ILOVEYOYO Phase
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
January 6, 2013

Introduction

One of the things I love about ILOVEYOYO (ILYY for short) is that they are not afraid to push the envelope and put out some absolutely bonkers designs. Some of them only make it to the prototype phase and have a limited run of twenty or so, others make it into mass production and go on to garner a success that you just would not expect from such an off the wall design. A good example of that is the insane Noctu; a yo-yo that on first glance my wife said, “It will eat your face”. The Noctu went on to have several runs and revamps in various finishes. Proof positive that a highly unorthodox design can play brilliant and sell well. On the flip side are those test designs that never make it to the majors. I have had the pleasure of reviewing quite a few of those, including the most insane of them all, the P.Y.B.I.T. (Frank still refuses to tell me what the name means), a squat tomato paste can looking design that played surprisingly well but was never green lighted for full public consumption. Today’s review is another one of those prototypes, the Phase. This one could go either way at the moment, ILYY is mulling over the design to see if it is worthy of a full production run. Lets put it to the test and see if it is ready for prime time.

Specs

• Diameter: 51.20mm
• Width: 41.20mm
• Weight: 64g
• Gap: 4.00mm
• Bearing: Large KMK
• Response: Red Hot SILYYcone

Construction

Right off the bat you will notice there is something different about the profile of the Phase. It looks like your typical butterfly design but about a third of the way down the outer wall is a flat step out. This gives the appearance of having a V-Shape catch zone. I will have more on the step out during the playability portion of the review. The cup is has a simple and understated look. There is a flattened conical hub in the center and no IGR under the rim. The cup design is simple yet still quite elegant. The finish is something that needs to be talked about. It is still in the testing phase and ILYY is not sure if it will make it into any of the final runs. Now I will get the one down side out of the way quickly, I don’t like the color. Without a lick of shine this yo-yo looks like it was dipped in Bondo. With that out of the way, I will say that this finish MUST make it into final production, all-be-it in a different color. It feels absolutely incredible in the hand. I will go ahead and ruin the surprise; it is incredible on grinds.

Weight

The Phase is a modest 64 grams making it a fast featherweight on the string. It zips and zooms from trick to trick. The large rims give it a great deal of spin and the overall distribution gives it a good deal of stability for the most part.

Response and Bearing

The current response is ILYY’s own Red Hot SILYYcone response that breaks in well and lasts quite a long time. Pretty soon though we will see a new ILYY response option along with the SILYYcone. More on that when the info becomes available.

The stock bearing is ILYY’s normal KMK large metric bearing. These may be difficult to find in the US but they last forever and are fairly quiet. Those two things alone make it a great bearing.

Playability

I said I would have more on the rim step in the playability section and here it is. The step is going to have a polarizing effect on players who throw this yo-yo. The reason for this is in the fundamental way a yo-yo works. Not even the best players in the world hit the gap perfectly 100% of the time. The catch zone of a yo-yo is designed to guide the string effortlessly into the gap when you land the yo-yo. Any sort of break in this path can cause the yo-yo to go off plane during play and cause issues. The step on the Phase does cause this to a certain extent. The step is small enough that the tilt caused by hitting it can easily be recovered from during play. Now I said it is going to be polarizing so that means some will hate it and others will love it… I am slowly moving into the second camp. At first I absolutely hated it. I am a sloppy player; I have never hid this fact. I kept hitting the step during play. Then I noticed something during play, I began hitting it less and less. It forced me to become more consistent in landing the yo-yo on the string. Then during play I had an accidental hit that ended up being quite fun. I landed a trapeze with a slight tilt on the step and it ended up staying put, spinning on the step. Now I am seeing how I can incorporate it into other tricks, I am almost able to do the same thing with a ninja vanish. As for the rest of my menagerie of tricks, there really isn’t a trick it can’t pull off. Grinds are amazing thanks to that new finish. It is one of the smoothest finishes I have ever played. One grind that is slightly difficult is the thumb grind. Without an IGR you have to throw it at an angle. Not too much of a problem considering you will probably be throwing at a slight angle anyways to hit the step.

Final Thoughts

So here it is the end of the review, should the Phase make it into final production? If you asked me this question after my first couple of throws I would have given you a very loud “AW HECK NO!” Now, I honestly think it should get a small run. This yo-yo plays great and once you have accepted the step and how it works, the Phase gives you a new play element to work with. This may not be a competition yo-yo but that is not a bad thing, we have a thousand of those. The market needs more whacky designs that plays well and adds new ways trick elements for those that just want to have fun. Thankfully we have companies, ILYY being one of them, who are willing to push these boundaries.