This apple kendama was designed by Yasuhiro Suzuki in 2002 but has been made available again in the last few years by More Trees.
Oh nice! Looks like a 'minna no' ken (EDIT: I'm dumb, it is not a Minna No). I remember Keith had an apple dama... along with some of the other WKT guys? I feel like maybe Sweets made them as a gift for WKT 3-4 years ago? But I could have the wrong. @MattSweets do you remember anything like that?
Not so much I think. The Minna no Kendama has a fairly pronounced shelf just above the slipstop (suberidome) which is also squared off. The apple also has a longer, straighter section between the slipstop and base cup ring (kenjiri area above the chuzara no fuchi).
Yea, I actually investigated further into that link, and pretty quickly realized I was wrong. Forgot to come back and edit that post though!
I TOO AM A FOUNTAIN PEN USER! I've currently got a pretty nice collection going. 5 Jinhoas (x750 and x450's) a pilot metropolitan, lamy safari, platinum preppy (of course eye dropper converted) and a small collection of inks only around 3 bottles but countless cartridges!
What's your favorite ink color? I'm partial to blue/black and one of the best daily use fountain pens for me is the Pilot Vanishing Point.
The vanishing point is sliiicckk, I would favor the lamy 2000 over it however. And personally my ink collection is headed towards blues and greens, I find they shade the best. AVOID NOODLERS BAYSTATE BLUE THAT INK RUINS PENS
Thanks for the heads-up on the ink. The Vanishing Point fits with my "clicky" mentality and portability and is a good match for folks kind of in between not giving up the convenience of a ballpoint but still want a bit of old-school. I will say the nibs are a bit stiff but if I need something with a nicer feel I have a couple of others I can use but I don't carry them generally.
You might have seen his work elsewhere on DS but @DPatten definitively qualifies as an artist in my book. Have a look at some of his other projects at Side Seven Studio. His process blog posts are also interesting to read. Here's one on the Tora Tama (first pic below).
If you haven't already checked out the JKA Kendama Painting Contest you only have a couple of days to get your entries in.