SPYY - Technology for Players

Kin Kwan Wong (aka Zannix) Takes 1st Place at the 2010 hkyc!

SCUBA Steve — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:18:58 +0000

A big congrats goes out to Zannix for his HUGE win at the 2010 Hong Kong YoYo Contest! Zannix threw an near flawless routine that was perfectly choreographed with his trusty SPYY Pro. That’s the second big win after his recent victory at the 2010 CNYYC. Way to go!

My 7th WYYC… The best yet!

Joey — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 03:44:51 +0000

2010 marks my 7th World Yo-Yo Contest and I must say it is my favorite so far. The biggest difference was that I felt I was part of something bigger then myself. This was my first contest on the SPYY team and boy did it change things for me.

Each contest has been a slow journey to making friends, crazy adventures, and yo-yo’s. Every person that was my hero at the age of 15 I am now good friends with; I went out to lunch with many, shared life stories, shared tricks, and overall just enjoyed their perspective on life. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I was content hanging with the old crowd, yo-yos had taken the back burner in my life with school and I thought I was where I would ever be in yo-yoing.

Life doesn’t turn out the way you expect and what I thought would be an adventurous summer has rekindled my drive to yo-yo and be apart of the bigger community. This has a lot to do with Steve. He has put a lot of faith in me to represent his brand which to say is easy, he makes a great product. So, upon entering the World Yo-Yo Contest I knew I had to change up my usual routine. I still spent a lot of time with my friends but I made sure to meet the new guys. I talked to young and older players to share tricks, hear stories, and overall get to know the new generation. I was blown away by the level of play these kids are capable of. I made sure to let everyone I could try out any of the SPYY line and get feedback on what they thought. It reminded of what it was like being new to yo-yoing and excited to see new things and meet new people. Its safe to say you can expect a bigger presence from myself. Thank you to everyone I’ve met along the way

I want to give a shout out to a couple people:

Seth Peterson, Dave and Mariah Poyzer, Steve Buffel, Danny Severance, Tyler Severance, Ed Haponik, Guy Wright, Sebastian Brock, Boyd Seth, Spencer Berry, Takeshi Kamisato, Ambri Bizek, John Huber, Patrick Mitchell, Miguel Correa, Ben Mcphee, Hans Van Dan Elzen, Jungyo Choi, Eddy, Andrew Bergin, Drew Tetz, Drew White, Stu Branoff, Brandon Jackson, Yuuki Spencer, John Higby, Mark McBride, Steve Brown, Justin Weber, Mark Montgomery, Elliot Jackson, and Gee Chueng.

Worlds and late news on two new throws

SCUBA Steve — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:02:15 +0000

WOW! My head is still spinning in a blissful state of euphoria. I returned in one piece, but seriously lacking sleep from the western hemisphere’s greatest indoor show on earth, the legendary Worlds Yo-Yo Contest. I’ve been four times and this year has to be one of the best yet. If we’re experiencing a boom like many people think, I’d say the level of talent in players is matching that growth. I’m still blown away with what I witnessed.

This WYYC was a benchmark event for the SPYY team and it definitely showed in the spirit and enthusiasm of our players. The team was in full brigade sporting new work shirts, belt buckles as well as a couple of new faces. Our presence was felt throughout the contest venue and local burger joints I’m proud and thankful for our colorful crew.

Jungyo Choi made his debut to the team at the contest. He originates from Korea, but now lives in Calgary where SPYY is produced. This will lend many benefits not only to SPYY’s product development, but also to our local club and scene.

Jungyo recently placed 7th at the Korean Summer Festival, 13th at Korean Nationals and most notably 2nd at the Canadian Nationals. We are confident in his abilities and believe that he has the foundation of a contest winning player. Look forward to seeing him at many USA events in the coming year. His player profile will be up soon.

Joey Fleshman made his first public appearance wearing SPYY colors and did us proud by representing with full vigor and enthusiasm. It was fun to see Joey surrounded by young, eager players who were all interested in trying every SPYY in his bag. Joey has been making his mark on the contest scene, with a strong second placing at MAR, he also has strong ties with SAVE DETH, a super bunch of people and a solid yoyoing lifestyle brand. Check out their webiste here: www.SAVEDEATH.com We look forward to seeing the future results of Joey’s fresh perspective on trick composition and competitive yoyoing.

Ed Haponik, the rock star of the team, arrived after a long drive to the contest venue 4:00am Friday morning. Our crew stayed up all night and into the morning to welcome him “home”. After a long hello and Ed handing out the much anticipated belt buckles (I had them delivered to NC), everyone dispersed to get a few winks before continuing our journey into yoyoing bliss the next day. Ed made a classic appearance in period dress for the Duncan 1964 contest recreation. The old rules were laid out (all very strict) and the players had to comply with precision or be sternly criticized by the judges. Yoyoing back then was serious business! Ed’s skills were strong and appreciated by all.

Guy Wright, the smooth master of flow and style was regularly spotted at the contest with his motley crew of friends all busting out insane combos and hits. Guy has made himself a legend our our community with his incredibly stylized moves and he was more than happy to show off these skills to whoever asked. Guy was regularly seen with an enthusiastic camera stuffed in his face, so watch out fresh contest footage of him in the coming days… There were also rumors floating around of an all new Punch Line in the works

A big thanks and hug to everyone at the contest I met and an even bigger hug to those who I missed. It was awesome to see familiar faces and to meet new ones. I had the time of my life and I miss you already. We’ll see you at Nationals!

The World Contest is and check point or milestone of sorts. Everything builds up to the event, especially for SPYY. It gets super busy and perhaps even flustered at times making sure everything is falling into place. There’s always some deadlines cut short or even missed, but in the end it all works out. In my blitz for Worlds I’ve been guilty of not keeping the SPYY site up to date with recent product, so without further a due, here’s what we’ve been releasing…

SPEED FREAK

This yoyo was premiered at the 2010 WYYC and will be shipping to stores soon. It’s profile was inspired by the Addiction, but on closer inspection shows that it’s an all new shape, with a sleeker profile and revised low walled gap. It plays, fast, light and cuts through the air with extreme precision.

Specs:
Diameter: 53.9mm
Width: 41.5mm
Weight: 63.5g = speedy!
Gap width: low-walled 4.25mm
Response: CBC slim pads – accepts flowable silicone
Bearing: Large “C”, dry for unresponsive play
Finish: bead blasted

STRYKER

The Styrker was showcased for the first time at the Canadian Nationals and it’s for sale at your favorite online store now. Players and collectors alike are impressed with it’s unique semi-H shaped profile, bold splash anodizing and playability. The Stryker is a smaller yoyo with an extremely wide profile and a very low-walled gap, making it the perfect throw for modern players in search of something in the undersized category.

It’s small, wide & solid… It’s a machine on the string!

Specs:
Diameter: 49.5mm
Width: 41mm
Weight: 67g
Gap width: ultra low-walled, 4.5mm
Response: Recessed CBC Slim pads – accepts flowable silicone
Bearing: large C size Center Track from Central Bearing Company
Finish: Bead blasted and splash anodized
String: yellow 100% poly

1Week1Week1Week…

Ed Haponik — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:11:31 +0000

less than that, actually. dang… some people are probably getting set to leave as we speak!

it is, once again, that most special time of year. no, not arbor day (or boxing day – hi, steve!)… this weekend The Somethingth Annual World Yo-Yo Contest goes down in orlando, fl., and as always, SPYY will be there. i have to work right up through thursday (and in fact had a scheduling conflict that obliterated my air travel plans), so i will be driving through the night to [hopefully] arrive sometime around 3am on friday morning. fortunately, it’s worlds, so i know everyone will be awake anyway.

if you’ve never been to worlds, you really need to try (and i mean try harder than saying ‘awww, mom! pleeeeeeeeease?’ it’s a special thing to see hundreds of yo-yoers all gathered together. everyone brings their a-game (even if it only rates a ‘c’), and whatever you think about the judging set-up, the drama of the finals is fantastic. and yo-yoing remains so wonderfully small and familial that you can literally befriend all of the great players you idolize. though everyone has an opinion on what should be changed about it, it remains an event that has no equal in our community, and attending it totally restructures your understanding of what it is to be a yo-yoer.

some of the best things about worlds happen nowhere near the stage. i think i’m most excited about the reboot of the ‘1964 national contest’, which will apparently be judged by superlegends bob rule and dale oliver, and which will require all participants to use period equipment (and dress!). i’ll also be in charge of the fixed-axle breakout, featuring a quasi-invitational head-to-head bracket, best trick contest. last year we crowned drew tetz the [unofficial, but absolutely legitimate] ‘fixed axle champion of all the world’. this year, barring a compelling argument from tetz, we’ll crown a new one (and even give him/her a fly trophy)! oh, and don’t forget to seek out the annual underground ‘pink slip’ contest, which is also head-to-head and in which (if you’re beaten) you’ve got to fork over your yo-yo to whoever took you down. yeah, for keepsies.

SPYY will have some rocking new wares at the contest this year. among these are the Stryker (check out joey’s post below), and a new special worlds’ edition yo-yo, the Speed Freak, which is very much in line with SPYY’s newfound proclivity for next-level performance/competition throws. also…

?!?!?! what?!?!?!?!

perhaps above all, i’m giant-size stoked to get to meet a bunch of new people. i look like the pic below, so if you see me in the hall or at ‘the lite bite’, don’t be shy – say hello. just be warned… ah’m a hugger.

rethinkyoyo celebrates 1year of yoyo tutorials

SCUBA Steve — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:40:57 +0000

Rethinkyoyo.com is celebrating one year of service to the yoyo community with this video featuring the new SPYY Stryker. Kyle’s skills are smooth and well-refined, so don’t hesitate to visit his site to learn your favorite tricks. Congrats Kyle!

Summer Adventures with a look at the Stryker

Joey — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:35:46 +0000

Hey everyone, from now on I’ll be adding little insights to the blog every so often. My first one will be a small account of my jam packed summer travels.

Three days after I got out of school, I flew up to Arizona to hang out with the YoYoFactory boys and travel to California for the Bay Area Classic. Tyler and Miguel were quite the hosts. Next, I flew home and then off to St Louis for a week of family time. I saw the Arch, participated in a Breast cancer awareness walk, and helped earn money for a family member going into surgery. After that I spent some time in Virginia Beach going to the water and seeing friends.

I was lucky enough to be able to drive up with fellow Virginia player Mikhail Tulabut to Mid Atlantic Regionals where I was able to see Joe Mitchell’s store YoYoJoe’s and compete in the 1A division. I placed 2nd overall which has earned me a spot to compete at Nationals, which I will be attending.

For those that do not know, I attend a 4 year college for Mechanical Engineering on a Navy ROTC scholarship, part of my commitments have me do summer training while still in school. This year I went on the USS George H. W. Bush, CVN 77. This is the newest aircraft carrier in the fleet: a jostling, busy, industrial city on the water. I worked and slept on the ship for a month gaining insight and experience on the enlisted way of life. Most of my time was on the flight deck with F-18’s (jet)and SH-60’s (helicopter) for search and rescue training. I learned a lot and stayed quite busy.

Right in the middle of my big adventure Steve was kind enough to invite me to join the team. Upon returning from my voyage on the sea, I found a nice little package waiting for me at home full of all the best supplies SPYY has to offer. The Flying V, Punchline, Pistolero, Pro, and Stryker. Most people have seen and possibly had some playing time with most of the line so I’m going to focus a little more on the Stryker, SPYY’s newest release.

The Stryker is a solid undersized addition with a strong profile. The weight feels consistent with the others like the Trainwreck or Punchline. It can be used for speed or take its sweet time as you roll though your arsenal of trickery. Its small stature make it pleasant for chopstick style tricks and complex maneuvers. One of the biggest surprises to me was the Stryker with the addition of a counterweight; personally, this is how I like to play with mine. It has the perfect weight for 5A and while it is undersized, the shape makes it open up for big time tricks. As with most of Steve’s newer stuff, it comes with a large bearing and recessed pads so playability is outstanding. The Stryker is definitely a promising addition to the SPYY list of throws so please, go to your favorite store and pick one up

As of right now I am in Iowa with Seth Peterson, Dave Poyzer, and Danny Severance getting in some practice before Worlds. You can expect a small vid of the Stryker in play over the next week See you all in Orlando!

Kindest regards,
Joey

Zannix takes 1A first place at the CNYYC!

SCUBA Steve — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:07:17 +0000

Seventh place in 5A

Shadows (w/ the Punchline) – by Diego Duarte Vogel

SCUBA Steve — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:05:50 +0000

Joey Fleshman joins SPYY

SCUBA Steve — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:46:04 +0000

SPYY is excited to announce that Joey Fleshman has accepted our offer to join the ranks of SPYY. We’re stoked to add his smooth skills and strong work ethics to our portfolio of players. Welcome aboard, Joey!

Joey took the initiative to write an introduction, so without further a due, I’ll hand the floor over *applause*:

“Hey everyone, I’m Joey. I’ve been around for a while on the east coast. I pretty much grew up with Sebastian Brock, Mikhail Tulabut, Seth Peterson, Dave Poyzer, Tyler and Danny Severance, Luke Hildebrand, and the rest of the gang out of Virginia. I’m a Mechanical Engineering student from the Virginia Military Institute and will be going into the U.S. Navy as an officer. I’ve been active in the yo-yo community since 2004 and since then I have organized meets, contests, and plenty of contest trips for my friends and I. In 2007, Sebby, Tyler, and Danny (all minors at the time) rode halfway across the U. S. in my ‘94 Plymouth Acclaim to Indianapolis, Des Moines, and Minneapolis for Iowa States and MidWest Regionals. We named it Ramen Tour and covered my old car with spray paint and a toy robot for a hood ornament. After that I became involved with Save Deth as I joined their team with Tyler, I’ve been showcased in all the DVD’s with the footage from Ramen Tour in Vol 1.

Steve has asked me to join SPYY, which I have gladly accepted. I love what he’s done with his company and admire the amazing group of players he sponsors. Ed has to be one of the best dads in the world, I’ve known him for quite some time and I always enjoy his conversation. He has shown me a whole new level of respect for wood axles which I think I put to good use. Guy is just awesome, friendly and too funny to even list the stories I’ve heard.”

Canadian Return Top Nationals – July 17th, 2010

SCUBA Steve — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:29:23 +0000

Click the above image to jump to the contest main page.