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Tuesday July 11, 2006
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 Back in the '80s when Blogging Molly was a wee lass, yo-yos were really big. The kids in my elementary school knew all the tricks: Around the World, Rock the Baby, Walk the Dog. . . etc. I, on the other hand, could only do the basic up and down motion, and even that caught me up sometimes.
Enter the Power Brain XP from Yomega Corp., a company that claims to have led the yo-yo craze of the '90s. (Guess I was too old for that one!) Designed for beginners, this yo-yo has a centrifugal clutch mechanism to make yo-yo-ing easier. After you perform a trick, the yo-yo will automatically return to your hand, even if you make a mistake. It works by opening up to allow a long spin, and then closes to force the yo-yo to return. Simple as that. I could have used this back in the day. The yo-yo also has a "smart switch" inside that enables yo-yoers to switch between automatic return and manual return modes. So when you get advanced enough, you can lose the training wheels and yo-yo unfettered. It sells for $12.95 (USD) with several color choices. So, what do you guys think. Would you buy this?
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July 12, 2006 11:26 AM
Oh, take it from a former intern: There was a craze. My little brother and best friend were into it. As such, this auto-returning yoyo is old news. And makes me feel old.
July 12, 2006 1:16 PM
Already bought it. It works great! I can do all sorts of tricks on it that if not for the clutch, I would not be able to do.
July 15, 2006 1:32 PM
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8305422360928284986&hl=en
July 17, 2006 8:28 AM
While brain yo-yos are ok for the most basic stuff, they tend to cause problems before long. The clutch mechanism itself makes the yo-yo not smooth on tricks where the yo-yo rests on the string. Also, having the yo-yo come back up at the wrong time during many tricks could cause a huge knot. Better to have it die out and try again. There are several ways to start a yo-yo without manually winding it up (one of the nicer ways uses a motion like snapping your fingers like you'd use to spin a billiard ball). A great irony is a lot of yo-yo players now have their yo-yos set up "unresponsive" so that they won't come up with a simple tug but need you to wrap the string around the axle in a certain way. This makes certain tricks easier... kind of the opposite of a brain. :) Plus, considering the other yo-yos out there, $13 seems really expensive for what you get with a Brain. The Kickside, Lyn Fury and Matrix from Yoyojam are all about $15 and very good quality. Same goes for the Freehand Zero from Duncan. Most of those you'd have to order from one of the online yo-yo stores. One thing to look for is the FAST 201, which was being sold in places like Walmart, Toys R Us and Target. In some places it has been discounted to $5 or less and it is a great starter yo-yo. As Torr's link shows (that's from the Japan Nationals this year), things have come a long way in the last couple of years. As with so many other hobbies, the internet has helped out a lot to organize the players. There's tons of instructional videos and forums and other stuff if you do a search..
October 4, 2006 8:07 PM
There are a lot of other yo-yos you can get at this price, but from a technology standpoint, you can't go wrong with the Yomega Brain XP...it's definitely fitting for Gearlog.com!