BilletSpin The Vanguard Top Review

BilletSpin has released the BilletSpin The Vanguard Top. It’s gorgeous, too – a 3-color Mokume / Flamed Titanium top, with a Ruby sphere atop the stem.

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Official Specs

Here’s a link to the BilletSpin The Vanguard Top product page.

Short Review

Whew, this thing is gorgeous. I don’t say that lightly; I have a ton of pretty things. I also like the size – pocket space is limited, so unless you carry a purse, the size of your EDC items is important. This one occupies, fortunately, little space but is great as a fidget.

Long Review

Package

Above, you can see an absolutely massive upgrade from BilletSpin – a branded tin. Now that might seem [whatever], but trust me, that’s a great thing for these tops.

It’s a bit oversized for a single top, but layered, this tin would likely hold a number of tops.

This is how a single top ships. There’s a little divot for the stem, and foam over the top, too. With careful cutting, many more tops would fit in this case. But this is a vast improvement over the cloth baggies they shipped in before.

Look

First of all, the shape of The Vanguard.

All of the above said – if this size is your thing, but the look isn’t, then remember there are a bunch of variations. They range in price from $125 (All Stainless Vanguard with Black Ceramic ball) to $205 (Zirc/Twist Dammy Vanguard with ruby stem ball).

Copper/Stainless Steel Vanguard w/ruby stem ball
Copper/Stainless Steel Vanguard with grey/black ceramic stem ball
Copper/Stainless Steel Vanguard w/white ceramic stem ball
Zirc/Twist Dammy Vanguard with ruby stem ball
Zirc/Twist Dammy Vanguard with grey/black ceramic stem ball [DISCONTINUED]
Zirc/Twist Dammy Vanguard with white ceramic stem ball
Treated Mokume/Titanium Vanguard with Ruby stem ball
Treated Mokume/Titanium Vanguard with a white ceramic stem ball
Treated Mokume/Titanium Vanguard with grey/black ceramic stem ball
Bronze/Titanium Vanguard with Ruby stem ball
Bronze/Titanium Vanguard with grey/black ceramic stem ball
Bronze/Titanium Vanguard with white ceramic stem ball
Twist Dammy/Titanium Vanguard with ruby stem ball
Twist Dammy/Titanium Vanguard with white ceramic ball
Twist Dammy/Titanium Vanguard with grey/black ceramic ball
All Stainless Vanguard with Ruby ball
All Stainless Vanguard with Black Ceramic ball
Tungsten/Copper Vanguard with Ruby Stem Ball

Feel

Here’s everything BilletSpin says about The Vanguard:

Newest 2-piece top, the Vanguard, features a 0.98” diameter blasted and treated 3 color Mokume outer disk with a treated Titanium stem. Carbide ball on bottom and a ruby ball on top. Weight is 28 grams.

Due to the fragility of the ruby ball we recommend not spinning this top upside down.

Why do I have that comment in this category? Because the main way this top feels is a result of the blasted Mokume outer disk. It’s very supple, and the blast provides just a bit of grip. That’s nice if you choose to spin this top “upside down,” but in my case, I didn’t because of the ruby sphere. The hardness of the ruby would make for great spinning – but that hardness is exactly what also makes it brittle, which would not make for great results if the drop was careless. (As a sidenote, the first top I was notably excited about was the Lambda by Prometheus Lights, which had a ruby contact point, and I never had any issues with it.)
The thumb stud. It’s very grippy and allows strong twists for long spins.

Spin Times

I got a bit carried away spinning this top during the photo session! So sorry for the many photos on something that’s not an ideal spin surface (it’s a sticker from PhotonPhreaks).

It’s possible to notice the striations of the Mokume during spins. Well… with a camera it is, anyway. 🙂 I thought that was very neat.

The table shown here is just for art purposes; it’s not the timed test surface. 😛 But the top is in fact spinning on that variegated surface.

I noticed a couple of things while spinning this top. First of all, it wanders for a little while, looking for a comfortable spot. Then, when it finds that comfortable spot, it wobbles a bit. Then it tends to get settled into a zone and spins for a good while. I had some great results on a glass surface, which has a very lightly convex shape. Not a proper spinstation, but it worked.

I did some spintime tests and the results are as follows:

Spin	Time (m:s)
1 (desk top)	2:24.32
2 (desk top)	2:16.89
3 (hard table top)	2:40.00
4 (hard table top)	3:21.23
5 (concave glass)	7:00.12
6 (concave glass)	6:20.36

I’m impressed with the 7-minute spin. With a real, proper spin station, I bet this would go for 10+ minutes.

Maintenance / Disassembly

There’s nothing that can be disassembled on The Vanguard. The 2 pieces are press-fit together.
Keeping the top clean should provide a long lifetime.

Size

Officially this top is 0.98″ in diameter and 28g.
I measure the diameter at 24.9mm, and the height at 27.41mm.

Below is a US quarter. The Connecticut version.

This is a very small top. Not a micro top, I suppose, but it’s very good for pocket carry, and could even serve as a good worry token substitute, or talisman.

Conclusion

What I Like

• High-quality build
• Tons of metal options
• This is really a beautiful piece.
• Love the top-of-stem options, including ruby.
• The improved package (i.e., the tin)

What I Don’t Like

• Limited availability (to wit: when they’re gone, they’re gone?)

I have a few more similar items that I’ll be posting in the coming weeks. If there’s anything more specific that you’d like to see, please let me know in the comments!

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Notes

• This top was provided by BilletSpin for review. I was not paid to write this review.
• This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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