Introduction:

What is more than five, but less than four and rhymes with Pancakes? If you don’t know, don’t feel bad, the answer does not make sense on the surface of it. I am sure that someone, somewhere will immediately know one of the possible answers is “Hawk”. That is the strange thing about enigmas, they don’t need to make sense, and probably won’t make sense to most people, but you will still spend all night trying to figure out the hows and whys Hawk rhymes with Pancakes and is more than five yet less than four. Even though I know the answer, I am sure Quantum Swedish Fish are involved.  ILoveYoYo, known for their unearthly quality in yo-yos, has poised its own Enigma for you. In this case, it is not so much of the wordplay of a puzzle or riddle, but instead is a uniquely shaped yo-yo that pretty much appeared out of nowhere. My review this week, is the very mysterious and not much talked about ILYY Enigma.

First Impression:

There was a proto picture here, and a few reviews there, but largely, the Enigma has not really been talked much about.  This is strange to me.  You would think that such a unique throw would garner more attention.  Customized red leather bag, royal blue finishing, classic ILYY candyblast, full body diameter, unique inverted bell shape; the Enigma certainly captured my attention. The newest yo-yo from ILYY stands out from their recent line up. At a 54mm diameter, the Enigma just a tiny bit smaller in diameter than the largest current yo-yo by ILYY (the Liopleurodon). This plus size design is almost overlooked due to the attention grabbing inverted bell shape that seems to be gaining popularity among new designs. Many of the inverted bell shape yo-yos have been on the smaller size, but the Enigma is not fooling around. Big, Blue, Blasted and Bold.

As far as first impressions go, the Enigma says “Don’t mess with me or I’ll put armadillos in your bathtub”

Comfort and Tech:

At a 54mm diameter and 40mm width I am not 100% sure I like how the Enigma feels in my hand. I almost wish that there were two more millimeters on each side to allow me more space to grab the outer rims, but worry that such a change might push the 68gram weight more than most might like. As it is, the Enigma seems to grab into my middle finger while forcing me to stack my ring and pointer finger uncomfortably. This is likely due to my banana sized gorilla fingers, and probably won’t be a problem for non-mutant humans.

Inside the 3.9 gap, slightly smaller than most ILYY releases, is a standard ILYY bearing and a silicone groove that comes stock with the red sILLYcone. If your response wears out, this groove is deep enough for pretty much whatever silicone you want to use. I am not sure why ILYY decided to minimize the gap area, but it might have something to do with the shape. It may be me just looking for a reason, but the inverted bell shape seems to reduce the amount of friction used on loose binds. At any rate, the gap is more than enough to handle multiple string segments and when combined with the inverted curved catch zone, should make catching whips and landing transfers a breeze.

This inverted bell shape is really catching on. It is almost like an H-Shape, but moving from the flat rims the catch zone swoops inwards to the curved gap, and flattens out right before the recess well. The design seems to maintain the central weight while pushing the catch zone weight to the outer rim. The result is a very unique feel in you hand and a catch zone that seems to hug the contours of your palm and fingers.

Man I love the ILYY Candyblast. It has such a great look, and feels great on both in the hand and on an arm grind. On the Enigma, the shape really needs a good finish, and the Candyblast by ILYY really delivers. The blast covers the entirety of the yo-yo except the recess area. This little attention to detail will help reduce friction, keep your strings from getting chewed up, and increase spintime in tricks that push the gap to the limit.

On a Throw:

You know how sometimes you walk with purpose into a room, and then forget why you were there? You look around trying to remember, fiddle with your hands, and mumble to yourself. In scientific terms this is referred to as a “pēdere cerebellum” (Latin for Brain Fart). Why am I talking about this? Well, playing with the Enigma for the first time is like walking in a giant cloud of brain farts. It plays so well, and spins so smoothly, you completely forget what you were going to do with it. After a while, I was able to regain my composure and not distract myself with the superb stability and vibration free spin, and incredible floatyness for a 68 gram yoyo…… what was I talking about again?

If ILYY designed the Enigma with the goal to present a yo-yo with an incredible amount of stability, then they are WIN WIN WIN! The heavy rims along with the well balanced inner weight provide a very long and smooth spintime with absolutely no vibration on a clean throw. When popping the Enigma in and out of trick segments, it seemed to have level of floatyness I had yet to experience. It was almost like yo-yoing in Matrix Bullet-time. I don’t normally like floaty yoyos, but after playing with the Enigma for a week, I am making an exception. Combine the large catch zone with the rim configured stability, and you have a yo-yo that performs very well on hops, transfers, and flops.  The shape and weight also seemed to lend itself very well to horizontal style play.  I can’t do much with a sideways throw but was able to pull off a few tricks without killing my momentum or the yo-yo’s spintime.

Grinding was a little bit of a challenge. I had to alter the way I start an arm grind. Usually I catch the yo-yo on the side of my pointer finger and guide the yo-yo up my arm to an elbow pop. With the Enigma, the catch zone caught my fingers and devastated spintime.  the curve followed the curve of my finger, which created to much surface friction.  To counter this, I started catching the yo-yo on the area right above my wrist in between the thumb and pointer finger. This made the flat rims of the Enigma land on a wider part of my hand, instead of the finger. It was a bit annoying at first, but gradually I got used to it.

Final thoughts:

Once again ILYY has created a yo-yo that blows my mind. I am aware that I focus my reviews primarily towards the positive light, but I try not to ignore blatant problems. The yo-yos coming out of ILYY have never disappointed me. While there was a small snag with grinds, the Enigma is a fantastic yo-yo that will not disappoint. Living completely up to the name Enigma, ILYY’s newest unique throw will leave you laying awake at night contemplating why such a unique shape feels so much at home in your hand and on the string.

Currently, the Enigma is available for around $125 at:

YoYoExpert.com -

YoYoz.co.uk (sold out)

Euro-yo.com -

Written by Chris “Dr. Yo-Yo” Allen who had the weirdest experience while photographing the Enigma. About a dozen cows walked up and just watched me. It was creepy, and all I could think about was Hamburgers.

The reason that Hawk is the answer, by the way, is using mathematical values of letters. F+I+V+E = 6+9+22+5 + 42, F+O+U+R = 6+15+21+18 = 60, HAWK = 53 (inbetween 42 and 60) which “rhymes” with 73 (value of Pancakes).