Sol Kendamas Shape Review [Archived from 2019]

The following review was written for Honed Media by Cereal Kendama founder Jonathan in 2019. As Honed Media now no longer displays his reviews, they are slowly being ported over to Cereal Kendama's website. Enjoy and much love!

Let's get started

This is unique - while most kendamas that feature bigger cups and wider sarados keep to the standard 18cm height, the Sol Shape is slightly taller.

At one look you may compare it to a Krom Pop or Slaydawg.

But what’s different?

Thick. First of all - the sarado is slightly thicker. For those of you who prefer the traditional shapes but just upsized, this is for you. This isn’t your modern day super thin sarado.

How does this affect play?

A thicker sarado means more wood, which then means more weight - as a result a better lunar balance. I would recommend this kendama if lunars were your thing.

Spike length is long, 4.5mm just how I like it. I do not notice it getting longer with play.

One very small detail I appreciate is the cup rim thickness. As someone who jams his kendama hard, a thicker rim keeps your cup from chipping. More so, it breaks in perfectly for stalls.

Going to the base, you notice a shorter hilt (distance between ringstall and handle stall). I personally find this more accurate for taps as I am able to hit where the weight is concentrated. Cup rims here follow a similar thickness to the sarado.

They have a variety of tama paints, but today I have the rubber coated Mahi Mahi - my personal favorite design. 

Mahi Mahi is grippy like most rubber paints, but what I noticed that was different was how it broke in. It seemed to have an additional translucent layer that chipped off with play allowing me to retain my color even after long jamming.

Tama is 62mm VS standard 60mm: hence a perfect match for KUSA Craft Plus, Slaydawgs and Pineapples.

Disclaimer: I have not tried their sticky paint yet and will not be able to comment on that.

Finally the bevel - my favorite part about the bevel is that it is wider but not too shallow that your j-sticks fall out when you go low. It breaks in great for stalls - although I would comment that maple takes longer to break in than beech so jam it hard! 

Overall the Sol Shape/Flow is a kendama that is not easily replaced in your collection due to its unique size while maintaining competitive standards.

Cop one here: https://www.solkendamas.com/collections/