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New product: KendamaUSA kendama "Pro" and "Premiere"

Started by The Void, 05 July, 2011, 11:46:16

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The Void

On July 4th (how appropriate) KendamaUSA announced their own new brand of kendama. They have the "Pro" (Branded with the signatures of their team players) and the "Premiere" (which I assume is the same thing without the sig-branding).

Interestingly, they say that this model uses "metal reinforcement in the handle, allowing the cups to be permanently secure." I'm assuming that means the cross-piece is fixed to the ken in some way (screw? staple?). Personally, I've never had much of a problem with the cross-piece coming loose, but there you go. They also say that "This new design has also simplified the entire re-stringing process.". I don't know what that means.

Not having actually seen one in the flesh[nb]in the beech?[/nb], that's all I can really say about them at this point, apart from that the packaging and the paint jobs look nice. Hopefully these guys will have some distribution deal going, which will lead to more kendamas in shops, which can only be a good thing.

I look forward to reading a review, or playing with one at some point.
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Kensession Stand

They are solid all around. I love how the cups stay attached and the wood looks very similar to mugen. The only thing is that they don't come with a bead at the end of the string which is a pain bc the string gets all messed up. But there is a bead in the package. I think it would be more convienient to have them on Kendama already. Just my opinion.

Tyler

AlexSmith

I'm interested to see how the metal reinforcement works. Apparently the metal is what helps simplify the restricting process? I've never had too much of a hastle restringing a dama but hey we'll see how it works... As for the wood looking like a Mugen, I'm almost certain every dama currently in production is Beechwood.. The only one that I suspect may have been different were KCN Battles.
Either way I'm looking forward to ordering one and having a new toy to play with...

peterthake

Quote from: AlexSmith on 06 July, 2011, 23:33:26
I'm almost certain every dama currently in production is Beechwood.. The only one that I suspect may have been different were KCN Battles.

I never did find out what wood the Battle kendama were made from. Sadly, the Battle kendama maker has gone of the radar. He 'disappeared' around the time that China was rounding up dissidents - I really hope he is ok. If anyone has any news of him, do let me know?
Proprietor, Kendama-world.com

Harrydh3

I have the turner thorne purp pro on the way :)
I'll put up a reveiw when i gets here :)
some are Birch and some are beech
I think shin fuji's are birch, Tk16, oozora and yumu are beech

Thorny

Quote from: Kensession Stand on 06 July, 2011, 21:45:23
I think it would be more convienient to have them on Kendama already. Just my opinion.

Of course it's more convenient, that's why all the JKA kendama's already have the beads on them!

After reading that, I think it's pretty silly that it doesn't already have the bead!

AlexSmith

I thought the same... The bead is essential for stopping the Ken from gettin all twisted up when playing tama grip (I find when holding Ken it's not as bad).
Weird it comes without a bead. Must be a big knot to keep the ball from coming off?

AlexSmith

Alright I have one more thing to add here... It's kinda picky and purely aesthetics but I've made a couple of my own damas so I picked up on it right away.
From what I can tell from the photos the hole that is drilled through the sarado is not always consistent with the direction of the wood grain. I quickly learned that for a kendama to look it's best the plain of the grain of the sarado should run horizontally when the ken is standing upright on it's bottom cup. All of the kens pictured on their site seem to have the grain of the sarado running in random directions:
http://cache1.bigcartel.com/product_images/39305649/Single_Color_Star_Array_2971_1000x1000_bigcartel_Kendama_USA.jpg
Not going to affect performance but hey... I think I'll actually send them an email, I saw they were looking for feedback and whatnot.

Willem

I got a white Kendama USA kendama about a week ago (today is 7/13/11), and I honestly didn't like it that much.  The metal reinforcements bothered me, because the sarado was pushed down too far for my liking, making it harded to UFO.  Another thing about the metal piece, is that the hole is parallel to the ground, so when you pull up the ken for lighthouse it isn't as stright, but this really isn't a big deal.  The paint I didn't like very much either, because it chipped pretty easily.  Also the lathe work was not that great in my opion, because the handle is very skinny, and becomes thicker closer to the bottom cup much more drastically than most damas.  I know I just said every little problem with these kendamas, but they are good kendama especially for the first kendamas they have made.  I do think that Kendama USA 2.0 kendama will be spot on.  If you were thinking about getting one of these I think you should go for it, because a lot of people have said they love these, that being said I personally would rather play with an Oozara or TK 16. 

Harrydh3

its here! turner thorne royal purple kendama usa pro model.
these are my first thoughts, a full review will be up over the weekend sometime.
Wow it looks good.
no sticker, its engraved!
the re-stringing is so easy.
Although it doesnt come with a bead on, which in my oppinion is rediculous, it does come with another string with a bead already on so its a simple matter of one string off, one string on.
Thanks to the funky little bit of metal this takes but a few seconds.
As for the sharp edge it also took a matter of seconds to sort out, just a quick sand was all it needed.
the machining is bordering on exquisite in my oppinion.(much more on this in the full review)
pretty much all of the small foibles i heard about before it got here are negligble.
its a beautiful kendama.
Get one
i'm off to go play with it :)
Cheers.
Harry.

Willem

I just won Turner's pro model at a battle today, and it is so much better than the other dama I got.  Turner was telling me that white paint in particular is actually less resistant to chipping, and that's why I had that problem before.  All the other things I said were just preference, but after using any kendama for a little while you adjust to it.  pretty much what I'm saying is Kendama USA kendamas are the jam.