OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Got a new sheet of Dr. Evil and the base sheet doesn't seem as thick. Is this just a bad batch, or did Friendship change the specs?

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

I suspect it's simply a quality control issue.... I've noticed significant changes with some other 729 sheets as well, whereas others seem always consistant.

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Well, we know that there are counterfiets of BTY Tenergy rubbers, so why not counterfiets of Friendship products ?

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I got it from a reliable vendor, so I'm pretty sure it's real. I guess you never know.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Compared the original version of Dr. Evil to the apparent new version and there is a big difference in the thickness of the basesheet. The new version is quite flimsy. An uncut sheet of the robust old version weighs 23 grams, while an uncut sheet of the new version weighs 19 grams. If the pips are the same, that means the base sheet is about 20% less weight or thinner. Not sure what the difference would be in playability, but I'm leery about buying more if this is a permanent change and not just a bad batch.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Yes that's too big a difference. The thick base-sheet made it real easy to handle and glue too.

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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

Why? Easy: money.

The makers of fake rubbers have the cost of rubber production and distribution, while the genuine makers have the additional cost of marketing. The production cost for a fake is probably similar - and distribution cost is exactly the same - regardless of which rubber you are faking. It is quite possible that the actual production cost of some genuine rubbers are lower than for the fakes (because of larger batches etc. giving more efficient production).

A quick check indicates that the most expensive regular Friendship rubber is cheaper than the cheapest Butterfly rubber. If the customer is looking for a bargain, he is most likely looking for a Butterfly bargain (or perhaps Joola, Xiom, Donic, etc. Most Friendship rubbers are a bargain from the outset ).

So if you make fakes of expensive rubbers (instead of the "budget friendly" varieties), you make more money from each sheet (because they command a higher price), and you sell more sheets (because a bargain is more interesting when the common price is high).

Of course there is the risk of being caught. I guess the "high profile" makers (Butterfly et.al.) will be more aggressive in pursuing a case than those with a more modest approach to marketing. That may be the only reason for the fakers to steer clear of Butterfly...

People are still complaining about the black Dr. Evil being thin and bouncy compared to the old, thick slow version. The red color is still good. The rubbers are very different now.

Has anybody recently bought any Dr. Evil that is the thick and slow original version?

Haggisv, looks like you reordered Dr. Evil.

Is your latest stock in black the thick, original kind, or the thin, lousy overly bouncy version?

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Maybe you should have bought it from Valor Table Tennis... I think I still have the original formulation.

CHEERS!

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Valor Champion (Hardbat)
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Valor Kuruxu (Regular TT)
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I can't tell as I can't quite remember how thick the original was. Without taking it out of the packet I would guess the basesheet is about 0.5mm thick. These came in Sept '12.

EDIT: I just took one out of the packet, and the basesheet does feel quite thick, much thicker than a LP. The uncut weight is about 25g.

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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

If your black sheet is exactly like the red sheet, you'll sell a ton of them in the USA. Cole and zeropong have been selling this absolute garbage really thin black sheet for months. All Dr. Evil users are worried they'll never be able to get a good black sheet again. You need to get the word out that good black Dr. Evil still exists.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

There were some big quality control problems with Dr. Evil about a year ago. I need to get some more, but have the issues been resolved with the black sheet which was too thin and bouncy? I only want the thick, slow version.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

There's a code on boxes of table tennis balls that tells you when they've been made. Is there an equivalent code for table tennis rubbers? If not, how ill you know if a sheet of rubber is newly produced or one that's been lying about in a sellers stockroom for years?

Just following up on this. I took a chance and bought a few sheets from Presports.com for $6.70 each. Got 'em two days later by FedEx no less, and yes they're the thick, good kind. Very happy.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

The stuff I bought from ZeroPong at the Nationals is back to normal as well.

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Jay Turberville
http://www.jayandwanda.com
Hardbat: Nittaku Resist & Dr. Evil