The Boba has been a long time coming. We had an idea to make a budget yoyo as the second release from ThrowCafe, and it’s taken different forms through the months as the Cappucino took shape. It started out as a stepped V-shape, similar to what Yoyomonster’s done in the past. Rings like a bell too. We still plan to pay homage to Yoyomonster in a later design, but it’ll be a higher-end model due to the cost of the material and need for additional prototyping.

Why boba?

Boba milk tea is the stuff you see at Asian milk tea shops. They’re tapioca pearls that add a chewy sweetness to your drink. Yum.

We started off with the design goals of comfy organic shape + low price, decided on a name, and THEN started making the yoyo… basically the reverse process of the previous designs. While we can’t achieve the same low price points as brands based in China, we wanted to make a yoyo that’s price-competitive with the big boys (and SF) without sacrificing ThrowCafe’s core of good engineering.

The thing that sparked this organic design was the Parlay. I loved its profile and the handfeel of a slightly small, narrow yoyo. Problem was that it didn’t feel stable or rim-weighted enough for my tastes. No matter how much you try to rim-weight a yoyo, Side Effects will add center weight. It’s a design trade-off.

This idea got put on the backburner for a while longer until the C3 Bastet came out. There wasn’t really a design element from the Bastet that ended up in the Boba’s design, just a feeling that a rim-weighted organic yoyo in the budget range just didn’t exist.

The Boba is designed along the lines of the original Duncan Haymaker. Bimetals use steel to put more rim weight on a yoyo, but you can get the same results with a thicker aluminum rim, as seen in older YYF models like the Genesis and Supernova. (And the G2 Hawk.) As another callback to older designs, we designed the Boba to have recessed high walls like the Parlay. Does rejections like a dream. Won’t reject you.

As a bonus for those who like heavier yoyos, the Boba’s also got inner o-rings, but it was designed to play without them.

Honestly, the comparison to the Hawk never really hit until this writeup started getting written. Both are relatively light, mid-sized yoyos with a lot of rim weight. The Boba’s catch and overall shape are more rounded and relaxed, while the Hawk is intense for a round boi and is one of my favorite yoyos.

The technical stuff

Each half has a moment of inertia of 14870 g*mm^2 and weighs about 31g, for a total yoyo weight of just under 64g. In comparison, the Cappuccino’s halves weigh about 30g and a moment of 13700 g*mm^2.

An organic shape lets you put more weight where you want on the yoyo, and here it’s mostly rim weight. While the Cappuccino’s light weight and decent stability make it a speed demon, the Boba is a bit slower, more stable, and fun as an everyday throw.

The specs

Width: 41.6mm

Diameter: 54.92mm

Gap width: 4.3mm

Weight: 63.8g without rings, 67.3g with rings

RELEASE DATE: 20 April 2018 at 2:00pm PDT.

PRICE: $45