I have an Ocean blue that I've basically kept fresh and in its box. I've done the odd lunar and lighthouse with it, but its sitting there waiting until I become a competent kendama player! Well, that's my excuse anyway
Why is the Phantom Blue mugen new, so cheap? https://shop.kendamausa.com/collections/kendama/products/gloken-mugen-musou-phantom-blue
By the looks of it, and this is confirmed by Gloken themselves, Phantom Blue is an entirely new brand, a sister company of Iwata Mokko, and this kendama uses beech as opposed to the usual Japanese cherry on the Musous (@htimSxelA, can you confirm the zelkova part?). The slipring is of a different design, does not have the base cup balance hole, and the string slot is different, and the PB lacks the signature Musou replaceable tip.
From GLOKEN's Facebook page: We are proud to announce new kendama brand "Phantom Blue". Beech Mugen Musou Shiguchi Shaped ken with Musou painted sakura tama with straight bevel crafted and painted by Kazuma Iwata. Blue faded stripe design increases tracking. Musou paint gives perfect amount of stickiness + slipperiness right out of the box. Dual angled edges on the rims give more contact point to help stabilize the stall trick. Releasing Date Saturday, March 11, 9PM JST Our delivery will start on Monday, March 14. Price Regular set up :$65 W/O string Option:$60 ------------------------------------------------ Beyond what is written there, I can tell you that GLOKEN and Kazuma Iwata are not working together as closely as they used to. The phantom blue was designed to be a new collaboration, but in the end things did not work out as planned. So it isn't really a 'sister company', just a project that didn't fully come to life in the way originally planned. I think this is the reason there has been confusion about it: the branding has not been very definitive as far as what the kendama really is. The shape is the same as the Shiguchi musous though. @azleonhart there is no Keyaki (zelkova) used in this model, it is beech with a cherry tama, as per usual with musous. fwiw, I think that the faceted stall points are weird, Kazuma was showing me that it makes a few points of more 'definite contact', but in practice, the shiguchi shaped musous I have tend to have the tama 'rock' back and forth on the bird / handle stalls, at least until you beat the ken up and the ridges get dented in a bit. I have one that I've played a reasonable amount, and it definitely is a jammer. The paint design isn't as pretty as the sparkly musous, but playability is still very on point! Kazuma has always had his formula dialed in.
Thanks for the info, @htimSxelA ! I just picked one of these up from KUSA. Should be getting it in the mail tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it is
We all have slightly (or more than slightly lol) different experiences with different kendamas... I've had my Phantom Blue 2 days now, and FOR ME stalls LOCK IN like a mo-fo! Wings (usually for me a 20% trick (1 in 5)) lock like 75% of the time... birds and nightingales Boom! No problem! Handle stalls are also almost too easy. Slip stalls... same as all damas so far (but maybe that's me). My 2 cents.
@Radson @Almostgets there were already Mugen threads so I've combined them here. @Almostgets one of the combined threads was one you started back in November using the same title. Perhaps next time just revive the older thread instead of making a new one.
@sambarboo With slip stop stalls you want the spike end of the ken a couple off degrees above horizontal to help the bevel lock in.
I have a Spring yellow and a Six Elements. Both unique and amazing kendamas. The microgrip paint/finish is one of a kind. I prefer the ones without the removeable tips...although I failed to glue my six elements and now the spike is prettty flat..
About Mugens, it's a bit difficult to explain why they cost as much. But what i can tell you is, that Mugens transcend physical explanations. And what i mean is that, as you spike it for the first time, there's a certain feeling that assures you that this is quality craftsmanship by a shokunin (it's Japanese for artisan), with love and care imparted to it. And i dare guarantee you, that almost every Mugen has a great story behind it. I can't actually say the same for any orher brand. Take my words with a pinch of salt, because you need to actually experience it to know that this is the shit.
I really like the six elements design! I bought one of the keyaki shiguchis instead, but it was a close call between that and the 6e.
So I’m kinda wanting to pick up a Mugen Musou, but then I found the Homegrown x Mugen, and I don’t really know what the differences would be. Has anyone played both or owned both? I did a little digging, here and elsewhere, but I’m finding quite a few different Mugen models the more I dig. The Deep, for example, on the Mugen website. Is that just a different paint? I apologize in advance if this has been discussed elsewhere but I couldn’t find it. Coming from yo-yos, where all the specs are easy to list out, it seems like it’s not the same for kendama when it comes to differences
@Rosenberg We had a similar thread going so yours has been merged. A search for the term "Mugen" in titles only across the forum turned up 27 threads though a fair number were B/S/T threads. Another thread you might check out: New Mugen Musou
Yo, I got a wine Nugent from sweets and the craftsmanship put into the tama is simply amazing. The paint job is just beautiful. Well worth $100+