Identifying rares

[MasterKatra42]

All this talk about OG Oozaras and Mugens and Shin Sakuras is making my head hurt.  What are the differences between some amazing rare kendamas, what's up with the stickers, and do they get taken out of the package or just put on the shelf?

[HansNickmans]

A lot of kendamas are rare just because of their historical value (tortoises, S-types, nichi-getsu-ball,...). These types mostly precede the types available now. For these types I recommend reading the 'history of competition models' on GLOKEN.net. I'll try and give some specifics on the other types:

OG Oozora:
Sticker (seal): yellow
The OG Oozora are those of the generation before the colors that are available now (OG stands for original? original generation?). The first Oozora I bought was a cherry red one, which is a bit darker than the red now available. Next to that there was wooden, dark blue, leaf green, sky blue and pink. They can be identified by their white packaging, differing from the current packaging:
old packaging: http://tlmb.net/misc/OG-pink-Oozora.jpg
new packaging is more black and red (can't find a decent picture)

There are some other really rare oozoras, of which I don't know all the stories behind them. These are mostly one of a kinds and more the collectible type:
- pokeball (red and white): two made, used in a japanese tv-show (KendAlex has one)
- white: special prize at a japanese competition?
- beeswax: no color but beeswax dye for the tama. Don't know the story behind this one. (http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2620/3739736829_2ce5a8fb81_z.jpg)[/li][/list]
- speckled: something Void took with him from his Japan trip
- black: I remember seeing a black ken and tama one, also in Void's collection
- lavender tama: Only seen it once, don't know the story (http://twicsy.com/i/osJiyb)

Next to the regular ones there are the recommended ones. These have special tamas and sometimes other woods used for the ken or tama. They have a yellow seal but with an extra edge indicating the 'recommended'. Apparently they all play a bit different due to the used paints or woods (mostly maple instead of cherry wood for the tama). Most of them are still produced, but some of them are becoming collectibles fast. There are also some one of a kind ones.  The one I know of are:
- Metallic blue: not available anymore, becoming a collectible fast (Jumpshoe has a review on it)
- Keyaki and Enju: Hardwood oozoras, no color and made from zelkova and pagoda-tree wood (both ken and tama). Keyaki one is more available around the net, Enju is a bit more rare, still seen on kendamausa and kendama.dk.
- Rabbit: Made for the year of the rabbit, with a gold rabbit on a red or white tama. There is also a more rare black one, especially made for the JKA (I think?)
- Dragon: Made for the year of the dragon, with a dragon on a gold or black tama. Apparently a very good kendama (review Jumpshoe). There is also a silver one, same story as the black rabbit..
- Galaxy: Green and orange fade on a black tama. As I gather, the orange one is a less available than the green.
- I love kendama: White tama with 'I love kendama' on it. No background on this one, and still widely available. There is a blue variant, only seen it once.
- Sakura: Not to be confused with the Sakura and Shin Sakura type kendamas, these oozora's have a tama with flowers on it, as a tribute to the Japanese Sakura-tree (Prunus serrulata). Combinations are white flowers on pink tama, pink flowers on black tama, pink flowers on white tama, pink flowers on pink tama and white flowers on red tama. The three last types are not mentioned on the oozora-website, and I think they are not produced in the same numbers.
- Hanabi: With fireworks on the tama, just came across them today on goodsfromjapan, no idea how rare they are
- Taiyo and Emperor: Jumbo sizes, 24 and 30 cm respectively if I'm correct. The Taiyo is also available in dark blue next to red, although I don't see it being sold much online. There is also a pre-Taiyo type, without a seal. Void has one if I remember correctly.

Mugen
Sticker (seal): teal
Mugen was a very popular kendama, mostly because of the very good balance and the wide variety in colors that were available compared to the three colors available in the other types. Due to some disagreements with the JKA (source: GLOKEN) Iwata Mokko stopped producing them. Since they were so popular as a competition kendama, they are now a real collectible. Some colors were available more than others, but I don't have specifics on that. I've mostly seen the black and dark blue ones going in auctions (in package). But there's is also white, yellow, pink, red, wine red, light blue and of course the gold. There are also the pokeball ones (white and red). Alex Ruisch has a purple metallic one, which was a special JKA-prize if I read it right...
I think I'm still missing a lot of colors, but you can count all of these as rare and a valuable collectible.
There are also the jumbo ones, without a seal. These are even more elusive.
And I also heard of the Kotobuki Mugens. These were blue or red with gold speckles and very rare. I haven't seen a lot of information on these..

Sakura
Sticker (seal): gold
This is one of the older types (for Art Yoshii), with slightly different dimensions that the current JKA-types. It is the predecessor of the Shin Sakura (see next type) and was still available a year ago in online stores but they disappeared in the collectible-world now.. I think they are still easier to find than most Mugens, feel free to correct me on this.
I've also seen an even older Sakura, with the larger flower/mountain seal. Anyone got some info on that one?

Shin-Sakura
Sticker (seal): midnight blue
There was a post on these kendamas by Void (search review: shin-sakura). They've stopped producing these (don't know why), I think even before Iwata Mokko stopped making Mugens in 2007. They are even more elusive and rare. I don't have a lot of information on these types. An in-package one would probably go for a lot of money in an auction.

Shin-Fuji
Sticker (seal): black
Not really a collectible but I include it because of the recommended types. Before there were 'recommended' seals, they produced the gold, silver, black with silver and gold stripe and the Rokurosen types (wood with stripes in purple, blue or red). These types with a normal seal instead of the current recommended seal are also somewhat of a collectible. Although I don't know what it would do in an auction.
Same as the Sakura, there is also an older Fuji-kendama with an older seal (flower?mountain?).

TK-16
Sticker (seal): green
I've seen a green and a yellow metallic one, although I don't know the background behind it. Matt Rice has one and used it in its latest edit, but I haven't come across it since.
Next to that there is the Kawasaki-one, which was made for promo-purposes (http://www.chariandconyc.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Kendama-Kawasaki-A.jpg)

There are some other non-JKA types that are rare. The KCN-ones sold by Terra for example. I guess the forum-members will be able to add some more.. (I read somewhere that prototype-Sunrises are a wanted type in Japan because of slippery paint). 

The question 'do they get taken out of the package or just put on the shelf' is somewhat of a personal preference. Some get their hands on a Mugen and can't wait to play it, others are purely after the fun of collecting. When OG Oozara's stopped producing I thought of keeping a new leaf green one in the package to invest. But I just started playing it. I also have a battered Mugen that I played extensively before I knew how rare it was. Now it just sits on my shelf as my first kendama and a great memory of EJC2008.

Please add to this list if I've forgotten things, I'm not really a collector but I find the different types very interesting.

Hans
[Damn, this became a big post. I guess I just like making lists...]

[The Void]

Opinion:  Mugen sticker is "Teal" or "Turquoise", not "Blue". Shin Sakura seal might be said to be "very dark blue", not "purple".

There is also the Fuji (pre "Shin-Fuji) with an all-gold seal. It looks a lot like the Sakura, so without the packaging, it's tricky to tell them apart.

Read through some old posts in the Gear forum for more info.

[HansNickmans]

Changed the colours after some googling, my knowledge of English colour-names is not so profound

Read this in Alex's post today:
"One thing I learned while there is that trying to list all of the old JKA kendamas/seals is an impossible task. There are more old models and seals then you could imagine, the list would be huge."

... which makes the attempt above pretty redundant. Ah well, I enjoyed myself compiling it. :-) Now let's go play some kendama!

[MasterKatra42]

Hans, I have to thank you very much for your attempt to list it all!  Your post was very inclusive, and gave me a lot of new knowledge and vocabulary.

[SakuraKendama]

I have a kendama with a JKA seal but no color It seems to be older and not too warn. Do you know of none color categorized JKA logos and are they rare?

[The Void]

No colour at all? So it's transparent?!
Unless you mean "all gold", in which case, read the above.

PS Welcome to the forum.

[KendaMushroom]

Shin Sakura is purple...nothing can be more purple than that

[BKA]

This should prove helpful for some who are trying to figure out the differences between (modern) JKA kendamas.

[Cliffdama]

Intresting read thanks guys! 

[peterthake]

Ok, I confess, as a kendama seller I should know the answer to this one  . I have found an old Ozora kendama in my office (packed, as new) which dates back a good few years. I think it could be the old OG paint, even though it is in the newer style packaging. From memory I believe I received a bunch of these from Yuji in Japan during the transition from the old packaging and paints to the new. I know I have some OG Marine Blues and Sky Blues in this packaging that I plan to sell (but more about that another time). I have taken this picture:


The paint is not particularly stripey, lightly dimpled if anything. There is no sign of white primer, though I have not opened the packaging to take a good look, because I want to keep it mint. So I am not sure! Any thoughts? And yes, if it is OG it will eventually be sold on eBay.

[AlexSmith]

Hard to tell from the pic, the edge of the paint around the tama-hole will give you the best clues. Could go either way, since it is black package..

[peterthake]

I wish I had one of the new Pink Ozoras to compare the colour to. AlexSmith can you elaborate? Do you mean any signs of primer? I am not sure the absence of primer is a totally fail-safe method - the top coat might just completely cover any primer?

[The Void]

Wait.... that's pink? I thought it was red!
If it's pink or powder blue in a black packet, then it's pretty sure to be OG. The pink and pale blue were originally added, then discontinued. Then they were brought back later (blue packets).
That's how I remember it, anyway. Oddly, you can't make this distinction with red, green or marine blue, as those colours continued through white-black-blue packets, so you'd have to look for primer to be sure on those colours. Oh, it's all just silly anyway... :-)

[peterthake]

Hi Void, yes I should have said, it is pink. The pink colour never comes out very well with my camera. I will see if I can take a better shot. LOL yes it is a bit silly but the OGs do sell at a premium, especially to collectors.

It is interesting what you say about the Marine Blue and the Red OGs. I have some of the Marine Blues left in the black packaging, and I always thought these were OG simply because they discontinued that colour? The photo below shows the OG marine blue Ozora next to the new dark blue Ozora kendam. You can see the colour difference.