There was a red?! I know there's a green and pink and blue (which is sold out on KUSA, the one I really wanted haha)
iirc the red was a special event-only release... I think I received it as a gift the first time I went to a JKA event (the year before the first KWC). It may have been sold to the public otherwise, not entirely sure. Here's a pic I found on google:
Yep, it was a few years ago. IIRC only the Green Galaxy was available then. It was not long after we started carrying them and when they changed I tried to convince them to keep the maple so that there was more difference (more than just paint) between the Galaxy and the standard Ozora of the time. I think they pretty much got out of maple for standard sizes until the release of the all maple Ozora last year. I believe it was around that time that the Enju disappeared too. I had some in an early order then waited something like 3 more years before they came back. The only colors we ever had were Pink, Green, and Blue and they've cut back to only Blue as of now. (In the FWIW category: The Green Galaxy was my first Ozora and I got it off Amazon.jp even before we started carrying them. It took months to find because they were always sold out. I think I did 2-3 tricks before deciding that it was too cool looking and squirreled it away somewhere. It was my first kendama designated a "collectible.")
the green super stick that I had also seemed different. it seemed like beech. is this confirmed? @goenKendama
The KUSA Super Stick? To my knowledge most Tributes are "full" Beech. @htimSxelA Would be the one to check with regarding KUSA item. Since we don't carry their entire line my experience is limited.
Ah, OK. Yes, to my knowledge all non-hardwood series standard size Ozora kendama are beech kens with cherry tamas. I was looking back at some info from the Ozora guys and the old non-standard kendama, Galaxy, I love kendama, Sakura, Zodiac year etc were maple tama originally.
For me i could name a couple... Shinfuji cause it's my first dama & i feel i laced quite a few using this in my first year Tk16 master /meijin. Ok for those who doesn't know yet tk 16 master(jka) & meijin are different brands but have the same manufacturer, period. Now it's my first birch dama & this one really slays. Even if i paired it with an another tama or keep it OG. Sure reall 0lay until you ran out of base cup XD. Kaizen & Slaydawg. First kaizen is just really feels great the first time i ever hold one & owning one really help me some of my chase trick. The slaydaeg on the other hand is just precious for even im not owning one. Feels good to play & i can handle it well.