I don't understand the rationale behind the rave reviews. The yoyo bearing it came with was fantastic, but the yoyo itself isn't very reliable, had a low spin time, with a lousy catch zone. Liable to tilt, too. For instance, I even tried thinner strings, and no improvement. I had a hard time demonstrating my bangers in front of friends, and the yoyo didn't exert confidence in my throw. Beautiful yoyo, but disappointing performance. Perhaps if it was wider and more angular with a weight of 65 grams.... Get a Silenus, R2FG Halberd, or an Ashigaru by Sengoku.

The longer I own this yoyo the more I love it. This is definitely the one I put most of my time into. When I'm old and grey and I look back on yoyoing, the California will be the one that I learned my beginner tricks on. If I can land a trick on this, I can land it on anything. It's not particularly good at any one thing but it can handle your basic tricks. Short combos are possible, not finger spin friendly. Good buy for the money, I wish it could spin for longer

If you want something fun just to use throughout the day I highly recommend getting this yoyo, handles almost everything I throw at it