Received my BaliYo (Blue & Green for the record) today...
Design
Compared to a balisong, can't make any comparison there, having never handled one.
As a pen, I suppose this has been said before by many people, but I prefer a regular pen. It's a bit fiddly to open, even with the handles moving, and writing with it for a long time probably isn't the best idea. That said, I can definitely appreciate the balancing act that went into making this. On a minor note, I like the little swell near where the clip contacts the handles, it makes writing a bit more tolerable.
For replacing the ink, you're meant to just unscrew the end, right? Mine feels rather stiff at the moment and I'm wondering just how much force it needs.
As a flippy/fidgety item, I already like it! Now I have something else to do apart from flipping pens... ohh... wait...
Can't really say much more than that until I figure out some of the tricks.
Construction
Construction is very good, no major flaws that I can see. The only "issues" I could see were mostly things that would be inherent to this type of manufacturing, stuff like breakoff points. The only thing I've seen that didn't fall into that category was near the pivots of the pen section, I can see where two bits of plastic from the injection process met, and even then it was very hard to notice.
DVD
At first, the buttons on this appeared to be mucked up. Gotta say, button positioning on this one could be better. For those who haven't seen it, there's a big circle running the first promo video, then around it there're other circles with numbers in them, connected to the main circle (those who have it will know what I mean). To select which trick you want to watch, you don't click on the circles, you click on the little thing connecting the numbered circle to the main circle. Hover the mouse over that area and you'll see a grey "blob" come up, that's where you click.
The tricks look pretty interesting, I'll need a fair amount of time to work them out though. If I may make a suggestion, perhaps Eric explaining how to do the tricks could be added? Eric really needs more time in the limelight.
What I'd like to see
IMHO, this is just begging for GITD and non-uniformly spread colours to make a colour show. I know, given the manufacturing process, the latter would probably cause some problems, if not be impossible to do, but I would really like to see some GITD in this. Just at the ends of all the pieces, nothing too major. Please?
Another change that I'd like to see, but I know probably won't happen would be a Ti version or similar. IIRC, Sal said that they were avoiding metal to keep it as more of a "toy" and as far away from the stigma that a balisong has to some people. So as much as I would like to see it, I can't see it happening.
Overall
The OCD fiddler/fidgeter in me is overjoyed, I can foresee many hours of enjoyment ahead. I'll be keeping another pen for large amounts of writing though.
A couple of you might remember I had plans to mod one when I got it (GITD epoxy). Those plans are now being reviewed, since now that I look at it, it'll probably be a harder job than I thought. Only real place I can see are in the brass weights since the handles are rather thin compared to other things that I've done. Think I need to get access to a mini-mill. And possibly a small syringe to get the epoxy in there evenly.
Design
Compared to a balisong, can't make any comparison there, having never handled one.
As a pen, I suppose this has been said before by many people, but I prefer a regular pen. It's a bit fiddly to open, even with the handles moving, and writing with it for a long time probably isn't the best idea. That said, I can definitely appreciate the balancing act that went into making this. On a minor note, I like the little swell near where the clip contacts the handles, it makes writing a bit more tolerable.
For replacing the ink, you're meant to just unscrew the end, right? Mine feels rather stiff at the moment and I'm wondering just how much force it needs.
As a flippy/fidgety item, I already like it! Now I have something else to do apart from flipping pens... ohh... wait...
Can't really say much more than that until I figure out some of the tricks.Construction
Construction is very good, no major flaws that I can see. The only "issues" I could see were mostly things that would be inherent to this type of manufacturing, stuff like breakoff points. The only thing I've seen that didn't fall into that category was near the pivots of the pen section, I can see where two bits of plastic from the injection process met, and even then it was very hard to notice.
DVD
At first, the buttons on this appeared to be mucked up. Gotta say, button positioning on this one could be better. For those who haven't seen it, there's a big circle running the first promo video, then around it there're other circles with numbers in them, connected to the main circle (those who have it will know what I mean). To select which trick you want to watch, you don't click on the circles, you click on the little thing connecting the numbered circle to the main circle. Hover the mouse over that area and you'll see a grey "blob" come up, that's where you click.
The tricks look pretty interesting, I'll need a fair amount of time to work them out though. If I may make a suggestion, perhaps Eric explaining how to do the tricks could be added? Eric really needs more time in the limelight.
What I'd like to see
IMHO, this is just begging for GITD and non-uniformly spread colours to make a colour show. I know, given the manufacturing process, the latter would probably cause some problems, if not be impossible to do, but I would really like to see some GITD in this. Just at the ends of all the pieces, nothing too major. Please?
Another change that I'd like to see, but I know probably won't happen would be a Ti version or similar. IIRC, Sal said that they were avoiding metal to keep it as more of a "toy" and as far away from the stigma that a balisong has to some people. So as much as I would like to see it, I can't see it happening.
Overall
The OCD fiddler/fidgeter in me is overjoyed, I can foresee many hours of enjoyment ahead. I'll be keeping another pen for large amounts of writing though.
A couple of you might remember I had plans to mod one when I got it (GITD epoxy). Those plans are now being reviewed, since now that I look at it, it'll probably be a harder job than I thought. Only real place I can see are in the brass weights since the handles are rather thin compared to other things that I've done. Think I need to get access to a mini-mill. And possibly a small syringe to get the epoxy in there evenly.