5.0 Series Review

by Crazy Ivan

(Editor's Note: Pictures coming within the next 14 hours)

I think it's safe to say that I've had enough time with the 5.0 series to really give it a solid review.  Until now, when people ask me which sack I like best out of it I've prefaced all my responses with a bunch of "based on what I've jammed withs" and "from what I've seen so fars".  After a few weeks to jam with all of them and a chance to actually break one of each of them in, I think I'm ready to draw at least a few conclusions.

Before I do, though, I should mention that you never really know about a Myachi until it's been out for a while.  When series 1.0 came out, the Calvin was a dud.  It was too stiff, it was boring and it lingered on the shelves.  After about 3 months, Animal got one really broken in and discovered that it was the greatest Myachi of all time.

The point I'm making is that if I had written a review of that series a few weeks after it came out, I'd have gotten the Calvin all wrong.  That being said, I reserve the right to change my mind about anything I say below...

#1) The Lumber Jacks

The Lumber Jack Yellow and The Lumber Jack Orange are currently the front runners in my favorite sacks.  The Lumber Jack Yellow might be the best yellow Myachi since the Eco Kids.  Both seem to hold their shape really well and jam like nobody's business pretty much right away.

The Lumber Jack Orange and the Lumber Jack Yellow

#2) The Tidal Waves


The Tidal Wave Blue and Tidal Wave Red are legitimate contenders for best sacks in the series.  Their design is cool and unique and they are every bit as good of jammers as the Lumber Jacks.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tidal Wave family grow in a coming series.

The Tidal Wave Blue and the Tidal Wave Red

#3) The Shredders

These guys are probably going to be the #2 and #3 sellers in the series.  I'm making that bold prediction even now, before the series has gone on sale.  The Red Shredder will almost certainly outsell the Black Shredder, but both will disappear from store shelves.  They tend to longboard but they are excellent jammers.  The design will make both popular but the Red jumps right out at you and looks spectacular in a jam.

(PS your welcome for me resisting the "spectacular in a Shred" pun.)

The Red Shredder and the Black Shredder

#5) The Hound's Tooth

You notice how I built all the suspense by saying that the Shredders would be the #2 and #3 sellers?  That's because the Hound's Tooth deserves to be unveiled with a bit of circumstance.  This thing is sick in every possible way.  It spreads crazy when you break it in, it wideboards as often as it longboards (and sometimes it does both) and on top of all of that, it has an awesome design.  It's like a Finish Line with style.

The Hound's Tooth

#6) The Night Rider

It's hard to throw out a meaningful review of the Night Rider.  I've jammed with several of them and they're pretty variable.  Some break in right away and hold their shape plus a slight bit of wideboarding.  Some shrink up a bit and don't get all gumbified after a day or two.  All in all, it's a great sack.  Sick design, great jammer, but I have a feeling not all of them will look the same broken in.



The Night Rider



 #7) The Ripped and Zipped

It's hard not to love the design on this one.  The Ripped and Zipped has a cool design that strikes me as an upgrade from the Stacked and Packed (and for those who are wondering, it's a much better jammer than it's sister sack).  The design sports a really cool blue and the pattern is vertical striped so it looks particularly good with skate type tricks.  Can't finish without mentioning that it's also a really good jammer and breaks in quickly, though I wouldn't say as quickly as the top dogs on my list.



The Ripped and Zipped



 #8)The Academy Pink

No, I didn't put the Academy Pink down here because I think it's a girly color.  The Argyle Pink was one of my all time favorites and the Tainted Love Pink is a classic in my mind.  The Academy Pink loses points in my opinion because it just takes longer to break in than the other corduroys in the series.  It kind of reminds me of the Phat Kat, the Whackadoodles and the Argyle Black.  No question that it does break in sick, but it's gonna take enough work that some people with large collections will give up on it and brand it a bad jammer.



The Academy Pink



 #9) The General

The General is a cool experiment.  The fabric we used is the same "rip-stop" fabric they use in army fatigues.  The army uses it because the little grid of reinforced fabric keeps rips from tearing all the way down clothes.  We use it because that same grid offers a little extra traction on the sack.  I can't say that I'm entirely convinced that it makes a big difference, but the fabric is a little slick out of the gate.  The pattern is awesome so it'll be a favorite with the collectors, but it's not going to make anyone's best-jammer-of-the-series list.



The General



 #10) The Push Pop Orange

Every list has to have a last place and like I said at the outset, I reserve the right to change my mind on this one.  The Push Pop Orange is a linen material that is unlike anything we've done in the past.  It's a crazy design and the broken in ones are pretty solid, but it will be the most challenging sack to learn with if it's fresh out of the package.  The later stages of broken-in-ness might make the sacrifice worthwhile but I've only had a few weeks and a few washings to work with so far.

The Push Pop Orange

The Series as a Whole

Anyone who has known me for a while knows I get excited every time a new series comes out.  I say it's the most this or the most that and get all pumped.  I'm also essentially paid to tell everyone that Myachi is awesome so I'm certainly not the most objective person to be doing a review, but I can simply tell you that the following statement is true and hope you'll trust my integrity.

The 5.0 Series is the best jamming series of all time.

If you quantify "Best Jamming" by (a) how good are the sacks once they're broken in, (b) how quickly they break in and (c) what percentage of the sacks in the series are great jammers, you will eventually find out that I was telling the truth when they go on sale.  I'm willing to stake my reputation as a Myachi expert on that.

All of the above.