OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Has anyone tried out the Galaxy Pluto yet? I'm especially curious what it's 1.3. mm sponge is like.

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Without opponent, no match.

I'm afraid I have not tried these pips, and I would not be able to do a very good review of short pips anyway...

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Maybe we should ask Andrew. I have thought about ordering one myself, but I really have doubts about a 1.3. mm pips out rubber that is advertized as both fast and spinny. It seems to me something has to be sacrificed to achieve a combination like that, and my guess is it is control. Then again, you wouldn't have it in stock if it were no good.

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Without opponent, no match.

The description of the rubber is always the same, no matter what sponge thickness was chosen. We chose the 1.3mm because it's in the middle of the range of sponge thicknesses available. You're right it's probably not that fast with a thinner sponge, but should offer more control.

I don't know if the pluto is a good pips rubber, but considering how good the 955 pips rubber is, I thought Pluto is worth stocking...

Hopefully someone here (Andrew) can offer some info...

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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

Nope, I haven't tried any of the Galaxy pips besides the 955 which convinced me (yet again) that I'm not a long pips user. I am tempted to try the Pluto and Uranus as I generally like the Chinese pips, but I'll probably wait uuntil I see other things I "need" due to International shipping being a bit high for a couple sheets of rubber.

The big issue for me is the sponge as that is highly variable. If you can get a good soft sponge, like on the 889-2 I got from Alex or the Dawei 388 B I got from Cole that makes the rubber much more usable. If the sponge is medium or harder I tend not to like it, especially if it is 2 mm or thicker as I lose feel and my blade is fast and hard enough.

From the descriptions and the pictures which Alex posted it looks like the Uranus has wide, spinny short pips like 889-2 or 802-40, while the Pluto has taller, narrower pips more like 889 or 799, so should be more for flat hitters and blockers with more of a knuckle effect on blocks and better ability to hit through spin, but less to generate spin.

I've got a sheet of Double Happiness C7 and that is a pretty hard medium pip with rough tops and a nice soft 1 mm blue sponge. I like it for blocking with to give my teammates practice against something approaching long pips that I can still control. The Pluto might be similar to the C7 but a bit faster with the 1.3 mm sponge.

I also use 755 Faster and Dr. Evil for the purpose of helping others train, but as I learned to loop with inverted I tend to prefer the spinnier short pips. I should at some point use the less spinny short pips to rid myself of some bad habits from using inverted (like trying to loop when I should roll) that I can still get away with using my very spinny Joola Tango Ultra.

-- Andrew

Hmm... I might buy then. Not that I'll be playing with short pips but just to say I have that very rare thing in short pips - a short pip that Andrew hasn't tried!

I'll definitely be jealous and then based on your review I then may have to stretch the budget to fit a sheet, along with Uranus and Sharping.

Shipping is really quite reasonable at $4 considering how far it has to go to get to me.

Alex, are you sure you're not losing money shipping internationally?

-- Andrew

Yes I think she IS losing money for international shipping... depending on the number of rubbers bought...special deal she has...

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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

I got sheets of Galxy Pluto (1.3mm) and Galaxy Uranus (2.0 mm) both in red. Pluto has soft unhardened pips like Joola Tango Ultra or 799 while Uranus has harder pips like 802. Sponge is fairly soft for both,

I'm treating them wih Ecolo Expander II now, hope to try them on Friday.

-- Andrew

Cool, I look forwards to it!

I never noticed the difference in the hardness of the pips... I must look more closely at these short pips...

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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

That's why I'm the expert I guess

I really like the feel of the Pluto, might work well for me.

-- Andrew

Hah hah... yep you're the king of pips love those new emotions

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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

Only the short ones

I played yesterday with the Galaxy Pluto (red 1.3 mm) on my penhold forehand and it was quite interesting.

The pips are soft, slightly longer than 802 and slightly wider than 799. Sponge is fairly soft but dense, I used 1 treatment of Ecolo Expander II left on 18 hours and the rubber domed pretty ferociously, due to the thin sponge.

Rubber is not quite as light as my usual Joola Tango Ultra due to the denser sponge. Applied to blade with regular glue, tried with Double Happiness Wind Carbon and Sunflex Wang Liqin double carbon blade.

The rubber could spin some but that was not its forte. I could continue spin but not reverse spin which required me to play a purer short pips black and smash game. What it is very good at is rolling low balls and I could jam my partner by rolling back to his middle and also wide.

The thin sponge and less spinny surface meant I could block back loops over and over and they came back flat or even with a bit of underspin. The less spinny surface made it good for flips but pushes tended to pop up as the rubber doesn't cancel the spin but lets it continue.

On a fast blade the power seemed the same as my usual rubber. Throw angle is quite low, so it's best used on a higher throw blade.

Usually I am even with my partner, but last night this rubber forced me to play more patiently and I beat him 5 out of 6 games by blocking and forcing mistakes rather than by attacking, except for high balls.

I think this would be a good rubber for someone who played with short pips on one side and wanted better control and blocking or someone who played with long pips and wanted more attacking possibilities. it would give pretty sharp contrast with an inverted rubber as balls are so flat.

I've also got a sheet of Galaxy Uranus but I need to pair it with the right blade before I test it. More to come.

-- Andrew

My two sons and I tried out the Pluto 1.3 as well (on a penholder frame: Galaxy 961) today. I agree with Andrew that it is low-throw; it plays very rectilinear. Speed and spin are medium, but there is an interesting quality to the speed: this rubber seems to have very low catapult, that is, it will react with low speed at touch shots and with fairly high speed at kills. Also, it is capable of generating considerable backspin (chops). Andrew mentioned the pips are fairly long for SP and not close together; in fact, they are wider apart than e.g. the pips in a Friendship 802-1 or 799-1 sheet. Although they are checkered, they are pretty much insensitive to spin (smooth-like), but they are so soft that they bend when you hit hard and then they really can generate spin (edges/sides must be grippy!). So playing small-topspin (topspin generated in an upward but rather flat, very short, very fast stroke) can be done very, very well with this rubber. Spin reversal is non-existent in this rubber, but hitting a dead ball (knuckle ball, no-spin) is very easy! All in all it seems to have the exactly right characteristics for a classic single-sided pips-out penholder style of play. I was much impressed with this rubber and I definitely prefer it to other classics, such as the Friendship 802 or 799. It is with this 1.3 mm sponge defenitely NOT an SP for all-out attackers, but my guess is that on a 1.5 or 1.7 sponge it would be much faster without sacrificing too much control. On a thinner sponge it might also be an alternative to LP defenders.

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Without opponent, no match.