Sunrise first impressions

[Mark]

Hello there.
So i got a new KD. A sunrise. First of all i couldnt get the cross piece off so i cant change the string length. So ive had a little play with it (with the horrible long string) and i find the weight strange. Ive been playing with the same two TK16's for the past 3/4 years and the weight feels so different to me.
And of course the ball paint is so slippery, so im landing nothing.
It also feels bigger than my tk16 for some reason.
I will update this when ive played with it more and got that bloody cross piece off!

See ya for now,
Mark

[The Void]

You can always change the string length at the ball end.

[Mark]

You can? Didnt know that!

[LarsVegas]

Actually, I'd be happy if the crossbar of my Sunrise wouldn't come off that often. I have two normal sized sunrises and the crossbar gets off sometimes (something I never experienced with my Ozora). For one of the normal ones, the crossbar has to be pushed so hard, that the crossbar's hole sits below the ken's hole. Of course, that begs for getting of again due to the stress on the string.
But the big performer is the worst. I loose the crossbar so often, that it's becoming annoying.

Sorry David, but I'm not that happy with them.

On the plus side, the handling is fine.

[sunnyD]

Hi Lars (is that your real name too?), sorry that you have been having some issues with your Performer.
The first 50 pcs made had a Sorado which was not tight enough - if you have an early model then this is possible. From the second series (100 pcs) on we changed the Sorado hole slightly to get the taper bang on and provide a much more secure fit.
Could be until the BKO before we meet and I can assist in a more practical sense. Traditional medecine may help in the form of a king size rizla applied on the taper. Feel free to send a photo.

Which model SunRise were you reviewing in the first post? It is paint finish is designed to "lighthouse" straight from the packaging.

Greetings, David

[sunnyD]

Quick backpedal on last post - apologies Lars. The last comment was intended for Mark's first post.

[Greg the Strangler]

New SunRise's are great kendamas. Realize that if you have been playing TK16's, your used to an inferior kendama and playing a nice one will be shocking. The paint will get nice and you will say FU to the JKA like me!

[Mark]

After quite alot of play with it ive concluded:
ITS AWESOME!!
My first thoughts were so wrong. And the cross piece im pretty sure isnt supposed to come off, which is a great way of making sure no over hang of string is present.
And the ball is getting slightly better with use.

Im still finding the wood of the ken abit too light for my liking. Do oozora's feel heavier?

[Greg the Strangler]

Oozora can be a crap-shoot with weight. I order from kendama-co because they weigh all their kendamas and give you light-mid-heavy options. Old Oozoras were lighter but the new ones seem heavier overall.

[KendAlex]

all brands of tamas have differences of weight.

it all depends on the wood and the paint
- which part of the tree it is from
- how long was the wood dry time
- how old are the tools that cut the tamas (the tamas get smaller after 100.000 cuts)
- how thick was the paint when it gets on the ball, and what was the humanity when the tamas get painted.

my first leaf green oozora Tama weighted 83gram,it was the most heaviest oozoora tama i ever had, till the play kendama comes around , my blue play kendama tama weight 92 gram, that is real heavy and not in balance with the ken, so that kendama is doomed to be used as a Tama stall kendama, the heavier the Tama the more you can control it with stalls.

Oh and i love the Sunrise, they have new striped kendamas with the same sticky paint as the other ones in the 2011 collection.
the new Performers are also improved, the sorado won't get loose that easy anymore,


But i agree Greg the newest oozora have some better weight again, better the the old pink and blue ones.

[Greg the Strangler]

are the new striped SunRise tama's available? I share love for new SunRises, i want to get my hands on one!

[KendAlex]

Greg, Kendama USA have them already, check it out.
i have seen them going from mr. Sunrise and i have seen them at the Kendama usa Warehouse.

http://www.Kendamausa.com/

[hater]

I have been playing kendama for about a month, after my first 2 weeks, one of my best friends bought a purple Sunrise. In that time I practically only know "cup combos" to spike, so when I tried it I didn't found nothing especial. I have been playing all this time with a yellow Oozora.

Today after all this time with my Oozora, I was with him and played with his Sunrise. The first difference I felt was in the ken, in the part most near to the crosspiece (where do you grip the kendama) it's a little bit more width, that makes the ken a little more heavy. Lately I have been practicing a combo with some "flips" in it and I really noticed it's a little more slowest than my Oozora because of that weight.

After that I was teaching him lighthouse and take his kendama to show him how to do it and bang! I landed it perfectly in the first try!! Usually I land it 1 of 10 or 15 times in my Oozora, the paint in this Sunrise is a lot more sticky that the one in my yellow kendama :O And I was able to land it in the sunrise about 1 of 5 or more frequently!

Later I was trying some birds and I feel like I was landing it more frequently (first time landing 5 straight birds, never landed more than 2 or 3 in my Oozora) so I started trying to land a bird in the opposite small cup, and landed it after 4 or 5 tries :O I haven't landed it in my Oozora never!!!

Are Sunrise on steroids or what?!? LOL I think my next kendama will be a white EU Sunrise, it's a very nice kendama to start learning a trick and after that, make it perfect playing in a less sticky kendama. I really liked the feel of it, will be buying one very soon! Someone in this forum is part of Sunrise? Very good work guys!! You have a future customer here

Edit: I read somewhere than the old sunrise where not made in EU and they chip more easily. I read also than the striped ones are still like that, when will be available striped Sunrise with the nice finish in the new EU ones?

[KendAlex]

Hi Hater,

Nice you've compared the play of the EU Sunrise with the Oozora kendama with much details, thanks

Sunrise have some new EU Sunrise kendamas with stipes, with the same paint, soon it will be available in stores.

I already have 2 of the first that i get straight from David and he signed one with my name on it. See picture.
I did not have the time to test them in full, but i already landed some lunars and lighthouse tricks for the test and they are great, same paint as all the other EU sunrise.
there will be more other colors too.

[hater]

You welcome KendAlex! I'm only a new player, so maybe other more experimented players think diferent, but for me the diference was very clear . Has someone noticed the same as me? Also, do you know if will be a yellow/white striped Kendama? I will love one like this