Yinhe J-1

Hello, since there are so many bad reviews of this blade, i want to share my take on it. One reason for this big difference between all reviews could be that there are different versions of this blade. I am referring to the CS short handle penhold version. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969977592.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.3c894c4dbDIVPH This blade, if you pair it with the right rubbers is amazing in many aspects. I have tested it with very hard chinese style rubbers like for FH: Nittaku Hurricane Pro III Turbo Blue, H3 Nat Blue sponge and Donic BlueGrip C1. The result is quite amazing and if i have to choose between this 3 FH rubbers No.1 would be Donic, No.2 Nittaku Hurricane and No.3 would be H3 Blue Sponge Nat. When playing with theese rubbers on FH, speed is very slow when you are playing soft and when using more power, the speed is comparable with my fastest carbon super Zlc Butterfly blade Jun Mizutani. The difference is that with that expensive Butterfly blade, i dont have the same feeling and control in the soft touch play. So this Galaxy J-1 blade has so many gears and a feeling/control that only a 1 ply blade can offer - its very unique. Also for the BH side i strongly recommend hard to very hard Chinese tacky rubbers like H3 style. It is a fantastic combination with this extreme soft and flexy blade, to pair it with modern Chinese tacky hard rubbers. I have been going thru 80-90 different rubbers, ESN rubbers like T05, Dignics 80 and 09C, all DHS rubbers and many many more. I have at least been thru 50 different blades from Stiga, Butterfly and during the last year i have been testing 1 ply blades with Hinoki, Red Cedar, Yellow Cedar and now also Ayous wood. And Ayous is the best for me, the best combination of worlds.. High speed when you want it, slow soft speed when you want it and the control/feeling is among the best i have ever experienced. And the price is right now USD 24 and i have just orederd 1 more of this master piece. Thank you :-) BC

Bulky blade. It's not that bad for the price, but... save some more money an get a hinoki blade instead, not this piece of apple box with some cork glued to it.

It's a cheap blade. it has a medium-low speed for jpen, strange performance, very inconsistent. It has a very small sweet spot it becomes very difficult to play with this. In general, I don't recommend it.

Bought it to try, since the price is really low. If you really want to try Jpen, please buy a one ply hinoki. Today there are cheap Chinese hinoki options. If you buy this blade, you will think Jpen is not fun and will quickly go to shakehand. This blade is bulky, inconsistent, too slow and have very little feeling. Many people think this blade is good for a beginner, because it is slow. They are wrong. It is slow, but has no ball feeling. Looks like you are playing with a brick. If you want it slower, buy a thinner hinoki, but don't buy this. Go with a hinoki blade and thank me later. By the way, it is not lighter than Hinoki. It is 2 grams heavier than my Hibi-O and 2 grams lighter than my Cypress G-Max.

Wonderful feeling blade. Mine has a long flared large sized flared handle with fits beautifully in my extra large hands. Heavy weapon that will need you to adjust your strokes if you are used to thin 5ply blades. Unless you have wrists of steel forget wristy flicks. If you are a die hard looper you would find this unwieldy and your triceps will scream in pain. Great feeling blade with soft touch and great dwell time. Very different feel to hinoki so this is not a cheap alternative but a blade with its own distinctive character. It is lighter in comparison with non Japanese hinoki variants.