Nice looking drum. Never seen cast hoops like that.

Very cool drum. Unique looking cast hoops and nicely shaped lugs. Almost an Art Deco look.

That's a beauty. My " Rocket " Snare is almost identical. The strainer is slightly different, but the same design with the extended snare idea. Same Gretsch style lugs. But I think mine may actually be Gretsch lugs. When put next to my Renown, there is no difference. Even with the internal screws...

My Norma snare has the same strainer and Gretsch copy lugs

though the hoops are just the standard run of the mill type

Thanks for all the positive replies! Yes, the die-cast hoops are very unique! It's obvious that the drums could be ordered almost anyway you wanted them, as evidenced by Kenwood's Norma snare drum. In fact, I recently found an almost identical snare drum that recently sold on eBay. Labeled with a Black Jack logo, it's nearly identical to my Karen drum, except for the StickSaver-style hoops! Gotta love those MIJ snare drums!

Also wanted to mention the position of the throw-off lever. Positioned to either left or right, tensions the wires. Flipping it straight up or down lowers the wires.

Jay, do have any pictures of your drum? Would love to see it!

-Mark

What is interesting with mine is the lack of throw handle. But the turn knob does the same job as the handle would have.

Jay!

A great looking snare drum! For years, most of these MIJ drums tended to look the same, and then I started seeing all those that were different. I think I enjoy collecting these more than my USA snare drums! LOL!

-Mark

On my snare, it appears that it originally had the lever

but it was snapped off sometime before I came along

Maybe mine did too at some point? But It's never looked to be missing one. The turn knob is on there tight. My RK Clamshell you could tell was missing something. And idrum4fun I agree. While I love collecting Ludwigs,Slingerlands,etc.. The variety of MIJ's makes them interesting to me, never a dull moment with these drums.