Sweets all day. I absolutely love Sweets Kendamas. The Aisuru finish is tacky enough to land balance tricks with ease. The Matte Marbles and aTack kendamas make balance tricks incredibly easier.
Thanks for the recommendation!, i will definitely checkout the matte marbles and aTack outā¦
But i dont want to feel as if im cheating easily landing tricks, so i may just go for an aisuru chameleon 
-Link Fixed-
Whatās with this ālink fixedā thing Iāve seen you do a few times lately? The link worked already. Iām sure Iām missing something, but:
a) if the link needs fixing, someone will mention it or a moderator will do it
b) if youāre looking to help, itād probably be useful to know what was wrong in the first place. The original link āworksā just fine, so what else is the issue with it?
I ended up just ordering a glossy marble sweets with the aisuru finish
canāt wait for it 
Hoping it will break in nice and not be too hard for stalls, but not as easy as a matte marble
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/2255/screenshot20130320at146.png
Very nice choice.
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Iām bidding on one on eBay. Iām a patient learner. I doubt Iāll be trying lunars anytime before Iāve beat up a few damas. My tribute is all kinds of dented already. Maybe Iāll be able to wear in the tk16 enough for balance tricks.
Edit: besides, I like what the tk16 represents in terms of traditional design. I dig stuff like that.
Sweets has beautiful paint jobs. This is lovely.
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Ozora is the best!! I have every kendama and ozora is seriously the best. Plus its JKA certified, itās super legit. Sweets and kendamausa are great as well but when you hit that lunar on jka paint it feels pretty boss.
Is it a specific kind of paint that all the JKA approved brands use, or is it just an approved paint that Ozora uses?
Honestly not sure. Its slick a glossy and pretty chip resistant, unlike my shin-fuji which is not that glossy and chips super easy but is also jka certified. Another thing āslickā and ātackā can only be relative to which ken youāre using and how the wood reacts to the paint. (I.e my ozora ken is tackier on every tama Iāve tried whereas a shin-fuji ken makes everything more slick)
I was just wondering today about how much the ken effects grip.
I think how much the cups are ābroken inā makes a huge difference. The 2 kendamas I play the most have very dented (not the most elegant way to describe it) base cups. That in combination with a dented up tama makes balancing easier.
I have been beating up on my Grip (Modded Ozora) today, and I am able to nail my balance tricks on it now. I can only imagine how well a kendama must play after many months of use.
Iām wondering about wear and performance as well. The collector in me wants to buy kendamas like yoyos but I think I will stop at two, maybe three :), and practice a minimalist approach in order to get the most from them.
Right now, I can hold a rickety lighthouse for a few seconds. I know lunars could be done on this Tribute but my skills wonāt allow that for a while, I suspect. Iām focusing on basic cup tricks and spikes hoping that when Iām ready to focus on balance tricks, the toy will be ready, too.
I just bought a red and blue stripe kendama from kendama usa here now on the web site. Cant wait for it to get here
@ Waylon:
Minimal approach with two kendamas? Isnāt that, sort of, kind of, how a yoyo collection starts? I say, āWaylon, donāt fool yourself. Just go for it!ā
Just offering you a little support and a gentle nudge in the proper direction. :
I read this to my girlfriend. She responds with a knowing smileā¦
Iāve been waiting for my Steeze since Monday and the guy hasnāt responded to e-mail, FB, or the FB post I left on Steeze Kendama FB page.
Cool customer service bro
That means you have permission! Yeah buddy!! 
Kendama looks super fun, Iām hoping to get one pretty soon