Just curious. I’m interested in getting a Kendama USA Pro Model, the 2013 version with the extremely tacky coat. A few questions.
First off, is it worth it to get the Cherry wood model? I’m used to Ozoras (my first and only kendama…I’m new to this), so I’m curious how different the ken’s weight will be. I keep hearing the Cherry model has great balance (and I personally like the dark color) but is there really a difference in how it plays?
Also, how easily does the paint chip? I mostly play on concrete, and I’m starting to get into lots of tricks where I let go of the kendama, so I drop it relatively often. Want to be sure I won’t get a kendama that will chip the first day I get it.
Well if you don’t have a cherry wood kendama yet, it would be nice to add to your collection. And of course weight changes play, just like it does with yo-yos , more weight tends to mean more stability or balance (I suppose there could be some cases where that isn’t true, but I don’t think that this is one of those cases).
As for the paint chipping… I would think 2013 Promodels have average chip resistance. I dropped one of mine once on concrete and it did dent a bit, but had minimal chipping, but that was like after a month of use so it was dented anyways. So if you hit it hard enough there is a chance that some of the paint can scrape off, but it should be good for a while at least, but in the end it is your choice whether you get the cherry model. It is not really a necessity, but sure is enjoyable to have, just so you can have variety in your collection, because it is always better to be diverse (well usually, at least that is what they tells us in school).
P.s. If you are worried about the paint chipping, why not switch the tama and use the cherry wood ken and maybe a ozora tama, I feel like I heard that it is a good combination. :
For my first question…trying a Kendama with a harder wood was a fun change, and the spike hardly wears down which is a nice bonus of the cherry wood kendamas. It feels much heavier than my ozora.
The paint chips very, very easily. When i started using it I immediately started to see marks in the paint, and after a few weeks of using it the paint around the hole had worn off to the lighter blue coat of paint underneath it, which is not very tacky. I dropped it on concrete, and it created a 1/2" chip in the paint. Not the most durable of kendamas, and doing spacewalks and other tricks that you let go of the kendama with is not recommended over concrete.
