Flatpack kendama

[BKA]

Chase posted about this in Introduce yourself... Interesting enough to merit its own thread tho'...

Flatpack kendama?!

... yes, it's insane, here's a picture:

Do you know who makes it, Chase?

[The Void]

That's pretty neat. Google throws up a video:

and the site of the guy who made it:
http://cargocollective.com/drewtetz/filter/design/Flatpack-Kendama
http://drewtetz.tumblr.com/tagged/kendama/chrono

[cbaxt98]

What Void said, haha. He's sponsored by Duncan YoYos, he's super creative and does the most insane stuff! I can't wait for the flatpack kendamas to come out, they're going to be awesome! I wasn't able to attend this year, but apparently kendamas were a HUGE hit at the National YoYo Contest. Everyone was posting about it on Facebook, haha

[Thorny]

Wow, that's crazy! I'm glad this was posted, would love to own one!

[drewtetz]

hah – thanks for posting about this, chase!

hi everybody, i'm drew. i'm primarily a yo-yo player, but there has been a bit of a kendama bug sweeping the yo-yo scene lately, and i have to admit that i've caught it. i've been working on designing flatpack toys this year under the name 44RPM, and the kendama is definitely one of the most fun yet... i don't know when it'll be for sale, because i really want to make sure that it's a great product before i take peoples' money, but it's very exciting to hear that people like it!

the current version is super fun and remarkably sturdy, but quite a bit lighter than the traditional kendamas. that's order number one to get fixed in the update. additionally, the fact that it's got a lot of angles makes certain tricks feel... different. some are harder, some are waaay easier, and some would be basically impossible on a normal kendama. i'd love to see it in the hands of somebody who can actually do lunars and stuff like that, but i have a ton of fun doing cheater birds with it now.



see? those birds were totally cheating. haha.

thanks for the interest everybody! more than happy to answer questions, i'll post news if i have it.

[The Void]

Hi Drew,
Welcome to the forum!
Well, I like the looks of your kendama. The first thing that struck me was that the rims that make the cups were a neat idea. Then I thought that the "hole" on the ball might benefit from one of those too. I'm not sure how feasible that would be in terms of construction, but it's something for you to consider. Then again, the "claw" nature of the hole could lead to new tricks and ideas, so maybe you prefer to keep it different in that respect.

Cheers and clicks,
Void

[shalafi]

It looks great!

It is quite the opposite to the aluminum kendama, that one is heavy, solid and compact, this one looks fragile light and "airy"

I advise to take the reference weight of a shin-fuji, they are already way lighter than other kendamas, if you can make it as heavy as that one nobody can complain about it

[Thorny]

I have nothing but good words to say about this, Drew! This is a crazy idea, personally, I don't think I ever would have thought of it!

Going to keep my eyes peeled for when they're available, I'd love to make a video with one and see what kinds of things I can pull of with it!

[AlexSmith]

Ooh, I saw this a week or two ago- I've been chatting with a guy from Edmonton who runs a yo-yo company and he sent me a photo. Looks fun, I actually didn't expect it to play as well as it looks like it does. Super cool idea!

[Hippo Samurai]

That's an awesome design!!
By the way, just wanted to tell you that you're my favorite yoyoer to grace the yoyo world. Haven't seen you on the other forum I go on and didn't have a chance to tell you.
And please make a flatpack yoyo! 

[Thorny]

And please make a flatpack yoyo! 

He has!

http://cargocollective.com/drewtetz/filter/design/Flatpack-Yo-Yo

[The Void]

Necropost!

These have finally been released.... and sold out.
http://44rpmshop.com

[shalafi]

it'd seem everything Kendama-related that looks cool and is released on small batches gets sold out almost instantly.