So what else is there to say? The CODE1′s shape offers up a few nice advantages, one being grinds. Because of the shape, grinds on a small surface such as a finger are excellent because of the wide catch zone your finger can lock into, but grinds on flatter surfaces such as a palm or arm work equally well because of the slightly flattened rims providing an ample surface area.

Of course the one thing you could always rely on is the machine quality, regardless of the specs created by the message board, One Drop’s machinists know what they’re doing and as you would expect they have created a smooth spinning, vibe-free yoyo. This goes hand in hand with the weight of the yoyo to create a very pleasant experience, some lighter yoyos that are top-drawer smooth offer a slightly disconnected feeling during play, however the weight and power of the CODE1 means that the yoyo retains a presence during play that i very much appreciate.

Other than that, i think you can fill in the gaps, nice wide string gap, 10 Ball Bearing – an industry favourite and sure to show up in some mouth watering colours. If you want one of these, and why wouldn’t you? Be sure to keep your eyes peeled as even though we’re receiving a large number of these, we expect them to go fast.

Big thanks go to David for creating the project and to the YoYoNation community for creating a great yoyo!

Who IS this Ryan? He plays with yoyos!

He plays with yo-yos?

Ryan, if you’re reading this, let us know who you are!

EYYC Wrap Up.

Only one possible place to start, a huge thank you and congratulations to Korda, Sheda the Czech Yo-Yo association and everyone involved with the running of the event for an absolutely immaculate contest. I don’t know what the plans are for the future of the contest, but if it doesn’t go on tour I, for one, would be happy to return to Prague year on year.

So, the contest! First of all, i have to talk about Vashek Kroutil and his 1A winning performance. I was totally shocked to see the level of adoration and hype that Vashek generates in his home country as well as the rock star he transforms into when he takes the stage. Off stage, he’s a pretty quiet, super nice guy, on stage he undergoes an instant metamorphosis. He owned the stage from start to finish and i can’t say enough good things about his performance.

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US Nationals less than a week away.

US Nationals is right around the corner. I don’t know about anyone else, but i’m excited!

With the emergence of the “new guard” at Worlds this year, the 1A title looks to be more open than ever before. Can new kids on the block Anthony Rojas and Chris Frasier put up a a serious challenge to the likes of Yuuki Spencer and Sebastian Brock? Will Augie finally come good? What about Tyler Severance’s ever improving 1A? Or can John Chow put together the sort of top level freestyle that we know he has in him.

5A looks to be a straight up battle once again between Miggy and Tyler, unless Samm or JonRob can take their stuff to a new level or Sterling can recapture past glories. The standard however, is sure to be higher than ever before.

You can view the list of registered competitors Here. Thoughts on who will win 2A, 3A or 4A? Disagree with me on 1A or 5A? Let us know in the comments section!

Worlds Finals – Good news for National Contests?

A thought just occurred to me. While many people were disappointed with the Worlds Finals Line Up In the long term, will this years results improve the standard at US Nationals, Regionals and contests around the world?

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