As the saying goes, "you have to experience the bad to appreciate the good." So, applying this in the kendama sense, what is the worst kendama you've ever had the privilege(?) of owning? Personally, I got a gift from my aunt. It was a kendama from this company called Kendama Canada and, with all the objectivity in the world, the kendama I got sucked. Spike was too short so it had crap lunars, cups were too think so slingers were a burden, and the paint on the tama chipped really easy. I still sesh it every now and then, but it's been relegated to my yank dama. Sound off!
Kaleb kendama pressed bamboo kendama. This kendama was terrible...like next level bad. Like, so bad even if you paid me to jam it I wouldn't. What made it so bad, here is a list. 1) I bought it from a company that doesnt care about selling bad kendamas, so therefore I supported the enemy to kendama enthusiasts everywhere. 2) I didn't have a scale back then but if I were to guess its weight I would put it somewhere between 200 grams and one baby water buffalo, give or take a blue whale. This thing, and that is pretty much the only word you can use to describe it, was essentially the punchline to a bad "Your mamma is so fat" joke. If you were to pack it in your luggage, you would either get charged a fee by the airlines or die in a plane crash, and it could be the only thing you packed in your luggage. I'm not sure how much bamboo they fit into this thing but I can only assume this is why pandas are endangered. 3) It was super slick and shiny. I could sooner walk on water than land a lunar on this bad boy. It was as if Slick Rick and Rick James had a lover child and it was born on a slip and slide. Never again. 4) It chipped the very first time I did a based cup. And I don't mean like a little chip, but more like half the base cup kinda chip, like I should invent a time machine, go back in time, and then make sure I yell timber before doing that trick again. That chip was so big everytime it told a lie its nose would grow three inches. That chip was so big if it were a peice a bread you would never see a commercial say "For just ten cents a day you can make a difference..." EVER again. It was just THE WORST.
When i started reading this, i wanted to reply to the first description part, but I read whole text, and it is whole on point and funny AF Luckily, I prefer to buy one more expensive dama, but a good dama, instead of cheap, and bad unknown dama
I 2nd Kendama Canada. They’re like $11 wholesale so a couple stores near me stock them. It was my second Kendama after an Ozora but I was still completely unaware of other kendama brands and thought I’d give them a try. It was exactly as bad as you described. Passable for a beginner though, so now it serves as the communal Kendama for curious dinner guests at my uncle’s house. It’s just disappointing that KendamaUSA is so cool and Kendama Canada is so embarrassingly bad. Puts our country to shame. At least we have Terra.
Yea I got a komodo from a toys r us and that was trash. Wonky weights and eggy tama. Sword and sarado were way off so you couldnt one tyrn anything without it spinning wildly. Definitely one that gets no love. Cool color tho. Baby blue with two or three stripes.
This! A million times this! I was pretty bummed out when I found out I would only have Terra to order from for any quality kens without paying some annoying duty fee.
I'm surprised no one has given a crap about Toysmith yet in this thread... guess I'll be the first. First off, the ken. Literally, the only good thing you can do with it is slingers. Lunars will never happen unless you get super lucky, but even if you do, the metal for the rod is WAY too malleable at room temperature to keep the sarado and spike together. Toysmith string is SO ass. The stiffness kinda bothers me, and string burn can send my fingers into the next life from just unraveling the string after someone does a spin spike. (Their bead is so weird, too. Why is it just a small plastic ring?)
I can understand the beef behind one piece damas, but why KUSA for the most part? Their stuff is solid in my opinion.
I live in Mn so I found kendama and sweets at the same time, I just think for the price point sweets are definitely better but I have never tried a craft so I'm speaking mostly to the classics.
I picked up one of the toysmith LED kendama's for shits and gigs. Dead on. It just feels bad to play, but I can sling for days on it. I used to agree, but I would say they are both great, I would definately check out new KUSA stuff. I think in the premium price point the Craft can go head to head with HG's, though of course there's a lot more variety in HG. I didn't like the Kaizen shape a whole lot, but the kaizen 2.0 feels nice.
not the worst but the most dissapointing: KUSA Dave Mateo pro mod Looks gread and the Ken is nice for Kendlips/Slingers etc but the tama is WHACK wheighs like 2grams and the paint is slick, chips easy and the tama overall is unstable af because it's crazy light. Only pro: The Spike is as good as new so i changed the tama and now it slays haha
It would have to be a sunrise kendama or a mint/paudak kaisen 1.0. The lunar balance and slingage is just god awful. The bevels were so small. That paint on both chipped away like a crappy golfer. But, you can enjoy the best without the worst.
Hmm I've actually never ordered from Kendama Canada! They had some interesting woods back in the day, I was always tempted. One of the worst damas I ever received was a Kenco American Made. I made a trade with one of the Kenco owners, he said he'd pick me out a dope one, so I was hyped! After a couple weeks it showed up, and it had the shortest spike. ever. It wouldn't push down at all either, which was a bummer. It had some sort of stain on it that was still a little sticky, and it was super light weight. Overall, it was a very strange dama. I've had some decent kenco damas but that thing was not one of them. lol!
That type of "particle board" bamboo composite has been sold by several brands including Lion Head, Bahama Kendama, even Sol Kendama, etc. They are tanks to be sure but oddly they can be helpful when teaching people with difficulty adjusting their fine motor control; the extra weight in a standard size kendama seems to help. (They're also way less intimidating than slapping a 500g aluminum crusher in their hand.)
As much as I love dave, I've never been a fan of the silk/glossy 70/30 split. Also sassafrass (the tama the wood is made of) tends to be a really light wood so it's understandable.