ILOVEYOYO Void
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
April 25, 2010
Introduction
The Void is a deceptive product. It has the ILOVEYOYO name, the Candy Blast finish, the sILYYcone response, and the metric KMK bearing. That being said, this isn’t your normal ILOVEYOYO product. It plays nothing like the rest of ILYY’s stable of yo-yos. Even Frank O., one of the brains behind ILYY and one of the designers of the Void has said that it does not feel like an ILYY product. The biggest clue that this is not your normal ILYY product, the price. The Void is a first for ILYY, a budget priced yo-yo with an expected retail price between $75 and $80. Budget priced or not, now we will see if this has a place with the rest of the ILYY pantheon or if it lives up to its name and is an empty hole in their line up.
Specs
- Diameter: 52.25 mm
- Width: 41.10 mm
- Gap: 4.1 mm
- Weight: 65.00 grams
- Response: sILYYcone
- Bearing: ILYY KMK 6×13×5mm
Construction
The first thing you will notice about the Void that sets it apart from all other ILYY products is the shape. It is extremely angular in design with just a simple rounding of the sharp edged to keep it from tearing up your hand when you catch it. It has flat, slightly angled rims and an enormous V-Shaped catch zone. The cups are surrounded by a generous IGR and in the center is an inverted hub spike similar to what you see on a MadHouse product. The finish of the Void is a clear coat Candy Blast finish with a masked off area near the response of the yo-yo, keeping it string friendly. Looking at this yo-yo you can see that it was designed for play, not for looks. Every cut of the metal was put there with a purpose. There is no curving of edges to make it look beautiful, no extra cuts to add to the aesthetic. It is all business. The thing is, the way I have described it makes it sound very cold, industrial, and kind of ugly. That could not be farther from the truth. The look of this yo-yo is actually quite gorgeous. The clear Candy Blast, which grinds so nice, has this great ability to catch light and reflect it back in interesting ways. I have always liked that feature of Candy Blast. The industrial design is pretty attractive and a nice little change from rounded beauties that people have come to expect from ILYY.
Weight
There is just something about a yo-yo that gives a nice thunk at the end of the string. A yo-yo does not have to be a brick to have that thunk. At 65 grams, the Void isn’t exactly hurting the scale but it still hits the end of the string with a little jolt just to let you know it is there and it wants to move. The V-shaped design pushes all the weight to the rim, leaving little center weighting. This can be dangerous; too little center weighting can cause the yo-yo to be unstable on the string. The Void does not have this problem. It is smooth and stable on the string while still having incredible spin times.
Response and Bearing
The Void has a standard KMK bearing. Not much more to say about it. It spins quite well and they last quite a long time. I don’t think I have had a single KMK metric bearing fail on me.
The sILYYcone was expertly installed on the Void. The recess was not too deep and it provided snappy binds. When done right sILYYcone is some of the best flowable silicones on the market.
Playability
How does the Void play? In a word, incredible. This does not play like a budget yo-yo. When I hear budget, I immediately start thinking about what has taken away from the product. Usually the bead blast finish is sacrificed to save money. Not here, the Void has a Candy Blast finish that grinds like a dream on whichever body part you happen to throw at it. The other thing that is usually sacrificed is the IGR. The less the machinist has to cut, the less it costs to machine the actual yo-yo. The Void has an IGR, a rather nice IGR in fact. It is easy to catch on the thumb. I have no idea where the money was saved and I really don’t care, it plays amazingly and that is all that matters. The catch zone is so easy to hit when whipping strings into it. The V-Shape means that there is very little sidewall to come in contact with the string, allowing for some great suicides where the loop stays wide open. This is an all around superb playing yo-yo that will give the player a great amount of performance.
Final Thoughts
The Void may not be your typical ILYY, it most definitely an ILYY product. It has all the quality that I have come to expect from an ILYY product. At the $75 to $80 price the Void is the yo-yo to get if you want an introduction to ILYY and all that it has to offer. If you are an ILYY fanboy, you have no excuse to not own one. This is how a budget yo-yo should be, a great intro to the company while not breaking your wallet. Let’s hope it falls closer to the $75 price than the $80. At that price point I can see the Void being a fundamental part of ILYY’s business.
