The ProYo Cold Fusion by Playmaxx was a high-end metal yo-yo of the late 1990's which can be appropriately described as an anodized, aluminium version of the ProYo Turbo Bumble Bee, with a better ball bearing.
Like the Turbo Bumble Bee, the Cold Fusion was notable in that its halves were two-toned in color (black/yellow), along with a two-toned yellow/black string. The Cold Fusion also came in a tin, included with spare Brake Pads, two wooden axle sleeves, a brass transaxle sleeve like that of the ProFire, and a black glove. The Cold Fusion also featured removable caps on the axle hubs to allow for easy access to the axle screw and retaining nut.
The yo-yo was originally manufactured by Arizona-based Custom Yo-Yos for Playmaxx, until the company began making its own yo-yo products along with the Performance Ring response system utilized by them. Given their notoriety at the time about fiercely protecting their patents, Playmaxx, headed by Tom Van Dan Elzen, sued Custom over the Performance Ring response system and won the lawsuit. In doing so, they acquired the Cold Fusion yo-yos that were still in production at the time.
When Playmaxx was bought out by Duncan Toys, the latter continued to sell the remaining Cold Fusion yo-yos, at one point changing the color scheme to red and black to regenerate interest. After the supply of parts was exhausted, the yo-yo was discontinued.
The yo-yo held the world record for transaxle sleepers for a significant period of time. The records (as set) included:
- October 3rd 1998, U.S. National Yo-Yo Contest, 7 minutes and 8 seconds[1]
- May 16th 1999, Golden Apple Comics, 8 minutes and 21 seconds
- July 18th 1999, Fourth Annual World ProYo Championships, 10 minutes and 18 seconds
Notes
- ↑ This record was set with a butterfly-profiled Cold Fusion prototype from Playmaxx. This model, whose working name was the Lightspeed, would undergo additional profile changes before being commercially released as the Cold Fusion GT. The Lightspeed was the working name for many of the Playmaxx yo-yos but this is probably the most famous. Playmaxx stated that they never used the name on a production model because of fears over legal challenges from LucasFilm.
Gallery[]
Variations[]
- Cold Fusion GT - Butterfly-shaped variant for string tricks.
- Cold Fusion LE - a limited edition metal flake powdercoated model in various two-color combinations.
- Cold Fusion Raw - No anodization.
- Cold Fusion Gold - Limited edition gold-plated version of the standard Cold Fusion.
- Cold Fusion Gold GT - Limited edition gold-plated variant of the Cold Fusion GT, occasionally given away as a prize for correctly answering a trivia question by Tom Van Dan Elzen on a yo-yo message board that he had frequented in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Only a handful of these yo-yos were ever produced, said to be as many as 50 units.
- Killer Fusion - A red anodized Cold Fusion awarded to contest winners, in the vein of the ProYo Killer Bee.
- Yo-Yo Collective Drone #009 Cold Fusion - A special red Cold Fusion yo-yo produced for David Hall by Tom Van Dan Elzen.
- Abejero Cold Fusion - Two Cold Fusion yo-yos, one in black and one in red, made specially for none other than Tom Van Dan Elzen himself. Named for Tom's web name, which means "beekeeper" in Spanish. Engraved on the other side is El Jefe, Spanish for "The Boss", referring to Tom's position as the head of Playmaxx.
- World ProYo Record Award - An award Cold Fusion given to winners of the longest fixed axle sleeper contests. One example was donated to the US National Yo-Yo Museum by Steve Brown.
- Frozen Fusion - A variant of the Cold Fusion with blue and black anodized body halves.
- Cold Fusion Collective Edition - An all-blue (or yellow/black with glitter) limited edition given out exclusively to members of the Yo-Yo Collective.
- Cold Fusion GT Collective Edition - A limited edition of the Cold Fusion GT given out exclusively to members of the Yo-Yo Collective.
- Cold Fusion Turbo Higibigibee - A Cold Fusion yo-yo made special for John Higby. Its overall name is a bit of a mouthful, though.
- Cold Fusion Isotope-1 - First yo-yo in a series of slimline Butterfly-shaped aluminum yo-yos. 150 yo-yos produced.
- Cold Fusion Isotope-2 - Second yo-yo in the Isotope series. Heavier than the Isotope-1. Less than 150 yo-yos produced.
- Cold Fusion Isotope D2O - Limited edition bronze-anodized version of the Isotope series.
- Cold Fusion Nucleus - Variant of the Isotope series with an adjustable string gap.
- Crow'd Fusion Nucleus - Limited edition variant of the Cold Fusion Nucleus with anodized blue and red halves, produced in honor of Matt Carter A.K.A. Scarecrow.
External Links[]
- Cold Fusion at the Museum of Yo-Yo History
- Cold Fusion Yo-Yo Collective Drone #009 at the Museum of Yo-Yo History
- Abejero Cold Fusion (red) at the Museum of Yo-Yo History
- Cold Fusion Killer Bee Award at the Museum of Yo-Yo History
- The Cold Fusion used by Matt Owen to set the July 18th, 1999 sleeper record @ yoyobrothers' Online Instagram page
- ProYo Cold Fusion prototype @ yoyobrothers' Online Instagram page
- ProYo Cold Fusion Collective Edition (blue) @ cornellouis' Instagram page
- ProYo Cold Fusion Collective Edition (yellow/black) @ cornellouis' Instagram page
- ProYo Cold Fusion LE (blue/black) @ cornellouis' Instagram page