The past few days I have been spending some time to work on the packaging of the up coming Octavia. Also, my anodizer in USA has sent me pictures of the beautiful yoyo halves and are on route to Prague as you read this. There are a few more pieces of the puzzle to assemble though, and one of them comes in the form of an adhesive-less Hungarian made response system dubbed the Honey String Pad. Lets rewind back a few months.
During September I was in Spain for the Spanish National Yoyo Contest. That is where I was chatting with Janos Karancz. He then introduced me to his also Hungarian friend David Bolgarfalvy, the man behind Honey String. We talked over a few drinks at the after party, where he showed me his creation from a few years back - the HS Pad. Janos claimed it was the same pads he used to win worlds with in 2013. I threw them in my Octavia, and was instantly hooked.
Fast forward to a few days ago. I decided to visit him in his comfy home in Budapest, Hungary. I wanted the production Octavia to sport these pads for the release. I had used the HS pads for a fair amount of time since Spain, and knew their behavior. For the first day or two of playing, the pads are pretty grippy. There is a texture - a sheen to them that wears off. On top of that, the "HS" that is etched into each pad acts as a great wear indicator. After the initial wear in, they become a matte texture that feels really nice. And because they are generally tougher than most pads - they last much, much longer.
Each pad is laser cut by David and his friend Roland Kovács in Hungary. It was really cool to see all the different sizes they had made, ranging from Duncan, to Yoyofactory, to even the almost obsolete Dif pad size. The ones he recommended for the Octavia actually has no adhesive - almost like a modern O-ring. A huge positive in my books.
They stay stuck in place by friction alone and can be replaced without the nasty gooy mess that normal pads leave behind. Its a small difference - but its the small things that make the user experience just that much more enjoyable. I definitely appreciated it more when it came time to swap out for fresh pads.
We had some beers after we sorted out the Pad business. He played some Jubeat (which he is unbelievably good at) while I ate some delicious Hungarian Pancakes his mother had prepared (seen below). Overall a great experience visiting Budapest and David. Another piece of the Octavia puzzle solved.
Its the home stretch now - the dash to the finish line. One that I have been anticipated for months where either everything comes together - or all falls apart. So stay tuned...
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