String Theory Singularity
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
November 20, 2010
Introduction
When String Theory came back from their hiatus after their freshman debut, the Remnant, they came out swinging. Instead of playing it safe by releasing one product, they went and released two new designs simultaneously and showed off a couple prototypes as well. Today I am looking at the second of their brand new releases, the mini-sized Singularity. In keeping with their tradition, String Theory has given their new yo-yo a science based name, in this case Singularity, a point at which a function takes an infinite value, esp. in space-time when matter is infinitely dense, as at the center of a black hole. An interesting name to say the least; will it be an infinitely great pocket yo-yo or will it be infinitely ignored by the community?
Specs
- Diameter: 48 mm
- Width: 36.5 mm
- Gap: 4.50 mm
- Weight: 67.00 grams
- Response: Half Height Theory Pads
- Bearing: Terrapin Treated 10-Ball
Construction
The Singularity is a tiny yo-yo. Do not let the pictures fool you; it fits in the mini-sized category where its main rivals are the Dingo, Ministar, and Campfire. That being said it feels big. The wide cut V-Shaped catch zone straddles my middle finger similar to the way some of my undersized and full sized throws do, giving it a bigger hand presence. Looking past the catch zone there is a set of thick flat rims. The one thing I do like about the design is that all the hard edges have been rounded, reducing the potential for pain when it hits the meaty part of the hand on a return. The cups of the Singularity are pretty deep with a flat floor and a small nub in the center. The nub is pretty inconsequential and I would not have thought twice about it if the laser etched logo had not drawn attention to the nub. At the inner edge of the cup is a deep recessed IGR with a well-defined lip ready to ride thumb nails without slipping off. The anodized finish has a slick feel and lacks any sort of media blasting. I would have liked to see the Singularity come with the same blasted finish that the Quark had been released with. Other than that the Singularity has a good look to it and feels great when in the pocket giving just the faintest hint of a yo-yo bulge wile out and about.
Weight
After holding in the hand and throwing it around I now have a pretty good idea why it was named the Singularity. This is one dense yo-yo. It is pushing 67 grams, which is at the top end of my threshold for yo-yos in general. Packing all that weight into such a tiny package makes for a hard-hitting yo-yo, both at the end of the string and when returning to the hand. Even with its high mass, the Singularity did not feel slow or sluggish on the string. Most of the weight is at the edge of the rims giving high spin times.
Response and Bearing
The Singularity comes set up with what looks like half height theory pads, they are not flush with the gap of the yo-yo. Normally I like the half-height pads; they were my preferred setup with the Remnant. With the Singularity they just do not seem to work. I found that once the bearing had been broken in, the high spin times and heavy weight overpowered the pads. This caused massive amount of slippage when trying to bind and at the end of the day it was just not fun to play. Throwing in some flowable silicone gave the Singularity a much-needed boost in response and a return of the fun factor.
The stock bearing for the Singularity is a Terrapin treated 10-Ball, the same one that was introduced with String Theory’s Quark. I find that this bearing needs a long break in time but once broken in it spins long and stays quiet.
Playability
As with any pocket sized, mini yo-yo the major concern is how it compares to the big boys. When it comes to the Singularity, the answer is simple; it plays well against its larger cousins. The wide catch zone is easy to hit with whips of any variety, including Jade Whips. Eli Hops are not too difficult to catch either. The long spin times gives it a good amount of play between binds and long combos can easily be performed. Grinds are somewhat of a mixed bag. The lack of a blasted finish hampers palm, finger, and arm grinds; most of the time it will come in contact with flesh and shoot off. Thumb grinds on the other hand are perfectly executed. One big complaint that people had with String Theory’s first yo-yo was the lack of an IGR. They have listened and have perfectly executed their IGRs on all of their subsequent releases.
Final Thoughts
The Singularity is a pocket yo-yo with great potential but has missed the mark in a couple of key areas. The finish can be forgiven because String Theory offers the Singularity in a blasted finish, which I would consider to be the better route to go if you order one. The response on the other hand needs to be addressed. This yo-yo needs a flush response with quite a bit of grip or it will just over power the pad and slip the bind. Once fixed with a flush silicone response it plays as I know String Theory wants it to. If you have a chance to pick one up I think it is still a viable player with a lot of potential, just don’t form your first opinion of it until you switch out the response.
