PP Moby Kiso Hinoki

Eureka! I have found a hidden treasure. I owe a Darker Speed 90 from Ooak bought few years ago. I keep on looking for the expensive Darker Speed 90 Blade alternatives. I bought and tried the affordable Sanwei H10, Nittaku Myabi, and many fake but cheaper Kiso Hinoki blades from somewhere else. And earlier this year, I finally bought and try this PP Moby Kiso Hinoki from Xu Laoshi in Taiwan. I am a loyal revspin readers. I read so many articles and reviews in revspin.net. I leant a lot from those seniors and pingpong experts who have contributes so many valuable reviews. I have played pingpong for over 45 years. Although lately I have not practicing as frequent as before, but I am still a pingpong lover. Taiwan PP Moby 1-Ply (350 years old) Kiso Hinoki feels and sounds absolutely like, if not better than, 9mm - 10mm Darker Speed 90. I have tried with medium hardness rubbers like Joola Rhyzm-P, DHS GoldArc8, Yasaka Valmo, Xiom Vega Tour, Andro Rasanter R47, etc. My conclusion is 2 words: Perfect blade ! Taiwan PP (mr. Xu) is one of the original Butterfly OEM manufacturer in Taiwan for more than 35 years or so, until Butterfly moved its manufacturing based to mainland China. So don’t be suspicious and curious how this company have the rare Kiso Hinoki. One thing for sure, they owe and still have some stocks for the genuine centuries old Kiso Hinoki. Legally of course. Rest assured. But don’t expect the stock will last for years and years. Here are the links: http://ww3.ping-pong.tw , http://ww3.ping-pong.tw/product_info.php?cPath=24_173&products_id=5398 , http://ww3.ping-pong.tw/index.php?cPath=24_173 , http://www.ilpp.com.tw/article.php . Thanks guys.

Fantastic blade, ball explodes off the racket. Great control, good dwell time, allows great spin generation. Blocks / Flat hitting is easy. Simply a great feeling with the 1-ply blade.

I use the FL grip. The racket is of high quality and feels good when playing. I enjoy it. It is worth introducing to all friends who love Kiso Hinoki. http://ww3.ping-pong.tw/product_info.php?cPath=24_173&products_id=5471

Comparing to carbon fiber blades, this racket is just as fast, but more flexible so one can do loops better (more dwell time and medium throw), and have a lot more control, especially for the short game. It seems more forgiving but is very linear (lots of gears), so for low to medium impacts you get slower balls (than composite blades). Personally, I find the smashes are just as fast as before, and the loops seem spinier but landing much more frequently and consistently where I intended. My over the table BH flicks on backspin balls seem much improved. I can actually feel the ball dwelling on the racket before shooting over. My doubles partner feels the biggest improvement. He used to play with a Stiga Carbonado 245 with Stiga Mantra H max both sides. With that blade the ball speed is really fast, but nearly always with a flat trajectory, every topspin comes across like a smash. Now with the PP Moby blade and the same rubbers, using the same strokes, he is getting a nice arc with good topspin, with about the same speed. Moreover, his backhand loop seems instantly much improved. The above playing characteristics probably can be said for most genuine kiso hinoki blades. What is special about the PP Moby blade is its value, i.e., cost vs. built quality. Pro Pro used to make OEM rackets for Butterfly, until BFY moved their manufacturing to China. The racket is very well made, the built quality being on par with a Butterfly blade, but the blade only cost arond US$130, a far cry from the $350 for a Darker Speed 90. Being a former BTY OEM factory is also why they still have a supply of genuine kiso hinoki left, but no telling how much longer that supply would last.