Ichiban
After an extended sabbatical, our old friend the Ichiban is back and ready to take to the skies. First introduced at Washington DC's Smithsonian Kite Festival in 2000, the Ichiban has been turning heads and raising smiles wherever it's seen.
The Ichiban had several design influences. Take a little Cody, add in a little Lynn, and maybe a touch of Bucky Fuller. Put it all in a mixing bowl with a good dash of Blue Moon's own secret seasoning, and you get something special and unique. I've built a lot of kites over the years, but none gives me quite the youthful joy of having a toy on Christmas morning that I get with the first assembly of a new Ichiban. One minute, it's a big pile of frame parts and sail sections - and then suddenly it's something more, something that sometimes makes me say aloud to myself, "cool".
Is the Ichiban the perfect kite? No, probably not. It can be a head-scratcher to put together the first time, and it's not crazy about nasty wind.
The Ichiban has this great backwards glide when you slack the line, so it's a blast to play with at a windless festival, but it does take an active hand to keep it airborne below its lower threshold of about 3MPH.
Is it perfect? Maybe not. ;-) Is it worth it? Oh yeah! Ask the person that owns one.
It goes together smoothly and fly wonderfully....toss some tails on for a more flowing look.
The build quality is Blue Moon's standard level of greatness....
This kite is def. worth the money!