OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Greetings,
I bought a couple of Palio inverted rubbers (HK1997 and AK47) and both of them have the make/model and ITTF logo on them but no LARC number. I did notice that they are both in the LARC without assigned numbers (Palio has a supplier number but many rubber models do not have a number). Could someone knowledgeable in the matter clarify how legality of the rubbers will be determined in a tournament (is it enough to be listed in the LARC?) and if lack of a number can cause any issues while participating?

Thanks!

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
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Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

They're legal. The numbering scheme was introduced several years ago, exactly when I've not looked up. I'll bet it was around 9-10 years ago (i.e. 2009 or so) when Tenergy 05 first appeared (that, by the way, is 14-001, so it was the first Butterfly rubber to receive a number, and the numbering system could not have been introduced after Tenergy 05 was introduced). At the time there were already hundreds of different rubbers on the market - at least 35-40 different ones sold by Butterfly alone. None of these rubbers had numbers, obviously, and pretty much none of them have numbers today. Adding a number to an old rubber would require re-registration, and the making of new molds for the topsheets - a few companies HAVE made steps towards this, Reactor and DHS being a couple of them. If you look on AliExpress, you'll find older sheets of Corbor or Tornado without the numbers, and newer sheets with the numbers. The older sheets are technically "illegal" now, since the non-number versions were removed from the LARC a short while ago. Meanwhile you'll notice that Hurricane 2 and 3 are both listed twice - once with a number, once without. This means the old sheets without the numbers are still legal to use (even though they probably haven't been around for years). AK47 and HK1997 are both "old rubbers", and use old topsheets with no numbers.

Iskandar

Iskandar,
Thank you very much for the detailed reply! I appreciate it a lot since, as a newer player, it helps me understand the nuances of the sport.

LTT

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
---------
Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

By the way, my 2 x Thibar Super Defense 40 have no mumbers,..... and they are like brand new ,....

BEWARE OF THE OBSOLETE RUBBERs
https://web.archive.org/web/20080913080 ... _no_29.pdf

1. ITTF LARC #29 dated April 2008 is when the Numerical Codes on Rubbers were introduced.
2. Bear in mind, standard shelf time for rubber products is counted to be 5 years under a proper storage condition. The older products will turn into a trashy stuff, for rubber natural degradation.

Igor's points 1 and 2 are correct. The ITTF numbers were introduced some years ago. And rubbers do have a shelf life. However, it is irrelevant - you can't put the two statements together, because that rubber that is listed in the LARC without a number could have come out of the factory last week. Companies can continue to manufacture new rubber sheets with the old topsheet molds without the numbers as long as they keep paying the renewal fees every year. Igor seems to want to make you believe that all rubbers without numbers are old stock. This is false.

Iskandar

Totally agree..... The Thibar SD40 I passed on to my dear friend Geodor have ZERO numbers on the top sheet.Thibar SD 40 is well known and it has been paying the fees over the last years.

GOOD reasoning ,ISK!!!

Or suspect reasoning on the part of Igor.. But that's usual. My guess of 2009 was pretty spot on.

Iskandar

CONTRA CATALOGUE AS A CHOICE REFERENCE.
Be sure you buy a fresh batch of rubber product. The newest Butterfly design of the dustcover, colourful circles, is the best reference to a fresh product.
I do have a large collection of CONTRA printed catalogues from the year 1999 to the present day. Thus can I tell the older products from the newer ones.

/Be happy/

Hint: If you ever find a sheet of Butterfly Tempest, it's definitely OLD OLD stock..

Iskandar