Krom Kendama HEADSHOT Pro Mods Review

Krom Kendama is one of the most popular kendama brands in the world, boasting a team of world champions in both freestyle and fixed competition. Every year, the kendama world waits in anticipation to see what they will release. In 2016 they made an impact by introducing the Slaydawg shape to go with their pro mods. This is the first time a mainstream kendama was that big, and used a larger than 60mm tama. Since then they have dropped a V2 pro mod using the 1% shape and more recently the Kollege series which used a BL shape with warped base cup hole.

In spite of all this, Krom has continued to innovate by releasing what is probably their biggest change in design since 2016 with the SLAYDAWG 2. The HEADSHOT pro mods have the Slawdawg 2 shape and I’ll start by saying that this kendama is BIG. Like, I was surprised how big it was. Again I repeat my sentiment that I felt when coming across the Slaydawg in 2016: I’ve never seen a mainstream kendama this big.

Versus any of the Vivewood or Ozora shapes, this is bigger. That aside – I find the SD 2 also structurally different. The sword seems to remain slim, while the sarado became chunky and blockier. This is similar towards the base cup as the handlestall is blockier.

While it does come with a 62mm tama, it still can be paried with a 61mm tama but I do not recommend pairing it with a 60mm tama as it may be too big. Here’s how it looks like beside the BL (SD 2 on right), and bear in mind that the BL is already a modern day shape.

BL Shape (left), SD 2 Shape (right)

You can also see how it compares to other shapes below. For consistency, we have always compared to the Prime, Shift and BL Shape. However in this special case, I will compare it to the BOOST shape as well given how big both are.

Note all text are in comparison, i.e. if the column/row says Prime, Cup, Bigger – that means in comparison to the Prime Cups, the reviewed kendama IS BIGGER.

Bevel is 23.5mm wide.

2. Aesthetic Design

Krom is known for their out of this world tama designs, often incorporating some form of water transfer painting method. However with the Headshots they have chosen to adopt a simpler yet equally beautiful design.

Starting from the bottom is a double scope line to allow for tracking. This is followed by a middle wave that features the pro players name. Each visualisation of the name is different and serve 2 purposes: #1 Raising awareness about the pro player and #2 Tracking. Simple yet highly functional. Finally on the top of the tama, a laser burn is done of the players face (not literally) but a sketched out version of it.

On the ken, each sword is burnt with a circular pattern that represents the design of the pro player – this makes each pro player’s sword unique. Functionally it adds a level of grip when holding the ken as well. The design is clean yet representative of the pro player it was designed after.

3. Paint Durability

Putting it to the test I was most worried about the painted scope chipping, due to the thin lines and heavier, thicker spike. However after 2 weeks of play test daily, I found that the paint had not chipped.

There were dents as expected, but neither the bevel paint has chipped, nor has the painted played name on the middle of the tama started peeling off which indicates to me that this is really a premium paint. In addition to that, the clear coat that is on the tama has remained sticky despite a lot of play.

4. Playability

In the playability section, I test the smoothness and ease of landing tricks in the 4 criteria, Lunar, Stalls, Slings and Kenflips. A difficulty rating out of 10 (1 being easier than usual, 5 being no difference and 10 being much harder than usual) will be given to each category at discretion.

Not going to lie, the larger ken shape made doing most tricks much easier for me. Especially being an adult with larger hands. In addition to that, the warped base cup hole greatly improved lunars.

Pick one up here: https://us.kromkendama.com/collections/kendama