RELEASE INFORMATION
Release date 18 MARCH 2020
SOLD DIRECT AND VIA YOYOEXPERT, YOYOSAM, SPINGEAR, YOYOWORLD DK
Retail 320 USD
RAW POLISHED TITANIUM
71 MADE
Diameter 50mm, Width 40.4mm, Gap 4.0mm
Weight 61.5G
M4 x 12mm axle
CONCAVE C bearing
19MM TYPE 40 LANDING PADS RESPONSE
THE E1NS STORY
It was March 2006 when two young gentlemen, Frank and Dom (then 21 and 19 respectively), met on the Team Yo-Yo Maniacs forum. A post made by Dom regarding the HSpin Pyro he just ordered was noticed by Frank, who had coincidentally purchased the Pyro that day. It was Frank’s first metal yo-yo while Dom was already an experienced metal and string wrangler.
A conversation between two yo-yo enthusiasts then followed (on the good ol’ ICQ), which blossomed into a friendship. Their first meeting was at Dom’s place. ILOVEYOYO (ILYY) was eventually formed in August 2006. Fun fact: the brand name was inspired by the PHP community site ILovePHP. The two were in constant in-depth discussion about their wish for an undersized yo-yo, which was not common on the market at that time. A few months later, they embarked on a journey to make a break-through undersized throw.
The initial renderings from Frank were disastrous – the machine shop had no clue on how to machine a yo-yo and translate the CAD into reality. Each yo-yo half (pictured below) weighed-in at only 15g!
Thankfully, the duo didn’t throw in the towel. After pushing out 4 more prototypes, they arrived at the lightest OG production version complete with glossy-shining orange and black halves in June 2007. The yo-yo was named “E1NS” and inspired by the German word for the number “1”... “eins.” The OG E1NS weighed a nimble 61.7g and was machined out of 7075 aluminium. With a diameter of 49.8 mm, width of 40.7 mm, and spinning on the not-so-familiar “L-size” bearing (also known as the ILYY KMK bearing), the run was a huge success. Only 57 yo-yos were produced, with 34 yo-yos sold via YoYoNation and the rest sold direct. Although the sale at YoYoNation caused pandemonium and crashed the site, the yo-yos still sold out within 15 minutes.
THE YO-YO
I had been in talks with Frank for a while even before I made my first model, The Bowl. I’ve always had great admiration for ILYY, especially their minimalist yet effective designs. Over the years, I had amassed quite a few of their models in my collection. When taking on the risky endeavor of producing my first throw, The Bowl drew heavy inspiration from the ILYY 2WEI’s signature hub and curved rims. The 2WEI remains my favorite ILYY model to date and is definitely a shelf topper in my collection.
One of our conversations led to the topic of an RSO x ILYY collaboration. I had initially wanted to work on the Wasabi or Trvth, while the guys wanted to do the DR3I. I’m not sure exactly how compromising and meeting in the middle led us to where we ended up, but I’m glad it worked out! We agreed to collaborate and revamp the most iconic ILYY model of all time and the one that started it all - the E1NS.
One thing we were instantly in full agreement on was that a titanium version of the E1NS was the best way forward. After a few days of brainstorming, I came up with the name E1NSTiEN. This moniker aptly incorporates the original yo-yo name, its German roots as well as its dramatic backstory.
The OG E1NS CAD was used as a starting point. We decided to keep the original diameter (50.0mm) and gap width (4.0mm) but upgrade the innards to a more modern axle and response system of M4 x 12 mm and 19mm, respectively. The prototype played amazingly, but we felt it was a tad too heavy at 62.2g. The hub on the prototype was also too prominent and looked dated. The final production model weighs 61.5g and features a lower peak at the hub. We kept the full aesthetics of the original and gave it a peppier engine and feel for those lucky enough to drive one!
P.S. The E1NSTiEN is powered by RSO’s proprietary Type 40 magenta LANDING PADS.
THE ILOVEYOYO HUB
This was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the project and, fortunately, I was able to meet the challenge head-on from my experience in designing and manufacturing The Bowl. There had to be a smooth transition from the base of the bump ascending up to its peak - an abrupt transition would result in the bump looking “separate” from the yo-yo. We literally spent hours tinkering with the transition and curves in the hub! We have our competent machinist to thank - he managed to nail our vision of the signature ILYY hub on the E1NSTiEN.
THE CYBERBRAIN
In a not-too-distant future, the ruling Council had been brainwashed by incompetent advisors who claim that yo-yos harm the community. They alleged that the collective creativity yo-yo’ing promotes encourages outliers that in turn threatens the ruling order of the Council. The dystopian leaders did the unimaginable: a ban was put in place, making the distribution and possession of yo-yos illegal. Yo-yo competitions were prohibited, and merciless bounty hunters contracted to round up and “dispose” of all yo-yo champions. They eventually succeeded in systematically disassembling the yo-yo community.
To archive the rich yo-yo trick library and avoid erasing the existence of yo-yo play, the Council had preserved the brain of the greatest yo-yo champion of all time. A staff of medical professionals tended round the clock to maintain the metabolism of the part human / part machine “Cyberbrain,” codenamed E1NSTiEN. The E1NSTiEN contained a crazed catalog of championship combo-winning tricks which challenge the very laws of physics, that only the uber-elitist yo-yo players could conceptualize. Residing in the most secure of security vaults, the holy grail was only accessible to a lucky few who knew the sacred number combination to the lock.
The Rebellion is lead by three handsome and dangerously masterful thinking men: Frank, Dom, and Elvin (not their real names, and any resemblance to anyone living or not living is purely coincidental). The coup d’etat dream team had been incubating and hatching a plan to break into the impenetrable vault. The plan would be dangerous but straightfoward to execute. By connecting themselves to the E1NSTiEN via the ports at the back of their heads, they could successfully hack the “Cyberbrain”, steal its tricks, and deliver them back to the yo-yo community.
The fate of yo-yo’kind lies in the hands of these three brave men.
