Thread: My letter to Ernie...

So, this is a letter that I wrote to Ernie. It is a letter that I thought was pretty much a review. Since I had promised a review of this to a few people, I thought this would work. This is long, and I apologize for that. Making this a review was an after thought. I wanted to tell Ernie what I thought, and felt that he deserved more than the brevity I would have thought to consider for a review on here. However, to make things a little more exciting, I have included a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy, and thanks for reading! Oh, and if you don't want to read what the lengthy letter, the conclusion is this. Go get one! Seriously, this thing is as smooth as can be and is such a joy to throw. As stated in the letter, I have been told by a friend of mine that has both this and the Peak, and says this thing is just as smooth, if not smoother than the Peak. He claims that he enjoys this one more. I would comment, but I don't have a Peak. The point remains. You are missing out if you don't try one of these out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Originally Posted by Vendetta

On Dec 12, 2008, at 8:45 AM, General-YO wrote:

It shipped this morning.
Enjoy and let me know how it plays.
Ernie



Dear Ernie,

Well, it has been about 3 weeks or so since I have received the half/half unengraved Torrent that you sent me. You asked if I would share my thoughts/opinions with you, and I said I would. As a man of my word, here it is:

Well, I am not the type to sugar coat things, or beat around the bush. So, I will begin by saying that this thing is undeniably amazing. I mean that with all I have. I would certainly tell you otherwise if I thought it. However, this thing has yet to let me down. The past few weeks have been an adventure, but in the end, this thing hasn't disappointed. Let this impression start with a kudos to you!

When I first received the Torrent, it was simple. It was simple, yet elegant. Really, at first glance, it was all that I expected it to be. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of two tone yoyos. However, the half blue/half silver combination just seemed to complement one another nicely. It was also the exact size that I expected it to be; slightly smaller than my Milk 2%. Upon placing the yo-yo in my hand for the first time, I was surprised at just how awesome it felt. It felt nearly perfect. Something about the shape and density of the yo-yo seemed to instantly connect with what my brain thought was ideal for what a yo-yo should feel like. It was at this point that the expectations began to slowly fall behind the pace that reality was setting; just the same as a sprinter lags a marathon runner after a certain amount of distance. It was at this point that I knew this thing could be special.

I began as I do with all other yo-yos. I throw it, bind, throw, bind, throw, bind. From there, I take the yoyo off my finger and crack it open to check out the guts. Honestly, nothing too exciting in the guts. The only exciting thing for me was that it seemed to have a similar response area as my CUT; wide and shallow. Now, although this is not ideal for silicone, it worked great in my CUT. I was excited by the thought. From here, I began to continue play with the yo-yo. I was impressed with the weight, the feel, the sleep time, the smooth play--pretty much everything. Everything, that is, except for the response. For me, the response was inconsistent. It would give tight binds on one throw, and then slip the next. It was almost like one half of the yo-yo would give nice binds depending on which side it was on. Weird.

It wasn't too long before I poured in some flow-able silicone. This is where things really took off. I was in awe when I threw it for the first time with silicone. It was like a match made in heaven. It was perfect! I continued to play it like this for a week or two. I literally couldn't put it down. Now, keep in mind that during this time, I had been receiving all kinds of great yo-yos, including, but not limited to: 09 aqua 888, Mary, Wasabi, E1NS, Mark Mont, M1, CUT, SvZB, Skyline, and more. The Torrent kept me excited through all of them. People will call me crazy, I know. That's okay, I know my body and brain are not telling me lies.

Well, it was about that time that I was throwing, that all of a sudden the bearing made a horrendous noise, and the yo-yo began to freak out. Hmmm. Well, darn, the silicone fell out. This was a major bummer. That's alright, maybe chaz pads will work. NOPE! Chaz's are a no go. Maybe a combo of Chaz and Duncan sili sticker will work. NOPE! Ummm, how 'bout dual Duncan Sili stickers? NOPE! Man, I was frustrated. It wasn't the yo-yo. I knew that. I was just frustrated.

So, what now? Well, I thought why not try out 2 of the 4 k-pads I had? Magic! These things play great. I have to admit, they aren't quite as great as the silicone, but they are really nice none-the-less. I am content as could be at this point.

So this is where my adventure with the Torrent ends. I would, however, like to provide some thoughts and suggestions for you, as I read today that it is likely you will continue with your yo-yo venture.

As suggestions, I may recommend a true silicone groove for your next yo-yo, similar to that of a BvM or the ILYY's. Also, I am a huge fan of the bearing seat found in all of One Drop's products. Just things that I would enjoy seeing in your future yo-yos.

Lastly, I would like to thank you. Thank you for producing such a quality yo-yo that I enjoy throwing everyday. I am glad that I had an opportunity to pick this up, and that it turned out so great. I have no qualms with repping this yo-yo to anyone, and would gladly recommend this over any other yo-yo in its class. I believe that it is a true player in a market of slightly larger yo's with a more traditional shape. I have even been told by a little birdie that owns a Torrent and a Peak, that the Torrent is just as smooth and nice. I don't have one, so I can't comment. I can only say that this would be hard to beat period. Although it will happen slowly, I'm sure people will agree when they have the opportunity to throw one as well. I really wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors (yo-yo related or not), and thank you once again for helping to bring joy to my life. I enjoy all yo-yos, and I enjoy the hobby. When I throw and bind, I smile. When I throw and bind with this, I giggle a little bit.

Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,
Justin (aka Vendetta)

Wow, I think I would buy a torrent if it looked like that.

Nice review! I was thinking of getting a Torrent... But my problem was that it looked too simple. I have a thing for flair hehe. But a two toned, un-engraved version sounds AWESOME! Could you post some pictures of it?

Nice review, Justin.

Thank you guys. It was my first! I know it isn't really a typical review, but I thought putting a narrative spin on it made it more interesting. Mostly, it was an after thought, and was really about my true thoughts about the Torrent that I wanted to give to Ernie. It took awhile to compose, but this yo-yo, along with Ernie's effort, really deserved it.

Awesome to hear about this dude. 2 things right off...

One, the resistance or whatever your feeling when you screw it back together...

...I haven't stripped mine, but have noticed that it got really hard to tighten before it was close to being screwed in all the way...

...probably doesnt have anything to do with the threading or axle itself, but more than likely a direct result of the bearing fitting onto the post of the seat so tightly. When you feel that tightness kick in and it gets harder to turn, that's likely because of the post on the half without the bearing is fitting into place on the inner race of the bearing. That's just speculation on my part because I've never had one of these up close, but I've had similar experience with other yoyo's and it seems to make sense in this instance as well.

Number two, I agree with you about the engravings on the production run. I dont mean this as a personal attack whatsoever, but the engravings on the production run makes it look kind of like a cheap yoyo. Aesthetics have almost as much to do with a yoyo as it's build and quality IMO. People like things to play nice for sure, but they like them to look good too. I'd hate to think that people were passing up on an awesome playing yoyo because they're not too crazy about the engravings on it (which affect the play not one single bit).

As passive as I have tried to be in my mind on this, I just cant seem to convince myself that they're ok. Especially when I've seen the unengraved ones and find it difficult to quit looking at it. It's an amazingly clean looking yoyo. I just wish the engraved logo's were a little more appealing to me.

Just my thoughts, I honestly mean no harm there.

This yoyo sounds like a real player. Thanks for posting your thoughts on it, Vendetta.

Nice Vendetta!

Nothing to add here...my feellings on this yo are clear. It's as good as anything else on the market...period, end of story.

The graphics are not as exciting as other offerings out there...and while I don't claim to know anything...I think that Ernie is likely listening.

It is a shame if anyone passes on this one because of the logos....because you'd be missing out on one of the best playing yos out there.

Time to go throw my Torrent :)

RIDE