Deadly Spins Wrath
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
November 25, 2012

Introduction

It seems like these days you cannot turn around without a new company popping up in the yo-yo world. If I had to guess, one of the reasons for this is the advent of the affordable machining provided these days. Most yo-yo companies do not have the startup capital to own their own machines so they have to outsource. This can be tricky; a shop that does not understand the intricacies of yo-yo design can more of a hindrance than a mediocre design. Luckily companies such as One Drop and Foxland Precision have stepped in to offer machining to young companies eager to jump in to the market. Case in point, Deadly Spins. They are a New York based company that out sources their machining to One Drop. Some have criticized that outsourcing to other yo-yo companies for machining produces yo-yos that play more like the machine shop’s products than a completely fresh design; in my own experience, that it not the case. I have found that unless a company specifically uses a feature like Side Effects, it is hard to tell who machined the yo-yo. Case in point the Wrath, which is Deadly Spins freshman effort. It has no distinguishing characteristics that give away the machining linage other than the 10-Ball included in the packaging. Now we get to see if it plays with it’s own personality or if it retains some of the feel from the machine shop that made it.

Specs

• Diameter: 55 mm
• Width: 43.2 mm
• Gap: 4.45 mm
• Weight: 64.8 grams
• Bearing: C-Sized Trifecta or One Drop 10-Ball
• Response: CBC pads

Construction

I would be remiss if I did not start out talking about the packaging. The Wrath comes in a clear plastic screw top jar emblazoned with a Deadly Spins logo on the front. Inside is the yo-yo in a cloth drawstring bag, three YoYo String Lab replacement strings, a One Drop 10-Ball bearing, a Twisted Trifecta Bearing installed on the yo-yo, an extra axle, and an extra set of pads. It is readily apparent that Deadly Spins wants to make sure that the player is covered no matter what may happen.

The Wrath itself is an H-Shape design with large rounded rims that swoop down with a scallop cut towards the catch zone. There is a drastic drop where the rim meets the outer wall. The catch zone itself is another scalloped cut that creates a wide-open target for the string. The gap of the Wrath is ultra low walled with just the slightest rounded lip separating it from the response. The cup of the Wrath is a series of straight cuts that contrast with the scalloped cuts on the profile. There is an IGR near the outer edge of the cup and at the center is a stout, slightly rounded, spiked hub. The blasted finish of the Wrath feels smooth to the touch and the design is extremely comfortable in the hands. There isn’t a single cut or edge on the yo-yo that would inflict pain during play. Overall I am impressed with this freshman effort. Not only is it easy to see that a lot of thought went into the design of the yo-yo itself but the packaging shows that the team at Deadly Spin wanted their customers to get their money’s worth.

Weight

At just a touch less than 65 grams the Wrath is pretty much at my ideal weight. It is fast but not overpoweringly so. The weight is concentrated in the beefy rims giving it spin for days. While it is heavily rim weighted there is enough of a distribution that the overall play is stable.

Response and Bearing

The response is a standard yellow CBC pad installed with a back up set of white CBC pads in the box. The yellow ones are supposed to be harder and last longer. I can’t remember the last time I played yellow CBC pads so I do not have a base line for their durability. I can say that the installed yellow pads are giving me great binds and do not seem to be grabby in the least. They needed very little break in time in order to become dead unresponsive during play.

Out of the box the Wrath comes with the Trifecta Bearing installed. There was some concern that the Trifecta is needed during the initial break in time for the pads in order to allow for faster play, especially when it comes to fast rolls. I gave it a shot and found that rolls and the lot played equally well on both the Trifecta and the 10-Ball. The addition of the 10-Ball is a plus and means that players on both sides of the specialty-bearing aisle are covered.

Playability

Pretty much all of my play testing was done with the 10-Ball installed. During play I found that the Wrath was extremely stable during both vertical and horizontal play. Gyro Flops were easy to pull off and I had a great deal of rotational control. While I am absolutely horrible at horizontal play I did find the wide catch zone to be quite easy to hit during Banana Turnovers. The rounded lip near the response does an excellent job of keeping the wall away form the string, opening up the loops during suicides. Grinds are long spinning thanks to the smooth finish and powerful spins. Thumb grinds are a tad tricky with my large thumbs. The inner walls encroach a tad close to the IGR causing my bulbous digits to reject the yoyo when trying to catch it after popping it in the air. This is not going to be an issue for most; I just have freakishly large hands. The spikes may be rounded but they can be caught and used for matador play so if that is your thing you are in luck. Over all the play is exactly what you would want out a competition level yo-yo and holds its own against the best designs in the H-Shape field.

Final Thoughts

In the intro I stated that I wanted to see if this played like other yo-yos from the machine shop or if it was unique to its brand. The answer is that it has both… let me explain. It retains the high standard of quality that One Drop is known for and this is a good thing. I don’t think nearly as many companies would out source to One Drop if they were not good at what they do. Does it play similar to other yo-yos on the market? Yes, but only in the manner that all H-Shape yo-yos have a similar fell thanks to the attributes of the H profile. The Wrath is more than unique enough in play to distinguish itself from the rest of the field and I can see it topping many must have lists.