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First of all I would like to thank Stiga for giving me the opportunity to test the new Xu Xin and Dynasty blades.
Unboxing
The Stiga Dynasty Carbon blades comes in a matt black box which has a transparent window where you can see the handle of the blades. The handles are in a brown color where the Xu Xin Edition looks like to be a bit lighter than the Dynasty Carbon blade. The Xu Xin Edition has the blue/purple colour metal lens which is designed by Xu Xin himself and his wife, Yao Yan former womens CNT member. It symbolizes their love story which is a big gesture from Xu Xin. The Dynasty Carbon blade comes with a matt black metal lens which has the same theme colour as the box and both in the end of both blades the “Tre Kronor” Stiga logo in metal version can be found. It is said by Stiga that the difference between the two blades is only the lens and the signature on the front face of the blades. That means the construction of the two blades should be identical. Initial impression of the blades is that the quality of the blades are in the high end though I would like Stiga to round the edges at the wings just to give a nicer finish.
The sample I got is FL and has these specs:
Composition: Dyed Koto-TeXtreme+-Intermidiate-Core-Intermidiate-TeXtreme+-Dyed Koto
Weight: 88g and 95g
Thickness: 5.7mm
Handle size: 100x23x33mm Width at narrow flared section is 25mm
Head size: 157x150mm
I wanted to do a frequency test, but forgot to do it before gluing the rubbers on. I will add it later.
The Master FL handle from Stiga are some of the most comfortable in terms of size. The finish of the handles are more smooth compared to Carbonado or Infinity blades.
The fiber material used for the two blade are the improved TeXtreme carbon which is called TeXtreme+. I should be thinner and more stable than the TeXtreme version. No statements was mentioned if the carbon was angled as the Carbonados.
Test setups:
Xu Xin version is H3 Neo National Blue Sponge 40deg FH and Tenergy 05 Hard BH. 195g.
Dynasty version Dignics 05 FH and Xiom Omega VII PRO BH
Drive
When hitting the ball I expected the setup to be as fast as some ALC blades, but that wasn’t the case. The Dynasty Xu Xin Edition felt slower but still fast, but what I really noticed was the feel of the blade. The blade felt more like an all wood blade rather than a composite blade which was really nice. Even playing with hard rubbers the feedback is quite high. The sweet spot of the blade is large making it very consistent to play with thanks to the TeXtreme+ carbon.
Loop
When looping with the Xu Xin Edition blade I could feel the crisp of the outer koto and the carbon adding speed to the ball. I shouldn’t use a lot of power to get some quality loop across the table. I could easily land the land ball on the other side of the table without shooting too far off. With the setup used the ball had a medium arc using both rubbers for looping. The blade is relatively stiff, but the dwell is good to generate great amount of spin. I found it quite difficult to do open ups against backspin with the T05H on BH, but with the O7P it was better. I wouldn’t personally use the setup with the T05H on BH, but a medium hard rubber fit the blade better in BH. The balance seems to be quite good even though it is towards the head tip. On the Dynasty blade with the rubber combo and additional weight the balance toward the tip was more obvious.
Block
In the blocking game the XX edition and Dynasty was showing one of the strong attributes of the blades. Blocking with both blades and with T05H and O7P on the BH I could really control incoming loops with great accuracy and consistency. The feel and control was high and I think it comes with the TeXtreme+ carbon that gives the blade the large sweet spot. Punch shots was also easily done without over targeting pass the table. I really liked blocking with these machines, especially with the T05H on BH it’s relatively easy to control the ball.
Short/Flick
In aspect of the short and flick game the feel with both blades really is obvious and a strong feature. It was not difficult to keep the balls short and low to the net even with the fact the blades are with outer koto and are rated as stiff. Flicks are nicely done with both setups. Again I need to highlight the touch and feel I could get from these blades and grabbing the ball over the table is fantastic. Still you need to have the technique in place to be able to execute the flick.
Conclusion
The Stiga Dynasty and Dynasty Xu Xin Edition are both well handcrafted blades that comes at prices of 240 EUR and 275 EUR for Dynasty and Xu Xin Edition respectively. That is in the high end of the scale for table tennis blades, but they are good looking designs. I do not know if the Xu Xin Edition would normally come with at nice presentation box, but I would expect that for that price difference. As mentioned before there isn’t any difference compositionwise between the two blades other than the Xu Xin signature and personal lens. A difference that was noticeable though was the weight difference between the blades. The Dynasty blades are definitely ones that I personally would use. I would recommend the blade to the intermediate or experienced player who has an allround game who likes to loop close and mid distance from the table. A player that likes to block close to the table in the passive game and likes the short/flick game over the table. Playing with the Dynasty Xu Xin edition does have a placebo effect and it looks fantastic as well.
Unboxing
The Stiga Dynasty Carbon blades comes in a matt black box which has a transparent window where you can see the handle of the blades. The handles are in a brown color where the Xu Xin Edition looks like to be a bit lighter than the Dynasty Carbon blade. The Xu Xin Edition has the blue/purple colour metal lens which is designed by Xu Xin himself and his wife, Yao Yan former womens CNT member. It symbolizes their love story which is a big gesture from Xu Xin. The Dynasty Carbon blade comes with a matt black metal lens which has the same theme colour as the box and both in the end of both blades the “Tre Kronor” Stiga logo in metal version can be found. It is said by Stiga that the difference between the two blades is only the lens and the signature on the front face of the blades. That means the construction of the two blades should be identical. Initial impression of the blades is that the quality of the blades are in the high end though I would like Stiga to round the edges at the wings just to give a nicer finish.
The sample I got is FL and has these specs:
Composition: Dyed Koto-TeXtreme+-Intermidiate-Core-Intermidiate-TeXtreme+-Dyed Koto
Weight: 88g and 95g
Thickness: 5.7mm
Handle size: 100x23x33mm Width at narrow flared section is 25mm
Head size: 157x150mm
I wanted to do a frequency test, but forgot to do it before gluing the rubbers on. I will add it later.
The Master FL handle from Stiga are some of the most comfortable in terms of size. The finish of the handles are more smooth compared to Carbonado or Infinity blades.
The fiber material used for the two blade are the improved TeXtreme carbon which is called TeXtreme+. I should be thinner and more stable than the TeXtreme version. No statements was mentioned if the carbon was angled as the Carbonados.
Test setups:
Xu Xin version is H3 Neo National Blue Sponge 40deg FH and Tenergy 05 Hard BH. 195g.
Dynasty version Dignics 05 FH and Xiom Omega VII PRO BH
Drive
When hitting the ball I expected the setup to be as fast as some ALC blades, but that wasn’t the case. The Dynasty Xu Xin Edition felt slower but still fast, but what I really noticed was the feel of the blade. The blade felt more like an all wood blade rather than a composite blade which was really nice. Even playing with hard rubbers the feedback is quite high. The sweet spot of the blade is large making it very consistent to play with thanks to the TeXtreme+ carbon.
Loop
When looping with the Xu Xin Edition blade I could feel the crisp of the outer koto and the carbon adding speed to the ball. I shouldn’t use a lot of power to get some quality loop across the table. I could easily land the land ball on the other side of the table without shooting too far off. With the setup used the ball had a medium arc using both rubbers for looping. The blade is relatively stiff, but the dwell is good to generate great amount of spin. I found it quite difficult to do open ups against backspin with the T05H on BH, but with the O7P it was better. I wouldn’t personally use the setup with the T05H on BH, but a medium hard rubber fit the blade better in BH. The balance seems to be quite good even though it is towards the head tip. On the Dynasty blade with the rubber combo and additional weight the balance toward the tip was more obvious.
Block
In the blocking game the XX edition and Dynasty was showing one of the strong attributes of the blades. Blocking with both blades and with T05H and O7P on the BH I could really control incoming loops with great accuracy and consistency. The feel and control was high and I think it comes with the TeXtreme+ carbon that gives the blade the large sweet spot. Punch shots was also easily done without over targeting pass the table. I really liked blocking with these machines, especially with the T05H on BH it’s relatively easy to control the ball.
Short/Flick
In aspect of the short and flick game the feel with both blades really is obvious and a strong feature. It was not difficult to keep the balls short and low to the net even with the fact the blades are with outer koto and are rated as stiff. Flicks are nicely done with both setups. Again I need to highlight the touch and feel I could get from these blades and grabbing the ball over the table is fantastic. Still you need to have the technique in place to be able to execute the flick.
Conclusion
The Stiga Dynasty and Dynasty Xu Xin Edition are both well handcrafted blades that comes at prices of 240 EUR and 275 EUR for Dynasty and Xu Xin Edition respectively. That is in the high end of the scale for table tennis blades, but they are good looking designs. I do not know if the Xu Xin Edition would normally come with at nice presentation box, but I would expect that for that price difference. As mentioned before there isn’t any difference compositionwise between the two blades other than the Xu Xin signature and personal lens. A difference that was noticeable though was the weight difference between the blades. The Dynasty blades are definitely ones that I personally would use. I would recommend the blade to the intermediate or experienced player who has an allround game who likes to loop close and mid distance from the table. A player that likes to block close to the table in the passive game and likes the short/flick game over the table. Playing with the Dynasty Xu Xin edition does have a placebo effect and it looks fantastic as well.
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