Shin Fuji or Sunrise?

[FilthyTown]

I'm looking for something more durable than Oozora but as playable as possible when learning the balance type tricks.

[The Void]

What durability problems are you noting with an Oozora?

Of the 2 you name, I'd go for Sunrise for paint-grippiness, but I haven't played a new Shin Fuji, so I'm not too sure of them. Sunrise is my current...
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[FilthyTown]

Thanks Void!
As for the Oozora I have(new green color), the paint chipped within the first hour of using it, and has been slowly 'flaking' off since.  The main issue though is that the bottom cup has become lop-sided from missing 1 turn lighthouses, it wont even stand up straight when placed on a table anymore.  It is my fault totally, but kind of sad for a less than month old kendama.

Is what happened a fairly normal thing?

[The Void]

That doesn't sound good at all. If it's one of the new greens - well, I think I remember seeing Mirek(?) say somewhere that he wasn't too impressed with them, compared to the paint quality of the standard (current) Oozoras. (I haven't played with one myself, so can't speak for them first hand.) As for the base cup denting so badly that it won't stand up, in less than a month, I can see 3 scenarios:
1) Wood quality of these kendamas is not good. (Least likely)
2) You got unlucky and got a duff one.
3) You are being too harsh with your catching technique, not sinking your hand/knees enough, and therefore having a hard bash between ball and ken each time. If done often enough, I could see a deformation happening. (Or maybe you just had one bad drop, and didn't notice the damage immediately, so didn't realise it was a one-off 'injury' to the ken, and not one sustained over time.)

By the way, welcome to the forum. Introduce yourself?

[SamB]

I got a natural Shin Fuji recently and its become my favurite kendama for improving consistency simply because it's so hard to use. The wood on of the tama is slippery, however I only have this one so I don't know what the paint is like. The cups all seem deeper than on any of my other kens so even catching in the cups is slightly harder which is great for improving but frustrating to learn with.
I'm not good at stilts but people say that Shin Fuji's are best for them, and the birds do stick nice (but the yellow Oozora is the best for birds that I've tried so far).
The number one point with Shin Fuji's though is they feel super light, this makes them not great for air tricks in general or if it's windy but does give tem a totally different feel to any othe kendama I've used which is very fun.
As for wear in 3 months of on/off play the ken (including spike) aren't very worn and the tama just has the usual bumps and scratches, nothing major.

From the new Sunrises I've played they are all round good I plan on getting one pretty soon.

In conclusion, I'd buy both. But, if you can only afford one get a sunrise if you want a feel similar to the Oozora, unless you want to try something quite different then get a Shin Fuji.

B.T.W. is  it Ozora or Oozora?

[Greg the Strangler]

Funny you say Natural Shin-Fooj is slippery, because I have one that grips well, notably because of the coarseness of the manufacturing. Here in America, many of us learn Stilt tricks on the natural shin fuji because of the high amount of friction the spike presents on the ball with no paint.

Having said all that, I love the new SunRise kendamas! the paint is the best out there (arguably). Get a SunRise, rumor on the playground is that the paint of the Orange and White SunRises is the most potent!

[AlexSmith]

B.T.W. is  it Ozora or Oozora?

Either is correct as far as I understand it.

As for Fuji vs Sunrise:

Sunrise are a great kendama all around, they'll feel a lot more 'solid' and durable than a Shin Fuji. The paint is way better on them as far as durability and stickiness. That being said, its a wooden ball with paint on it. The thing is going to chip if you play with it, there is no completely 'unchippable' paint that I've seen (and my current collection has pretty much at least one of every currently produced brand of damas).
Also, in my opinion if you're going to buy a Shin Fuji, treat yourself to one of the nicer ones (i.e. a gold, silver or rokurosen).
I've seen people saying Fujis are great for stilts and birds, but I think that's just because those people have never played with a worked in KCN Battle before...

[FilthyTown]

Thanks everyone!
My name is Elrick, and I'm a kendamaholic...
I've seen these things in Japan over ten years ago and thought, wow that's way COOL.  Then I just started to live life and forgot about them until a friend showed me one(TK16 I think) right before x-mas and it was love at first catch.
I hope to have an awesome collection someday, I currently have a wood grain TK16 that is my favorite so far, and the green oozora.
Greg, that is funny you say orange or white is the most potent, because both seem to be calling my name, white a little more than orange though. 
Alex, what is a KCN Battle? and where can I find a gold or silver shin?

[Thorny]

Gold and silver Shin Fujis as well as Rokurosens (horizontally striped Shin Fujis) are available from www.kendama.de or www.goodsfromjapan.com.

KCN (Kendama China, I think) Battles are a brand of kendama which has recently come off the market although were great kendamas all round.

I'm afraid I can't really comment on SunRise's, I've only played a couple briefly. Although you could think of it this way: Shin Fuji kendamas wouldn't be JKA approved if they were rubbish!

I'd say... get one of each and see which you prefer for yourself!

[AlexSmith]

Alex, what is a KCN Battle? and where can I find a gold or silver shin?

KCN is a brand that just sort of disappeared within the last year. They're kind of most famous for the rasta striped kendamas.
Overall they're an awesome ken, but not all of them get really sticky. More likely they get super chipped up, but thats OK.

[BKA]

Welcome to the forum Elrick.
Good to have you aboard!
(Void was actually pointing at this thread: http://www.kendama.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2.0.html , but never mind! )

[FilthyTown]

Well I went ahead and got a white and uv orange sunrise.
Christmas kind of wiped me out, but I am seriously considering a striped shin also.  They look pretty sweet.
It is so nice to have other people to talk to about kendama btw!

[Thorny]

Well I went ahead and got a white and uv orange sunrise.
Christmas kind of wiped me out, but I am seriously considering a striped shin also.  They look pretty sweet.
It is so nice to have other people to talk to about kendama btw!

which striped shin fuji are you thinking of? The black w/ gold or silver stripe.... or a Rokurosen?

I agree, it's great having people to let out everything dama-related you've to got to say that actually want to listen! There isn't that many people in Grimsby to talk kendama too haha.... the scene is growing though, definitely!

[hater]

I really like Sunrise kendamas and how sticky they become after some love (playing) but I really feel a litle bit disapointed when my just bought White Sunrise got his first chip (very little one)  in about 30 minutes of play. I was just practicing earth turn and it happened Hope that it don't chip more in long time. My yellow Oozora is my most used ken and has had lots of hits and has fallen to the  floor lots of times and didn't has chips.

[FilthyTown]

Rokurosen.

After reading what Alex had to say about damage, I feel better.
Thinking of it as two pieces of wood hitting eachother time and time again made it clear, something bad is bound to happen to the kendama sooner or later.

Playing over carpet and away from televisions seems to eliminate most of the problems with smashing things. lol