Hot off the press from Jero: This Craft Kendama features our new SHIFT shape designed by the KUSA Team for modern play and engineered for maximum performance. We have redefined our shape to bring you a Kendama unmatched in its playability. Craft Kendamas are exceptional on so many levels. These are NOT mass produced products from overseas. Every single Craft Kendama is manufactured from scratch with an exhaustive detailed process, and hand finished by experienced Kendama players right here in the USA. This extraordinary level of craftsmanship and care results in a Kendama you'll love to play. Larger Cups for Insane Playability Made of North American Yellow Birch Increased Ken and Tama size from our 2.0 shape Refined & Defined Slip Stop for Precision Stalls Double Burned Tracking Lines Perfect Craft Bevel 100% Designed and Produced by Experienced Kendama Players Proudly Manufactured in the USA Each Craft Kendama comes competition ready, strung with a KUSA bearing, inside our new custom Craft Kendama bag, and includes stickers. get 'em here: https://shop.kendamausa.com/collections/craft-kendamas ALSO- Don't forget to throw a DS pin, shirt, or stickers in on your order!
Bigger cups, slightly larger ken/tama too (2-3% i am guessing) and different tracking. Smoother profile and slip stop.
For everyone: Quote Kendama USA " Larger Cups for Insane Playability Made of North American Yellow Birch Increased Ken and Tama size from our 2.0 shape Refined & Defined Slip Stop for Precision Stalls Double Burned Tracking Lines Perfect Craft Bevel 100% Designed and Produced by Experienced Kendama Players Proudly Manufactured in the USA "
Um, thanks I saw all that haha! I was hoping someone from KUSA would jump in with something less vague. "refined, defined, perfect, etc" - would like to know what those words mean a little more.
I’m actually curious about the specs like @Ben Lowe is as well. Hopefully KUSA and its members will post some more info on it over the week. Otherwise, if anyone purchased and has a Craft/Kaizen 2.0 and a Craft Slim for comparison, please post up some pics when it comes in!
I bought one, so when it comes I will tell you! I bet there are people here who have tested it already that may know, but I always assumed that they were modifying the edges and the profile of the kendama to provide a different feel plus probably gripping stalls better based on the angle and contact points around the stall areas.
Looking at dwesty's post on FKC with the better hand check view of the ken, it looks very much to me that it's very similar to The Sesh from RWB. The Sesh has slightly larger cups than the Craft/2.0 shape but is still the same height roughly. Hopefully someone with both can compare them as well.
Bruhhhh I'm so hyped! Also like how the pros were featured in the order that they got pro mods. Pretty cool seeing Colin and Turner for the promo!
I was directly involved in the creation of these, so I can help answer any specific Qs. Some general, but slightly more specific info: The Craft Shift will feel similar to the 2.0 shape, but 'upgraded' to be more modern. The main difference here is oversized cups for better playability, but some of the other details have been tweaked as well. For example the slip stall is shifted up a bit to help with stalls / feel, and a sliightly wider sarado makes for even better lunar balance. The tama is larger, but only a tiny bit. You could swap it with a JKA tama just fine. Its not nearly as big of a difference as a Slaydawg tama, for example. Hope you all enjoy! These damas shred
Congratulations kusa. you have officially made a new kendama with slightly bigger cups than your competitors at triple the price I was expecting way better things The birch is kind of a nice touch but even that looks pretty terrible in the picture BIG lack of creativity
First off I apologize for the mini rant. But please remember this is made in the USA by people that know Kendama. Small batches with superior craftsmanship is something “new gen” players can’t wrap their head around anymore. Sure you can buy a MASS PRODUCED, MADE OVERSEAS sweets prime or a krom pop for like $20-$30 but once you play nicer quality Kendamas like the GT pro mods, Terra, Homegrown, Craft, the list goes on but they start off at +$70 and they are a whole different level when it comes to playability and craftsmanship. I guarantee you that a mass produced, made overseas Kaizen 3.0 with the boosted cups will be coming out around KWC so go ahead and wait if you’d like. For the people who understands and wants quality Kendamas, we will go ahead and pay the $70 because we know this Kendama is gonna be A+ quality.
I would also like to add that no one, if only a few people, really complained about the prices of NG Homegrowns, the BH & KA mods, the Terra Prefect, etc when they were released after boosted cup setups became the new norm because they knew that they were both the premium line of their brands that were crafted with high levels of quality control. We knew that about the first line of Crafts as well, and with this new upgrade I'd say that the $70 price is more than fair. Definitely cannot wait for a mass produced Shift/Kaizen 3.0 if/when it's revealed, and definitely am excited for more of what KUSA (and other kendama brands) have in store.