The 888 has finally been added to the 66% family, and it’s one of the most important models for us at Yo-Yo Factory since the launch.
The 888 is one of the most cherished models that we at Yo-Yo Factory have wanted to make since the launch of the 66%, but we couldn’t afford to fail, and we didn’t want to make it in a situation where we didn’t trust the brand, so we’ve finally released our 9th model.

 

■About Spec.
With a 66% reduction in size, the yo-yo is 33mm in diameter, which is “too small” for the yo-yo, and the concept of having both a miniature feel and the ease of use that would make you want to collect it at 2/3 the size of the 66% is not going to work. It was decided to produce the 38mm “66 Standard”.
In addition, we prepared different weights in 2g increments, and we chose the one that was most comfortable for us to use as the size of the product version.

 

■About the materials
The monometal is made of stainless steel instead of aluminum, but this time we are using brass. The specific gravity of brass is heavier than stainless steel, but it is also difficult and costly to use “hard” stainless steel due to the machining around the hubstack, which requires fine and precise machining, so we decided to use brass instead of stainless steel. and soft and easy to cut brass as the basic material.
However, the feeling of solid stainless steel is also hard to throw away, so we have prepared two colors of silver series, one polished with rhodium plating on top of brass, and one solid stainless steel with hairline.

 

■A new challenge
A “mechanism” called hubstack.
The size of the hubstack on a 66-standard yo-yo is quite small, and while there is a precedent of a big deal, it’s a step backwards in terms of ease of use.
By using the size of the existing hubstack, we’ve made it easier to use while still leveraging the heritage of the past and deforming and emphasizing one of the 888’s unique characteristics, the hubstack.
We also thought it would be interesting to have three size A bearings in series, given the name of the yo-yo with three numbers, 888.

 

■888 as a collection
The 888 is a long-selling model that came in various limited editions and different shapes during the dawn of the yo-yo factory’s rise to prominence (though it’s still going strong).In 2019, an Indigogo campaign titled 888Forever, the titanium 888 was released in 2019 It is still fresh in my mind that the original was made. We know that there are many collectors all over the world, and it is difficult to satisfy everyone, no matter which color or logo you choose, but we have prepared as many variations as possible, and we have taken care to make it fun to display them alongside the originals.
We knew that it would be difficult to satisfy everyone even with any color or logo, but we prepared as many variations as possible and made sure that they would enjoy displaying them alongside the originals.

 

■About the logo
There have been so many variations in the collection that collectors can’t keep up with the summary page (although it is said that most of the information is now available), but this time, except for the Dragon 888, we have adopted the basic logo instead of the limited edition.

・07-888 Logo

The earliest 888s (prototypes) did not have a logo and had a factory logo sticker that was also used on the grind machine.

Here’s the official sale version of the Aqua 888 logo.

The logo used on the 88866 was used in late 2007, when the 888 category was promoted from Red Alert to the newly launched other premium line? The logo also started to have a premium logo in line with the time period in which it was made.
In terms of packaging, it’s around the time when the color scheme changed from mainly white, black, and red to black and gold foil-stamped packaging.
The logo is one of the most impressive logos of the early models of 888.
It was printed on the stainless steel model and the pink gold plating. The close to pink gold color is not present in the original, but it may have been by printing the 07 logo? It gives you a sense of calmness that makes you feel like you’re in the right place at the right time.

・Stealth logo

The black printing on the black yo-yo was a novelty at the time, and the name “Stealth” had a big impact. The 888 started as a size C model, but since it was equipped with a size A, it wasn’t very popular among the 07 models, but we decided to include it in our 66% lineup because we felt it was necessary to make use of the simple logo. We printed it in black color. It has the same size A bearing, but the performance is very different.

・08-888 logo

It was released in 2007, but in a shape called 08-888.
The shiny design of Raw (solid) was impressive. It may be because of the material or the shape change, but the feeling was greatly changed from the 07 model and the pros and cons of this model were separated.
The rhodium-plated model was used to bring out the luster of the original model.

・The Big8 logo

The design has three large 8’s in a row. The 8s were represented right in the middle by the hubstack, but the 88866 has a size A bearing and a smaller diameter, so the design would fall apart as a design without an adjustment to the logo size. I made it work as a design without the hubstack on it and kept the nostalgia of the Big 8.
The solid brass has the Big8 logo on one side only, the 18k plated has the Big8 logo on both sides.

・Dragon 888

The well-known collaboration logo of Spin Gear x Yo-Yo Factory. It was a limited edition model except for the standard 888, and was the model with the most variations of the same logo.

 

■About the weight

There are two body materials, brass and stainless steel, and the weight varies with the coloring (coating).

The detailed weight is as follows.

Stainless steel(Raw) : 64.3g

Brass(Raw) : 62.8g

Black / gold / pink / rhodium: 63.4 g

As standard, the hubstack is not installed. You can install the hubstack or the knob cover, depending on your preference.