From all the designs and crazy ideas we devised in our yoyo journey, one project has always stood out as the unholy mother of insanity: the DR3I

Initially planned for a 2017 release, we had to postpone the release due to the immense manufacturing difficulties that spawn from this most ambitious construction. Being a full blown tri-metal yoyo, it was clear from the start the DR3I will require all skills and manufacturing brilliance in our machinists arsenal…and then some.
At that time, we were not able to produce more than three prototypes that fulfilled our performance requirements at reasonable cost. As mitigation, we went from tri-metal to tri-material and came up with the DR3I.ii that replaced the titanium body with a polycarbonate shell. This change allowed us to produce a few more for a mini-run. But we knew, only the real deal with its titanium body will eventually fill the void the initial concept idea created in our minds.

Now at the end of 2021, four years later and with a lot more experience and confidence in our bags, we gave this another try. Countless obstacles during production from machining, fitting and selection had to be overcome but we kept pushing forward only thinking about the ultimate target: DR3I must live!
After sky-high mountains of scrap material and vast fields of shattered dreams, 23 pieces persevered. We are finally able to release our opus magnum to the world!

Here it is, the killer of lifespans and crusher of spirits: DR3I

The yoyo features a meticulously designed titanium body for maximum strength yet minimal weight. The DR3I’s power is provided by massive brass rings with a carefully shaped wave that complements the overall design and allows for exact rim weight placement. The inner cup is made of 7068 aluminum and inherits its anti-cone shape from the amazing Abyss. Thanks to the hollow construction, the angle of the anti-cone could be increased which yields even better finger spin performance. When spinning it combines the classic sounds of thin titanium and old-school throws with caps. The DR3I is a high-rpm yoyo with a satisfying oomph when binding.

The ‘Dinosalat’ anodization of the aluminum cup uses squeezed dinosaurs spiced with pirate-boot-matured Scotch. The resulting colors vary depending on the species of the used saurian making every DR3I unique.

Aside from the rare ingredients, DR3I features the known and loved ILYY specs.

Specs:
Diameter: 53mm
Width: 42.5mm
Gap: 4mm
Weight: 62.6g
Bearing: C-Size
Response: 19mm pad
Limitation: 23 (19 for sale)

Important notice:
Due to the extremely complicated construction and tight tolerances, the DR3I is likely to require several assembly iterations for ideal performance after it was taken apart. We thus strongly recommend to keep it assembled to avoid extensive tuning efforts. Be aware of this before placing your order.
All yoyos ship well-tuned and are ready for action out of the box.

We are selling these now for 300 EUR plus shipping (4.99 EUR DE / 8.57 EUR EU / 12.33 EUR US / 8.50 EUR rest of the world).

Please note that shipping will take longer than usual, especially to the US. We assure you that we are trying to ship as quickly as possible.

You can get one now by sending us an email with an order request with your shipping address and telephone number (only US customers). Please let us know if you want to use a different e-mail address for PayPal. We will then get back to you with a payment request.

All gone! <3

When we started making yoyos 11 years ago, we came up with the idea to call our first yoyo E1NS. ‘Eins’ being the German word for ‘one’. After the outcome, its impact and success exceeded our wildest expectations, we naturally began thinking about a successor. It just had to be called 2WEI, the German word for ‘two’, even though it wasn’t our second yoyo at that time. It was just fitting into the scheme.

With the 2WEI we didn’t create an entirely new yoyo, but supersized the E1NS for those who are more into large wide throws. It was not as successful as its little brother was, but it is far more limited and thus highly sought after with collectors.

After these two yoyos saw the light of day and went through several iterations it became silent about our iconic numbered series. It was in June 2016, when we came up with the idea to make it a trilogy. But we knew, it must be something special, something totally bonkers. The DR3I would have to be on the “never been done” level. The topic is number three, so it was clear to us where we need to go: tri-metal

The first question that arose was how to implement three metals into a yoyo design. Just two weight rings? We found that this doesn’t make that much sense. So it had to be a base body, weight rings and something else. Then we remembered the fabulous Pure by SPYY. With the Pure, the cup was closed by fitting a thin disc inside. That gave the yoyo a unique look and feel. Then we remembered our entry into bi-metal/fingerspin yoyos with the Abyss and our struggle with the convex cup profile. The problem with a convex cup that is suitable for self-centering fingerspins in a mono body design is the overall wall thickness that is needed. So what if you circumvent this by using a thin body in combination with a fitted concave cup? We knew, this is the solution to the problem. By this, we also knew how the three metals should be distributed:

Titanium for the body: Titanium can be machined to very thin thickness and still remains its strength properties. Ideal for a yoyo body.

Steel weight rings: With its high density, steel allows for a nice rimweight when used as weight rings.

Aluminum cup: Aluminum is very light and can be anodized with great effects giving the final yoyo great looks.

This inserted cup design finally allowed us to use a dimple in the cup center to improve the spin stability and the self-centering properties, which we could not achieve with the Abyss design.

The next challenge was to find a partner willing to make this vision a reality with us. After many inquiries, we realized we had to look internationally. We finally found a brave machining shop near Hong Kong, that was ready for the challenge. We were impressed by their dedication and attention to detail. Nevertheless, it took us an entire year to finalize the design and production.

Now we can finally show you the finished product. So here it is, the ILYY DR3I!

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Specs (Prototype):
Diameter: 54mm
Width: 39mm
Weight: 62.5g
Response: Hot Red SILYYcone
Bearing: ILYY KMKct C-Size
Coating (Cup): CeramicBlast (Siver, green, yellow acid wash, red splash)
Material: Tri-Metal construction (Titanium Body, Stainless Steel Rings, Aluminum Cup)
Limitation: 3

The aluminum cup is fitted into the steel ring from the backside and the assembly is then fitted into the titanium cup. This allows for a seamless transition between the metals.

On the backside of the aluminum cup, we lasered the meaning of two of our up until now undisclosed acronyms: KMK and PYBIT. So the solution will be out there but still kept safe, unless….

We are still exploring anodization on titanium to achieve better contrast to the weight rings. This will be addressed in the planned release.

We rely on our custom Hot Red sILYYcone response and a custom KMKct c-size bearing.

Let us know by email (info at ilyy dot de), if you are interested in getting one from the run. We have to test the waters here and check the demand beforehand. The run will nevertheless be very limited (10 max.).

We plan to sell these for 350€ a piece. So let us know, if you want to call a piece of ILYY history your own.