The Story of Centroid

Price：50USD

Ever since 2022, yoyofriends used a lot of time and resources to develop fingerspin yoyos. The likes of AOE, Rio, Helix and Strand. All these yoyos are great at fingerspin. However for 1A okay, the performance is not up to par with a relative comp yoyo. For this project, our goal is to make a performant 1A yoyo first, then think about the fingerspin capability. 

(Picture of AOE, Rio, Helix, and Strand)

For this design, we initially wanted to use the -cut series profile. After some observations, we found out this design will be too similar to the Cheatcode. So we decided to go in a different direction. 

(Picture of Ultracut, Papercut, Intercut)

We then put this project on hold until we can utilize another profile. For the next 3 months while we waited and brainstormed, we gathered a lot of customer and retailer feedback. One of the most beloved profiles is the Graviton / Replicant. Retailers especially would love for us to make a series of yoyos using that profile. We immediately implemented the design queue and prototyped.

(Picture of the Centroid prototype 1) 

After the prototype was made, Peter from our manufacturing team said, “Why not add a groove to the outer cup of the yoyo?” This enables the yoyo to self-tilt into a fingerspin even at a low angle, and also enables a cool trick called the corkscrew.

We also quickly consulted the yoyofriends player team, and everyone thought it was a great idea. We immediately made the new design.

(Picture of the prototype centroid groove)

However, the World Yoyo Contest is literally the next day. If we want to let the players at the contest test our new design, we have to make the yoyo and test it throughout the night. After communicating, the technicians worked overtime after midnight to make the prototype happen. Finally at 3am, the yoyo is made and tested. The initial testing was very positive. 

(Picture of the CNC lathe or the Technician who made the yoyo?) 

The yoyo was tested by the players at the WYYC in Japan. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The shape/profile of the yoyo enables a weight distribution that excels in both performance and fingerspin. Really the best of both worlds. 

After WYYC, team yoyofriends visited one of our longtime retail partners, REWIND. We have communicated with Rei and Kazuki about this yoyo. When they tested the yoyo thoroughly, They said: " This yoyo is great, but if I am a customer. I will be worried about the groove on the outer cap being too sharp. This might cause hand/finger injury. Due to this problem, the customer might not want to buy the yoyo." We asked if the change needs to be big. Because if we aggressively smooth the groove on the cap, it will stick out and take up space in the center cup. After discussing back and forth Kazuki gave us a suggestion. Smoothing the groove is OK, we have to take the stance of customer safety first rather than pure performance. We really trust Kazuki's unique understanding of the yoyo market, so we agreed. 

After we came back from WYYC, we have changed the design of the groove to make it smoother. Ensuring the safety of the customers and yoyo players. 

(Picture of the prototype groove vs production groove)

We then communicated with our players when finalizing the yoyo. Tony asked about a potential issue. The out cap of the yoyo design is very similar to what legendary yoyo designer Jeff Pang did before. He is the one who started this kind of fingerspin technology. Tony suggested we should communicate with Jeff. Even though our design philosophy is slightly different, it will be perfect if we have the blessing of Jeff himself with this fingerspin cap design. 

Jeff Pang is a long time friend of ours for over a decade. We think he is a design genius. Finally we got the blessing from him on our cap design. We really want to thank Jeff. 

Now we go fully into production. 

(Picture of the production Centroid) 

After a month of production, we visited Japan for 12 days. We wanted to promote our brand and this yoyo throughout the Japanese community. We visited multiple yoyo clubs and retailers—from yoyospaceas in Hokkaido, to Spingear in Tokyo, to Yau Yau Shop in Yokohama, to YOYO SHOP NEST in Nagoya,to Rewind in Iwakura and finally to necsecretshop in Osaka. The feedback from every club and shop was great. The 12 days of travel to promote it were well worth it—all the hard work paid off.

(Picture of the Japan trip, various yoyo shop etc)

Finally, the naming. After consulting with yoyospaceas, they suggest we start a series using this profile design. We think this is a great idea. However at that time, the name centroid was already suggested by Tony. We think it perfectly aligns with the ideology of the yoyo. Centroid means the geometric center of a shape. Basically where the fingerspin hub is. 

Then boss Jacky, Team manager Yiyang (Philip) and Tony have different opinions. One option is to keep the name and start a series of names using the root word cent. One is to ditch the name and go back to our old ways, naming after various animals. Finally find a new series of names altogether. After intense discussion, we decided to keep the name on this yoyo and start a series of related names afterwards. We think this yoyo is really unique and probably will be the only one in the series that embodies both performance and fingerspin ability. 

(Picture of Jacky, Philip and Tony)

Finally Centroid is finished. We hope you liked our entire process of making this yoyo. We also hope you enjoy our ultimate fingerspin yoyo that excels in performance.