I will spend the next week answering this question and let you know.

The blade is definitely a high quality ALC blade.  I don't use ALC blades usually so I really can't compare it to Timo Boll ALC.  The ST handle I am using is different from the Timo Boll ALC though and a bit thinner than I would prefer  (with rubbers, the blade is head heavy).  The one I got weighs 89g.  The head is 161mm by 151mm.  It's about 6mm thick.  It's similar to a Timo Boll ALC I think with the main difference being that a Koto outer ply is replaced by an Anegre outer ply.  Anegre is harder than I would usually like, but it is an outer ply that I have used on the Yasaka Extra and Grubba blades so I have no problem with it unlike Koto, which I almost feel allergic to even when I don't play that badly with it.

I put on my spare Adidas P7 rubbers and took it to the club.  Immediately, I could see the advantage of this blade over my usual wood blades - this is a clear OFF blade, no compromises.  It felt so good that I wanted to play with it.  Against my better judgement, I moved my Tenergy 05 sheets onto it.  I will be playing competitive matches with it.  I went 4-3 today in matches I played with it.  Given I was coming from ALL+/OFF- blades, my control suffered on defensive and offensive shots, but it was much easier to put the ball by people with sheer speed.

One of my clubmates plays with a Timo Boll ALC FL with T05 and T80.  I will exchange blades with him and loop before making more detailed conclusions.  I was impressed by the looping quality, but again, it makes the most sense to compare this with the ALC Butterfly blades before closing this review out.

Alas, no one in my club has a Timo Boll ALC.  The juniors use Timo Boll ZLCs (a different and excellent blade in its own right).  One of my club mates does have a Timo Boll Spirit with Tenergy 05 on both sides.  I tried it - it was lighter than my blade and seemed faster - not sure whether it was because it was easier to swing or just faster.  The owner felt it was faster than my blade too,  So maybe my blade is really an OFF-/OFF blade with a power kick on some harder strokes.  That would give the Loop King name better context.

I like the blade a lot.  It fits my looping focused style very well and is now my main blade.  That said, it was heavier on the head with Tenergy 05 than a Timo Boll Spirit and that balance might not sit well with some people.  The blade might also be too slow for lovers of the Timo Boll Spirit/ALC blades.  That said, if you like to play heavy topspins with good placement and control, this is a blade for you.

Let the party begin....whoop whoop....sorry getting too excited...

And asifgunz, I've PM'd you!

Thanks NL...

Better than Butterfly....Thats a high standard. Now waiting if it plays better than the Timo.

Pics, youtube and more thoughts are appreciated. I have some EJ issues....

I added the video view of the blade though.

Well, I believe Double Day do have a TB ALC competitor/clone.  So it's really not about beating it.  It's just more about blade quality and seeing how they are different.

Maybe someone can get some history/background info of Double Day. 

Although the specific companies they made blades for is confidential, let's just say that when they stopped being an exclusive OEM for a particular brand, that brand started putting silver tags on the bottoms of their handles instead of the black ones to signify the change in partnership and manufacturing.

TT collectors will probably understand what I mean by "black tag."

Nice...so are you saying these blades will be in the black tag quality. How did you like your penhold with the zlc/alc combo?

Well they aren't in the business of making clones like Yinhe and other Chinese brands.  They are a Taiwanese brand, with ethics and quality more in line with Japan.

The DD gear I have are their own take on blades.  They also produce high quality 1-ply blades, using kiso hinoki and meniki among other cypress woods, but I did not bring back any samples of those with me.

I am currently testing the ZLC/ALC terminator and the ALC winner (koto/alc).  NextLevel is reviewing the third blade of the trio, the ALC loop king.  I will have my own impressions of the other blades after I spend more time with them.

If anyone else is interested in trying a new DD blade at discount, please PM me, as I am soon to be the exclusive distributor of Double Day in North America.  I am trying to get an idea of the market interest and impressions of the blades before I begin moving larger volumes to North America!

Schen,

If you go to the page for the Winner in the links that fatt provided, and you try to translate the page to English, you get a style for the winner called "Attack".  This makes sense.

If you go to the page for the Loop King and try the same translation, the same thing says "flurry", which may be "hurricane" for all I know.  What is the intent in English?

—

Also, do you know where DD is having their blades manufactured?

I believe it translates to what most companies call the "quick attack" style.  More emphasis on speed as opposed to spin and designed for at the table play I suppose.

Thanks!  I'll be at the Learning Tree club this evening for the adult classes if you happen to be around!

And Double Day blades are manufactured in Taiwan.  Double Day's office, warehouse, and factory are all in the same building.

Despite being thicker and using Anegre, it's actually slower than a Timo Boll Spirit.  So it's possible for a lighter style.  

Initial Review completed.

maybe we'll both switch back again soon

I already did, if you read my review.  I played well with it. 

I switch back and forth but tend to favor the Evolution MX-S.  It taught me that Tenergy 05 Requires a Faster blade than what I currently use.

The real problem was the head heaviness.  That I could not cope with because it required me to be higher up on the blade/handle than I would like to be for my loose wrist strokes and that was not ideal for my FH/BH transition.  The power was ideal however - I was able to make some awesome shots from near mid distance  to the table that I usually just don't make.  With easy swings too.  I have one video where I just did some crazy things to the ball and in my mind, I was like... wow!  I usually can't do that as confidently with my all wood blades.

https://youtu.be/An5iXgG9ej0?t=240

(to place the video in context, I have been trying to work through a recommendation someone made about my finishing position for my backhand loop and I didn't really understand what he wanted at first, but I figured it out finally - watching that video was the key last step).

I saw Filip Szymanski's setup and he uses my favorite OFF wood blade (Force Pro) because he loves the control (hahahaha - sounds like me) but he did a handle modification with sandpaper on the conical flare to make it a straight handle.  Food for thought... where's that sander...

Well, I liked the Peter Pan - just not heavy enough.  Might still get one someday knowing me...

I just lack touch, which is why I use the wood blades - the vibrations let me know things.  But I know I have it all wrong mentally on the short strokes.  If I had good short pushes, drop shits and stop blocks, I would beat defenders much more easily.  If I fixed that, I think that wood blades could very well be a thing of the past for me - and my inventory would be cleared out.

Ah the 11 o'clock contact position!!!!! Be prepared for some serious level up on the BH. Man there is so much going on with that if you can work it into your flip. So much spin!! Just need to work in the counter hit and your on to the next level

I've usually had the 11/1 o'clock contact position on both sides  (well, until recently, when I made some mistakes interpreting changes that the coach gave me).  This was more about how far I whipped my wrist through on my stroke.  He wanted me let the wrist go through until my racket handle faced the wall on the left side on my BH loop.  I usually stopped my stroke when the racket was flush with my hand as it gave me more "control".  It was a simple change, but I mixed it up with other stupid things and ended up ruining my backhand for a while.

Double Day's composite layers are thinner and of a different ratio of Arylate to Carbon than BTY's and typical clones.  I think this lends itself to a crisper and more direct feel.  I will be posting my own review of the DD ALC Winner sometime soon and will go into that a bit more!

Do you have a Winner to sell me?  I think the lighter head will help with some of my pains... the blade is really good.

Can't you send it on a flyer and I will pay if I like, return if I don't (LOL)?

You are asking a guy who can't even use different backhand and forehand rubbers to use different backhand and forehand speeds on his blade surface?  Really?

I do want to try the flare as I think that the Loop King would have had better balance with a straight handle.