Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts Sky Walker
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads and Brett Grimes
June 26, 2010

Introduction

When Heath first dropped the bomb on the yo-yo community and announced Vs. Newton YoYo Concepts, VsNYYC or Vs. Newton for short, I thought he was blowing smoke. I am sure everyone has heard the story about this company. For those who had not, here is a quick recap. Heath had decided to make a completely nonprofit company dedicated to giving back to the yo-yo community. Basically, he is only selling his yo-yos for what it costs him to make them. Before anyone cries foul, Heath is on the up and up when he says it is a nonprofit company and proved it recently by showing the numbers in a YYN post. Along the way Heath hit what appeared to be every bump and set back that he possibly could, including getting so sick that his wife had to post for him on the various forums and his original machinist trying to steal his money. He was also bad mouthed and compared to other well-known scammer manufacturers in the field. Well all have been put in their place. At the 2010 Bay Area Classic, Vs. Newton debuted their first yo-yo the Sky Walker. Now is the time to see if Vs. Newton has what it takes to enter the yo-yo world and play with the big guys. Is the Sky Walker down with the force? Is it a bad to the bone, Sir Alec Guinness Jedi or is it a whiney, Hayden Christensen Jedi desperately in need of a lava bath?

I must warn everyone, this is a long review. Brett and I could not decide who got to review it so we ended up combing our separate reviews into one.

Specs

  • Weight: 65.50 grams
  • Width: 42.00 mm
  • Diameter: 52.80 mm
  • Gap Width: 4.00 mm
  • Bearing: C-Sized 10-Ball Bearing
  • Response System: Flowable Silicone

Construction

Chris’ Thoughts:
The Sky walker comes in four different colorways; solid blue, green, and purple, plus a version called “The Works” which is a black acid wash with blood red splatter. Personally I like the solid blue of this review unit best of all. It is a vibrant shade of what my wife tells me is very close to University of Kentucky blue. The shape of the Sky Walker is best described as a combination of an H-Shape and a V-Shape. The flat rims descend into the gap in a traditional V-Shape but there is a deep step cut into the catch zone about a third of the way down giving an H-Shaped look to it. The step is not there just for looks; it pulls weight from the center of the yo-yo giving the Sky Walker massive rims. The catch zone on the Sky Walker is huge. There are no plateaus or even the slightest hint of a high wall in the gap. The inner walls end right at the response groove. Moving to the cups of the Sky Walker we find a tiny, almost nonexistent hub and a shallow cut IGR. When I asked why the IGR had been cut so shallow, Heath explained that it was a design compromise to give it better rim weight while keeping the overall weight on the 65-gram range. I can accept that. Even though I am a huge grind fan, I will gladly sacrifice the IGR for better spin times, there is more to grinding than just the thumb grind. Overall, the design of the Sky Walker is amazing. It is very comfortable in the hand with my middle finger resting in the gap of the yo-yo and my index and ring fingers cradling the rims.

The coating on the Sky Walker is a fine bead blast. While the bead blast has a velvety smooth feel to it, there is a small chance that it may eat your string. The Sky Walker was blasted and anodized by Gruntbull Anodizing, a company known in the yo-yo community for their aggressive media blasting. The Sky Walker I received was one of the small few that did chew through string. Brett also received one that chewed through string, leading me to believe that it could be an issue with the blue halves. I had one string snap after about an hour of play and another almost snap after about a day of careful testing. There is a very simple solution to the problem. If you get a string eating Sky Walker, just go buy a green Scotch Brite pad and rub it over the gap of the yo-yo. It does not break the ano or scuff the yo-yo; all it does is smooth out the blasting. After two minutes on the Scotch Brite pad the string issues vanished and my Gator Floss strings were lasting the week that I usually get out of them.

Brett’s Thoughts:
When I received the Sky Walker the first thing that caught my eye was the blue and green colorway. Anyone who knows me knows I have a soft spot for blue/green yoyos. The finish is well executed and the build is on par with anything I have ever seen. The shape of the yoyo was the next thing I noticed; it has a big stepped area in the catch zone, and the IGR was nowhere to be seen. The lack of an IGR was not a huge issue for me, I never do thumb grinds. Everything here is perfectly done. I think Heath did his homework when designing this and getting it ready for the masses.

Action Shot of "The Works" Photo courtesy of Adam Kellar

Weight

All Star Wars jokes aside, the Sky Walker was not named after the character from the George Lucas classic. The name comes from the floaty nature of the yo-yo. The size of the yo-yo pushes it squarely into the full-sized category while it only has a 65-gram weight. The light weight and the fact that over two third of that weight resides in the rims gives the Sky Walker a very light, fast, and floaty feeling to it. It has an ever so slight thump as it hits the end of the string but other than that it just flies through the air with ease.

Response and Bearing

Chris’ Thoughts:
The response is a deep-set flow groove that comes stock with flowable silicone installed. If you decide you do not want flowable silicone installed Heath has given you options, something I am always a fan of. The response recess will accept General-Yo Hat pads, K-Pads, and One Drop flow Groove Pads.

While this is a nonprofit yo-yo I am happy to say that Vs. Newton decided to spend the extra few dollars needed to give the Sky Walker the One Drop 10-Ball bearing. I am not going to waste too much time describing it other than to say that it is the best flat bearing on the market. Recently it won the “best bearing” poll posted on the YoYoNation forums by a hefty margin.

Brett’s Thoughts:
Heath decided to go with a One Drop YoYos 10 Ball bearing, it’s been a fan favorite since it came out. The response on the other hand was not the best. From what I have gathered Heath rushed some of the silicone jobs to get them ready to go to a competition. The production models will receive the proper attention, mine was just one that had an immediate deadline. My fix for the silicone issue was to just rip it out and throw in two One Drop Flow Groove pads. The pads gave tight binds and are a great alternative to silicone.

Playability

Chris’ Thoughts:
On the first throw I knew that Heath had designed an incredible yo-yo. The Sky Walker elegantly uncoiled from the string, hit the bottom with a thump and maneuvered into position on a trapeze without a hint of vibe, tilt, or wobble; it was dead smooth on the string. Almost every new yo-yo has a little bit of a learning curve, something you have to adjust to. With the Sky Walker I really didn’t need to adjust much. I found that it just moved effortlessly on the string. It popped into the air with ease and the wide catch zone made it a snap to hit the string pretty much every time. The Steep walls and minute amount of contact between them and the string means that suicide loops stay wide open eagerly waiting for a finger to catch them. Grinds are incredible with the Sky Walker. The H-Shape straddles my finger keeping the yo-yo in place. The little amount of contact from the flat rims allows for long spin times on my hand and arm. Thumb grinds are a little tricky with the shallow IGR but they are doable. It just requires the yo-yo to be thrown at a slight angle.

Brett’s Thoughts:
When I first threw the Sky Walker I will be 100% honest I didn’t have high hopes for it. I haven’t been following the hype behind this yoyo and usually freshman efforts from independent builders have a 50/50 shot, some nail it, others need to go back to the drawing board. Heath obviously spent some time at the drawing board because this yoyo is fabulous. UNTIL… It happened. The outer edge of the response area chewed right through a string and launched the Sky Walker across my deck, down the stairs, and out into the lawn. Thankfully no yo-yos were harmed in the making of this review. I quickly brought this to the attention of Heath. His response was to immediately put out a notice to all users, something most new manufactures wouldn’t have done. Heath also went back and contacted every person he personally sold a yoyo to, investigating if they had any issues. He reported back only about 10% of the users have had an issue. As we talked I came to find these particular ones were anodized by Gruntbull, now Gruntbull has a history of hardcore bead blasting and has been know to cut strings, it has happened on several Gruntbull jobs including the CLYW Hulk Smash Peak. Luckily the fix is easy; a simple rub with a green Scotch Brite pad and the problem is solved. Now the yoyo is back to being fabulous. It moves with authority, it grinds awesome, and it just has to be played, I usually don’t go ga-ga over a new yoyo but this one I really enjoy. You really have to try one to see.



Final Thoughts

Chris’ Thoughts:
This is one heck of a freshman effort. The Sky Walker is what I would consider a must have yo-yo. Yes I will say it; the force is strong with young Sky Walker. It has an impressive blend of impressive looks and strong performance. The string eating issue is a nonissue that I don’t hold against Vs Newton. It is a known Gruntbull issue and an easy fix. When it comes to the Sky Walker, all I can say is that I will own one, even if I have to trade one from my collection to get it.

Brett’s Thoughts:
Heath is a stand up guy who took the appropriate actions when a problem arose, he built one heck of a yoyo, he offered it at a price anyone could afford, and it is just an incredible yoyo. Through all the conversations with Heath we have grown a nice friendship, I cannot wait for his new yoyos in the works. Only two words for users reading this review BUY IT. I have two more words for Heath if he is reading this NO GRUNTBULL.

Pack-in Note. Probably the best I have ever read.