Help me understand the massive diversity in price range of all wood 5 ply blafes

[AcZending]

I’m gonna use 3 examples

1. Loki k5 - hailed as having excellent control for a beginner blade.

Price - 6$ in alibaba

People have nothing but praise on the control it offers

2. Tibhar alexis Lebrun all+

Also hailed as having awesome control, going so far as to say it’s great for developing beginners

Price - 40$ around



3. Petr korbel

Also all round , almost 100$, also high level control and said to be great for beginners


So, given all three are 5ply, all round and great for beginners, how is there that much disparity? Is the the name affiliated like butterfly or alexis Lebrun that’s inflating the price?

 

[StephenJKinney]

I’m gonna use 3 examples

1. Loki k5 - hailed as having excellent control for a beginner blade.

Price - 6$ in alibaba

People have nothing but praise on the control it offers

2. Tibhar alexis Lebrun all+

Also hailed as having awesome control, going so far as to say it’s great for developing beginners

Price - 40$ around



3. Petr korbel

Also all round , almost 100$, also high level control and said to be great for beginners


So, given all three are 5ply, all round and great for beginners, how is there that much disparity? Is the the name affiliated like butterfly or alexis Lebrun that’s inflating the price? solitaired

Thank you for sharing! It's great!

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

There is no equivalent image for TT brand; but the concept is similar.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Loki: student

 

[PenHoldSandro]

I’m gonna use 3 examples

1. Loki k5 - hailed as having excellent control for a beginner blade.
Price - 6$ in alibaba
People have nothing but praise on the control it offers

2. Tibhar alexis Lebrun all+
Also hailed as having awesome control, going so far as to say it’s great for developing beginners
Price - 40$ around

3. Petr korbel
Also all round , almost 100$, also high level control and said to be great for beginners


So, given all three are 5ply, all round and great for beginners, how is there that much disparity? Is the the name affiliated like butterfly or alexis Lebrun that’s inflating the price?

Firstly, I want to say that Petr Korbel is NOT near 100$, at least in Hong Kong where I bought it. It was around 60$.

In my opinion, the main difference between these blades is just wood quality. And of course, the name on it makes it more expensive. I would recommend the Petr Korbel the most if you have enough money, since it can be used all the way up to a high level.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

I've heard next to nobody talking about Lebrun All+ or Kirin K5, whereas Korbel has decades of history both in amateur and professional levels. With more expensive products you are often paying more for the name and brand, but also often fit/finish and quality.

 

[andymagata]

I've heard next to nobody talking about Lebrun All+ or Kirin K5, whereas Korbel has decades of history both in amateur and professional levels. With more expensive products you are often paying more for the name and brand, but also often fit/finish and quality.

This is the kind of reply that is both disrespectful and not helpful.

 

[Zwill]

You do have to pay for brand, player name, manufacturing location, used materials. While I guess the typical Loki blade is just mass produced without much thought about the used wood I wager the Lebrun and Korbel is made from at least some kind of selected wood by people who have some idea how to make a blade. Between the Lebrun and Korbel I guess the difference is made in China and made in Japan. I'm not sure where the Lebrun is made tho but probably in a cheaper place than Japan.

 

[PenHoldSandro]

This is the kind of reply that is both disrespectful and not helpful.

How so? I feel like he is just right. I don't hear much about Lebrun or Kirin, but Korbel is everywhere. Wood quality is also higher.

You do have to pay for brand, player name, manufacturing location, used materials. While I guess the typical Loki blade is just mass produced without much thought about the used wood I wager the Lebrun and Korbel is made from at least some kind of selected wood by people who have some idea how to make a blade. Between the Lebrun and Korbel I guess the difference is made in China and made in Japan. I'm not sure where the Lebrun is made tho but probably in a cheaper place than Japan.

Maybe Korbel is more premium and more famous, I'd pick it any day over Lebrun.

 

[mihalichtheone]

Wood is wood, you can't find two identical pieces.
However, with proper quality control the difference between two blades might be much less, I think you mostly pay for that. That doesn't mean that cheap blades are bad, it means that the probability of getting a good one is less.

I bought 5 Loki blades and all outer plies looked different (even the thickness was a bit off between each piece).

For us amateurs it basically doesn't matter much. If you can afford expensive blade - go for it, if you can't - don't. Don't overcomplicate things.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

This is the kind of reply that is both disrespectful and not helpful.

Care to elaborate?

 

[Tyce]

Loki: student

Loki: recreational player.
No regard for quality. Expect: small sweet spot (likely due to cheap glue methods), inconsistent feeling, differences between FH and BH, rough edges.
Designed to resemble the looks of popular brands.

Tibhar: general club player.
Mass produced quality. Expect: Normal sweet spot. consistent feeling throughout the bat. Each bat will feel different but not ridiculously so. Finishing should be OK.

Korbel (Euro): same as the Tibhar. Also the same price. If you want a better quality version you're going to have to go to the shop and try quite a few (like for example Gionis does).
It *can* be inconsistent between blades. One reason is this baby has been produced for decades and old stock is not the same as new stock.

Korbel (Japan): better quality, better sweet spot, balance, finishing, feeling. Probably the best example of why a better version of the same bat costs more.

As for the Butterfly argument: valid. Even if the Euro Korbel costs the same as the Tibhar Alexis All+, that Korbel has been produced for so long that you'd think the R&D costs have been earned back by now. But Butterfly profiles itself as a premium brand and will never lower prices. Because that's the same as admitting a model isn't relevant anymore.

@AcZending yes, you can get beginner blades for €5 and they will perform just fine. Until you've had some (club) experience and get to play a few balls with better stuff, you probably won't be able to tell much of a difference.
As long as you're in the stages of learning basic stroke movements, and don't have a start of the fine grasp on what the ball does with small changes in your movement, a more expensive blade won't bring you much (yet).

That being said, a quality blade can last for many years.

 

[AcZending]

Loki: recreational player.
No regard for quality. Expect: small sweet spot (likely due to cheap glue methods), inconsistent feeling, differences between FH and BH, rough edges.
Designed to resemble the looks of popular brands.

Tibhar: general club player.
Mass produced quality. Expect: Normal sweet spot. consistent feeling throughout the bat. Each bat will feel different but not ridiculously so. Finishing should be OK.

Korbel (Euro): same as the Tibhar. Also the same price. If you want a better quality version you're going to have to go to the shop and try quite a few (like for example Gionis does).
It *can* be inconsistent between blades. One reason is this baby has been produced for decades and old stock is not the same as new stock.

Korbel (Japan): better quality, better sweet spot, balance, finishing, feeling. Probably the best example of why a better version of the same bat costs more.

As for the Butterfly argument: valid. Even if the Euro Korbel costs the same as the Tibhar Alexis All+, that Korbel has been produced for so long that you'd think the R&D costs have been earned back by now. But Butterfly profiles itself as a premium brand and will never lower prices. Because that's the same as admitting a model isn't relevant anymore.

@AcZending yes, you can get beginner blades for €5 and they will perform just fine. Until you've had some (club) experience and get to play a few balls with better stuff, you probably won't be able to tell much of a difference.
As long as you're in the stages of learning basic stroke movements, and don't have a start of the fine grasp on what the ball does with small changes in your movement, a more expensive blade won't bring you much (yet).

That being said, a quality blade can last for many years.

Thanks for the long answer. My thoughts were similar Ina sense wanted to play with k5 until i got good enough then switch to Lebrun. But Lebrun is also a 5 ply so there wouldn’t likely be much difference in speed, so it might not be significant upgrade. So I thought if i want to play in that, maybe i need to get it earlier

 

[yodachi]

The feel at impact is completely different.
The Korbel has a soft, sticky feel at impact, making it comfortable and easy to control.

 

[ShakehandJpenCpenEnjoyer]

I would say resellability also plays a big role here. You can sell secondhand Korbel for much higher price.

And so many collectors want Butterfly blades. I never heard a Loki collector 😂

 

[AcZending]

I would say resellability also plays a big role here. You can sell secondhand Korbel for much higher price.

And so many collectors want Butterfly blades. I never heard a Loki collector 😂

Obviously? Who wants to buy second hand $6 blade? What would you sell it for

 

[Tyce]

Thanks for the long answer. My thoughts were similar Ina sense wanted to play with k5 until i got good enough then switch to Lebrun. But Lebrun is also a 5 ply so there wouldn’t likely be much difference in speed, so it might not be significant upgrade. So I thought if i want to play in that, maybe i need to get it earlier

You're thinking about upgrades in terms of speed, but more often than not you don't really want to upgrade to a significantly faster blade.
Table tennis is all about consistency, feeling and having trust in your equipment is an important part of that. You want your bat to do exactly what you are making it do, so the ball does exactly what you want it to.

So rather than thinking about speed, you can think about reliability. Having a large effective hitting area helps to produce a consistent ball. Having straight, non warping wood also helps. Having the same experience on FH and BH helps.
A good, even glue job for the wood plies will simply result in a better quality blade that has more consistent properties. So does selecting the veneers, balancing the blade etc etc. It's the attention to detail that makes for the best experience, not speed.

A good quality 5ply can be used all the way into international levels.

 

[merlin el mago]

See where is made each brand, look for the quality so you understand the price. Overpriced things exist because idiots pay for them.

 

[AcZending]

See where is made each brand, look for the quality so you understand the price. Overpriced things exist because idiots pay for them.

Yeah but how to find that… like manufacturing i can find but other things

 

[merlin el mago]

Other member gives you the key with Korbel made in Europe or korbel made in Japan, same blade different quality