From RSO: Sonny and I had so much fun working on the Mecha-Bapezilla that we decided to collaborate a second time. The next most iconic Anti-Yo, the YWET, an acronym for Yo-Yos Will Eat Themselves (inspired by the 80s Brit Pop band Pop Will Eat Itself) was an automatic choice. We named it the “YWETi”.

The first YWETi prototypes incorporated the Side Effects (SE) system. Initially, we decided against making a non-SE version of the YWETi because there was already a slew of aluminum non-SE YWETs from other companies on the market, albeit not traditional collaborations. Sonny shared with me that about 6 years ago, he had experienced a burn out from yo-yo’ing and sold over 1,000 defective raw YWET halves to various individuals, at the cost of their recycling fee. Only recently did these halves see the light of the day after being repaired, repackaged and resold by various companies.

Three prototypes of the SE YWETi were made - I kept one, sent one to Sonny and gifted one to a loyal customer (Shimon Osada) who purchased a 1 of 3 rose gold Mecha-Bapezilla. The prototypes played amazingly, but they gave me a splitting headache because they were extremely difficult to tune to smoothness. I must have spent over two hours tuning a mere 3 of them! As Sonny and I were planning to anodize this batch of YWETis, we decided against incorporating the SE system for the fear of introducing another variable which can contribute to vibe.

The non-SE version of the YWETi was easy to machine and tune. When the yo-yos came back from the coating factory we were mesmerized by the beautiful electroplated colors. The non-SE version of the YWETi was a huge hit and sold out almost immediately. Most felt that it played similarly to the aluminum SE YWET and that the YWETi brought back a sense of nostalgia. The demand far exceeded the supply. I received a constant bombardment of requests for another run of the YWETi.

Fast forward a few months. A SE version of the YWETi was still on the back of our minds. We craved a challenge and decided to go back to the drawing board and figure out the problem with the prototypes. After many long hours spent analyzing problems and prototyping solutions the production run of the SE YWETi turned out fantastic. Despite having a hint of vibe on grinds (it is not dead smooth like all the non-SE RSO yo-yos you are familiar with), it is hands down the best playing version of the YWET ever.

Changes to the MK II version: A significant amount of weight was shaved off from the SE nipple for the MK II, with the weight added to the inner rims. These changes collectively make the MK II play a touch closer to the aluminum SE YWET than the MK I. The vertical profile of the SE nipple also more closely resembles the aluminum non-SE YWET, adding to the sense of nostalgia. The SE nipple design on the MK II will be a stepping stone to future RSO SE nipple designs.