Pyro series

The Origin / Switzerland 2005

the origin

The full metal yoyo that broke every assumption about what competition could be.

Twenty years later — a new intersection, and a road not yet taken.

Evolutionary Shift

Full Metal Pioneer

The catalyst for the industry's
transition to precision aluminum.

Heritage

Swiss Engineering

Horological standards of precision
reimagined for play.

Timeline

20 Years Later

Revisiting the intersection where
modern history began.

I

The Dawn

The Dawn of Modern
Metal Yoyos — December 2005

The Pyro that Changed History

1—1

The Golden Age of Metal Rims

December 2005. In the evolutionary history of the yoyo, this year is etched as a definitive turning point. Today, full metal is the absolute standard material for competitive yoyos. However, rewinding the clock to the mid-2000s reveals a reality entirely different from today's norms.

The competitive scene at the time — especially in the string trick division — was dominated by so-called metal rim yoyos, which featured heavy metal weights mounted on the outer edges of a plastic body. This structure, faithful to the fundamental physics of a yoyo (lighter in the center, heavier on the outside), was one of the optimal solutions given the technology of the era.

The concept of a full metal yoyo already existed. However, it was still positioned as an expensive, finicky, and experimental product geared towards a small niche of hardcore enthusiasts. With the metal processing precision of the time, machined full metal yoyos were prone to vibe and tended to be heavy. Response system technology was also still in its infancy; while they held a certain romantic appeal, the consensus among top players was that full metal yoyos were simply too risky for actual competition.

Even though everyone sensed that "the era of full metal might come someday," the definitive yoyo to force that door open did not yet exist anywhere in the world.

1—2

Innovation Born in Switzerland

Amidst this landscape, a full metal innovation was born in Switzerland, a country possessing the world's highest precision machining technology cultivated by its watchmaking industry. This was the birth of HSPIN, and the Pyro, the product they unleashed upon the world.

Given a name meaning "flame," this yoyo completely transformed the negative conventional wisdom surrounding full metal yoyos. The arrival of the Pyro was not merely the release of a new yoyo; it triggered a paradigm shift that fundamentally overturned the very design philosophy of the yoyo itself.

1—3

The "Heretical Wide Design" that Shattered Common Sense

What caught the eyes and blew the minds of players worldwide was its bold, wide design exceeding 45mm — something considered almost heretical at the time. Mainstream yoyos back then were narrow, hovering around 40mm in width. High-difficulty tricks that threaded through gaps in complex, tangled strings required absolute precision, akin to passing a thread through the eye of a needle. If the string's trajectory deviated even slightly, the yoyo would lose its balance and stall.

However, the Pyro secured a wide catch zone that easily trapped the string, while gathering weight towards the outer rim via an exquisite curve. This generated a level of rotational power and postural stability that existed in a completely different dimension from anything before. This weight distribution and shape shattered the era's stereotype that full metal yoyos were heavy and unwieldy. Its spin didn't die even in complex mounts with multiple overlapping layers of string, moving exactly as the player intended. The Pyro proved to the world that a full metal yoyo was not just a collector's item, but a battle-ready tool capable of handling the highest difficulty tricks.

1—4

The Fusion of Functional Beauty and Art

Yet, it wasn't solely its high specs that elevated the Pyro from a mere high-performance yoyo to a legend still talked about today. An unparalleled aesthetic sense and the depth of its functional details made this yoyo truly special. The flame laser engraving, deeply carved into the sides of the body, exuded an unforgettable presence, strongly stimulating a player's desire to own it.

"The deep red coloring derived from its flame motif and its characteristic surface treatment remain deeply etched in memory. This matte finish was not merely cosmetic; it was a functional feature designed to increase the success rate of tricks and broaden the scope of play."

Function and design were intertwined at an unprecedented level.

1—5

Inherited DNA and the "Witness to History"

Immediately after its release, the Pyro garnered enthusiastic support from players all over the world. With every restock, it sold out in the blink of an eye at yoyo shops around the globe. Information flew across internet message boards, and obtaining a Pyro became so highly sought after that it served as a status symbol for players.

Following the arrival of the Pyro, the trajectory of the global yoyo scene changed completely. Many manufacturers and designers were shocked by the Pyro's design philosophy and rigorously studied its structure. Following its lead, they subsequently released a slew of full metal yoyos featuring wide body shapes, rim-weighted distributions, and surface treatments specialized for grinds. The era had finally plunged into the golden age of full metal.

If you trace back the DNA of the refined full metal yoyos held by modern players today, it inevitably leads straight to the Pyro. The Pyro is not just an old yoyo. It is the origin of the modern yoyo, a great masterpiece that laid the foundation for today's playstyles and culture.

II

EVOLUTION

At the End of
Optimization

2005 - 2025

2—1

ACCELERATING EVOLUTION

Since HSPIN released the Pyro in December 2005, yoyos have evolved at an unprecedented pace. Once the potential of full metal yoyos and their viability in the competitive scene were proven to the world, manufacturers rushed into a development race for metal yoyos as if a dam had broken. It has been about 20 years since then. Yoyo design and manufacturing technologies have reached dimensions that players back then could never have imagined.

The pursuit of feeling through design nuances, the normalization of bimetal structures combining metals of varying specific gravities, and the precise rotational accuracy churned out by advanced NC lathes. It is no exaggeration to say that modern competitive yoyos are the crystallization of physics and engineering. Their sleep times are bottomless, they boast a stability that resists tilting no matter how many complex tricks are layered, and they follow the player's intentions without delay.

The proof that "full metal can fight" pioneered by the Pyro has now transformed into an endless pursuit of performance — "how to minimize loss and optimize rotational efficiency to the absolute limit" — and continues to be relentlessly refined.

2—2

A "Sense of Incongruity" Towards a Homogenizing Scene

However, in this modern era — which could be called the ultimate destination of this evolution — a single question, or perhaps a quiet sense of incongruity, emerges. The competitive yoyos released today are all unbelievably high-performing, wonderful products. Right out of the box, they harbor the potential to compete on the world championship stage. Yet, as all yoyos have converged toward the optimal solution named "high performance," hasn't the distinctiveness and individuality of each product gradually become harder to see?

The more physical correctness is sought, the more similar shapes and weight distributions become. Is the "newness" of the yoyos we see every day truly an innovation that fundamentally changes playstyles? Or is it merely a superficial difference created by fractions of a gram in weight changes, new colorways, and clever marketing jargon?

"In a modern scene where extreme optimization is leading to homogenization, products possessing the intense, era-bending energy or the scorching individuality that the Pyro once radiated are clearly disappearing."

2—3

The Philosophy of At Design Lab — Designing "Questions"

In this modern era where everything is refined and fulfilled, what role should a brand play? What At Design Lab aims for is not simply to make another new, long-spinning yoyo, nor to just reissue a vintage model whose value has risen to drop it into the cycle of consumption.

Our goal is to step back from the one-dimensional values of performance superiority or trend consumption, and instead, use our products to pose questions to players and provide new perspectives. Where are the roots of the yoyo you hold in your hand? Why is this shape considered the standard today? And what kind of future can we envision beyond this?

Rather than letting the yoyo end up as a mere tool, we want it to function as a medium for deepening our understanding of culture, history, and thought. That is the philosophy at the core of At Design Lab.

2—4

The Experience of Touching the Original Directly

In December 2025, 20 years had passed since the Pyro's release. Looking back on these two decades of yoyo evolution, At Design Lab initiated a collaboration with HSPIN so that modern players could touch and experience for themselves the very origin that still flows at the foundation of today's thoroughly refined yoyos.

Merely knowing the information that "there used to be an amazing yoyo" is meaningless. The moment you actually wind the string with your own hands and throw it, you feel an ambitious, raw feeling that is distinctly different from modern, refined yoyos. It possesses an overwhelming sense of mass and presence that draws a clear line from modern designs stripped of all excess.

In an era where everything is homogenizing, there is no other yoyo that radiates such intense individuality and the energy that forced open the doors of the scene. By feeling the heat of this original directly on their skin, modern players can paradoxically understand just how optimized their everyday yoyos are.

2—5

As a Page in History

Please do not misunderstand: this is not a nostalgic project designed to bask in the sentiment of "old yoyos were better." Turning back the hands of time is not the objective.

What we aim for is to pass down this Pyro to future generations as a page in history. Knowing history and touching one's roots is not looking backward. It is an indispensable process for accurately grasping the coordinates of where you currently stand and stepping more powerfully into the future ahead.

When modern players take this yoyo in their hands and experience it for themselves — the new perspectives and inspiration born from that moment will become the energy to build the next generation's yoyo culture.

From the present day, arrived at after the end of optimization, back once more to the origin where it all began. This endeavor launched by At Design Lab and HSPIN is a sign of profound respect for the history of the yoyo, and a "question" asking what kind of future we want to advance towards.

III

IF

Another Story Drawn by
"If"

2005 - THE INTERSECTION - 2026

3—1

Invisible "Intersections" and Countless "What Ifs"

In the lives we lead, and within the grand flow of time we call history, there are countless invisible intersections. When walking down a long, extending road and suddenly arriving at one of these intersections: do you go straight, stop, or step off in an entirely different direction? An intersection is a place that constantly forces a decision. People move forward by choosing some things and letting go of others.

Long after, when looking back at the path traveled, we are sometimes driven by the thought: "If I had chosen a different path back then, where would I be today?"

3—2

2005: The Giant Intersection Named Pyro

This holds true in the evolutionary history of the yoyo as well.

The moment the Pyro was released by HSPIN in December 2005 was the largest intersection in yoyo history. At that intersection, where the potential of the full metal yoyo was revealed to the world, yoyo history chose the path of competitive optimization. The efficiency to spin longer, wobble less, and handle more complex tricks. It is a path of evolution carved out by the improvement of players' skills and the relentless efforts of manufacturers. The refined yoyo scene of today was only reached because that path was chosen back then. The utmost respect should be paid to this history of straightforward evolution.

But, what if a completely different path had been chosen at that intersection?

If the intense individuality and raw energy the Pyro possessed had followed a different evolutionary process from modern "competitive optimization," what would it look like right now?

3—3

The Unknown Timeline Opened by the "Intersection" of Two Brands

At Design Lab and HSPIN. This project, where two brands "intersect" across time and space, is not about feeling nostalgic for a past archive or aiming for commercial success. It is an ambitious attempt to open the door of the unchosen "If" at that intersection in 2005, and to sketch out the future that lies beyond a different choice as a new history.

The inherent wildness of the yoyo that was scraped away in the name of "optimization." The heat of that era, where functional beauty and art were fused. What if, keeping that heat alive, the branch of evolution had extended in an entirely different direction?

"What we are about to create is not a relic of the past. It is the materialization of another future that lies at the end of a path diverging from a different choice."

3—4

Let's Get the Beginning

We now stand before that giant intersection once again, after 20 years have passed.

What is needed to understand the unknown trajectory of evolution that will diverge from here, and to experience that difference as a contrast? First, all of us must take the origin in our hands and experience for ourselves where and how this new history began to diverge.

That is exactly why, in weaving this story of "If," At Design Lab is first reviving the original Pyro in its exact form as our starting point. This is not the goal. It is the origin for deciphering the story that is about to begin, and the standard for becoming a witness to a new history.

The road beyond the intersection may still be shrouded in darkness. However, the heartbeat of a new evolution has already begun to sound. From here, another evolutionary trajectory that no one has ever seen will raise its curtain.

"Now, let's get the beginning. Not to bask in the remaining embers of the past, but to become the very first witnesses of a new history that has just been ignited."