The first minute was an insane rush of 20 orders. 90% of Octavias were sold within the first 3 days. And in just over a week, they were all gone. A few incredible milestones were achieved last week - I blew through 500 likes on both Instagram and Facebook which I was so preoccupied I didn't even notice. And as well as the biggest achievement - crossing the 100th order mark. Im just one dude doing literally almost everything with this project so it is very, very humbling that I have the support and understanding that I do from the community.
If I said this was easy - I would be lying. Seems like with the Evora, everything went so swimmingly. Beginners luck perhaps? But it was completely opposite for the Octavia. Prototyping was a slur of problems. Especially experimenting with the super short 6mm axle and corresponding bearing seat which we are still further learning and refining for the future. Such few shops are actually willing to turn titanium yoyos, so new techniques are still being developed. When it came to assembly, it was a nightmare to match halves to find those that played well. The time consuming stickers were applied to the box by hand. It has always been in the details but this was next level and pushed my sanity.
Vashek was nice enough to let me use his shop, Slusny, as my workspace during off hours. Generally Id come at 9pm, and stay until 4am. It felt like a nightshift of assembly, testing and packaging. On the day of the release, I arrived at 1am, and stayed until 1pm the next day. It was brutal. Running off of 3 hours of sleep, doing design, communications, marketing, assembly, testing, shipping and customer service is a sure way to burn out really quick - and I definitely still feel it.
I felt very determined to make every order perfect, but of course shit happens. I had some hick-ups, with a mistake in a shipping address being the biggest one. And although it has been resolved already - its something that shouldn't happen with a 300 dollar product. It really ruins the purchase experience. It would ruin mine for sure.
These aren't things that go unnoticed. New challenges and mistakes provide an amazing platform to learn, and to grow. Its easy to let the sucess go to your head but remembering that perfection is a moving target is so crucial. With 2016 just around the corner, there are some pretty insane plans as far as products go including a few new models and even some with different materials - but thats a story for another day.
Thank you for everyone who placed an order, shared our page or liked a picture. Its what keeps me going - and allows me to do more awesome things. This run of Octavias was completely exhausting and a break is definitely needed but come 2016 Ill be back with full fighting force and it will be full speed ahead. Stay tuned...
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.
This one will interesting - since mine and Augie's relationship go a far distance back. Its also kind of a weird story of how like minded free sprits will seemingly eventually cross roads no matter how unlikely that is.
Growing up in what I like to call the golden area of competitive yoyoing I was blessed to be inspired by yoyoers with so much unique style. These players helped me stay hooked in yoyoing and I often wonder if I would have even stuck with it without them. Players like Yuuki Spenser, John Ando, Eric Koloski, Paul Han, Shinji Saito and of course Augie Fash were some of my favourites. Before there was a yoyo "meta" all these yoyoers had their own 1A style which is why I think fondly of this era.
Jeffrey Pang
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