Most putters are either heel toe weighed and hang with the toe down when balanced on your palm, or face balanced where the face points to the sky.
However the Odyssey Toe Up putter gives a third option, which as the name suggests, points the toe to the sky in the almost opposite direction to heel/toe putters.
This is because all the weight in the head is in the heel of the putter and Callaway has done this because they say it reduces the effect of torque at impact.
Now you may not think that a putting stroke would be affected by the shaft or head torque but like any moving object it is. In heel/toe putters it is the torque that opens the face on the way back and the heavier toe that closes it on the way through.
If you have trouble timing this then the toe up design is another alternative to face balanced because the Toe Up design keeps the face squarer for longer.
This is done by placing more weight towards the face as you can see by the hollowed out sole and weight behind the centre of the putter.
The high offset hosel keeps the shaft in line with the centre of the face to maintain the central CG position.
The face is actually a little 'on-set' as at address it appears to lean back from the face, which doesn't affect the stroke, but can play tricks with your eyes.
As you can see there are 3 large white lines from the Marxman putters to help you line up, but on both models the hosel gets in the way of the inside line, which is a little frustrating.
The face is fly cut to make it as flat as possible and then Callaway has chemically etched the Metal-X face design on to create a softer feel and a better roll, but it did occasionally get filled with grass if you got some trapped between the face and the ball.
Certainly in testing the feel was very good and the putter gave a more hollow than solid sound at impact. From long and short range it was very consistent and the balance from the Top Up design felt very natural.
Overall it felt a little lighter than most putters and compared to face balanced putters the heads of the blade #1 and more rounded #9 are more compact yet still able to resist twisting.
Of the two heads I probably prefer the rounder #9 as the alignment was a little easier for some reason, but both did the job well.
The five sided Odyssey branded SuperStroke Flatso 1.0 grip has a large flat front and then a four sided back that is joined by some nifty leather stitching.
If you like a wide grip then it does feel good, but for some the prominent angles on the front of the grip could be too much.
Overall I like the concept of the Toe Up as it reminds me a little of certain onset putters from the past that evolved into the recent Odyssey BackStryke.
The onset is more subtle than that and if you have a straight-ish stroke then the reasonably light feeling Toe Up is a quirky looking solution that should get the thumbs up and the putts down.