Slay anyway! I have an Ozora tama that started out fine but then somehow got contaminated and warped. Its not eggy as such, its...strange. I keep it at work now and mess with it when I have time. Because of the strange warping lunars and lighthouses can be interesting!
Depends how eggy... if it isn't too bad, I'll just avoid some tricks with it. If it is terrible, it probably wont get much play I guess. It's easy to be over-picky though, like @Stuart Barron said: slay away! Going back through some of my original kendamas, I've found a bunch that are quite egged. Nonetheless, I learned all sorts of tough tricks on them back in the day, it is possible!
Generally I just keep playing them. I pulled the string off of one and use it for my Moshikame practice and the occasional stringless play. I usually have more trouble with tama that aren't drilled properly. Misdrilled tama wobble and rotate funny when doing anything that has a swinging tama. Have also run into whacking one of the cups so hard that it won't let the tama seat properly so it's a bit like having an egg tama too.
If it's a premium kendama, if you contact the manufacturer they will often replace it. But if you paid less than $40 for it, just play it!
I probably don't even realize it! More often than not, i'm elated to play with my kendamas, that i hardly care for imperfections.
Kendamago (けん玉子)- Stick Egg I've never had a noticeably eggy tama, and I don't really check. I think for the most part you're better not knowing (unless, as mentioned, you paid for quality). @maxdesu owns two of the eggiest Tamas I've ever seen
Even then, local climate changes will cause wood to expand or contract a little. Somewhere Humid you might have a nearly perfect sphere, take it somewhere dry and you might have a slightly less perfect sphere! I've seen some kendamas on the market for more than $40 that are not the greatest in the tama department. But as i said before... just play and don't worry too much Bonus lol: can anyone name the company that advertised 'perfect sphere tamas'? I lol'd at that, especially considering some of the tamas I saw come from them. Oohf
I shed a tear. The winters in Japan get super dry making some perfectly fine tamas go a little eggstreme.
tbh, it's not that extreme of a shape difference. LOLOL but eggy tamas are just not as well rounded/spherical tamas for example it would wobble in big cup (or any cup for that matter) or lighthouses wont sit right etc. but anyways sometimes it could be from the environment then the wood warps or even imperfections when manufacturing or uneven paint/coating.
I have had a few from the Co. I played them until I had others. Then I began painting them and playing with color combos and different coatings. Just like previously said try and slay them still. If not you have a piece of diy project material on hand.
I had a full wenge Dama from #LionHeadKendama and it had way eggy tama but I slayed out anyway definitely weird to get used to and after a while it's weird to get used to other Damas just from that small change
I don't think I've ever get eggy after the fact. The only ones I have that are that way started life like that, fresh out of the box. Are there particular kendama woods prone to shrinkage and warping?
I've never been but I've heard that the Philippines is like rainy season or rainy season. Little to no dry climate. This is probably why none of your tamas went egg. Not sure if there's a similarity with the woods but... here's the types of tama have gone egg on me... • Zebrano (laminated) • Sakura • Beech • Walnut (laminated) • Cherry • Oak (laminated) ...with that said, I do have plenty of these types of tamas that have stayed spheres. All my maple, ash & enjyu tamas are the only that I've seen zero eggage from.
@MJ Brother Thanks for the info. Our shop is in the Philippines but I spend a large part of my time in Tokyo which is were I have most of my personal collection. I guess you're saying that humidity is a good thing for wood, up to a point I would guess. I wonder if there's a treatment like wax, oil, or something that would help. I can see where a laminated tama of dissimilar woods might have problems; they'd shrink, expand, and handle humidity or lack thereof differently. Were any of the tama that warped painted or were they all natties?