General-Yo Prophecy
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
August 14, 2015

Introduction

How does it go “One yo-yo to rule them all, One yo-yo to find them, One yo-yo to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. With a name like Prophecy I revert to my baser, geeky nature. All joking aside, it has been over a year since General-Yo has released a yo-yo. With this new release, the Prophecy looks like it is taking the best of General-Yo’s past, competition focused designs while adding a few new twists. It will be interesting to see how this full sized featherweight compares to Ernie’s past efforts. Whether it is more on the side of high elven craftsmanship or if it should be thrown into Mt. Doom… ok I promise, no more Tolkien hyperbole.

Specs

• Diameter: 56.8mm
• Width: 44mm
• Gap: 4.35mm
• Weight: 64 grams
• Bearing: AIGR Bearing (C Sized)
• Response: Smooth HatPads

Construction

When first taking it out of the box the Prophecy its profile makes it almost indistinguishable from the Prestige, General-Yo’s last competition focused yo-yo. The choice to use the Prestige profile is a wise one in my book. It is super comfortable in the hand with a wide open catch zone and a step out at the guts that was expertly masked. The end result being reduced string wear and only limited contact with the outer wall. While the profile may be lifted from the Prestige, the cup is completely new and to be honest one of the more interesting designs to hit the market as of late. The inner wall starts off flat near the rim edge before sloping diagonally down on a flat plane towards another vertical drop that meets another diagonal slop to the hub. Encircling the hub is a wall that helps with controlling the Prophecy during finger spins on its squat, spiked hub. For the Prophecy, General-Yo has resisted the urge to use a splash colorway, instead sticking to, in my opinion, a classier solid color two tone look. The finish is General-Yo’s much talked about bead blast finish which delivers some of the best grinds around.

Weight

The Prophecy is a large, light weight yo-yo that wants to be a speed demon on the string. The Prophecy design retains the super stability of its predecessor but ups the spin time giving more time to complete even longer combos.

Response and Bearing

The Prophecy uses the same smooth HatPads and General-Yo AIGR (Aircraft Instrument Grade Rated) bearing combo that they have been using since both were first made their combo debut on the 5-Star v.2. HatPads have been a go to pad for me for quite some time, especially when I found out that two stacked on top of each other were a perfect fit for older CLYW yo-yos. I have said it many times before, if the bearing is good enough for our military aircraft it is more than adequate for my yo-yos. These fit my demand for quiet, long spinning, smooth bearings.

Playability

While this yo-yo is another quick yo-yo geared towards competition play I have no problem with recommending it to those who have no desire to get up on stage. It is a speed demon, but one of the nice things about all fast playing General-Yo throws is that they are still extremely enjoyable when played at slower speeds. This one plays like a beefed up Prestige so it will have the same easy to hit catch zone and amazing grinds that were found on that model. Where this one completely differs is in that walled off hub design. I am decent in finger spins but, by no means am I an expert on them. I am most comfortable when I pop a yo-yo up and catch it by the hubs. I am horrible at finger spins from UFO. This one made that transition from UFO to finger spin much easier thanks to that wall around the hub which aids in keeping your finger aligned with the hub spike. It is almost like an IGR for finger spins. When it came to the trick, I missed it quite a few times at first but after about the fourth or fifth attempt I was able to get my hand under the popped up UFO and catch it on my index finger with ease.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a new yo-yo I would recommend giving this one a look. It checks off many of the boxes that make for a great all around player; a comfortable hybrid organic V-shape design, innovative hub design, and ability to match speed with a wide range of play styles. All in all I would say the Prophecy is one to seriously consider.