Socius (with postcard by Shion Shintani)

C3yoyodesign - Socius

This is the first signature bimetal for Shion Shintani, the 2016/17 1A World Champion.

This is the first signature bimetal rod of Shion Shintani, the 2016/17 1A World Champion, and is a signature rod of the Radius series that has established itself as a high-end monometal rod.
As the share of bimetal in string tricks continues to grow, Shinya, who has continued to fight with Radius, has pursued his ideal bimetal with C3 and arrived at the latest model, "Socius," which combines power and softness.

The shape is a step-round similar to the Radius, but there are many changes. The specs have also been widened and the diameter has been slightly reduced to 56mm, the same as the first edition Radius, showing the benefits of the bimetallic design and the various updates.
For details on the design, please refer to the review written by the author below. There are solid reasons for all the changes made from Radius.

Column: Featured Items from Shibuya Store "Socius"

Using this product, he won the 1A division of the 2022/2023 Hokkaido Regional Tournament (NJ) (4th consecutive victory). He returned to the championship ranks at the 2022 National Tournament.

《Review by Shion Shintani》

I am extremely grateful to C3 for releasing this bimetal model.
I would like to state in advance that I will only be talking about my personal feelings regarding the development process of this yo-yo and what I wanted from it.

I've never really liked the hard feeling of bimetal, but as the number of tricks requiring more power increases each year, I wanted something with an outer rim that could combine that with softness.
When it comes to softness, other than replaceable things like pads and strings, other factors to consider are the material, surface treatment, weight balance, and color.

So, the first material I was asked to use was a 6000 series (hereafter referred to as 60 series) aluminum alloy with a stainless steel rim, which I immediately accepted because it would be easier to concentrate the weight on the outer periphery. The 60 series also feels softer than the 70 series, which is a big advantage for me. On top of that, I also applied a blasting process to make it feel even softer.

To reduce the weight of the center, the axle is as short as possible at 8mm, just like the previous Radius series. And, considering durability, the bearing lock has been lengthened, so you can use it for a long time with even more peace of mind. When disassembling and reassembling, you will feel that the axle is fixed straight in the center, despite its shortness.
*By the way, because the lock is long, the bearings tend to get stuck tightly. Therefore, if you want to perform frequent maintenance or remove them smoothly, we recommend applying a thin layer of oil between the bearing and the bearing lock.

And the surface treatment. Blasting was an absolute requirement, not just for the body, but also for the stainless steel rim. This is not only to soften the stiff feeling of the bimetal, but also because my style has changed over time from using gloves to using bare hands.
In fact, I once asked C3 to do the blasting of stainless steel rims when there was no such thing anywhere, but with the technology at the time, I was told that "the strings would break while playing," and I gave up because safety could not be ensured. Nowadays, this processing has become commonplace, but it was something I had been waiting for since back then.

Finally, a few years ago, C3 released a model with an outer stainless steel rim blast, and I explained my ideal bimetal to Mr. Simpson, the media director, and requested the production of a new signature model. I told him the specs and the rough shape I wanted, and the production started without any problems. The diameter is 56mm, 1mm smaller than the Radius 7068, but this was a downsizing that took into consideration the success rate of hooks and my current style.
The width has been increased by becoming bimetallic and power has been boosted, so we were able to safely widen it to 45mm, 2mm larger.

The finishing touch was to adjust the weight balance. With the outer rim, extending the rim width toward the bearing side ensures operability and sleep, but there was concern that the horizontal extension would be difficult, and we were worried about how far we could pursue that balance in the end, but the C3 achieved a perfect balance from the prototype. Since the first test throw showed a satisfactory level of completion, there were no changes made from the prototype to the final version.

Finally, there aren't as many color variations as there are with plastic yo-yos, but with metal yo-yos, dark colors like black or matte colors feel softer. My personal recommendation is a dark green with a silver rim.

This is my first bimetal signature model, so I gave it a new name. Socius means "partner" in Latin. I'm going to work hard with my new partner from now on. And I'd be happy if it would become your partner too.
Thank you.

Recommended Settings

Pad: C3 Japan pad (installed)
For original bearings: K-string (XL)
For pixel bearings: C3 string, or Original Throw (fat)