Old but still Fresh - Part #4

This is the fourth installment of the article “Old but still Fresh”. Today we take a look at a yo-yo which gain a lot of popularity during the Proyo craze back in the year 2000: The Cold Fusion GT.

Cold Fusion GT

Back during the 1998 Proyo Craze, everybody (at least, here in Singapore) were raving over the Turbo Bumble Bee, the first ball bearing plastic yo-yo to be heavily marketed on TV. Every kid who loved Proyos had to have one. But soon after, plastics were not enough. People regarded the SB2 by Tom Kuhn as the Rolls Royce of yo-yos, the mentality being “if you want a high end metal, drop the Proyos, get a SB2″. 

A few months into the Proyo campaign, the Cold Fusion came along, marketing itself as an aluminum yo-yo that could rival the playability which the SB2 offered. This yo-yo was an instant hit. It not only looked great, it played great! In order to keep up with the demands of modern string trick play, Playmaxx later released the Cold Fusion GT, which essentially is an aluminum version of the Turbo Bumble Bee GT. 

Being the first aluminum Butterfly yo-yo to make its way into the local market, the Cold Fusion GT(or CFGT for short) was just as big a hit as the original Cold Fusion. It’s been over a good 10 years since the Cold Fusion GT first made headlines in the yo-yo industry. Today, we take it down from its display case and give it a few throws to see if it's still a formidable player in today’s context.

Technological Makeup

The CFGT, like all other ball bearing Proyos, comes with the standard ball bearing and spacer kit, as well as Brake Pads for response. According to Playmaxx back in the day, the bearing that came with the CFGT was high-end, and spun for a great deal of time. At one point in history, the CFGT held the record for the world’s longest sleeper, at 7:08 mins, proving that its bearing and weight distribution were excellent for handling long difficult tricks.

Sizing Up

The CFGT is an incredible player. After 10 years, the bearing that came with it is still spotless! Shiny like the day it was bought, the bearing also spun for a good 4 minutes on a simple throw. We didn’t want the Brake Pads to be too responsive since we were simulating modern day play, so we had the new pads removed and installed old pads for this test. Though the gap is considerably smaller compared to most modern day yo-yos, the CFGT can still handle a lot of today’s tricks. Multiple string layers were not a problem with the Cold Fusion GT, and as though Playmaxx specifically designed this yo-yo for modern day tricks, the CFGT can also handle thumb grinds!

The Bad

Flaws? What flaws? Back when Proyos were the only one really churning out and promoting “Brake Pad” technology, a bunch of players didn’t like it, and stuck to good ol' starbursts. Gone are those days! Nearly half, or more, of today’s high end metals require some sort of padded response to be retrieved to the hand.

The only real “flaw” we found was that it’s profile wasn’t as wide as the modern day metal yo-yo, and that really isn’t much of a flaw. If you can’t land this yo-yo on the string, you really shouldn’t be owning a high end metal to begin with.

Conclusion

The Cold Fusion GT is still an amazing yo-yo, even after 10 years of existence, and what a player it is, definitely worth every penny!

Proyo Cold Fusion GTs can fetch about USD $200 or more if still in mint condition, and are a real collector’s item. If you chance upon one and love collecting old yo-yos, this one is a definite keeper!