What’s good everyone! null here from Honed Media bringing you another kendama review. This time I want to especially thank Sharif from Kendama USA for allowing me to guest write for the KUSA blog. Without further ado, let’s talk about Zach Magnuson\’s Pro Model  #MAGSMOD.

I’d like to frame my article around “what makes a pro model” – because the first impression I get when opening the box and feeling the kendama is that THIS IS A PRO MODEL. From a tama design that no one can come close to imitating to the custom stickers and even the orange string – everything about the experience screams unique.

People who have followed Zach Magnuson aka null on social know that he is a talented photographer from Detroit and I personally enjoyed how elements of his passion for photography are designed into his other passion. Passion-ception.

Even the box feels high quality. The material is hard with textured prints and would stand out on any shelf. But enough about the aesthetics, we’re here to talk about how the kendama plays.

Let’s start with the shape – we have a modified Shift introducing the Kaizen Base Cup Hole and let’s just say it’s what the doctor ordered. I’ve been a fan of Kaizen for many years and have played a range from 1.0, 2.0, Slim, and Shift. I will admit that lunars were a challenge with the Shift because the wider base cup results in an increased weight shifted there. It made the kendama a ken-flip machine, but the trade-off was lunars.

With the balance hole available on Mag’s mod, the lunar balance has improved significantly without much compromise to the ken-flip capability. It feels like one of the most complete kendamas that I’ve played out of the box. Complete in part as well because the spike comes glued – something that I do for all my kendamas. When it comes to the paint, I personally prefer jamming sticky tamas, but something about KUSA’s silk paint slaps different. It seems to be rougher out of the box and allows for a nice adjustment when playing your balance tricks.

To each his own, however, I’d say that both paints will not let you down and it’s really a matter of personal preference which paint to use. I had an easier time with landing lunars on the sticky paint, while catching and adjusting lighthouses felt better on the silk paint.

 What about durability?

Part of this review involved a 2-week test doing cup tricks, ken tricks, and tama tricks. Let me be upfront – I miss the spike a lot. Despite that, there were only minor chips after 2 weeks, mostly around the bevel making it a relatively durable kendama. This could be in part that the weight of the tama was heavier (80+) and therefore the wood would have been harder and denser.

What might be more important to note was that I did not feel the tackiness of the respective paints change much – something you do not see often.

In the playability section, I test the smoothness and ease of landing tricks in the 4 criteria, Lunar, Stalls, Slings, and Ken Flips.

A difficulty rating out of 10 (1 being easier than usual, 5 being no difference and 10 is much harder than usual) will be given to each category at discretion.

 What does this compare to?

You know when you’re headed out of home for a short bit and want to grab a kendama off the shelf you can just walk and jam without worry? This is it. Despite being a pro mod with an extensive and complex aesthetic design, it still plays like a daily jammer – and that is one of my favorite things about it.

I play a lot of kendamas and found it easy to rotate in and out of the #MAGSMOD which makes it and really worthy investment.

At $40, this is one of the most value-for-money kendamas out there. The level of design on the tama, sticker pack, and packaging indicates that it must have been relatively expensive to produce – yet Kendama USA prices it comparable to other kendamas in the market with a less complex design.

As a plus point, each #MAGSMOD purchased goes to supporting Zach’s kendama journey – a win-win situation if I ever saw one.

Bonus: To show that this dama is for the everyday average player like me – I shot a three trick fix with different balance and stall tricks to show how player-friendly it was out-of-box. Enjoy!

At Kendama USA we are continuously developing and testing new painting techniques and styles. The Super Stick is another level of progression we are excited to offer. The tama is much tackier than our standard competition gloss paint, making it perfect for learning high level technical tricks. Practice on these to train your muscle memory, and take your trick vocabulary to the next level. Each Super Stick model comes with free stickers, an instruction booklet, and an extra string and bead.

Get one today in our store HERE.

Please note that unlike the Tribute models, the Classics are a simplified product and do not include instructions, stickers, extra strings, or a metal reinforcement inside the handle.

Get yours today in our Online Store

Developing the highest quality Kendama on the market has not been an easy or quick task, and we sincerely appreciate everybody’s patience while we’ve finished production. The wait is over!!!

The Tribute represents a premium quality Kendama, combining an unmatched combination of design and playing performance.

These high quality Kendamas use only the best beech wood which is FSC certified, to ensure sustainable forestry practices. We have improved the handle assembly to create the strongest Ken ever made. Unlike older traditional style Kendama handles, this contemporary style does not separate during play, and simplifies the re-stringing process. The Tribute can be re-strung between right and left handed play simply and easily without taking the handle apart. The cup piece will never fall off like other brands tend to.

The Tribute Kendama uses a superior quality string, which is custom woven with high quality fibers and offers more strength and flex during play. The handle has also been beveled to reduce friction, and eliminate the need for string guards.

The Ken is now thicker toward the middle of the handle, improving the balance and weight distribution for many technical balance tricks like lighthouse and lunars.

Every Tribute Kendama comes in professional packaging, and includes an instruction manual in English, free stickers, plus a replacement string and bead pack in the box.

Years of experience and feedback from our Pro Team has gone into developing this unique model, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Available now in your local stores, or online

If your favorite store is not carrying the Tribute Kendama, please ask them to contact us at Sales@KendamaUSA.com

null