Category: Uncategorized

Moon Rock White is a unique anodizing that my manufacturer offers. This special finish gives the yo-yo a velvety feel and looks a bit like porcelain. It’s a really unique look and I’m excited to be offering two of my favorite yo-yos, the Icarus and the Shawn Exploder in this Moon Rock White edition.

As an extra note, this MRW edition Shawn Exploder is manufactured in 7068 aluminum (instead of 7075) and is a few grams lighter than the standard edition. So this is a special treat for folks who like lighter yo-yos, or if you are just a huge fan of the SE and want to see how different weights can effect its play.

This special edition comes with a special edition yo-yo bag and a ten pack of my PopString in a special all white and gold color. I’ve also restocked other items on my store, including a few gold plated Executive yo-yos, which make an excellent gift for the CEO in your life who also happens to yo-yo.

Hey y’all, I have a new tutorial for a trick called Yet Another Gondola. This trick is real nice to do after a Jade Whip or Iron Whip and I got a lot of requests for it. It even has a theme song!

If you like the theme song, you can download it from my Patreon page.

Every now and then, I like to hire an artist to make some thumbnails for my videos. I really got a kick out of this new batch, so I thought I’d share them here. 

These thumbnails are for the following videos:

• Whipped Cream tutorial 
• Simply Mike learns Eeby Deeby 
• An Oral History Of Slack Tricks with Josh Yee and Connor Scholten 
• Orbital Decay tutorial 
• Hanging Out With Abby Brodsky 

I sort of like these thumbs, but I always wonder if they clash with the overall style and vibe of the show. What do you think?

The newest episode of my PopCast yo-yo vlog is all about Skin The Gerbil. Skin The Gerbil is one of my most popular tricks, so I’m really excited to dedicate an entire episode to it. I talk about how the trick got its odd name, what is “alpha style”, and more yo-yo history. I hope you enjoy it!

Huge shout out to Clifton B. for editing this video, Noel von Joo for shooting it, an dall of my Patreon sponsors for making it possible.

Over the weekend, I was inducted into the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame! What an honor to be featured amongst so many other influential yo-yoers! I really appreciate it! Shout out to my fellow 2021 Hall of Fame inductees; Valerie Oliver and Andre Boulay.

Here is Dr Lucky’s video announcing the winners:

Lil Beeb‘s are a wooden counterweights that are great for beginner freehand players. They are easy to install, durable, an ideal weight, and made in America. To use a Lil Beeb, simply open up your finger loop, slide the Beeb inside, then tighten the loop back up.

Lil Beebs are available on my store now in various colors.

Lil Beeb wooden counterweight

Connor Scholten, a yo-yo historian, recently asked me about the origin of the term “Alpha Style”, which I used to describe tricks like The Matrix and Skin The Gerbil. Here is my response:

As far as the terms go, I know I really loved the Matrix around that time, so I think Alpha and Beta just sounded techie to me. My trick “The Matrix” was maybe the first time I started thinking of the concept of what elements can be linked together and what can’t, so that kind of goes to prove that whole “this term sounds computery” origin story.

Doctor M. Popular

Alpha Style?

Some elements of yo-yo tricks can be linked together to form a single fluid chain of movement. This means allowing the movements of one element to carry momentum and flow into the next element without any pauses or redirections. This style of yo-yoing is called Alpha style. However, not all elements can be linked together. Some elements may necessitate a pause or a change in direction, which would bring the Alpha flow to an end. Some elements may require a pause or change in direction which would end the Alpha flow. The point between two elements that requires the yo-yo to change direction is called a Beta move.

The Matrix (seen above) can be put together almost entirely in Alpha Style, but Skin The Gerbil (below) is constructed of both Alpha and Beta moves.