Im writing to you from Bali, Indonesia. The last month has been insane, mostly filled with work related travels. I left Canada and I started off with California where I met up with Augie Fash for a titanium project we are working on. We road tripped all over California in his Miata (Its part of the project I swear hah). Then I ended up in Thailand for a bit with Brandon Vu for the massive Cheatcode release. It was fun to work with other people in the yoyo world who are good friends of mine. But I finally had some time to unwind a bit in Bali and focus on my own projects before I head to Japan and prepare for the World Yoyo Contest. At this point in Bali, I was waiting for the final production run of a new model - the Hybrid Fulvia. I had it shipped here instead of Canada since it got a bit delayed.
Based on the original Plastic Fulvia design, the Hybrid version features the same plastic "Injection Machined" construction but with an aluminum weight ring. During the design stages of the Hybrid Fulvia my main goal was to try to capture that feeling and sound of old school Yoyojam yoyos. I noticed that the feel of other Hybrid yoyos on the market used a heavy metal axle system (usually a machined aluminum center). This meant that the weight distribution felt a bit different than what an old school Yoyojam actually was - an injection mold center with a super light captive nut. I knew that I could get closer to this feeling if I used the Injection Machining technology I developed for the Plastic Fulvia. Then it would literally be a one to one clone of the original Yoyojam construction. Not somewhat like it - but exactly the same. I submitted the designs and hoped for the best, since for me it was uncharted territory to make a yoyo that was like this. On paper it made sense that it would feel the same but reality is often a different story.
I remember receiving a package full of 5 of 6 other prototypes, and the Hybrid Fulvia just outshone everything else. Upon first throw, I got chills. If you've ever seen Ratatouille when the guy eats the dish that brings him back to an exact moment in their childhood - I felt like that lol. It brought be back to when I was 15 and yoyoed in my bedroom for hours on end with my collection of Yoyojam yoyos. There wasn't any other yoyo I've tried since then that actually felt this close to the original, it was so weird. I was actually shocked - It worked. It felt the same.
I carried that prototype around for months and let a bunch of the locals try it. It was funny because the newer players liked how it played, but it didn't connect with them the same way as the OGs who grew up in the same era as me. I knew I was onto something when the OG crowd also laughed hysterically upon the first throw. Their face would light up. Watching them throw this yoyo for the first time was exciting because it also teleported them back in time. You could just tell. Many of them haven't thrown a Yoyojam for the best part of 10 years. The sound of the hollow plastic, the feel of the aluminum rings. The only thing missing would be the loose cap that rattles around hah. It put a big smile on my face, and with some weight tweaks I started working towards the production run of this yoyo.
There were headaches with vibration - one of which was the dreaded harmonic pulse vibration. I ended up going through way too many prototypes of various weight distribution until I settled on the final design. I made it slightly more V shaped than the original prototype (its hard to capture on camera but you can feel it in the hand). It gave it a more aggressive profile closer to that of the original Plastic Fulvia. It started getting messy and expensive as usual, but there was like a moral duty to get this right because of what it represented.
For this first initial run I insisted on doing raw rings. This was an absolute nightmare compared to anodized color rings since anodized aluminum didn't scratch as easily. I wanted the first run of the Hybrid Fulvia to be as close to that original Yoyojam experience as possible. This meant surface scratches and patinas would develop on the raw rings as you used the yoyo over years. The first batch just needed to show the world what this yoyo is supposed to be before venturing into the anodized territory for the second run.
This first run will likely be the only run with these raw rings before I move to anodized ring construction. It was just a pain in the butt to organize. The press they use to assemble the yoyo does mark up the ring quite a lot. The ones that are on the website have the least amount of markings, but as you use the yoyo it will develop it's own character anyway.
The Hybrid Fulvia represent such a deeply rooted part of my personal yoyo journey, so please consider supporting this project. Definitely pushed the limits again on the amount of work, time and money into one yoyo, and I appreciate everyone who has given me feedback. If you are reading this, they should be live on the website already. Thank you!
I was late to hearing about this one and rushed to the site. I was so disappointed to see I missed them.. if you guys do another run, please please PLEASE put me on the email list, I will buy a couple so fast 💯
Kyle Pearson
May 20, 2023
Just reading the blog and it’s already hit the mark for me. Seriously can’t wait to get one in my hands. Being on TYYJ was such and honor and can’t wait for this yo yo to take me back.
It has been a year an a half living in Osaka, crazy how time flies. I remember releasing the Plastic Fulvia just before leaving Toronto, a product that I could argue changed the trajectory of everything. At that moment, Luftverk grew exponentially, with the support of retailers around the world. At that moment, I developed so many behind the scenes processes for management that it became much more of a corporate job then a creative one. Huge projects like Cheatcode, and the CLYW collaboration definitely had its creative sides dont get me wrong, but the addition of moving to a foreign city, learning a new language, pursuing motorsports and delegating tasks behind the scenes with razor sharp margins meant for a lot of it I was on the brink of burnout. I questioned if I even still liked doing yoyo stuff at all, or if it was just to keep food on the table.
Crazy to think it has been 2 years since the original release of the Plastic Fulvia and Plastic 000. Both models as of now are pretty much sold out everywhere, and I knew it was about time to update both with a small batch of new colors as well as fix a few small issues with the first designs. I appreciate everyone who has reached out anticipating a restock of these - as the manufacturing process is very timely for sure so restocks can't happen as quick as I'd like.
In January, I released the AKURA MG, a yoyo made from Magnesium. This material has a very low density and I talked about how it performs more like a plastic than anything else. But what made that yoyo really special is the aesthetic. I loved the lines on that yoyo. The proportions with the chunky rims were just perfect. One of the biggest aesthetic challenges though were that after the ceramic coating the lines were quite subtle which hid the design.
Jeffrey Pang
Author