The first half of 2026 produced 452 new kendama drops across 26 manufacturers, according to damapig.com catalog data. March alone accounted for 125 of them, more than double January's total. Winner Kendama's gecko paint run drove that spike, OKendama shipped the most consistent volume of any maker, and traditional Japanese OZORA reached Western buyers in May. The median new kendama cost $45.00 across the half. Here is what the numbers say about kendama drops in 2026 so far.

Counts here treat each distinct model as one drop. A new colorway is its own drop, but pack sizes, complete-ken-tama formats, and wood options of the same design are grouped together, so these figures run lower than a raw listing count.

Kendama Drops by Month in 2026

Kendama releases climbed unevenly through the first half of 2026, based on damapig's drop tracking. January opened at 54 models, February rose to 64, and March jumped to 125. The pace then cooled to 71 in April and 51 in May before June rebounded to 90. March was not a normal month. Winner Kendama put out 40 gecko paint models in March alone, and OKendama added 36, so two makers produced 61% of that month's total.

Month	New Drops	Top Maker That Month
January	54	Higgs (10)
February	64	OKendama (14)
March	125	Winner (40)
April	71	Kendama Co (22)
May	51	OZORA (15)
June	90	Cereal (31)

January to June, Month by Month

January set a modest baseline with 54 models, led by Higgs and its Fermion line at 10, with Sweets at 9 and KROM at 7. The month leaned premium, with Higgs pushing signature models and KROM on pro mods rather than brand-new shapes.

February grew to 64 models as OKendama stepped up as the month's leader with 14, its REVO and REVO GLAZE lines carrying February. A broader spread of makers filled in behind OKendama than January had seen.

March was the outlier of the half at 125 models. Winner Kendama produced 40 gecko paint models in that single month, and OKendama added 36 REVO models. Two makers alone accounted for 76 of March's 125 drops. Sweets and Mugen Musou filled out the top four. No other month in the first half came within 35 drops of March.

April settled back to 71 models, and the leader changed. Kendama Co posted 22 models, its largest month of the half, well ahead of the field. April was the month the volume leaders rotated, with Winner going quiet after its March run.

May cooled to 51 models, the slowest month of the half, but carried the year's most notable new entry. OZORA logged 15 models as the traditional Japanese brand reached Western buyers. Winner and Romania's Prism followed behind.

June rebounded to 90 models on the strength of Cereal Kendama's 31, most of them routed through reseller Kendama Depot. OKendama added 18 and Da Originz 12. June closed the half almost where March would have predicted, minus the gecko paint surge.

Which Brands Dropped the Most

Twenty-six manufacturers released product in the first half, once you set aside the reseller Kendama Depot and credit the brands that actually made each drop. Volume concentrated at the top. OKendama led the half with 76 attributed models, spread evenly across every month rather than bunched into one spike. Winner Kendama followed with 62, most of them from its March gecko paint run. Cereal Kendama took third with 50, most of them arriving in a heavy June.

Maker	H1 Drops	Known For
OKendama	76	Romanian REVO clear coat
Winner Kendamas	62	Chinese gecko paint
Cereal Kendama	50	Trinity and Hybrid shapes
Sweets Kendamas	39	Minneapolis, US distribution
Kendama Co	26	April colorway drops
Da Originz	23	Cloud tamas, mostly via Kendama Depot
Occult Kendamas	18	EXO kens, themed tamas
Mugen Musou	17	Premium Japanese completes
KROM Kendama	17	Danish pro models
OZORA	15	Traditional Japanese shapes

OKendama's steadiness is worth calling out. Where Winner front-loaded its year into one March, OKendama shipped REVO kendamas and B-grade value packs every single month, and sells direct at okendama.com. Winner's concentration ran the other way, with the gecko paint program at winnerkendama.com producing 40 of its 62 models in March alone.

Attribution matters when reading these totals. Kendama Depot, a reseller that stocks other brands rather than making its own, appeared as the listed shop on hundreds of first-half drops. Damapig credits the actual manufacturer, so a Cereal kendama sold through Kendama Depot counts toward Cereal, not the reseller. Read the maker totals above as production counts, not sales counts. The same product often reached buyers through several shops at once.

Where the Half Was Made

Manufacturing spread across Europe, Asia, and North America in the first half of 2026, based on damapig.com catalog data. Romania supplied the most volume through OKendama, with its European maple and REVO clear coat. China contributed Winner's gecko paint output. Japan reached the West through OZORA and through Mugen Musou's premium completes. Denmark held the pro-model tier with KROM. North American makers Sweets and Kendama Co covered distribution and colorway-driven drops. No single country dominated, a broader spread than kendama's traditional Japanese base.

What Kendama Players Actually Bought

Complete kendamas led the release mix across the half. Damapig logged 228 complete kendamas, 141 tamas, and 56 kens among the 452 drops. Component drops, meaning tamas and kens sold separately, made up just under half of everything released. Players who already own a kendama replace the ball or the stick rather than buying a whole new setup, and the release mix reflects that.

Accessories, bundles, and geekers filled the rest: 18 accessory listings, 7 bundles, and 2 geekers. Most accessory drops came from OKendama's B-grade multipacks, which package cosmetic-second kendamas at a per-unit discount.

The Price Landscape

Kendama pricing held a tight center through the first half of 2026. The median drop cost $45.00 and the mean $48.83, according to damapig.com catalog data. The single busiest price band was $40 to $59, which held 212 of 452 drops. Below it, 93 drops priced at $25 to $39 and 49 came in under $25. Only 14 drops across the entire half cleared $90.

Occult Kendamas set the ceiling with its EXO ken series. The EXO #9 Poser Shape and its numbered siblings listed at $125 each, the highest-priced items of the half. At the other end, budget kens and used gear pulled the floor under $25. The market rewarded the middle: a $45 kendama sat right at the median and in the most common price band.

Price Band	Drops	Share
Under $25	49	11%
$25 to $39	93	21%
$40 to $59	212	47%
$60 to $89	84	19%
$90 and up	14	3%

Three Storylines That Defined the Half

Winner's gecko paint run was the loudest event of the first half. Winner put out 40 gecko paint models in March and kept the program going into June with releases like the Gecko Mountain at $45. Gecko paint moved from a specialty finish to Winner's core product in the span of one quarter.

OZORA's arrival in the catalog widened the entry tier. Traditional Japanese OZORA kendamas logged 15 attributed models in May, all listed through the reseller Kendama Depot. Traditional Japanese wood at Western retail widened the options for players who wanted a classic shape without importing it.

OKendama's crafted line pushed the premium European tier. The Revo GO crafted Maple at $78.75 showed how far Romanian and European makers moved upmarket, while Cereal's Gregor SnapTex Rethink at $79.99 did the same from Asia. Two makers on opposite sides of the world converged on the same $80 premium price.

What This Means for Buyers

A $45 budget covered the median new kendama through the entire first half, and the $40 to $59 band held 47% of all drops. Buyers shopping that range had the widest selection by far. Anyone wanting to spend under $25 leaned on ken-only and tama-only drops, which made up just under half of all releases and let players rebuild a setup one part at a time. Collectors chasing the ceiling had 14 drops above $90 to choose from, topped by Occult's $125 EXO kens. Only 139 of the half's 452 drops remain in stock as of early July, so selection favored players who bought soon after release.

What to Watch in the Second Half

Second-half volume will likely track the makers who stayed consistent, not the ones who spiked. OKendama and Cereal both closed the half strong and have the catalog depth to keep shipping. Winner's second half depends on whether it repeats its March gecko paint volume or eases off. For the month-by-month detail, see our June 2026 kendama drops rollup.

452 Kendama Drops: The First Half of 2026 in Review