I got these last week as a little high school graduation present for myself:
left to right: Krom Deluxe Red Oak w/5mm walnut stripe, Jake Wiens Pro Mod, Kaizen Cherry Silk White, Krom Viking Mahogany Emerald, Ozora Dragon
Cherry Kaizen and Jake Wiens Moondama
The Dragon (looks so much better than the picture shows)
Is it standard for the string to be coming out the bottom of the sarado looped like it is on the Red Oak? (It's like this on the Dragon and the Viking too). I've never seen the string strung like that in any pictures so I thought I'd ask (also is there a way to get it to not come out like that?).
One more picture of the Krom Red Oak, the wood changes color depending on where you hold it in the light, which is a really neat effect. I'm not sure if this is the
Krom Deluxe Hors' (Red Oak in the V3 shape) or the older regular Red Oak.
I will more in depth reviews of these once I've played them for a few months, but here's my initial impressions:
Cherry Kaizen: Heavier and super durable, the spike hasn't worn down at all and I haven't even glued it (only a few hours of play on it though). The tama is probably a bit heavier than the ken, but the paint is super durable and super sticky. Really nice kendama.
Ozora Dragon: So pretty! I almost don't even want to play it!
Krom Red Oak: This one plays really nice and the walnut stripe is good for tracking. The grain is insane and the string can kind of "stick" to the ken in places. The spike is also super durable on this one.
Jake Wiens Pro Mod: Really nice, beech, and with cool space engravings and the same paint on the tama that the cherry kaizen has.
Krom Viking Mahogany: This is super light, the ken itself almost feels lighter than the Cherry Kaizen's ken, even though it's bigger. The mahogany wood makes a really "loud" sound. I don't know how else to describe it, but it's a louder sound than the other kendamas. The emerald paint is gorgeous too, but there's already a small chip in the paint from trying double orbits on it :I
Quick cool story: So I promised my mom I'd save one in the box to open it on graduation (saved the Wiens Pro mod). After graduation (happiest day of my life so far probably
) we went out to eat at this Japanese Hibachi steakhouse place where the chefs cook in front of you (and provide some entertainment). I opened the kendama there and one of the kids working (most of the staff is from Japan) noticed it and said "Hey it's a kendama!" I let him try it, he missed a few times and then had to spin the ball to get it on the spike! I then proceeded to get lighthouse on the second try with it lol. I asked him if kendamas really are everywhere in Japan and he said "Yeah, in the schools too." It was a neat little experience
.
