Is that because you feel that you haven't seen enough models come and (or at least rather) go out of production for you to say?
No, it's because I feel it's very difficult to make a fair assessment. Should I compare my Mugen that I played with when just starting out on the harder tricks, and haven't used now for 2 years, with my Sunrise that I've just got out of the packet, and am using now I'm at 3rd Dan skill/experience level?
The only rational way of comparing KDs is to have a selection of new ones, and line them up. Then try trick A 10 times with each of them. Repeat for trick B, trick C, trick D etc. Repeat the whole exercise weekly, noting the differences as the kendamas wear in with age/use. After several months, you might start to get a fair idea of which is *really* your favourite kendama. Personally, I don't have the patience, nor the spare cash to spend on a batch of new KDs *solely for this purpose*, nor the time to carry out the test.
Then of course, you should probably have 3 or 4 of each model, to even out any variation you may get in the natural density differences between different pieces of wood.
Then again, I recognise that the question is worded as "which is your
favourite kendama?", and 'favourite' does not necessarily imply a sound empirical judgement. So..... erm, well, thinking about it...... I still don't think I've got one!
