Team Hyper Viper (THV for short) was a two-man sponsor team consisting of Dazzling Dave Schulte and Jon Gates, formed by Bandai to promote the Henrys Hyper Viper yo-yo and offstring play in Japan. While they went with other teams to demonstrate most yo-yo tricks of the time, Schulte and Gates demonstrated offstring play using the Hyper Viper.
The tricks shown at THV's demonstrations were showcased and discussed in the widely-circulated CoroCoro Comic manga magazine, contributing significantly to the spread of offstring play throughout Japan. The style's new found popularity had also lead to the forming of Team Off-String, a group of Japanese players dedicated to the advancement of offstring play, of which Hironori Mii was the founder.
There was also a fictitious version of Team Hyper Viper featured in episode 18 of the Supersonic Spinners/Super Yo-Yo anime. At one point in a flashback scene, Nakamura-Meijin goes to Germany and witnesses the adaptability of the Hyper Viper yo-yo for looping and string play. After demonstrating his skills to a kid using the yo-yo, the three members of Team Hyper Viper come along and give Nakamura a demonstration of their own, showcasing the Hyper Viper's capabilities in offstring play to his amazement.
Tricks Invented
- Forward Pass Mount
- Offstring Barrel Roll
- Toss & Catch
- Offstring Winder
- Offstring Rock the Baby
- Offstring Elevator
- Brain Twister Mount
- Offstring Split the Atom
- Bounce Catch
- Shoot the Moon Mount
- Lasso Catch
- Leg Orbit