[haggisv] Best of Brand series - Yasaka
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Topic: [haggisv] Best of Brand series - Yasaka
Posted By: haggisv
Subject: [haggisv] Best of Brand series - Yasaka
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 12:47am
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As the previous threads on the "best of brand series" seemed quite succesful, I'll continue onto the next brand: Yasaka. What we're after here is opinions on what are the best rubbers/blades from this particular brand. It would be great to get as many opinions as possible about which you think are notable/special products from the particular brand, and a brief reason why. It's not about finding out which is THE most popular, but about finding a range of rubbers/blades from that manufacturer which are good and stand out a little.
This can be useful and interesting for anyone to find out a little about a brand, and can be particularly helpful to those that only have access to one or 2 brands, or have a personal preference to a particular brand. I will also run it at the other major forums, and after a week or 2 I'll compile the list and summarise the comments. Then we can start on the next brand. Brand of this thread: Yasaka
[Brands covered already: Butterfly, Joola]
Cheers! ------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Replies:
Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 1:00am
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I think the Mark V series, especially the original and the 30deg glued would be the most popular by far, and probably among the most popular in the world! Yasaka don't seem to be that big on blades compared to the likes of BTY & Stiga, although the Ma Lin Carbon and Gatien extra 3D seem very popular... ------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: tdragon
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 1:25am
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Couple great new Yasaka rubbers as Yasaka X-tend HS, Yasaka Pryde. Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (YEO) could be considered as great blade as well. |
Posted By: theman
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 3:58am
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yasaka ma lin variations
------------- i lost my racquet Schlager u beast http://www.youtube.com/MDSguy" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/MDSguy |
Posted By: doraemon
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 4:06am
Aha, I can contribute for this brand !!! Definitely Mark V !!! For the variants, Mark V 30 and Mark V AD (debatable on this one). For Blade: Definitely Extra and / or Extra 3D. Mine is Extra 3D, never try original Extra. I have also tried Ma Lin Carbon and Ma Lin Soft Carbon. They are both OK and felt a bit similar to Donic Waldner Senso Carbon. |
Posted By: Valentine
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 6:51am
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I have not used Mark V in a long time, but I did for many years. It's a great rubber. I also play wiht Extra 3d. I tried some other blades, even made the switch a couple of times but I always come back to it. Even if I'm using a faster blade, I find I can hit faster shots when I go back to my old Extra 3d. Gatien Offensive and Offensive 40 are great blades too. |
Posted By: Skyline
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 7:09am
| the regular yasaka extra, extra offensive, and original T version(sp) |
Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 6:22pm
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Thanks guys! Does anyone know where their factories are? All their stuff I've seen looks of pretty high quality, perhaps it's all made in Japan?
------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: Thylacine
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 6:43pm
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With no doubt:
Blade: Musashi Special
Rubber: Mark V
_________
I think that all of their blades are made in Sweden, except for the 1ply hinokis:
http://www.yasaka.se/image1.asp - http://www.yasaka.se/image1.asp ------------- Single Ply Hinoki club |
Posted By: debraj
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 6:53pm
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i used Yasaka "Black Power" at some point of time..
Was among the fastest rubbers in those days. Later I think, Butterfly came into prominance.
Mark V definitely is a well balanced rubber. In India it's kind of a coaches favorite rubber to teach techniques.
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Posted By: tuco
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 7:13pm
does anyone know how soft/hard the sponge of Pryde is? ------------- The Dark Side is: "Quicker, easier, more seductive" - Yoda |
tdragon wrote:Posted By: chu_bun
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 7:16pm
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I currently play with Extra 3D with Pryde on FH. I have not tried many tensor rubbers, but IMO Pryde is as good as Donic's tensors but with a little bit cheaper price tag. |
Posted By: liXiao
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 7:25pm
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Yasaka Original T-Version ------------- Gewo Aruna Hinoki Carbon Gewo Nexxus EL Pro 53 SuperSelect Yinhe Qing |
Posted By: dauntless
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 8:19pm
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I personally would love to know more about Xtend and Pryde, there has been a bit of buzz about these, anyone with some experience, love to know why this should be best of brand. (Possibly this deserves another thread though)
------------- 1. BTY Primorac, Nittaku H3N, T64 2. BTY Primorac, H3N, Mendo MP http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=56416 - Feedback |
Posted By: dalamchops
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 8:27pm
Most of their blades are made in Sweden, probably where the Stiga stuff are made. Some rubbers are made in China, some in ESN, and most of them are in Japan. ------------- Stiga Titanium 5.4 Cpen Andro Hexer Pips 2.1 Donic Acuda S2 Max |
Posted By: nicefrog
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 8:54pm
| Mark V and the other similar Yasaka's have allways been the best rubber to use when learning table tennis, still is really in 1.8-2.0mm you wouldn't find a better rubber for learning correct European shot making :). Then you can step up to a more powerful rubber later on if you need to |
Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 07/31/2008 at 9:54pm
Interesting, didn't know that about their blades! ------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 8:04am
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So which ones of the V-Stage and and the X-Tend series are the most popular? Are the popularity of their rubber likely to change after the glue ban? Obviously the Pryde is likely to become popular, with it's in-built speed glue effect, but what about the other?
------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: Peter C
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 8:09am
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Yasaka blades have been made in Sweden since 1993. The first blade they produced in Sweden was the Gatien Extra, which has been popular with loopers ever since. V stage works well on the forehand of a Synergy blade. Xtend is better than Mark V in my experience on a number of blades. |
Posted By: TAKOYAK1
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 8:12am
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I'd say the mark V rubbers by far and recently the YEO ------------- Blade: Nittaku Septear Cpen FH: DHS H3 Provincial 2.2 BH: Dawei Inspirit Quattro 2.2 |
Posted By: dimitris
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 12:20pm
From conversations here in the forum, I would guess the X-Tend is more popular, the V-Stage is hardly ever mentioned and, when that happens, it is mostly in the form "how does V-Stage perform"? Personally I use V-Stage on my backhand without glue, as a less spinny with a bit less speed rubber than the EGP I am using on my forehand, but with better control and consistency. It is an indeed rare occasion playing against another person with V-Stage, although a few times my opponent had X-Tend. Price also may be a factor in this decision, the V-Stage consistently being priced above $40 and never on sale, where the X-Tend costs $32, and less if on sale. In some other thread, Geoff was mentioning that the V-Stage's 42 degrees of hardness are always consistent through very careful quality control, which may be the reason Yasaka is always keeping the price high and probably the profit margin low, since there is never a sale on this product. ------------- Darker Tanpan, fh 729 higher 2.0mm, bh 729 geospin 2.0mm http://mytabletennis.net/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28707 - My for sale thread |
Posted By: pongcrazy
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 12:38pm
Most, if not all the Yasaka blades are made in Sweden.
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Posted By: Glenn
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 12:42pm
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Yasaka is a weird brand in terms of blade and rubber making. The New-Era rubbers for example, are made in China. The Gatien blades are made in Sweden. Mark V is made in Japan. So their products are made everywhere actually. Their prices are not crazy like butterfly which is good. i think the YEO is going to become a classic. The Mark V is already a classic. |
Posted By: liXiao
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 12:57pm
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THat makes sense that new era is made in China, as eacheng.net just got all those rubbers in~ ------------- Gewo Aruna Hinoki Carbon Gewo Nexxus EL Pro 53 SuperSelect Yinhe Qing |
Posted By: Boss1703
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 1:13pm
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i love the yasaka visco!
------------- https://www.facebook.com/pierrefiassemapageping updated 20.11.10 http://bosscollection.skyrock.com http://tennisdetablecomtests.skyrock.com |
Posted By: graeztch
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 9:15pm
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IMHO, the best Yasaka rubber would be the Mark V GPS and the best blade would be the YEO. Maxwood is also a good blade but it's a little bit heavy.
Rgds graeztch
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Posted By: T h e N A M
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 9:22pm
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my first penhold blade was Yasaka Gatien Extra 3D cpen,
and because i loved it so much, I bought one for shakehand too..
i also purchased YEO, felt so good...
then my first yasaka rubber was v-stage....
then went to mark v, mark v xs, mark v m2, fusion, new-era...
if i didn't switch to shakehand, i would probably kept playing YEO..
and i'm always tempted to try v-stage again...
YEO with V-stage... lovely combination :D
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Posted By: graeztch
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 9:33pm
Hi,
Why didn't you get the YEO FL/ST.
Agreed with you. It's really a good blade with good feel.
Rgds graezcth
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Posted By: T h e N A M
Date Posted: 08/01/2008 at 9:42pm
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i love korbel on shakehand, but not so much on cpen..
i love yeo on cpen, but not so much on shakehand... weird... lol
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Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 08/03/2008 at 10:26am
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Thanks for all the replies! Anyone else have any further comments on Yasaka blades or rubbers, or any facts about the manufacturer, before I summarise this and move onto the next brand? Cheers! ------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: Boss1703
Date Posted: 08/03/2008 at 11:21am
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http://www.yasaka.fr/
------------- https://www.facebook.com/pierrefiassemapageping updated 20.11.10 http://bosscollection.skyrock.com http://tennisdetablecomtests.skyrock.com |
Posted By: haggisv
Date Posted: 08/31/2008 at 5:36am
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OK, I've finally got around to summarising the Yasaka brand rubbers and blades, please feel free to comment: Here is my summary of the most notable / special rubbers and blades from the Yasaka brand. This is not meant to promote or criticize the Yasaka brand or products in any way, it�s simply a summary of opinions of the more famous and highly regarded products of the brand. Overview: The brand Yasaka has its origin in the late 1940s when founded by Mr Hirose Yaoita and Mr. Sakamoto who gave the name of the company (YAoita + SAKAmoto). Yasaka has since grown to become a major player among the table tennis manufacturers, offering the complete range of equipment, and having shown some great innovation in their products. Yasaka used to work together with Stiga, who made their blades for them, whereas Yasaka made their rubbers, but they separated in the early nineties and went their own way. The majority of the Yasaka blades are made in Sweden. A large portion of their rubbers are made in the Japan, with the remainder of their rubbers are made in Germany and China. After talking to many people, and getting lots of great feedback from people on the table tennis forums, I�ve summarised the most popular Yasaka rubbers and blades below. Although the popularity can be biassed by marketing and availability, there are some that many agree on to be great products, so there must be something to it� Rubbers: Mark V � probably the most famous of all rubbers, that has stood the test of time and is still commonly used in modern days, even after several decades since it was released. This rubber is suitable for all levels, where thinner sponges are usually used for more control at the lower levels and they rubbers are speed glued at higher level for extra performance. Other Mark V variants (AD, 30 degrees, XS, M2), building on the great reputation of the original Mark V, have been developed over the years. The 30 degrees has been particularly popular among speed gluers, where the glue provided some very desirable properties. The XS and M2, although not bad rubbers, have not enjoyed the same popularity. With the forever increasing demand for faster rubbers, Yasaka developed the V-Stage and also the X-Tend series, in more recent times. Although these are regarded as good rubbers, they have not been quite as popular, partially due to the wide range of similar speed rubbers now on the market. The Pryde is Yasaka�s latest venture into the German Tensor technology, and is recognized among the top Tensor rubbers currently on the market. The Do, Original T-Version and Visco are also worthy of mention, and have had a decent following but for a more select group of players. For the more defensive players, the Yasaka Anti Power is held in high regard and has been very popular for many years. Their long pimpled rubbers, like the Phantom series enjoyed some good popularity for many years, but the early ones did not survive the ITTF long pimple bans. The more recent additions are quality products, but don�t seem to be that popular, although it�s still early days, and many long pimple players are still looking for alternatives. Blades: Although Yasaka is probably not one of the most popular brands for its blades, they�ve had some great success with quite a few blades. The Gatien series of blades were a huge success, the Gatien Extra 3D being one of all-time best selling blades! More recently the Ma Lin series, the Ma Lin Carbon and Ma Lin Extra offensive (especially in pengrip) in particular, have become very successful, no doubt helped a little by the great success of Ma Lin the player. Other worthy of mention are the Max Wood, Balsa plus, Leopard, Yasaka Allround 40, who have enjoyed great success but among a smaller group of players. Final words: Most agree that the Yasaka manufacturer produce high quality products, and has been very successful spanning many decades. I believe part of the reason the brand is not even more successful is due to limited distribution� many blades (and also some rubbers) are simply not available in some areas. They�ve also discontinue some of their previous moderately successful products. The same can probably be said about some of the other Japanese brands. It is likely that a player of any level and style can find something appropriate from the Yasaka brand, but this is the case for many of the other major brands too. Hopefully this summary will be useful for Yasaka fans or those that only have this brand available to choose from. Yasaka do have a range of other table tennis related items, in fact they pretty much sell everything related to table tennis, but blades and rubbers are the extent of this write-up. ------------- Smart; VS>401, Dtecs OX http://tabletennisshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=page&id=42" rel="nofollow - Tenergy Alternatives | http://tabletennis-reviews.com" rel="nofollow - My TT Articles |
Posted By: yogi_bear
Date Posted: 08/31/2008 at 7:29am
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hmm yasaka blades ARE MADE IN SWEDEN SAME WITH STIGA BLADES, same factory, if you try to look at the yasaka gatien max wood and the clipper wood they have 90% similarities.. yasaka blades are underrated but they are among the best all wood blades in the market. i agree that mark v is one of the best all around classic rubber and is a rival of the original sriver although mark v loops better. a lot of mark v variants have gone out but the one that i hate is the mark v m2 which dies easily. v-stage is a good rubber but its not that popular since it has a weird playing characteristic like very very low throw angle, the control is kinda less and it feels weird playing it ------------- Independent online TT Product reviewer of XIOM, STIGA, JOOLA, SANWEI, GEWO, AIR, ITC, APEX, YASAKA and ABROS ITTF Level 1 Coaching Course Conductor, ITTF Level 1 Coach |
Posted By: hafawaz
Date Posted: 08/31/2008 at 6:44pm
if you're lucky enough to find any out there... nonetheless, the Mark V ranks among the all time great rubbers - right next to sriver. ------------- Senkoh - 85 with Sriver EL 2.1 Keyshot Light with Sriver FX 2.1 |