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And we probably won't care what factory they came from if the balls are good.

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Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

Yes, I could careless about where/how as long as they're good and comparatively cheap.

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instagram: rokphishtt

My experience of dealing with the Chinese is how cheap can you make it. A supplier that I dealt with in 2015 used 7 different factories making very similar products. This year another supplier is using 3 factories - 2 in the same industrial zone and one 30 mins drive away. This has caused headaches in delivering packaging not to mention the additional costs of having inspections done. It is common place for a supplier to state that they use a particular factory and then when they are about to schedule production outsource it to another factory.
My mechanic who runs a sizeable garage repairing Fiat cars replaced his front suspension on his Audi & within 3 months some new major component went. He was flabbergasted that he had to replace it again despite the part being new. At least with TT balls the consequences of a ball that does not play right or last long enought are not as far reaching. After my experience with the last batch of NP 40+ I'm hesitant about buying them again. If a brand flaunts themselves as premium they'll have to put some serious effort into quality assurance / control so that their customers keep coming back. If Yinhe prove themselves to making a good ball - will they continue to make a good one or will we end up in that spin cycle all over again ?

I don't recall Ssandy saying anything about the Minkow plant, though I might've missed that. It was Igor who brought it up. He implied that Ssandy was some sort of impostor or wannabe and not really connected with XSF. Time to do a search....

I do have one of those neat cardboard tubes (and the very early balls that came in it).

Iskandar

Ah...

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=27571&hilit=sssandy&start=15#p298465

I guess we won't know... but I wish I did... The Kingnik 3 star balls are quite good, for what it's worth.

Turns out sssandy's still around, even though he/she hasn't been posting for a while. I look forward to reading more.

Iskandar

That was a very odd post, wasn't it?

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Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

I bought a couple of dozen of these for my tournament back in April. The person I bought them from told me they came from the same factory as the XSF balls, near Shanghai, and that she'd visited the factory.

I've found them to be very good. They play just like the XSF ones, in my view, but of the ones I've seen (small sample size of course) I've not had any duds (where the ball isn't perfectly round).

I'll definitely get them again.

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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Just to clarify, are these the new ones in the red packaging, or the original ones in the blue packaging?

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The blue ones. Blue package. Blue writing on the ball.


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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

"These" being the older "blue box" Yinhes? If the factory is in/near Shanghai this would be the Minkow factory, I guess... which muddies the waters even more. Maybe the Minkow facory (in Shanghai) IS the factory where all these balls are being made, while the original R&D (and pilot plant) was in Guangzhou?

Iskandar

This whole issue (date of ball manufacture, which factory, what level of QC etc) would not arise if the specifications of the plastic ball were more precise *and enforced*.

We almost do not have this whole issue with celluloid, and cannot remember it occurring with the transition from 38mm to 40mm.

What comeback is there if a box of 3 star balls with an unacceptable number of them:

not round?
not balanced?
not bouncing?
not lasting?

As far as I can tell, the buck stops with the ITTF given that they approve of balls even if they are OEMed and rebadged.

So where are the sanctions imposed on the ball producers or rebadgers? I have not heard of any ball approvals being rescinded.

</rant>
Disclaimer: I have still only had a 15-20 minute hit with a Stag seamless ball XGAF (June 2015) and did not like it. Also still waiting for orange ones.

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

I don't recall there being QC problems with the move to the 40mm ball but I do recall a HUGE amount of stink about people "not liking" them. Most of this subsided after the balls had actually been in use for a while, but the level of acrimony online far exceeded anything I've seen with the plastic ball. I think the current complaints have far more to do with differences between the new balls and the old rather problems with roundness or (inconsistent) bounce. The one major problem encountered seems to be durability, and this seems to be a weakness of the current DHS and Double Fish seamed balls.

Iskandar

Usually early adopters pay the price...

Found this today.

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instagram: rokphishtt

QC? This says something - the balls are stamped BEFORE QC, rejects are.. well, rejected (and not sold as one star balls).

Iskandar

Just came across this:



Four stars, no less. Wonder who "ITTA" is.. You can buy them here:

http://playground.epicsports.com/prod/2 ... -ball.html

Wow.. they have orange "seamless" balls here:

http://playground.epicsports.com/prod/7 ... s-box.html

Oh wait, those are yellow. The orange ones are here..

http://playground.epicsports.com/prod/7 ... s-box.html



(I wonder if posting the photos here constitutes "unauthorized use"... )

Iskandar