3Yo3 Cosmo By Brett Grimes
08/ 11/09

Introduction
I have to say the anticipation of receiving the Cosmo was a wonderful experience yet torture at the same time. With its clear acrylic body, thoughts of all the cool high-speed footage I wanted to shoot were the only things that held me at bay while I sat at the window waiting to pounce the mailbox. The Cosmo is a yoyo made by Landon Balk and the first in his line. It uses a clear acrylic body allowing total transparency and it’s simply drop dead gorgeous. Was this yoyo just a pretty face or was it going to be a true player. This is the thought that kept rolling thru my mind. I was a little on the skeptical side and Landon reaffirmed me I was going to love it. Did I?

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

Look and Feel
As I took the yoyo out of the box the first thing was a huge smile, this yoyo looks incredible to say the least. Its acrylic body was smooth and 100% transparent, no scratches, no cloudiness, and no haze. I stared at it for quite a while, everyone in my presence did the same with a single thought on their minds “let me see, let me see”. It is a sight to behold. As for the feel, it felt good, nice shape and size; I knew right off the bat that grinds were not going to be the Cosmo’s strong point. The acrylic is not the world’s best grinding surface. But to me this was the least of my concerns as I am not the biggest grinder to begin with and I have many other yo-yos that can fill that void.

Weight
At 66 grams the weight of this yoyo is decent, I prefer a heavier yoyo but found the Cosmo to play well at its stock weight. A little heavier and this wouldn’t be as playable as it is. It’s not a lightweight on the string but it definitely doesn’t have the drop of authority that heavier yoyo processes. I think Landon did his homework when he was designing the Cosmo.

Response and Bearing
The response is recessed silicone available in either red or clear, I opted for clear I wanted this yoyo to be as transparent as possible. The silicone job is perfect and one of the best I have seen in a long time. Nice snappy binds, as a good silicone job should provide. Landon has siliconed a few yoyos in his time and it shows. The bearing is a standard C size and came unresponsive right out of the box. First thing I had to do was take the shields off so I could see the balls inside the yoyo, plus I deshield all my bearings anyways. Not much to be said here, a great unresponsive bearing and a perfect silicone job.

Playability
First thing you will notice about the Cosmo is your throw, this yoyo is not forgiving in any way, shape, or form. This might be bad to some, but to me it’s a learning tool to teach you to throw better. Within a few minutes I adjusted my throw a little bit and this yoyo came alive. It has incredible spin times, and moves thru tricks like its metal counterparts. I am known to not like most plastic yoyos but this one I couldn’t put down. I ran it thru its paces more then any other yoyo on the first day. It was an absolute joy to play and to watch as it moved around in front of me. The gap is wide enough to accept multiple layers of string with out an issue. I have sent an email to Landon to get the spec of the gap size and will adjust this review accordingly. As stated earlier this is not the world’s best yoyo to grind with, due to the creative use of Acrylic some things were going to be an issue and grinding is one of them.

Final Recommendation
The Cosmo is a very quirky yoyo but you will find yourself playing it over and over. The transparent body is incredible to look at, and it plays better then most plastic/synthetics I have used. I would highly recommend getting one as its original and it’s just a joy to throw. And if there is a person within 10 feet of you they WILL ask you what kind of yoyo is that? Well done Landon, Well done.

Update
Check back in a week or so for a review of the Cloud 9 version with a grindable bead blast finish.