Hello! I've got a natural ozora, which I really like, but now I want a more tacky kendama to help me out with lighthouses. As the title says, I'm looking for a cheap tacky kendama. I might get a premium gold ozora (I found one for less than £20 on ebay!) but I'm wondering if you guys have any other recommendations. Thanks!
premium oozies are kind of icy out the box, if you're looking for straight up tack, get a cushion clear tama from sweets, kendama.cz has them and ships to the UK, that's where I got my Sweets F3 from, you can cop one for like 28 quid, I highly recommend it though, the paint is unreal!
Deal With It has insanely tacky kendamas, with mugen style paint and maple/ash wood types, and they are only $30-40! I would definitely check one out @ dealwithitsf.bigcartel.com
Sweets Cushion Clear kendamas have a lot of grip. The new kaizen 2.0s are also a good option because of the way silk paint breaks in. DWI sticky paint is also a good option. aTack paint from sweets will also help as it gets pretty freakin sticky the more you play it. Like you could press it against the cup, hold it upside down, and it won't fall off kinda sticky. While paint will definitely help you with certain tricks, learning them on your natty ozora will pay off in the long run. So I recommend staying on that natty life, but hopefully you can find a good option and get those lighthouses honed!
I've not had that experience with the current models of Premium Ozora. The Sweets Cushion Clear is nice but it's a more rubbery feeling tackiness. Here's a shot of the current Premiums (plus Maple and the OG Premium).
The pro models have cushion clear tamas with a maple ken. Really good price because it includes a bearing and widened tama bevel that will enhance your spiking.
Sweets cushions are an excellent choice, but let me also highly recommend Kendama Norway! Their tamas are coated in ghost rubber paint and they play so, so well out of the box. I'm in the UK too and they ship quickly. Have a look at their website, they have some premium setups!
You won't be disappointed my friend. And the lunar balance is amazing. Really, really underrated damas.
They really are super underrated. Me and some buddies have their Højle and ÆØÅ mods, and the coating is really really good. For OP: Get a premium ozora. I you like your natty ozora that much, get a premium. Play it for a couple of days and you will have a dama with really great tack, it really does not take long.
I think I'm going to go for a kendama Norway. I'll probably get a sweets f3 or premium ozora in the future. Thanks for the advice, everyone!