HSpin Beysick Review

One of my buddies ordered the HSpin Beysick from YoYoNation. I got the opportunity to spend some time throwing it. As a matter of fact, my buddy pretty much left the yo-yo alone until I had the chance to take a few pictures of it. So everything is all nice and minty, just as you'd see it right out of the package... if that's what you'd call the container it comes in. Let me elaborate. I'm not too familiar with HSpins, but I do know that the Beysick is the first of HSpins "Core Series." I'm guessing this is HSpins equivalent of the YYF Fundametals. Anyhow, instead of coming in a box, or a package of some sort, the Beysick comes in a pair of socks. Yes, socks. Two black, regular-sized socks, with "HSpin Core Series" printed on them in white. As I understand it, a lot of people are just using these socks as a pouch of sorts to carry their Beysick in, to keep it from getting damaged. So, whether you wear them on your feet or pack your new wheel around in them... you'll get a new pair of socks with your Beysick. They're useful any way you look at it.

Umm... Socks. Awesome.

Inside the socks you'll find the Beysick and a little packet of extras. The packet includes 2 extra HSpin silicone stickers, an extra axle, and a little paper insert informing you that you've just purchased the first yo-yo in the Core Series line, asking for feedback. One thing that you won't find in either sock, however, is a string. Thats only a minor inconvenience for must of us, as we usually have a myriad of strings handy. But for someone who is buying this as their first yo-yo, or even first performance yo-yo, they are going to need to buy some string with it, if they don't already have any.

 Things You Can Expect To Find In Your Sock 

I don't know how to describe the size of this yo-yo with any better word than mid-sized. It's slightly bigger than the Boss, and a lot smaller than the Dark Magic. The Beysick is about 1 gram heavier than the Boss, but it feels a lot lighter on the string. This could be due to the weight not being so focused on the rims as it is on the Boss. The rims of the Beysick are a lot thinner, and you can really feel the difference when you throw. Not that it makes a significant difference in playability, but the Beysick feels a little floaty. Some people like that feel, others don't. I don't really think it detracts from the playability at all. On the contrary, gives the yo-yo a more bouncy (if thats even the right term) feel when you're doing tricks that involve you popping the yo-yo up off of the string or bouncing it between strings.

Mid-Sized

The shape of this yo-yo is pretty cool. The inside surfaces of the yo-yo taper down in to a little flat area that surrounds the response system, as is true in many yo-yos, but what really gains my attention are the rims. There is a distinguished edge between where the inside surface of the yo-yo ends and where the rim begins. The rim is slightly rounded, just enough to give it a comfortable feel in your hand. Don't get me wrong though... if the yo-yo snaps back really hard into your hand, chances are you are going to feel the sting from inner edge of the rim. I wouldn't exactly call it harsh on your hands, but it is something that you should watch out for.
 

 Rim Shape and Gap
 

The string gap on the Beysick is 4.10mm. I usually think of gaps under 3.5mm as small, 3.5 - 4.5 as medium, and everything above 4.5 to be large. That being said, I consider the gap in the Beysick to be pretty average. Small gap yo-yos force you to be more precise when doing tricks, and large gap yo-yos are more forgiving, allowing you to be a little bit more sloppy with your tricks. The Beysick offers a happy medium. It requires you to be somewhat precise and subtle with your movements, but doesn't bind up on you the first time the string isn't centered or when you aren't sporting a perfectly straight throw. The response system is pretty well suited for the Beysick. 

It's response system is made up of a red silicone sticker on either side of the bearing. The surface of the silicone sticker is just slightly below the inside surface of the yo-yo. If you didn't examine it up close, it would appear to be totally flush. Despite it being slightly recessed, it is ridiculously consistent with binds. If you get too sloppy on a trick, it will bind up on you in a hurry, but if you even make an effort to keep the string centered, this thing is going to be as unresponsive as you need it to be. The only other thing that is really worth mentioning here is the bearing. It's a 5X11X5 mm bearing, which is typical for HSpin. Right out of the sock on a flick test, the bearing didn't spin that well. The bearing didn't have shields on it, so cleaning it was a breeze. I dropped it straight in the little container that I clean my bearings in, poured in a little paint thinner, closed the container and shook it a few times. I took it out and used compressed air to blow out the rest of the paint thinner, and put a little YYJ Thin Lube on it. A follow up flick test indicated that the cleaning had done what it was supposed to, and the bearing spun just as a well maintained bearing should. I put the yo-yo back together and I was good to go.

Axle, Response, and Bearing

Another feature worth mentioning on the Beysick are the Hub Spikes. The spikes are pretty pointy. Not quite as pointy as those on the Big Brother TT, but pretty pointy, nonetheless. I'm not a huge fan of Matador tricks. I think they are impressive, but not something that I'm real excited to bust out when I pick up a yo-yo. Regardless, the spikes on the Beysick are designed to make Matador tricks easy. You can pinch the spikes and pick the yo-yo up while it's still spinning, you can turn the yo-yo on its side, balance the spinning yo-yo on one finger using the spike, and, if you're more creative, you can do quite a few more tricks with the spikes, as well. (You can't really tell how sharp the spikes are in the image I'm providing.)

In addition to the spikes, the rims of the yo-yo are undercut, allowing for IRGs. IRGs are growing on me, and I'm getting better at them, so I was pretty excited when I realized they were easily executed with the Beysick. As far as any other kind of grind goes, like Arm Grinds and things of the sort, they are possible. It's easier to do Arm Grinds with the Boss, because of it's beadblasted finish. The Beysick has a pretty slick anodized finish. I guess that makes it a little better for stall grinds, because it's not as likely to crawl up your arm. The ano looks great though. Once again, the grinds are possible, they just aren't as natural as they are with beadblasted yo-yos. 

Hub Spike and Rim

So, for being the first of HSpins budget, all-metal Core Series, I'd say they've hit a home run. A metal, all-around great playing professional level yo-yo for 60 bucks seems like a good investment to me. I don't have any real complaints about this yo-yo. It plays better than I would expect from a 60 dollar yo-yo. If you are wanting a great performing yo-yo with a price tag that won't break your bank, the Beysick is the way to go, without a doubt.