Pondus' TT Sanctuary

Reinecke asked: How long have you been working on your collection?

Answer: Believe it or not, but I didn't start collecting blades until the spring of 2012. I had been entirely gone from table tennis for many years, and as I was getting back into it, I started looking around to see if I could find a Stiga Offensive Wood / Kjell Johansson because I remember thinking that was the coolest blade as a kid, but my parents unfortunately thought it was too expensive to buy for me. When I managed to acquire such a blade, then, well, one thing let to another…. and many many many blades later, here I am.

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Ray asked: And your favourite blade is?

Answer: Hmmm… that’s a difficult question to answer. There are a couple that are probably the most special to me, but not because of how they play. More so because of what they represent from my time growing up as a kid playing TT. The Stiga Offensive Wood (Kjell Johansson) as mentioned above is certainly one of them. Another blade is Butterfly Jaques Secretin, as this was my first “real” blade as a kid. I also have soft spot for Banda blades, as I remember Waldner as a young wunder-kid from the other side of the border, and seeing him with all his Banda gear made me want to have Banda stuff too. There was a small Banda shop in the city I grew up in (long gone, of course), and I still remember the first time I entered that shop. I probably had a feeling similar to that of most 6-year girls when they enter Disney World for the first time.

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Slevin asked: Where did you buy Gerflor in the US & how much does it cost for an area enough for 1 table play?

Answer: I bought the Gerflor directly from Gerflor USA (here’s a link to what I got: http://www.gerflorusa.com/commercial-flooring/product-page/taraflex-tennis-table,102.html). Very nice and helpful people. The red Gerflor was about $3K and additional cost for installation (pretty crazy the way they put it in with gluing and welding the seams). The rest of this entire area actually also has Gerflor, just in a light gray color instead of red, so I don't know how much installation for just the playing area would cost. Below the Gerflor flooring is solid concrete and a layer of some sort of padding.

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Fatt asked: Is that a wine cellar, a stereo system or a blade dehumidifier?

Answer: LOL - yes, it’s a custom built blade dehumidifier!!! Ha, no, it’s just a regular small fridge with a glass door. I like to keep some cold drinks ready for when I do have time to sweat a little.

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Fatt asked: Is there a way we can visit and have tt practice time in exchange for a good bottle?

Answer: Of course. Anytime. Well, assuming I’m home, of course. And perhaps I would also need a bit of clarification on what you mean by “we”. And no good bottle required. 

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Timo1978 asked: Do you have a "Special" insurance for your sanctuary?

Answer: That’s a good question, Sir. As there is quite a bit of value there, it is listed as a uniquely specified section on our home-owner’s insurance. So, I guess the answer is 'yes’.

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Suds79 asked: How does the conversation go with your wife when you want to buy another blade?

Answer: LOL - yeah, I think all blade collectors and EJs know how horribly their significant others can react when they get yet another piece of seemingly unnecessary TT equipment. Honestly, I think my wife has just given up hope for me at this point. I don’t even tell her - and she doesn’t ask.

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JimT Asked: What is the footage of that basement?

Answer: It’s not actually the basement of our house, per say. It’s a separate buildout the original owner of the house had done for a wood-shop and storage of a boat in the winter, I believe. When we bought the house it was all just one big room. All concrete - ceiling, walls, and floor, with no windows. We then had it outfitted with separating walls to create individual rooms, and a furnace/AC unit so control the air in there. This actually makes it pretty good for storing TT blades, as I can easily control the temperature and humidity level (since there are no windows). So now there is the playing area, the wall with all the blades and such, the TT work-shop, and a third workout room that has various exercise machines and a big flatscreen TV to run TT flicks on. The total size of this place is 1000 Square Feet.

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JimT asked: Do you plan to hold USATT-rated tournaments there in the nearest future?

Answer: Hahaha. No, but funny you should ask though. I did actually at one point think about creating my own private USATT-affiliated club there, but in looking into the requirement for new clubs I quickly realized (and understandably so) that one of top priorities for new clubs is to be open to any and all new members and put a lot of focus on attracting them. Obviously, that’s not really what I would want at my house, so I decided against that idea.

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Pushdeep asked: What's your rating?

Answer: Not that high anymore. Well, I guess everything is relative. I think I have a USATT rating of 2140 or so right now (I'd have to look it up to be 100% sure exactly what it is). Having taken many years “off” from the game (about 20 years) and having gotten older and sadly gained a lot of weight, I’m just not anywhere as good as I used to be. Also, as I mentioned in my opening post, I have two very young daughters that take up pretty much the majority of my spare time - which I don't have that much of to begin with, as I have a fairly demanding work situation. I get to play once a week, perhaps twice once in a blue moon, but I also frequently will go several weeks without playing at all. And when I play, I usually just play a couple of matches at a local club, so I never practice (haven’t done that in over 20 years). I used to be a Cadet and Junior National Team member though, with a rating somewhere around 2500, I would guess. (I didn't grow up in the US, so I didn't have a USATT rating back then).

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Jrscatman asked: Where in the world is this sanctuary?

Answer: Not sure I should throw my address out there, but if you want to swing by just send me a PM. 

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Jrscatman asked: The blade collection - any particular types or just everything?

Answer: I'm sort of an an “emotional collector” when it comes to blades, so I get blades that either hold some sort of sentimental value for me (i.e. blades I remember from growing up playing in the 80s and 90s), or blades that I just find visually interesting. I don't really collect so much as it relates to specific value, so I don't have many blades from the 60s and before that, for example). All my blades are Shakehand blades, and the majority have straight or conic handles, but I obviously (as you can see) have some of everything handle-wise.

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Let me know if there are any other questions.