The Fury by ILOVEYOYO
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
May 16, 2010

Introduction

ILOVEYOYO has been on a roll recently. It seems like there has not been a month in 2010 where at least one new ILYY product has been announced or set loose on the public. Some of the releases are updates while others are completely new to the ILYY stable and then there are some coming down the pipe that are just bizarre looking but wicked fun to play. Today we are looking at one of those completely new designs for ILYY, the Fury. The Fury design came to be at the same time as the Enigma. Both of them are ILYY’s first push into the H-Shaped yo-yo field. While the Enigma played it safe, the Fury went extreme in its design. Now, there is something to be said about playing it safe a little bit, especially when you are working with an object with high rates of rotational speed and razor thin tolerances deciding whether your design soars like an eagle or smacks the ground hard like a turkey thrown from a helicopter (thank you WKRP in Cincinnati). So which one is the Fury, an eagle or a turkey?

Specs

  • Diameter: 56.00 mm
  • Width: 43.00 mm
  • Weight: 68.00 grams
  • Response: Hot Red SILYYcone
  • Bearing: ILYY KMK 6×13×5 mm

Construction

First thing I noticed when I pulled the Fury out of its red, ILOVEYOYO embossed, drawstring pouch was the color. This is not the vibrant color I am use to seeing from ILYY. It is a muted shade of red/orange that comes off a little dull. The Fury needs to have the same shade of candy apple red that was used on the Candy Blasted Falcon. I can’t blame ILYY too much for the color, I think the anodizer dropped the ball on this one. The Fury I am reviewing also has an ano bubble in each cup, something I have not encountered in the past from an ILYY product.

Moving away from the color, the rest of the design is amazing if you are an H-Shape fan like I am. The Fury has almost no hub weight, instead pushing every bit of material to those enormous rims. The rims are angled into the catch zone where the large gap is ready to gobble up string. The cups on either side are deeply set with the ILYY nub in the middle, reducing center weighting even more. The IGR is well thought out, just like every other ILYY I have used. Finally the whole yo-yo, with the exception of a masked off area around the response and bearing seat, are wrapped in that wonderful bead blast finish.

Weight

Center weight? What center weight? This yo-yo is all rim weight with those rims making up almost two thirds of the profile of the Fury. That being said it is still quite stable, much to my amazement. I had played the orange prototype Fury when it was first introduces. The 71-gram proto had a little vibe to it. More vibe than I am comfortable with. The 68-gram retail Fury is all but vibe free and spins for quite a long time, something that I would expect from a yo-yo with those rims.

Response and Bearing

The response is the red-hot sILYYcone that everyone comes to expect from ILYY. Great binds, and lasts for quite a long time. I think it is about time for ILYY talk to their supplier to see if it can be packaged in smaller tubes with the ILYY logo on them. It could give them an extra little infusion of cash. I know I would be buying some.

The KMK bearings are long spinning, and quite. I love the fact that they come from the factory without shields. I have noticed that some need to be cleaned before playing due to dust that has gotten into the bearing during shipping. Once that is taken care of, you cannot ask for a better metric bearing. This is another product I would like to see sold separately. At the moment YoYoNation only sells a metric KK bearing in the ILYY/Oxygène size and neither YoYoGuy nor YoYoExpert offer a replacement option. Why spend the high price on a KK when the stock KMK metric bearing is such a great performer and, I believe, would cost quite a bit less.

Playability

I may not like the color of the Fury, but I cannot bash the performance at all. This thing is a stable, smooth, long spinning beast. It has a little float even tough it is 68 grams. It plays pretty fast but not mind numbingly so. The best part of this yo-yo is the H-Shape. Those rims give you plenty of spin but the shape also keeps catch zone contact to a minimum. The minimal contact keeps loops open longer, making the Fury a suicide fanatic’s best friend. My favorite suicide is from the 1.5 mount where I catch it on my throw hand pinky finger. I have been catching these all day on the Fury with little to no problem.

Grinds are great on the Fury. The heavy rim weight coupled with the Candy Blast finish gives longer spin times on the hand and the arm. Just like its brother, the Enigma, the Fury’s H-Shape design cradles the finger during a grind. The IGRs, deep cup, and generally large nature of the yo-yo provide an easy target for thumbs, all in all a grinding machine as well.

Final Thoughts

Answering my question in the intro, this is an eagle, an angry eagle. I have said it several times during the review but there really is no other way to describe it, the Fury is a beast. It does quite a bit right with the only misstep being the color and implementation of the anodized finish. If you are an H-Shape fan, a suicide fan, or want some extra catch zone to help flesh out your new tricks you should give the Fury a serious look.