Fall Updates - 000 Ti7068, Japan, Future Projects & More
November 08, 2022
It feels like it has been a long time since I've done a post but really I think just a lot happened in October. The 000 54SE that was released in September was a huge success - I ended up selling out all units through my direct store. During October it was a grind of getting those orders out the door. I received the Ti-7068 000 and Fulvia, but only half of the accessories and stickers. It's why I had to separate them from this 000 release. The Fulvia sold more than I expected - the Champaign colorway sold so quick I had to pull some from the store for retailers.
It was my 30th birthday at the end of October. I felt super stressed out working so much. being a one man operation started taking a toll on me during these bigger releases. I remember looking at the tickets to Japan for an hour deciding if I should go or if I should grind through more work. In hindsight I'm really glad I went. I knew I was going in 2023 but it was awesome catching up with so many friends and planning for next year. It would be cool if I could move there for a few months leading up to worlds. I met up with Eiji Okuyama of Mowl (https://shop.mowl.jp/) who showed me around Osaka - it definitely felt good having a local show you the cool areas. Eiji is such an awesome dude. I got to meet a bunch of OG THP people and had so much good food. We did end up working on a yoyo design together, but it has been on and off since the first time I met him in Germany so time will tell if it makes it to production. His dedication and attention to detail is actually really impressive - something that inspires me to keep pushing with my own product releases.
I also had the chance to visit one of the most famous drift tracks with a car friend of mine who I've known since I was 19. It was just nice to scope out Japan since I know i'll be there for longer term next year. One of my dreams is to have a drift car in Japan, but the logistics of that is a bit insane.
I brought my grey 000 on the trip as my main throw - I debated on bringing a Fulvia but I found the lightness of the 000 was less fatiguing as a travel yoyo. It's definitely a much more casual weight distribution compared to the weight rings of the Fulvia.
I really only do blogs for when I explain a new design process. You can check the one I did for the Ti-7068 Fulvia and 000 here. The addition of the anodized finishes explores having different textures on certain surfaces of the yoyo. For both the Fulvia and 000, I requested a bead blast only on the functional grind surface, or "catch zone" while keeping the hub area a more glossy premium machined finish. This interesting contrast really changes how the anodizing looks. The smoother machined surface was also masked off near the bearing seat area, creating a continuity of the hub texture.
For the Fulvia I focused on a warmer fall pantone, while the 000 represents a change to the winter season. The cooler grey, silver and teal colors compliment each other. I also find the cooler colors work well with the softer less aggressive profile of the 000. The same edge and bearing seat engraving has been applied as a minimalist branding touch.
As far as releases goes, it has been super interesting transitioning to a new material and a different price point. It's crazy to think the year is almost over. One of the last things I wanted to update people on is the mentioned full plastic Luftverk yoyo. It will be available for preorder soon - I am super proud of the new manufacturing technique that was developed to make it. I'll explain more on it later, currently I have the final prototypes in hand so it's pretty close to release. I am aiming for a pretty low price point - it has definitely been a challenge with the shipping cost hikes and increasing material prices. With the first batch of yoyos being 3000 pcs I really need the community to help. Hopefully I to pay off the insane amount of money I've dumped into the project but I know that it's on me to make a good product as well.
Anyway that's pretty much everything that's going on in my world. Next year will be interesting - I really see a big change in the manufacturing world. When I started Luftverk 7 years ago, it just felt like such a different place. A lot of my friends are starting to do their own projects so It will be interesting to see where it goes from here! Sorry if this blog post was a bit all over the place - but to wrap it up i'll be dropping the 000 next week!
Both models will be available for purchase on Sunday, Nov 13th at 10:00pm EST in the Luftverk store.
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.
I dont know where to start with the project. It has been the most expensive yoyo by multiple magnitudes to create. Not only was this project costly due to injection molding, but my persistence on a machining operation meant the R&D for this yoyo took forever. I started designing this yoyo over 2 years ago - and it has slowly snowballed into this proof-of-concept initial release based on the beloved Fulvia design.
It has been almost 4 months since my last post here. Nationals came and went, and being back in Toronto full time meant I could put my head down and focus on some projects. Over the summer I was able to get to see more friends by hosting more local meetups through various hobbies, yoyoing included. I know that when winter hits in Toronto, It's usually pretty horrible so trying to make the best of the weather we have now feels key.
