Day 5: The AXL Elite

The AXL Elite, by Custom Yo, was a very unique yo-yo. At the time of it's release, Custom was most known for it's MAG yo-yos, a series of aluminum yo-yos that were designed to resemble exotic car wheels. These MAG yo-yos, like most other aluminum yo-yos, where heavily rim-weighted for longer spins.

So it was surprising that when the AXL Elite was released, Custom had decided to try to make a very lightweight aluminum yo-yo with no added weight along the outer rims. The theory being that although rim weighting a yo-yo slows it's rotational speed (thus lengthening it's sleep time) a heavy yo-yo requires more energy. So Custom created a very light yo-yo that wouldn't require as much energy to keep spinning.

It works. At only 42.1 grams, the Custom AXL Elite is even lighter than most mini yo-yos (including Custom's own Chain Reactor which weighs 49 grams), but it outspins most yo-yos in flat sleep time. However the AXL Elite did tend to lose spin quicker than most rim weighted yo-yos. I think it's narrow gaps and grip-y pads were largely responsible for this.

With bind return yo-yos becoming more and more common, I'd like to see another attempt at the less is more mentality in yo-yoing. A wide gaped & ultra light butterfly yo-yo could really take the gold.

Speaking of [how's that for a segway?], today's blog is a two for one as I also wanted to mention Custom's gold plated version of the AXL Elite, the Golden Fly. This 24k beauty came packed with a matching stand (as do most Custom Yo-yos). I just realized that although Custom no longer manufactures yo-yos, they apparently do still offer them through their site!