Hspin ICON
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
June 12, 2010
Introduction
Whenever I hear the word icon I always think of the absolute top in that field. Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Jimi Hendrix, even Steve jobs and Bill Gates; all of them are, or have been, at the height of their profession. They are so recognizable that they essentially personify their area of expertise. That being said, an icon doesn’t have to be a living representation or the tops in the field. The world is full of icons, representations of religion, automobiles, fast food, and the list goes on. In the yo-yo world I cannot think of a definitive icon. It could be the Smothers Brothers, maybe the trick “Walk the Dog”, or the Duncan logo. The problem with all of those is that they are from a generation removed from today’s modern players. Sure most start with tricks like “walk the dog” on an old school Duncan but they progress past them quickly. Today we are looking at the Hspin ICON, Stefan “Magl33to” Benjamin’s signature yo-yo and the second entry in the Hspin CORE series of yo-yos. With a name like ICON this yo-yo needs to be at the top of its game. Anything less would be a disservice to Hspin, Mr. Benjamin, and to yo-yoing in general.
Specs
- Weight: 65 grams
- Width: 40 mm
- Diameter: 54 mm
- Gap: ~4 mm
- Bearing: D-Sized Steel Bearing
- Response: Thin Red Silicone Pads
Construction
Starting with the packaging I can tell that this yo-yo is setting itself apart from the competition. The ICON does not come packaged in a box or a bag, no it comes in a pair of Hspin CORE Series branded socks. You read correctly, SOCKS! I can tell you that they are very comfortable socks that stretch to cover my size 13 feet. Balled inside one of the socks you will find the other sock, the yo-yo, and a small bag containing an extra axle and an extra set of response pads. This is a great way to introduce the player to a new yo-yo. I know I smiled when I saw that my brand new yo-yo came encased in a pair of thick socks.
Moving on to the actual yo-yo, the ICON is that classic butterfly shape. There are no real gimmicks to the design of the ICON, nothing that will detract from that… well that iconic butterfly shape. The catch zone is wide and leads into a decent sized gap. The cups are large with rounded inner walls and a spiked hub in the middle. There is a very thin IGR cut into the cup but I found it difficult to use. The yo-yo would slip off my thumb anytime I tried going into a thumb grind from trapeze and it was next to impossible to catch on the thumb when popped into the air.
Moving on to the finish of the ICON, there is only one thing I can say about it. WOW! At first I was not a fan of the color. It is supposed to be gold but my wife keeps calling it camel colored. After a while it grew on me. I will say that I would prefer the red ICON to the gold. I have seen pictures of the red and it is down right gorgeous. The bead blast finish is something that just has to be felt. It is almost a chalkboard finish but not quite as course. It grinds for quite a long time and feels amazing while spinning on the hand. This bead blast finish is a new addition to the CORE Series line and will be on all future CORE releases.
Weight
The 65-gram weight is mostly center weighted on the ICON. Even though it isn’t overly rim weighted like most new yo-yos coming out today, the ICON still delivers impressive spin times. What the center weighting does give is increased stability on the string. I had a hard time getting it to tilt. The lighter weight also gives the ICON a great floaty feeling to it. This yo-yo does not just move on the string, it glides over it.
Response and Bearing
The response in the ICON is their thin red silicone pads. They give tight binds with little to no slip. I have not tried siliconing the ICON yet but I will when it is time to replace the pads.
The bearing is a stock steel D-Sized bearing. This isn’t the hybrid bearing found in the premium line of Hspin yo-yos. While I prefer the quietness of the hybrid bearing, this is a great alternative. It performs like the hybrid, just a little louder.
Playability
On the first throw I knew Hspin had created something truly special. The ICON was smooth and stable. As I said, it glides on the string and it floats when popped into the air. This yo-yo is as smooth as the player it was made for, anyone who has watched Stefan Benjamin in person or on video will know what I am talking about. With the exception of thumb grinds, there was not a single trick that the ICON could not handle. The gap was able to handle many layers of string for even the most complex of tricks. Recently I have been working on the trick “Ninja Vanish” and found that this yo-yo hit it quite easily. I would have to attribute that to the floaty nature allowing it to hang in the air and the catch zone being easy to hit. There are no steps or cuts to reject the string when hitting the catch zone, just a smooth curve into the gap.
Grinds are very impressive on the ICON. It just rests on the hand, arm, and finger without losing performance. The smooth finish also lends to easier catching of the spikes for matador play. With some yo-yos, if I don’t catch the spikes dead on I would have to bind and try again. The ICON gave me some wiggle room for a bad catch and still allow for reorientation and balancing on the thumb.
Overall, the ICON is an amazing player. In fact I would say that it bests even Hspin’s top of the line H2O is performance.
Final Thoughts
Ok, is the ICON the symbol of the new symbol of the yo-yo world? Only time will tell, but it comes darn close. It is a perfect example of what to do right when creating a new yo-yo. The ICON is smooth, stable, fun to play, and backed by one of Europe’s finest players. It had one misstep with the IGR but I can overlook that considering it does everything else so well. Now for the best part, the ICON pulls of all of its incredible performance while retaining the CORE Series low price point. The ICON will retail for $59 when it hits stores in the US. At this price point it blows all the other budget yo-yos out of the water and quite a bit of the premium yo-yos as well. After playing it, I would have a hard time justifying the purchase of a higher selling metal when I can get the same great play for a fraction of the price.
