says What is better Stiga Genesis II M or Stiga Mantra M...
says What is better Stiga Genesis II M or Stiga Mantra M...
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Hey guys, this question has been bugging me for a long time. What is the best brand? Is it Stiga, Butterfly, Nittaku, Donic, DHS, Tibhar, Xiom, etc...? (just of what I've seen those are the most used brands by the professionals). Which is the most durable, and longest lasting? Which is the most reliable? What are your thoughts? I want to see where this debate/discussion goes.
 
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Brand is an abstract, perhaps even meaningless, marketing concept. A container to hook warm and fuzzy feelings to, to create an impression of value and distinctiveness wholly unrelated to actual products.

An abstract concept has no physical properties. A particular type (formula) of toothpaste has that, a toothpaste brand does not.

If the same rubber, marketed under a different name by two brands, plays differently than that’s a placebo/nocebo effect at best. Brands schmands.
 
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Brand does not mean nothing. I am currently using a brandless name and frankly it is the best blade I've used (also few other player agreed with me that it's a well made beast). Brand is only the stamp. Some time ago a brand was promise of quality. Right now I don't think it is a case anymore. Few brands make their budget products in whole different factory than their top of the line ones (Stiga rubbers for example, DNA is germany made I believe while others elsewhere).

All of the gear we use I consider consumable. Blades get dinked on the table, rubbers wear out and boosters wear off. If you take care of them (clean rubbers, use protective sheet on rubbers, use a protective strip or veneer for blade) they will last longer. If you can inspect everything manually and make sure everything is right.

I don't have a brand that I am loyal to but I have few brands that I stay away from. Namely:
  • Reactor, because the quality is crap
  • Butterfly, applies only for brand new products, because they too damn expensive. Some times i snag a rubber or a blade second hand from butterfly and it's decent.

There are some brands that I like and watch for their new products. That would be Gambler (best value for money I've experienced in tt), Xiom for innovative design, joola for hinoki koto blades and gewo (good value for money too)

EDIT: By reactor I mostly meant blades. I had few hits with Corbort and although they stink very long time, they are usable rubbers.
 
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In terms of "most honorable", Yasaka. TSP is a close 2nd.

http://mytabletennis.net/Forum/foru...le=which-is-the-most-honourable-brand#1014724

In terms of "longest lasting", many brands that source almost exclusively from ESN are way down the list. Not just in the sense of service life, but also in the sense of marketing, how they keep pushing out the "old" and bringing in the "new" to drive sales. Donic and Xiom are the worst offenders here.

In terms of "most reliable", DHS takes it, hands down. How? Unlike others, DHS sells you probability. For commercial H3, I know going in that I'll have a 90% chance of getting a lemon. Hate getting screwed? Go up a tier. Provincial H3 will cut that down to 50%. Still not satisfied? National H3, provided your wallets are fat enough. Bottom line? There's always an H3 for everyone.
 
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I don't have a brand that I am loyal to but I have few brands that I stay away from. Namely:
  • Corbor, because the quality is crap
  • Butterfly, applies only for brand new products, because they too damn expensive. Some times i snag a rubber or a blade second hand from butterfly and it's decent.

If you are talking about Reactor Corbor, Corbor is the rubber model, the brand is Reactor. Also, Corbor is a rubber that you pay 7$ for a pair. So saying that Corbor is crap is a bit debatable.

And saying that butterfly rubbers are decent is funny haha
 
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If you are talking about Reactor Corbor, Corbor is the rubber model, the brand is Reactor. Also, Corbor is a rubber that you pay 7$ for a pair. So saying that Corbor is crap is a bit debatable.

And saying that butterfly rubbers are decent is funny haha

Yes I meant Reactor, Sry. My bad, I will correct my first post. The butterfly rubbers for around average players like are no more than decent. I've got no benefit from using them. They are not magical solution to every problem people claim to be. So for me, they are just average.

EDIT: Also addendum, I mostly despise Reactor blades. They are not sanded to the point where one of my friends got the blade he got splinter in the finger before the bat was even glued lolz. After few minutes at the sander the blade was usable and didn't feel terrible, although I feel like the 729 C-5 or Yinhe offerings are better value for money.

Expanding further more on my butterfly statement. `Decent` in this case meant something along the lines of `maybe pros can do miracles with this rubber but I can't and furthermore there is no way for me to pay for it 60$`. Since we are talking about "OverAll" the price and marketing mumbo jumbo is a factor too which makes it less "Over-All" good in my eyes.
 
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Bty. Most pros using, and lowest probability of getting a lemon product. Prices are high, but the OP didn't ask about best value. Bty is not best value, but def best brand. The premium they can charge is proof enough of that.

Personally I use all Nittaku stuff bc of Mima, but I can't say they are the best brand overall.
 
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The simple answer is Butterfly, but some forum fanatics who don't like their pricing like to say anything to detract from it's reputation. The number of un-sponsored advanced players who choose Butterfly blades and rubbers is disproportionate to any other company. Some may argue that that is because they are copying the pros or don't have access to trying other brands, but that is simply not true. Butterfly isn't even the dominantly marketed brand in many parts of the world outside of Asia.

Take a look at online discussions, when people are looking for equipment alternatives or setting a standard of rubber performance, which product are they almost always using as the standard? Tenergy, a rubber that was released 12 years ago.

Now I'm not saying that most people here would be disadvantaged to use another company's equipment. However one thing that is true is that if you give an advanced player a Butterfly setup, they are very unlikely to find any deficiencies or issues with it. The same cannot be said for most other brands. For an intermediate club level player or worse, which is a good majority of people on forums,they might find that they are totally satisfied with alternatives and that is where a lot of the condescending comments about Butterfly come from. But that probably says more about the player than the equipment.



I will say that Butterfly balls and glue suck. A lot. Nittaku probably is the best in that category. Nittaku also makes some really high quality blades, though the majority of the rest of their blade line is forgettable, unlike Butterfly. Other brands may also excel in accessories or other TT products, but the majority of the time, when talking equipment, people are most concerned with blades and rubbers.
 
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Bty. Most pros using, and lowest probability of getting a lemon product. Prices are high, but the OP didn't ask about best value. Bty is not best value, but def best brand. The premium they can charge is proof enough of that.

Personally I use all Nittaku stuff bc of Mima, but I can't say they are the best brand overall.

When you start talking about price, that makes a serious discussion about performance and quality impossible. Unfortunately too many people do this, and they let their personal perception of value or "worth" muddy the waters.
 
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If I didn't play with my Stiga, I would definitely play with

VNC6.jpg

:D:D:D
 
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Butterfly, no question. But their prices are incredibly high. I only played with Tibhar rubbers so I don't know about their blades and balls, but they have good quality control. The other brand that comes to mind is Gewo. I played the Hype KR and I was satisfied with it. Also I bough some of their *** 40+ balls and just Wow! In hungary the competitions are played with Joola balls. And they are crap. If you get a good one it's okay. But most of them are egg shaped. Not the Gewo ones. All single one of them was PERFECTLY round! They are the best thing since celluloid era. I plan on buying their Nexxus rubbers since I only read good about them.
 
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