OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I bought a Carbonado to repair, top veneer and "textreme" layer was peeling off.
Upon arrival (it was supposed to be a 45, but a 145 arrived), it appears to be fake.
I feel it is hard to determine fake for Stiga, because there are a lot of genuine variations in Stiga production process.
Let's have a look, compared to another 145.

Evidence:
1. Handle width thinner
2. Black handle insert - no embossing (flat) (I believe there were factory variations of this insert @ Stiga)
3. Space between "MASTER" and top of handle, bigger gap.
4. End handle lens - flat and rough looking - this is the key give-away for me.

I have seen some others for sale, looking like this, and the seller explained that it was "rough from years of use", despite the rest of that blade looking new.
The question is: why go to the trouble of making a fake, and then have an obviously terrible looking lens?
Perhaps its the hardest part to fake, which they molded from an original.

There are also some slight variations in the darkness of the font printed, but hard to know if this is natural variation or not.

Anyone want to chime in on whether this checks out with natural "Stiga quality" variation?
The rest of the blade looks decent, apart from the fact the entire top two layers are peeling BAD. 91grams

Annoying: I removed the rubber on my other 145 to compare, and a small amount of wood tore

Hard to tell indeed!

I know many of the Stiga blades really do need sealing before gluing the rubbers, or the fibres will peel off when you remove the rubber. I think many have very thin Limba or Koto outer plies, which are just more prone to damage from peeling of the rubbers. I really wish they'd just seal all the blades from the factory.

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If that wear on the lens is consistent with wear such a blade would experience, then it may not be a fake. It's possible they wear flat like that (although the blues are not the same).

The seller didn't reveal the lens looked like that during the sale.

I saw another lens like that, and the blade was excellent condition, not even a ding. And the seller was saying the lens was worn from use.

I am not sure it is fake, but in gathering evidence I built an image of other "worn" carbonados to compare. You can see the suspect in question is a different colour, being slightly more purple than blue, in addition to being flat.

Also attached comparison of the carbonado logo, which is usually embossed (though I have a feeling Stiga made some flat)

Attached some images of the other one that I found.
Notice, the flat looking, poorly painted lens logo (it also looks not centred, but this could be optical illusion). Also, the gap between the handle and MASTER is also same as the version I bought.

I emailed Stiga. Kindly, they swiftly replied: "looks very suspicious". But they said they need to see it in real life to confirm.

Good to hear that they responded.

Perhaps the seller can provide more information?

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

haha, if only.

Seller became belligerent as soon as I mentioned that I thought it might be fake.

After the platform ruled in my favour, they briefly begged me to carefully return it. But soon after said that it is a better idea for me to keep it, as "we both know" that they will instigate complaints against me if I return it to them.
In the face of that bullying the only reasonable option is for me to return it (carefully, of course).

Perhaps others can share light on the blade's authenticity. Otherwise, it will remain a mystery.

TeXtreme
Another interesting thing I noticed - whenever Stiga did promo for TeXtreme, it is always shown as having a visible weave, like ALC but black and black. But the Textreme of this blade *appears* as a single sheet. I am not saying this indicates it is fake, as I think that's just what TeXtreme looks like.
Another thing is that the textreme layer is brittle, and cracks along with the woodgrain, which I wouldn't expect if it was a 'weave'.

This blade, because it was peeling, gives a really good view of the TeXtreme layer.