First off...If you have never had a natty, then I think this question is a no brainer. You just have to get a select. I personally recommend the ash one though because it grips better out of the box. And the lunar balance of selects have been on point for me.
Yea it may be a bit of the luck of the draw. But They are usually pretty good. Maybe out it in the order notes and they'll work to make it happen for you. And my trip. Stripe actually doesn't have great lunar balance. But good for slingers.
This, in my opinion, is a dumb question. And I'll let everyone know why. When you play your kendama, the cups will eventually settle down the spike over time making the 'lunar balance' better after play. So if you want a kendama with 'great lunar balance' just play the darn thing. And if you're impatient like a lot of other players are, just sand down the spike or the hole inside the cups. Kaizens come with a shorter spike than Sweets or Krom for that purpose, so it will settle down to the prime spot on the spike without going too far. Plus, it's up to your skills that'll determine whether you can land the lunar. Hence the name 'skill toy' Get whatever appeals to you. Natties are great, they help you level up in ways that sticky paint can't. Super sticks are great too. They're fun to play with and help you learn those hard-to-reach balance tricks before you move on to hone in on them with natties or slick painted damas. And they're both on the 2.0 Kaizen shape which is a fantastic shape to play.
I have an f2 from sweets and it has trash lunar balance after seshing it for 10+ hours. The sarado is a lot lighter than the sword. And if I push it down any lower it will be past the point of no return. So I don't think the question is stupid altogether. Maybe sometimes but I think it's worth asking if you're gonna wanna loon a lot with it. But, either way, i have heard questions that were a lot worse than that one. And I ask about loon balance. Esp. If it's a used dama.
To me that's the same argument that plus sized cups (Prime or Pops) make lunars and birds easier. Not 100% certain, not even 60% certain. Just easier. They were possible before, so at a certain point beyond shape, paints, and weights it all just comes down to skill. But yeah, play what you want to play, slay on and chase those bangers. Don't let one aspect of a dama be the end all standard to which you should judge it by.
Personally, I love natties. They may be slick as freshies but they break it so much better than their painted counterparts. I like to think that while paint wears away, a natty with a hell of a lot of sweat and love just keeps on slaying (until you thrash the bevel, but that's a long ways off). It's weight-matched too, so it'll make play a breeze. If it were up to me, I would pick the select.
Honestly, i don't quite prefer super stick, but aesthetically you can't go wrong with the black/blue trip stripe. Now on the other hand, natties really plays well that it better some paints out there & i still favor natties even if i've been playing with painted tamas for a very long while... For me Natty is great most of the time... but you can try mashing the trip stripe tama with the maple ken.
I just ordered a maple select 2.0 Im looking forward to my first natty :0 Thanks for all of your help guys.
First Natty Phase One: Open the box and immediately Love the way the grain looks and admire its simplicity. Phase Two: Attempt to land a couple stall tricks and immediately regret your decision. Phase Three: Play for another ten minutes or so and then put it down for a super sticky tack supreme LOL painted ken. Phase Four: Sits on your desk for a week or so collecting dust. Phase Five: You are going to a friends house or the park or to school and decide to grab the natty dama. Phase six: You jam the dama for a good hour or so and lace some nice lines, convincing yourself that these natty's have something to offer. The natty has now earned a spot on your daily rotation. Phase seven: You play the natty on and off for a couple weeks and it starts to mold to your hand, takes some licks and gets honed. Phase eight: You now are almost exclusively playing this dama because it grabs everything, its like the kleptomaniac of kendama. Phase nine: The ken has now seen many many hours of play, being the OG in an ever growing army of natty. Its battle scars are ever apparent and its base cup has some chips. Phase ten: You are at the park one day jamming on your OG natty with a couple backups in your bag. A kid comes over and asks if he can play with it, you hand it over and teach him how to big cup, maybe he even spikes it and gets all excited. His parents call him to leave and he goes to hand it back but you tell him to keep it, knowing that it still has some life left in it. As he says "thank you" and walks away you shed a little tear for the Love of the Natty.
Thanks man. This was quite literally the exact life path my first natty took, give or take a few minor details.