Heavy Cream by Crucial
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
March 7, 2010
Introduction
When thinking about Crucial three things come to mind, creative packaging, grooved bearings, and most importantly Delrin yo-yos. While others have made Delrin yo-yos, it was Crucial (then Born Crucial) who really put them on the. I have talked, at length, with Paul Yath about the complexity of machining Delrin versus metal. Heat and warping are much more of a concern, but he found it quite rewarding when once he finished a plastic and had it perform silky smooth. While he is a huge fan of Delrin, Paul is not one to shy away from machining aluminum. He first experimented machining aluminum with the prototype Metal Milk. A couple Metal Milks were released to the general public but a production run was never made. Today we are looking at the first retail metal to come from Crucial, the Heavy Cream. Now we get to see if Paul’s attention to detail and the lessons learned from working in the oft times aggravating Delrin medium have given him a leg up when machining aluminum or if he is better off sticking with that sweet, medical grade plastic that has given him his claim to fame.
Note: This review is of the production run Heavy Cream. There was a limited run Heavy Cream for clothing company UNI4RM that had the additional feature of using the Crucial SPR system for its response. The retail version does not have the SPR system.
Specs
- Diameter: 52.05 mm
- Width: 42.2 mm
- Weight: 67 Grams
- Bearing: Crucial C-Sized Bearing
- Response: Ghost Silicone Response Pads
Construction
When reviewing a Crucial product, it would be a severe injustice if you glossed over the packaging. Paul spends as much time on the packaging as he does on the yo-yos themselves. Each package takes its cues from the same food based naming system used on the yo-yos themselves. Past Crucial products have come in small and large milk cartons or, in the case of the Heavy Cream, a pint size ice cream container. Taking the concept a step further, the nutritional information box contains the specs for the unit with cute little touches like listing the weight as “Total Phat”. You know you have a clever package when my non-throwing wife starts quoting the Lord of the Rings “It comes in pints” when she set eyes on the packaging.
Moving on to the actual yo-yo, the shape is a classic, rounded butterfly design that tapers into flat rims. The walls and rims are pretty thin with none of huge rim weight that we are seeing nowadays. The cups are deep with a small hub in the middle and generously concaved IRGs for easy catching of the yo-yo on even the most portly of thumbs.
Before I talk about the finish of the Heavy Cream, I must admit a small bias on my part. The red drip colorway Heavy Cream is nicknamed Dexter after the Showtime program of the same name. Being one of my favorite shows on television meant that when I had heard the name I had to own this yo-yo. That being said the finish is really quite striking on this yo-yo. It really does look like it was sitting next to a homicide. If deep red is not your cup of tea, the Heavy Cream also comes in a purple on clear colorway called Taro. The bead blast finish is very fine and silky smooth to the touch. I am impressed that more companies are going to a fine bead blast. It feels great in the hand and is not as rough on the strings as a candy blast finish.
Weight
The thinner walls and rims give the Heavy Cream a whole yo-yo weighted feel to it versus the normal center weighted or rim weighted feel. This gives it a nice balance between spin times and stability. The yo-yo is hard pressed to tilt and recovers nicely when it encounters a bad throw. While it is not an outright spin time master, it gave me more than enough to power through long combos.
The weight distribution of the Heavy Cream gives it a solid feel on the string. It is not too floaty but it is by no means a brick either. It can speed through tricks at a decent clip while allowing the player to set the pace instead of having to keep pace with the yo-yo.
Response and Bearing
The response it one of the areas that I was not fond of at first, the ghost pads were a little grippy. This caused the yo-yo to shoot back to the hand at inopportune moments. Once broken in, they began to provide a tight bind while playing unresponsive. Luckily the Heavy Cream will accept standard pads. I will probably end up replacing them with One Drop thin pads or General-Yo Thin Gen Pads.
The stock bearing in the Heavy Cream is Crucial’s own grooved bearing. This is the first time I have used a Crucial grooved bearing and I can honestly say I am quite impressed. It has a deep channel cut into the center of the outer race, just wide enough to fit the string in. The rest of the outer race is flat like a normal bearing. This gives it the string centering capabilities of a KK bearing without the bunching that occurs in a KK bearing. Best way to think about it is that the Crucial grooved bearing is a flat bearing that always stays centered.
Playability
After the initial pad break in, this yo-yo really began to shine. It flies through tricks at the throwers pace all while maintaining an unparalleled smoothness. If you play fast it will keep up, if you play slow it will not rush you. A refreshing change from some of the lightweight speed demons recently released. The flat nature of the grooved bearing accommodated even the most ridiculous amount of wraps without bunching up and killing spin. The catch area is wide enough for catching any hook, hop, whip, or laceration thrown at it.
The surface grinds nicely on the hand, and finger. As stated above the cup will accommodate all sizes of thumb and was so well designed that I was even able to pop it into the air and catch it on the end of the arm of my glasses. I can’t remember which video it was in but that has always been a grind I like to perform.
Final Thoughts
This is a well-balanced, well-designed, great playing yo-yo. Paul Yath has not lost his touch when moving from Delrin to aluminum. It would fit right at home in the collections of any intermediate to expert player that is looking to add another metal to their collection or make the jump from the wonderful world of plastic. I have played with Crucial’s plastic line and, while I am a huge fan of them, I hope that Paul and company decide to add more metal to the line up. He has proven that he can work well in both mediums without compromise.
