Thread: Aoda "Littles/Little Guy" Review

Last year I decided I wanted to downsize the size of my yoyos. The Popstar was just released and was hot stuff. There were other small yoyos that I have in my collection but weren't quite made to take on today's tricks. One was the "Micro Bullet" which was essentially a shrunken Saberwing clone with response covering the majority of the inner walls. I believe it was early 2011 when a new challenger approaches. This is....The Littles! While this is not the smallest playable yoyo on the market, it is probably the runner up. It is put out by Aoda, a company that is unfortunately notorious for cloning other manufacturer's designs. While that is true, they do have some gems and honestly think that some of these designs should be in the US market. I received this as an Xmas gift so that takes care of "Ooh, where'd you get that?" My answer would be "Google."

Specs, Shape, and Feel


This gives you an idea how it is for me to hold

The Little Guy (Now referred to as the LG) has a FHZ-ish shape, just a typical wing shape, nothing fancy. It is proportionally wider than a FHZ however (If you shrunk the FHZ down, the FHZ would probably be a bit narrower). The metal used (Is this aluminum or something else?) is quite slippery and feels pretty solid. Not what I was expecting for sub $20 yo. I was expecting something a little more thinner (like cheap silverware, or even feel like the stuff used to make door knobs). It's a nice darker silvery color with simple text reading "Aoda YoYo" with their logo below. The LG feels pretty solid and while small, feels good in the hands. It weighs in at 55g, and is 35mm diameter, about the thickness of a 35mm negative, in which I'm sure we've all seen.


The LG's a little larger than a Nintendo 3DS game card


Left to right: LG, Keychain Imperial, Popstar, PGM

Tech:
The LG uses an A-sized (Duncan) concave bearing which at first is a bit responsive. It does not take much though to break it in. I've had mine for a few days now and it's fairly broken in now. Also part of what made it responsive was the string. Honestly, the strings used on this are a bit too thick in my opinion. When winding it, the string was actually winding out of the wall, thus making it awkward to throw. I ended up making my own string at what feels about the right thickness. Response-wise, the LG uses your typical response found in metals, just...smaller. It gets the job done and when it wears, a mini glob of silicone will do the trick.


A bit hard to tell but you can see the concave style bearing. I'll let you guess which string was stock and which string was home made for this.

The LG also features spikes in which I've successfully done a few pull starts now and done a couple gyro stalls. It is quite awkward knowing you have a yoyo balancing sideways on your finger yet there's no hubstacks. The sharp point allows for a nice amount of spin. Also featured is an IRG in which while I can thumb grind, it will literally do some grinding. It's a bit rough so if you have a need for filing your nails with style, here you go! I've also been able to finger grind and arm grind with this due to it's slick/slippery finish.



Play:
While I'm still getting used to using a 35mm yoyo this packs quite a punch. I find it very stable for what it is. It's got a nice thick lip which helps. Also, vibe is minimal...that is when I have a clean throw. I'm still adjusting to this so I've had throws where the yoyo left my hand and spun somewhere between frontstyle and side style...all while wobbling more than dubstep. Next throw, with a little more care and WOW! Quite smooth I'd say. Now, out of the package, the LG is not perfect. I noted that the string felt a bit thick for this. Seeing how the Mighty Flea uses "Flea String" I decided to make my own version of Flea String to suit this since I do make my own strings. I believe I used 4 layers instead of the typical 6 your typical string uses. Now let's throw...much better, now I can grind without having a nasty snag and have 55g of (steel?) attack me. I also made the string a bit on the shorter side so I have more control. It is also quite zippy with the shorter thinner string.

Overall:
I think this is definitely one of Aoda's gems. And sense it doesn't seem to exactly appear to be a 'ripoff,' I think this yoyo should be available in the states, even if another company purchased the rights to it and rebranded it. Since it's bigger than the MF and the shape is quite different, I would steer clear of using 'Mighty Flea Ripoff.' I'd highly recommend this for someone if they want a small yoyo without going ridiculously small. This is very playable and fits great in the pocket. Thanks for reading! For those who have also thrown the Littles around, what are your thoughts?

Great review, there are a few things in there that I'm able to fill in where you said you don't understand/know. I in no way intend this to be a "I know more than you" or an attack post just purely informative, if I come off that way then just pm me and I'll change/remove the potentially offensive stuff.

there are very few reasons why aoda isn't selling in the states, main reason is because they use the KK bearing which frank dif-e-yo has patented in the states (and some yoyos use hubstacks which are patented by yyf). Although, yyf has brought two aoda designs, you know them as super wide and JK, I know them as miracle and magic/dancing pearl/pear ball. As for the littles, it's made out of this copper steel hybrid which I have to say is amazing, perfectly balanced and beyond perfect for this size, as for the string issue you bring up, you just get used to it over time.

on to your claim as for aoda being a bootleg company, I have an issue with people calling them this, main reason because the only yoyo they've really ripped off of (as of late at least) is the 888, and in my opinion yyf had it coming when they decided to make their 888's in china instead of here in the states. I've read that the sunshine/rainbows are made on the exact same line as the 888x's... Now before everyone comes after me saying "no they've bootleged this this this and this", yes I know they've bootleged some dif, some other yyf, duncan, and yyj... BUT I'm talking about as of late, their recent sales, all you see is their own half metals and the 888's.

I personally own 6 aoda's and all of them are their own design with the exception of the pirate which I find ironically named seeing as it's a stackless 888 but then again the same could be said about the metal zero copping off of various dif yoyos...

bottom line, they're amazing yoyos, and you should import them regardless of what people say.

Actually that was quite informative. Thanks for filling in the holes.

Originally Posted by AngryGumball

Actually that was quite informative. Thanks for filling in the holes.

that's good, I was posting this at around 2-3 in the morning and I didn't know how sleep deprivation would effect my "niceness" through text.

Originally Posted by J_scap

...I've read that the sunshine/rainbows are made on the exact same line as the 888x's...

Source of said information?

Originally Posted by Marcius

Source of said information?

I do believe it was in the comments of one of the articles on yoyoskills.com and from the "made in china" lables that look exactly like those on the jk, and super wide (re branded aoda models)... it wouldn't surprise me...

So basically, yes, I am going on half of a random persons post and half of assumption/educated guess. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong and won't hesitate to admit it. but tell me this, yyf has re branded 3 aoda models, which gets me thinking, yyf and aoda must be real chummy to let yyf buy designs from aoda. Why wouldn't yyf pay them to make some of their yoyos in aodas factory?

Just some food for thought.