3Yo3 Cloud9 By Chris Rhoads
08/ 19/09

Introduction
This is a rare treat for us here at High Speed YoYo. Brett and I rarely get to give our thoughts on the same yo-yo, and lets be honest here the Cloud 9 is a Cosmo. The only difference between the two is that the Cloud 9 has a bead blast finish to it, giving a frosted glass appearance. Other than that, it has all the same pluses and minuses that the original Cosmo had. Does this new finish give the Cloud 9 a silver lining?

Specs
Diameter: 53.3 mm
Width: 38.1 mm
Weight: 66 grams
Bearing: C-Size
Response: Recessed Silicone

Look and Feel
Unpacking the yo-yo made me a little giddy. I had run across pictures of a bead blasted Cosmo on one of the forums when the original was released and I thought it looked ten times better. I have always loved the look of frosted glass. First thing I did was take the Cloud 9 outside to throw in the sunlight. All I can say is WOW! The frosted finish catches the light and makes the Cloud 9 glow in the daylight. I was so impressed by the look when it hit the sunlight that I misjudged a hop and took an acrylic headshot right above the widow’s peak.

The yo-yo is very well constructed. I could not find a single machine line or tool mark on the surface. The only detractor from the outside finish is the setscrew in the outer wall. I would have preferred it if the axle holes were drilled a little shallow and did not go through the acrylic. The setscrews take away from the aesthetic of the yo-yo.

Weight
The Cloud 9 comes in at a nice 66 grams, right at the low end of what I look for in a yo-yo. Not too light for my tastes. The rub here is that all of the weight is in the center of the yo-yo, it is extremely center weighted. The upside of this is that the Cloud 9 is extremely stable. The down side is that the spin times suffer. I found that unless I threw an extra hard breakaway, it would spin out during a McBride Rollercoaster. It isn’t the end of the world but it does need to be mentioned. Landon is working on a metal weight ring system that can be applied to future Cosmos. This should give it the spin it needs while maintaining that incredible stability.

Response and Bearing
The Cosmo line comes with a flowable silicone response that usually comes with clear silicone applied. If you order directly from 3YO3, you can request red silicone instead. My advice, stick with clear flowable if you get a clear Cosmo or a Cloud 9. The red will show through and take away from the appearance. The flowable does a nice job of giving snappy binds while maintaining a great, unresponsive feel.

The bearing I received with the Cloud 9 was defective. It feels like there is something caught on one of the balls causing it to lose spin and make funny noises. No amount of cleaning would solve the problem. This is not a ding on 3YO3, Landon, or the Cloud 9. Bad bearings happen. All of my play testing and spin tests were done using the spare bearing. That being said, I cannot comment on the stock bearing at this time.
Playability
The Cloud 9 is a strange yo-yo to throw. It does not have the best spin times and it is extremely unforgiving on a bad throw. This being said, why can’t I seem to put it down? It hops quite well and moves through strings easily. While it does spin out during multistep tricks like McBride, it handles other tricks with ease.

Lets get to the one part that everyone is asking about, how does it grind? In a word, perfectly. The bead blast finish works well on acrylic. It is a very smooth and fine bead blast finish almost feeling like the finish on the 5-Star. This is the best grinding plastic I have ever used. Even with the spin time issues it still give a great amount of grind time on the hand, finger, and arm.
Final Recommendation
The Cloud 9 is a definite “wow factor” yo-yo. I have taken it to the mall and had people just stare at the Cloud 9. It catches the attention of spectators as well as it catches light. The spin times are an issue but that should not stop you from at least trying the Cloud 9. This is just a fun yo-yo to play. It is a yo-yo that you probably will never see used in a competition, but will be seen in multiple cases at a competition. Everyone should have a yo-yo like this, one that is a joy to play. I think that is the reason why I can’t put it down; it just makes me smile every time I use it.