Some truly great yo-yos were entered in the Worlds Mod Contest this year. The overall quality and ingenuity of the entries was the best we’ve ever seen. We also had seventeen entries up significantly from last year’s twelve. Before I get into descriptions of the winners, I’d like to extend a BIG thank you to my fellow Judges: Rob Tsou, Dazzling Dave Schulte, Bill DeBoisblanc, Kyle Weems and Frank Difeo. You guys are the greatest and it is much fun judging with you. (One of our regular judges and two time second place finisher in past Mod Contests, Alan Gray, couldn’t be with us do to a major self-inflicted wound).

On to the top finishers:

1st place - highest score in all 3 scoring criteria - best “scratch built” yo-yo
- “Nostalgia” by Shinobu Konmoto (s.kon). Shinobu’s take on vintage sports car wheels was awe inspiring, breath taking, and wonderful fun! Comprised of 136 parts this yo-yo is a masterpiece. 32 spokes on each half allow the hubs to be perfectly trued, and “Nostalgia” played incredibly smoothly and predictably. Dōmo arigatō Shinobu!

2nd place – best true mod
- FHZ Mod by Steve Chase (“pause “on the boards). A great looking and playing FHZ with Delrin inserts for weight and balance and the coolest, flush mounted hub stack/spinners yet. The spinners had colored fins attached inside the yo-yo which created different effects depending how it was played.

3rd place
- “M78” by Kokyu Ueda. A marvelous Off-string yo-yo created out of a Metal Zero, and Hyper Dragon shells. A bit heavy, but great fun to play with. It came with a brass stand so that you could set the yo-yo down on it’s hub stack and it would spin on the stand for a looonnnggg time! It also came with it’s own little bodyguard…..

4th place
- A stunning Japanese lacquered TK Sleep Machine by Kengo Yamamoto; a true blend of the traditional and the modern.

5th place
- The Flying Squirrel Hitman by Ian Cole (Ian finished 5th last year too, but the field was much tougher this year – keep up the good work Ian!).

6th place
- “I Love Taka” – a Mini Motu/Cyclotron/FHZ combo by Takeshi (who got sixth place last year too…)

7th place
- “Not so silent Bob” a very cool looking Corian yo-yo by David Kelly


Photos and brief descriptions of all the entries are in an album on my Fotki site which you can get to if you go here: http://public.fotki.com/YoEric/2007-world-yo-yo-ch/ (also a link at the bottom.....)


I can’t wait till next year!