Winter Updates - Last Run of Acadia, Moving and More
by Jeffrey PangJanuary 25, 2023
December was such an insane month, it almost burnt me out. The amount of yoyos I had to ship out for the Fulvia release was insane, but on top of that being just a single person running Luftverk, it meant I was also dealing with invoicing stores all around the world and making sure the factory got paid in advance for shipments. All in all it was a slurry of spreadsheets and staying up late to pack orders every day.
Switching gears for a moment back to titanium was an interesting realization. The realization that I did feel more connected and fulfilled doing the large scale Fulvia project. The amount of messages, photos and feedback i received was overwhelmingly positive. There's no arguing the project was a massive success and helped me pay off a significant chunk of the mold. Titanium will always remain a passion project even if it can be a struggle to justify sometimes.
I like to create a brand image that is polished and perfect but behind the scenes that is far from the truth. What did this mean for the Luftverk brand that was known for limited Titaniums? Would it confuse customers? I had many questions left unanswered, and with so much work piling up I just went with the flow. But there's no question in my mind that I want to focus a percentage of the company on the lower cost products similar to the ones that made me excited for during my youth.
With that said I do have some titanium products in the pipeline that at this point are more passion driven than anything else. One of these projects is the final release of the Acadia - what I commonly refer to as my signature yoyo. I designed the original Evora to be exactly what I wanted, but with the advancement of todays tricks it felt lacking in stability and control. I go over this in the original blog here. This batch I revisited the Titanium Aluminum Nitride coating commonly used on drill bits and other cutting tools. This incredibly beautiful and hard coating was featured on the Ultima only one other time, but due to assembly issues and quality consistency it was always a gamble to get this coating right.
As with the AMS2488 and Ultramatte version, I installed the beautiful white ceramic bearings with white matte response pads. These bearings have a unique almost plastic feel to them, which I usually refer to as different - not better or worse. This is why I also included some Dif-e-yo Koncaves with this TiAlN edition, for users who prefer their steel counterparts.
These were machined mid last year but sat for a long time due to the stress and work levels of the Plastic Fulvia. The assembly process especially of the bimetal "BTM" versions is very time consuming with each ring weighed and inspected before pressing them on for smoothness. Over the years I developed a method to press them on with less vibration, even though it takes more time. The ability to "Clock" or rotate the ring to a specific position for optimal smoothness is very handy with the bimetal variants. I'm excited to release them in the wild, though they are pretty limited.
Last thing I want to mention is that I have plans to leave Canada to move to Japan for 2023, which adds a wrench to some stuff. It adds to the uncertainty of the company and projects going forward, but because I have relations with a distribution center in Asia for any plastic projects I can manage remotely. I had finally set up my shipping station in Toronto but as life goes on sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. And I wouldn't turn down an opportunity like this - I hope i find future inspiration there and of course will be attending the World Yoyo Contest in Osaka.
Thank you everyone for your continued support - as mentioned in the past every yoyo you buy from me helps to push myself to create bigger and bigger projects. The plastic stuff is an example of that. For those waiting, the next batch of plastics will be end of Feb or mid March - as teased this will be the Plastic 000 and I promise it wont disappoint. I also have a Hybrid Fulvia in the works, but that one might take some time.
Limited batch of both monometal and bimetal titanium Acadia will be available on Tuesday January 31st 2023 on the Luftverk website.
Due to my move I will also be offering world wide free shipping on the 31st and 1st for the entire site. Thank you :)
AcadiaTiAlN (Monometal)
Material: Titanium
Width: 44.0mm Diameter: 56.5mm Weight: 63.8g Response: 19mm White
It has been a while since Ive written much - the second half of 2023 was insanely busy with project management. Since the release of the plastic lineup, I had very little time to focus on the roots of what made Luftverk so exciting. I realized this was a huge problem - I needed to guide Luftverk back to it's roots of exploring new materials and build product lineups that told a story stemmed from exploration. I had done this with plastics last year but in 2024 I would like to also focus back onto some more products that use exotic materials. While being incredibly late to the party this recent project is Luftverk's first Magnesium ever, which was at first canceled and almost never released.
It has been nearly 4 months since Ive been in Japan, and 5 months since I left Toronto. Writing that out makes it feel short but in reality it feels like forever ago. The last launch of the Plastic Peak was an overwhelming experience. I felt so grateful to work with CLYW, a company I grew up with. When the World Yoyo Contest hit I didn't know what to expect, but I had started noticing a feeling of burn out after grinding out so many yoyo related projects and in a weird introverted way I was a bit reluctant to go.
CLYW is a Canadian brand that started in 2006. I was 14 at the time when I watched this new brand unfold on the Yoyonation forums. They released their first yoyo named the "Peak" with 50 pieces retailing for $85. Today, that yoyo has used asking prices north of $2500 making it one of the most insanely rare and expensive yoyos to date. This "OG Painted Peak" featured a custom painted surface by a Canadian airbrush artist named Levi. Overtime as the Peak was impacted or dinged, the paint would chip off meaning there are only a handful of units in the world that survived in mint unused condition. Later versions would be released in more durable anodized finishes, but these first 50 "OG Painted Peaks"cemented CLYW into yoyoing history.
Thank you everyone for your continued support - as mentioned in the past every yoyo you buy from me helps to push myself to create bigger and bigger projects. The plastic stuff is an example of that. For those waiting, the next batch of plastics will be end of Feb or mid March - as teased this will be the Plastic 000 and I promise it wont disappoint. I also have a Hybrid Fulvia in the works, but that one might take some time.
Jeffrey Pang
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