sorry, I think I created a bit of a stir, there was an idea to put some evidence to backup my word, but somehow I was a bit busy, then went on a holiday and forgot about the pics and when I actually wanted to find the pics realised I deleted the raw photos and kept just the jpegs ... so ... but first, I must say that I have known that blades have always been a bit more open in regard to marketing and the blade is also easier to "mask" or hide, if you will. but - rubbers? I took it with a pinch of a salt ...
I did a quick search for some photos and here are a few photos of Hugo's blade and also of Dima. while Hugo is not that clear, I know how my HAL looks (I did play with it for quite some time) and I know how Hugo's blade looks - like mine. but look at the pics and draw your own conclusions.
as for Dima's blade, I think it's quite obvious it's an outer blade ...
Thanks, I think you have read Matt's comments here and come to your own conclusions as well. You created a minor stir, but the real issue is that such comments will be taken seriously by people who want to believe whatever they want to believe. And quite frankly, you made it clear that you got it second hand, whether it was a reliable source or not, reliable sources are not always correct. There was no evidence, even the pics you have posted are not evidence for anything (I cannot make head or tail of what I am supposed to find in the Hugo pictures).
Even Dima has been advertised as using a custom blade for a while now, it was custom SZLC for a bit and now it is custom ALC, so there really isn't anything needed to be special going on there beyond whatever we want to assume:
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) | Introduction of Butterfly players, teams, clubs and coaches who play in the top of the world. Table tennis equipment brand Butterfly by Tamasu Co., Ltd. since 1950.
www.butterfly-global.com
In the end, if we have good evidence, we have good evidence. If we trust people, that is all well and good, but I can say that even trustworthy people can misunderstand what is going on, everyone needs to interpret what they see. Matt's version of what happened is very consistent with yours on the blade issue but the rubbers, I don't know, people will believe whatever they want to believe. Until there is good evidence, there is no reason to act like something worth discussing is going on.
