The blade off Wang Manyu ??
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Saw a review about how the blade quality is pretty bad. YouTuber said maybe 3 out of 10 of the blades are actually good. However, it is on prott.
Link to video : Wang Manyu Review
Link to video : Wang Manyu Review
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I got mine actually on Friday. I bought it before my girlfriend bought me a Cybershape Truls edition as a Xmas gift so it's a funny coincidence.
Actually, I'm not a huge Stiga blade fan if I have to be honest. The only good "modern" blade I tried and played with from Stiga was a Carbonado 290. I tried a couple more of their offering and most were meh at best and horrible at average.
I used to play with their Japanese rubbers in the past, Almana, Calibra, Airoc Astro, Mantra, and now Mantra Pro.
I know the majority of players don't like or even dislike these rubbers, but I did, and do very much like them. The Mantra Pro is particularly good, the rest is most likely outdated, tho I still see Chinese players use the original Mantra for BH.
Anyway, back to the blade I would say the review of Gan is pretty spot on. In fact I feel he was very reserved about the blade and since my Chinese is "buhao" (aka shit) I rely on his subs which I suppose are also not the greatest.
Just to give my 2 cents without my usual long-winded crap the blade is a Viscaria clone. If you look at the cross section of the Inspira Plus (honestly I prefer "Wang Manyu blade" naming) and a Viscaria you would be very hard pressed to make a distinction. The wood and carbon composition is identical to Viscaria and bros.
To keep talking on the objective side the handle of the Wang Manyu blade is thicker and more coarse than a Viscaria and this I can appreciate. Having a loose but stable grip is very important for me to use my wrists more relaxed. If I need to squeeze my fingers too tight it restricts my loose wrist and suddenly it becomes tense and limited etc etc = bad.
The commenter above me @omgtodamax says some review says the blade has bad quality only 30% is good. I really cannot confirm or deny this, but if this comes from China then I guess it has some truth.
I was lucky on the wood lottery as I got jointless kiri core, and a paper-thin koto top ply with some fishscale pattern.
I don't care to much about the fish-scale but thin top koto ply is nice and so is jointless kiri core.
My disbelief/Joy:
So what I don't get is that Viscaria, Super Viscaria, Joola, Xiom, Yinhe blades of the same kind with same structure feel pretty much the same. Doesn't matter if it is made in Japan, Korea, China. They mostly are very relatable in feel and hardness, speed etc.
The Stiga Wang Manyu blade is the same type of construction, in fact the top koto ply is super thin on it so the 2nd layer arylate-carbon is very close to the ball so the blade should have a very carbony feel.
But in fact it has a more woody and softer feel than any Japanese or Korean Viscaria bro blade. What is the reason? I have only guesses: different ALC or different glue, or both. But whatever it is it makes the blade something in between a W968 and a Viscaria and it is lovely.
So I've glued my quite heavily used Stiga Mantra Pro XH on FH and Pro M on BH side. The bladeface is a bit larger than Viscaria in every dimension so a Viscaria cut rubber won't fit perfectly.
I agree with Gan 100% that the blade is soft and grabs the ball epic, like an all wood blade. And I really felt this on FH side the best when I was pulling up low balls with awesome power. The blade doesn't drop the ball and I don't even need to pay too much attention to it anymore.
Viscaria and bros are harder and they like to drop the ball in the net in these low ball situations if you also try to give it some forward momentum. One needs to really hit hard and get everything right to make a successful shot.
With the Wang Manyu blade it's pretty automatic and almost obvious or dare I say an inviting feature. In fact I was experimenting with low ball power hit straight down the line instead of diagonal. Straight is also very welcoming.
I feel this is a particularly difficult shot with hard rubbers like T05 Hard and H3 and Chinese bros.
Mantra Pro XH at 53 degrees is comparable to T05 hard and with the Mantra Pro XH it was magic to place shots on FH side from anywhere to everywhere.
I think this blade on FH is one of the best on the market at the moment. I am kind of excited to try my Cybershape with two new Mantra Pros and I hope Stiga surprises me more.
It really is a cheeky blade on FH side, one can do the most cheeky shots and make the opponent go absolutely shaking and being insecure what is going to happen. Mind games are real.
BH side has also the same woody but fast feel with great grip. In fact I kind of feel with the Mantra Pro M is too tamed for this blade on BH side, maybe the Mantra Pro H would suit it better. I don't wanna jump into too many conclusions since my BH the Mantra Pro M is being used heavily since August, it's not new but it's still preforming well. Anyway it is obvious that the Wang Manyu blade is more soft and bouncy than a direct Viscaria clone even on BH.
Honestly while I immediately loved and clicked with the FH side of this blade on the BH I have to admit I am a bit puzzled. I migh just need more adjustment time on that side. On BH I wish it was a bit harder blade, or harder rubber.
Anyways I feel like this a very good blade from Stiga and could suit people who like T05H, D09c, H3 on FH side and on BH maybe D05 or Mantra Pro H or ESN at 50 deg. But don't get me wrong Tenergy05 or ESN around 47 deg is totally fine. I am just always searching for my best feel but it's possible after a few days I will find that ESN 47 deg is perfect on BH.
TL;DR for the 140USD prott price or even less in Taobao this blade is superb. Is it the best from Stiga??? To be decided after I get to try Cybershape. But I don't think I'd spend more on Butterfly, Joola, Xiom, Andro etc etc
Really sad that Stiga is limiting this to China.
Actually, I'm not a huge Stiga blade fan if I have to be honest. The only good "modern" blade I tried and played with from Stiga was a Carbonado 290. I tried a couple more of their offering and most were meh at best and horrible at average.
I used to play with their Japanese rubbers in the past, Almana, Calibra, Airoc Astro, Mantra, and now Mantra Pro.
I know the majority of players don't like or even dislike these rubbers, but I did, and do very much like them. The Mantra Pro is particularly good, the rest is most likely outdated, tho I still see Chinese players use the original Mantra for BH.
Anyway, back to the blade I would say the review of Gan is pretty spot on. In fact I feel he was very reserved about the blade and since my Chinese is "buhao" (aka shit) I rely on his subs which I suppose are also not the greatest.
Just to give my 2 cents without my usual long-winded crap the blade is a Viscaria clone. If you look at the cross section of the Inspira Plus (honestly I prefer "Wang Manyu blade" naming) and a Viscaria you would be very hard pressed to make a distinction. The wood and carbon composition is identical to Viscaria and bros.
To keep talking on the objective side the handle of the Wang Manyu blade is thicker and more coarse than a Viscaria and this I can appreciate. Having a loose but stable grip is very important for me to use my wrists more relaxed. If I need to squeeze my fingers too tight it restricts my loose wrist and suddenly it becomes tense and limited etc etc = bad.
The commenter above me @omgtodamax says some review says the blade has bad quality only 30% is good. I really cannot confirm or deny this, but if this comes from China then I guess it has some truth.
I was lucky on the wood lottery as I got jointless kiri core, and a paper-thin koto top ply with some fishscale pattern.
I don't care to much about the fish-scale but thin top koto ply is nice and so is jointless kiri core.
My disbelief/Joy:
So what I don't get is that Viscaria, Super Viscaria, Joola, Xiom, Yinhe blades of the same kind with same structure feel pretty much the same. Doesn't matter if it is made in Japan, Korea, China. They mostly are very relatable in feel and hardness, speed etc.
The Stiga Wang Manyu blade is the same type of construction, in fact the top koto ply is super thin on it so the 2nd layer arylate-carbon is very close to the ball so the blade should have a very carbony feel.
But in fact it has a more woody and softer feel than any Japanese or Korean Viscaria bro blade. What is the reason? I have only guesses: different ALC or different glue, or both. But whatever it is it makes the blade something in between a W968 and a Viscaria and it is lovely.
So I've glued my quite heavily used Stiga Mantra Pro XH on FH and Pro M on BH side. The bladeface is a bit larger than Viscaria in every dimension so a Viscaria cut rubber won't fit perfectly.
I agree with Gan 100% that the blade is soft and grabs the ball epic, like an all wood blade. And I really felt this on FH side the best when I was pulling up low balls with awesome power. The blade doesn't drop the ball and I don't even need to pay too much attention to it anymore.
Viscaria and bros are harder and they like to drop the ball in the net in these low ball situations if you also try to give it some forward momentum. One needs to really hit hard and get everything right to make a successful shot.
With the Wang Manyu blade it's pretty automatic and almost obvious or dare I say an inviting feature. In fact I was experimenting with low ball power hit straight down the line instead of diagonal. Straight is also very welcoming.
I feel this is a particularly difficult shot with hard rubbers like T05 Hard and H3 and Chinese bros.
Mantra Pro XH at 53 degrees is comparable to T05 hard and with the Mantra Pro XH it was magic to place shots on FH side from anywhere to everywhere.
I think this blade on FH is one of the best on the market at the moment. I am kind of excited to try my Cybershape with two new Mantra Pros and I hope Stiga surprises me more.
It really is a cheeky blade on FH side, one can do the most cheeky shots and make the opponent go absolutely shaking and being insecure what is going to happen. Mind games are real.
BH side has also the same woody but fast feel with great grip. In fact I kind of feel with the Mantra Pro M is too tamed for this blade on BH side, maybe the Mantra Pro H would suit it better. I don't wanna jump into too many conclusions since my BH the Mantra Pro M is being used heavily since August, it's not new but it's still preforming well. Anyway it is obvious that the Wang Manyu blade is more soft and bouncy than a direct Viscaria clone even on BH.
Honestly while I immediately loved and clicked with the FH side of this blade on the BH I have to admit I am a bit puzzled. I migh just need more adjustment time on that side. On BH I wish it was a bit harder blade, or harder rubber.
Anyways I feel like this a very good blade from Stiga and could suit people who like T05H, D09c, H3 on FH side and on BH maybe D05 or Mantra Pro H or ESN at 50 deg. But don't get me wrong Tenergy05 or ESN around 47 deg is totally fine. I am just always searching for my best feel but it's possible after a few days I will find that ESN 47 deg is perfect on BH.
TL;DR for the 140USD prott price or even less in Taobao this blade is superb. Is it the best from Stiga??? To be decided after I get to try Cybershape. But I don't think I'd spend more on Butterfly, Joola, Xiom, Andro etc etc
Really sad that Stiga is limiting this to China.
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can be bought on gan's wechat or taobao (although I believe taobao takes ages to ship out of china)
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good golly! It takes 2-3 days to ship to hk(its not even a ship), 5 days at most during double eleven.
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HK and China, how close they are, that's why I don't buy from taobao, I rather with until someone can bring me stuffs from China. And if I buy blades I don't want to buy random blade pick by someone unknown, Gan is a nice guy, he help choose blade and lower some price.
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Yes, that's right. Taobao and alibaba are clever sites for scammers. but they also house good sellers like gan.
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Funny you mention this. The Stiga Inspira Hybrid Carbon I got recently is exactly that and works great with Mantra Pro H on the back hand. I am loving it except for the fact I already put a dent on the edge with it.
Is the handle DHS level coarse or just regular Stiga coarse?
Also how heavy is your blade?
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I don't know where the Inspira Plus is made to be honest. Doesn't have the handmade in Sweden logo so I assume also not in Sweden, but the top koto ply is soooo thin that I doubt it's South Korean. Maybe it's Chinese made...
Also the ALC they use is blue-black and not the green-black.
Well it's more coarse than W968 also it's more fat. The front part of the handle is more fat than W968 the back part might be similar.
89g and I forgot to mention I measured 1450hz on bounce test so also very much like Viscaria. Just feels and sounds totally different.
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Oh wow, thanks! I put my box into Wechat translate too now and indeed it says Guangdong.
Well props to whoever is making them, I wonder if only ~30% of the blades is actually good.
Mine is just sooooooo nice...
Is this your box? Did you try it?
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I played it like 2 weeks now, got mine around 11/20, my blade 90G pretty nice. Really like it.
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yea, i heard all this qc stuff, but its probably internet bs, like a few youtubers got ahold of some janky protypes or something. I got ome from prott (90 grans) and its sweet, quality is fine on mine.
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Here's Gan's wechat
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he has a video somewhere on his yt channel titled contact information.
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Just some follow-up as I have been using it more. Today I used it in an official game and I played probably the best for months. Still using the same Mantra Pro M and Mantra Pro XH that my GF got me on taobao for 160RMB each in Aug. Love the rubbers. GF too.
I think my BH has improved quite a bit since I first tried the blade. Before I used the Joola Zhou Qihao Super ALC blade which is a Super Viscaria made in Korea with a better handle. The ZQ SALC 90 is much much harder, and passively faster too.
I'm a lefty, so I do use a lot of passive blocking on my BH side, well... recently a lot of punch too since it's easy and super efficient. I was used to the ZQ SALC hardness and speed on BH side and I did punch or block a lot of balls on top of the net (just clipping the white part) with the Wang Manyu blade in the beginning. I probably still do some that annoy me to no end but way fewer mistakes after a week.
The Mantra Pro rubbers are exceptionally good for flat-hit and lifting the ball. I am not sure what is the agreed term for this. Basically, you hit the ball but instead of pulling or brushing you just lift it during the forward hit. So your racket angle is almost vertical. Hit and carry-upwards? HCU! I kinda just call it slapping the ball on the ass.
With harder blades like Viscaria and Super Viscaria this doesn't work so well since the blade will drop the ball. I don't get why, but they do. Butterfly is most guilty, but the Korean manufacturer's blades and Yinhe does it too. ZQ SALC, Xiom Ice Cream, Joola Trinity... I feel they are too hard, I had more success when I used an excessive amount of glue on the rubbers, 6-7 layers which made the whole paddle softer. (and a lot heavier) If you use hard rubbers the effect is amplified, H3, Mantra Pro XH, Big Dipper etc. On the other hand, these very hard blades become slow if you hit hard. I guess they are not elastic, more like plastic, and they don't eat the ball and catapult it out, just deflect it. So I need to brush upwards too when I do my driving. If I don't do it the ball falls. If I brush too much or my racket angle is off I hit the net either since my racket was too closed or I brushed too much and the ball doesn't go past the net it falls short.
So with the Wang Manyu blade I feel like I now understand how I can dig into the blade and have the blade eat the ball then spring it out. I can really swing forward which makes my BH (and FH contact) easier and safer, and I don't need to lift so much since the Mantra Pro is good at flat hitting. I don't need to use more layers of glue, my racket is lighter etc etc, and we can carry the train of thought.
I now just leave the racket open on BH side and just adjust my starting BH position depending on the ball's spin.
If the ball has underspin and I'm opening up I just lower my racket a little so my movement is inherently upward, but I don't change the racket angle. For follow up I just don't lower my hand so I don't swing upward. If the ball is higher or has topspin? Flat punch the shit out of it.
So in the end the blade works very well with Mantra Pro M on BH side.
Ps: The core of the blade kind of feels like balsa. I know it is kiri, but I am used to Viscaria kiri cores and this blade is nothing like it. It feels more like balsa core. But my experience with balsa blades is that they don't make much spin. But this is not the case with this blade, it makes similar if not a bit better spin than Viscaria.
Pss: FH flicks!!! Mantra Pro XH FH flicks with this blade feel really penetrating. I have been looking at some Chengdu team matches, the speed and ferocity it makes remind me of Harimoto FH flick.
My opponents were looking back at me in disbelief when going for the ball after I done a few.
Psss: Serves feel a lot different too with this blade. More wood feel. Same with pushes or stops over the table.
Pssss: I wonder if I will like the Cybershape Truls edition (with the weighting stuff) as much when I finally receive it. Will use the same rubbers on that too just new.
I think my BH has improved quite a bit since I first tried the blade. Before I used the Joola Zhou Qihao Super ALC blade which is a Super Viscaria made in Korea with a better handle. The ZQ SALC 90 is much much harder, and passively faster too.
I'm a lefty, so I do use a lot of passive blocking on my BH side, well... recently a lot of punch too since it's easy and super efficient. I was used to the ZQ SALC hardness and speed on BH side and I did punch or block a lot of balls on top of the net (just clipping the white part) with the Wang Manyu blade in the beginning. I probably still do some that annoy me to no end but way fewer mistakes after a week.
The Mantra Pro rubbers are exceptionally good for flat-hit and lifting the ball. I am not sure what is the agreed term for this. Basically, you hit the ball but instead of pulling or brushing you just lift it during the forward hit. So your racket angle is almost vertical. Hit and carry-upwards? HCU! I kinda just call it slapping the ball on the ass.
With harder blades like Viscaria and Super Viscaria this doesn't work so well since the blade will drop the ball. I don't get why, but they do. Butterfly is most guilty, but the Korean manufacturer's blades and Yinhe does it too. ZQ SALC, Xiom Ice Cream, Joola Trinity... I feel they are too hard, I had more success when I used an excessive amount of glue on the rubbers, 6-7 layers which made the whole paddle softer. (and a lot heavier) If you use hard rubbers the effect is amplified, H3, Mantra Pro XH, Big Dipper etc. On the other hand, these very hard blades become slow if you hit hard. I guess they are not elastic, more like plastic, and they don't eat the ball and catapult it out, just deflect it. So I need to brush upwards too when I do my driving. If I don't do it the ball falls. If I brush too much or my racket angle is off I hit the net either since my racket was too closed or I brushed too much and the ball doesn't go past the net it falls short.
So with the Wang Manyu blade I feel like I now understand how I can dig into the blade and have the blade eat the ball then spring it out. I can really swing forward which makes my BH (and FH contact) easier and safer, and I don't need to lift so much since the Mantra Pro is good at flat hitting. I don't need to use more layers of glue, my racket is lighter etc etc, and we can carry the train of thought.
I now just leave the racket open on BH side and just adjust my starting BH position depending on the ball's spin.
If the ball has underspin and I'm opening up I just lower my racket a little so my movement is inherently upward, but I don't change the racket angle. For follow up I just don't lower my hand so I don't swing upward. If the ball is higher or has topspin? Flat punch the shit out of it.
So in the end the blade works very well with Mantra Pro M on BH side.
Ps: The core of the blade kind of feels like balsa. I know it is kiri, but I am used to Viscaria kiri cores and this blade is nothing like it. It feels more like balsa core. But my experience with balsa blades is that they don't make much spin. But this is not the case with this blade, it makes similar if not a bit better spin than Viscaria.
Pss: FH flicks!!! Mantra Pro XH FH flicks with this blade feel really penetrating. I have been looking at some Chengdu team matches, the speed and ferocity it makes remind me of Harimoto FH flick.
My opponents were looking back at me in disbelief when going for the ball after I done a few.
Psss: Serves feel a lot different too with this blade. More wood feel. Same with pushes or stops over the table.
Pssss: I wonder if I will like the Cybershape Truls edition (with the weighting stuff) as much when I finally receive it. Will use the same rubbers on that too just new.
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