There's a little story behind the ninja star... I acquired it deep in the Amazon (.com) jungle, except that my R8 ninja star thrower has a key so I ordered a star with a keyway slot. I just can't seem to get enough spin on the ones with the plain holes, they just bounce off my enemies without doing much damage. It's probably my technique, need more wrist action but dang those things are hard to throw and I need all the help I can get. The Amazon supplier even displayed a picture with a keyway slot just as I wanted, but they sent me the star you got. I complained to Amazon (sent them a picture of it captioned "A Hole!", which they might have taken the wrong way) so they said oh terribly sorry and sent me ANOTHER one just like it, perfectly round hole and still no keyway. Now I had two stars, no key slots, no patience left and so I just gave up and used a hacksaw. It was a bit rough but it got the job done and I've given up on throwing stars for now, might try again someday if a need arises. Best of luck with them.