The BSP by Anti-Yo

Reviewed by Chris Rhoads

Introduction

I am always one for adding new companies to my portfolio of people I use and was intrigued when I got the chance to try the BSP from Anti-Yo. While this is far from my first titanium, it is my first yo-yo from this much-touted company. I have heard many good and bad things about Anti-Yo while surfing the various forums, some love the company and an equal amount cannot stand them. The company has also become the butt of many jokes due to its oft-delayed yo-yo, the YWET. After reading up on the company I am ready to put side the opinions of others and judge them on this offering. Lets see how well the BSP performs as a yo-yo and as an ambassador for the company to a new recruit.

Specs

• Weight: 71.00 grams
• Width: 36.00mm
• Diameter: 55.00mm
• Gap Width: 3.30mm
• Bearing: C-Size Dif-E-Yo Konkave
• Response: Anti-Yo iPad

Construction

The first thing you will notice about the BSP is the two tone color scheme. It is half gold and half raw titanium. In pictures it looks decent but up close I find the gold to be a turn off, but that is just me. I do not like the color of gold; I even went so far as to get a white gold wedding ring because of my distaste for the color. After the color, you will begin to notice the shape of the BSP, it is very angular, no curves on it at all with the exception of the rounded domes of screws on the side attaching the axle to the yo-yo. The yo-yo itself has a very thin width and a small gap considering that it uses a C-Sized bearing. The finish is similar to most other 100% titanium yo-yos, smooth. The BSP is not a grinding yo-yo. Finger, thumb, and palm/arm grinds are not its cup of tea. Other than the color, this is a beautiful looking yo-yo, very industrial in design. I do like the looks of it quite a bit. The sound of it is something different entirely. I think this may be the first time I mention the sound of a yo-yo in a review as a negative. This yo-yo sings while playing with it and it is quite annoying to me. When you throw it and whenever the string hits the yo-yo it sounds like a constantly rung bell. I have no problem with noise while yo-yoing, I like the sound of a string hitting metal, and my favorite is the sound of string whipping through the air on a bind or throw. The constant noise that the BSP makes on the other hand is distracting and I can do without it. All yo-yos make a little bit of noise, this one just makes a higher pitch than what I like and it is the first time I have encountered this in a yo-yo.

Weight

This yo-yo is heavy. At 71 grams it is one of the heaviest yo-yos I have played. The weight makes for a sluggish feel on the string. This is more of a center-weighted yo-yo so there is a fair, but not exceptional, amount of spin time. It will get the job done, but I would have preferred a little more spin. What it lacks in spin it makes up for in stability. There is one problem with the heavy weight on this yo-yo and that is when it returns to the hand. For me, when the yo-yo returned to the hand the flat rims hit hard into the underside of the first knuckle for my middle finger and caused pain to shoot up into my hand. This made for a less than pleasant experience and made me want to put the BSP down on multiple occasions.

Response and Bearing

The BSP uses a single silicone pad for the response and it gets the job done. It makes for a mostly unresponsive yo-yo but there were a couple of times when the yo-yo would catch and shoot back up to the hand, hitting me hard in the knuckles or in the palm. This was very strange when you consider that it is using a Konkave bearing to keep the string away from the edges of the yo-yo. The responsiveness is very unpredictable and not easily reproduced. I would try to get it to come back up to the hand on a tug and it just would not but every once in a while, when I was not trying, WHAM, right in the knuckles. I have a feeling this has as much to do with the small gap as it has to do with the response and bearing. I have A-Bearing yo-yos with bigger gaps than the BSP.

Playability

Not much to say about the play of this yo-yo. I can sum it up in the following, slow, sluggish, tiring, and painful. I really had to work to put the BSP through its paces. Now I am no stranger to a heavy yo-yo, one of my main yo-yos is a Lio, and another is a Project 2. Both are heavy hitters, but their designs make for a quick yo-yo on the string. The BSP is slow to respond to string changes and sluggish when it does respond. It took way too much effort to make it go and, as I said above, it caused pain to the hand during play. I could get it to perform tricks and I could even combo into other tricks but it was not fun to use. It is not a grinding yo-yo, which is something else I look for. I knew it would not palm grind or finger grind, that is a given from the finish. Thumb grinds were not happening either; there is no IGR to speak of on the BSP. Unless you have Lilliputian thumbs the BSP is just going to fall off. I really hate to sound so negative but I cannot think of a thing I liked about the BSP. Maybe if it had been one of my own instead of a loaner unit I would have liked it a little more. At least then I could have sparked it. Something tells me those flat rims and the heavy weight will make for a great fireworks display.

Final Thoughts

From what I can see, the BSP was not designed for the player in mind. It was designed as a status symbol. This is the yo-yo that collectors can show other collectors and say, “look I have a titanium yo-yo”. I have a problem with that. Yo-yos should always be a player first and a looker second. I do not buy yo-yos as a status symbol. That is pointless. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll brag as much as the next guy when I have a rare one, but I would not buy that rare yo-yo in the first place unless it was fun to play. If you have to have a status symbol yo-yo then go ahead and pick up a BSP although check with me first, I can think of a couple better ones. As for me, I got into yo-yoing to have fun and the BSP causes me to have less fun. End of story.