Monometal 000 & Fulvia - Designs Rooted In History

Its wild to think that the Fulvia design is now 8 years old - originally released in 2016. This design was developed in titanium with the pursuit of rim weight and stability. So much has changed since then. 2024 was an interesting year with the challenges of moving to a new country while maintaining releases. Not many people realize but I often prototype yoyos for myself and they just never get released. Often they join the rotation of throws I have on the shelf, which never make it to production. The monometal 000 and Fulvia was exactly that - prototypes that I submited earlier this year that just never ended up making it to production.

The project was put back into production development after I asked the community what they wanted to see made. Surprisingly, I had a lot of direct messages and comments about developing a simple 6061 variant of either the 000 or the Fulvia - which I already had both prototyped 6 months prior. It just made sense to finish up this project up as the prototypes I developed played very, very well. I made some tweaks from the prototypes to improve the overall stability - that was it. Since there is so much history with these two yoyos it does make it easier to build off of as well.

Something about raw materials really does it for me. Maybe its because Luftverk generally focuses on titanium which is often uncoated. I also have fond memories of using Yoyojam hybrid yoyos with uncoated aluminum rims. But having a raw yoyo uncoated yoyo that develops its own slight patina while being used and abused overtime is just something I really jive with - and feels so personal. Its why you always see raw variations of my aluminum projects.

You can really see the sheen in the slow final pass that was requested to create the rainbow shine on the raw finish. Super hard to capture but this was also featured on the TI7068 series from 2022 for those of you who have one. There isn't any pigment but rather just the micro ridges refracting light in crazy ways.

These raw versions will develop a patina of microscratches overtime, as with all raw yoyos. While I love this, I know many prefer to keep a cleaner look - which is why I developed the anodized version creating a grey to match our signature AMS2488 coating.

Funny enough, the design language of both models draw from two different eras. The 000 has a flat edge that keeps the ultra-minimalist design of the original titanium version while the Fulvia takes the "Concave Meniscus" design element commonly found on my Injection Machined plastic lineup. I went back and fourth on both designs so much, but I realized that what made the 000 so awesome was it's super simple - almost beautifully simple design. The Plastic Fulvia felt like it was cemented as a staple in the community, so I chose to develop the yoyo based on that design language.

The original 6061 Triple Zero prototype I developed was 0.4mm smaller in diameter than the production version (Going from 56.4 to 56.8). This difference might not seem like much but it adds much more float at the end of the string. 56.4mm was also the diameter of the Ti7068 variant, which I found slightly more powerful and less of a fun floaty yoyo you can casually throw. Its a subtle difference but an important one - since the Triple Zero has always represented a casual floaty organic style.

With the Fulvia, the entire design was stretched out slightly to 46mm adding 1.5mm on each side from the original Fulvia from back in the day. This oddly now feels very mild in the hands, with true competition yoyos now reaching staggering widths of 50mm+. I wanted to keep this design more playable and enjoyable partly because I know my customers are not the type to walk on stage with one of these, but mostly because I myself am a casual player that usually picks up a yoyo in-between work breaks. I find that the 56mm diameter, with the 46mm width just looks slightly more agressive adding to the overall beauty and balance of the yoyo. 

I quietly updated all box designs in 2024 - one for Aluminum, Titanium, and Magnesium. These box designs feature technical cross section drawings on the back, with the Luftverk logo on the front. The new box design is both smaller and stronger which help during shipping. The inside has our standard foam as protection - doubling as a storage container for customers who wish to use it as such.

Very happy with how these turned out, with the grey being the most "Luftverk" looking, representing our older box design. The matching set is very satisfying to photograph.

It has been more difficult lately to develop these kinds of projects, and often I just selfishly want to develop prototype yoyos that I keep for myself. This brand new venture into 6061 was something a bit unexpected - in the 8 years of Luftverk there has never been a Monometal Aluminum. Back then my main argument was that the market was "oversaturated". But these two iconic designs have surprised me time and time again with customers really resonating with both specifically the Fulvia and Triple Zero. Maybe due to the continued variations of them. Regardless I am happy to now have a reason to offer these in the lineup.