Wow thank you so much for that in-depth answer. If I hadn't gotten a Tk, I would have copped a keyaki ozora and yellow ozora for like $20 at Kusa on Sunday, because both of those are on my own wishlist. I have a kusa classic, which is similar to a Tk, but I know I need to get the real thing. As for the others, I'll keep them in mind. Mugen will probably have to wait for a few years, though. Wow that's really weird, I had no idea those existed.
just added the cream seal to my collection! I now have, (in order of rarity) Mugen (teal) Sakura ( faded gold) Shin Sakura (purp) Shin fuji (black) mt. fuji (mtn / gold) kodama (cream) gentoshi (pink) Meijin (blue) ozora (yellow) yumu (sea green) tk-16 (green) am I missing anything?
My TK came, and I'm super hyped. Got some decent grip on the tama right out of the box, and the grain on my sarado is pretty nice. Trip slings are a breeze, and the bevel is much bigger than I thought actually. The sarado rode super high out of the box of course, but its a little lower thanks to some sandpaper.
There might be a few others but I won't know until I convince someone there to do a historical breakdown for me. Here are a couple of the very first ones however.
@goenKendama @htimSxelA why is the left meijin JKA recommended (and sparkly) and the right is straight up approved? Are meijins not getting made anymore? was that a flash in the pan?
Missing a Fuji (~90s era) I think. They are very similar to Sakuras (same seal, gold), but the shape is a little different so it is possible to tell them apart. Also a sakura blossom seal (~80s era).
calling JKA experts! I got my first ozora today and I have suspisions that something is messed up. (got it off amazon) 1. the seal is sparkly and has characters on the top, which is different from the ozora seal I believe. 2. the opposite side of the area between the slip stop and handle stall has two characters printed and underneath it says ozora kendama made in Japan. I may be wrong but I believe that side is supposed to be blank. 3. there is no bevel for the knot on the sword. Don't know if this means anything, and don't know if thats just a feature of ozoras, just throwing it out there.
Pretty sure it's the paint but could also be price (I don't know the pricing of that era and that's one of the criteria for receiving the "approved" (nintei) seal). Meijin Takumi are still in production AFAIK. Why do you ask?
@Carlos Habbenero The new "hologram" JKA seals are the norm now and Ozora is also putting painted label on the opposite side as well. Don't understand what you mean about "there is no bevel for the knot on the sword." If you're talking about having an exposed knot just below the sarado, Ozora don't hide the ken knot under the sarado like old TK16 and the new Meijin Takumi.
Yea, i covered this in the November news, and from what i have heard, it plays just like a Street Ozora (silk painted).
@Radson Your thread fits in with our JKA Kendama thread so it has been merged. Lot's of good info here too so check it out. Only 4 I know of with matte finish are the Year of the Monkey, Street Blue, Street Black, and Matte White/Red. We just broke one out to use as a demo and so far the feedback has been good. A few like it better than KUSA and Pineapple's matte finishes but it's not been played long enough to know much more than initial impressions. in theory it should be pretty durable since that's one of the requirements to receive a JKA certified (nintei) seal.
I’ve others state on here, instagram, and fkc about ozoras and their tackiness once broken in but no direct comparison to how tacky it plays compared to other paints today. I’m pretty positive it won’t play like any super sticky paint or even rubber/matte/silk paints but can someone give me a direct comparison of broken in ozora paint?