Ready for a pocket-sized nostalgiabomb that's gonna become the coolest thing you've ever accidentally hit yourself in the face with while trying to remember Spirit Bomb?
Story time!
In 1999, yoyo demonstrator Steve Brown invented counterweight yoyo play, later known as 5A. There was much rejoicing among the seven people at the time who cared. The next year, Steve joined Duncan Toys as a demonstrator, quickly moving up to Sales & Marketing Coordinator and moving to Ohio to work in their main office. He worked with Duncan to patent the counterweight needed for 5A play, and the very first yoyo he designed for Duncan was the Freehand, a capped plastic yoyo that excelled at both 1A and 5A play and was the first truly performance yoyo in the Duncan product line.
Meanwhile, up in Canada...
In 2006, mechanical engineer Chris Mikulin was unhappy with the yoyos that were available at the time and wanted something that combined better weight distribution with a more interesting artistic presentation. He designed the Peak, with its first production run releasing in October 2006....50 pieces, all hand-painted by his partner Levi McCarroll. The Peak stayed in the Caribou Lodge line for years, eventually morphing into the Peak 2, and became synonymous with the Caribou name.
In 2014, Steve Brown joined Caribou Lodge as a Marketing Manager, eventually moving up to Creative Director. And ten years later, Steve saw a random post on Instagram from Bryan Jardin at Duncan Toys, jokingly asking about collaborating with Caribou Lodge.
Many text messages, phone calls, CAD drawings, and prototypes later, and the Peakhand was born.
The Aluminum Peakhand combines the body profile of the Peak with the caps, weight distribution, and small bearing axle system of the Freehand. It feels both nostalgic and fresh, and fans of both the Peak and the Freehand will find something to love in this design.
And to celebrate the release, Caribou Lodge and Duncan team members secretly flew out to Los Angeles and filmed a third sequel to the "How To Be A Player" video series, originally created by Steve during his tenure at Duncan.
There are no plans for another run of the Aluminum Peakhand...this collaboration was a labor of love and if you want one, now is the time.
Each Peakhand includes a Duncan die counterweight, string, a sticker, and a limited edition Caribou enamel pin.