I’m bidding on one on eBay. I’m a patient learner. I doubt I’ll be trying lunars anytime before I’ve beat up a few damas. My tribute is all kinds of dented already. Maybe I’ll be able to wear in the tk16 enough for balance tricks.
Edit: besides, I like what the tk16 represents in terms of traditional design. I dig stuff like that.
Ozora is the best!! I have every kendama and ozora is seriously the best. Plus its JKA certified, it’s super legit. Sweets and kendamausa are great as well but when you hit that lunar on jka paint it feels pretty boss.
Honestly not sure. Its slick a glossy and pretty chip resistant, unlike my shin-fuji which is not that glossy and chips super easy but is also jka certified. Another thing “slick” and “tack” can only be relative to which ken you’re using and how the wood reacts to the paint. (I.e my ozora ken is tackier on every tama I’ve tried whereas a shin-fuji ken makes everything more slick)
I think how much the cups are “broken in” makes a huge difference. The 2 kendamas I play the most have very dented (not the most elegant way to describe it) base cups. That in combination with a dented up tama makes balancing easier.
I have been beating up on my Grip (Modded Ozora) today, and I am able to nail my balance tricks on it now. I can only imagine how well a kendama must play after many months of use.
I’m wondering about wear and performance as well. The collector in me wants to buy kendamas like yoyos but I think I will stop at two, maybe three :), and practice a minimalist approach in order to get the most from them.
Right now, I can hold a rickety lighthouse for a few seconds. I know lunars could be done on this Tribute but my skills won’t allow that for a while, I suspect. I’m focusing on basic cup tricks and spikes hoping that when I’m ready to focus on balance tricks, the toy will be ready, too.
Ah okay. And just a small correction, I played an order on wednesday at ~1 am, and got an email with the tracking number on wednesday at ~9 pm. 1 email from paypal saying payment was sent, 1 from steeze saying my order was received, and the 3rd email from paypal with the tracking information.
Said tracking information hasn’t been updated since thursday though. So I’m going to guess its a problem with usps.