Review: Yinhe Vis-A

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   I was lucky enough to be given a Yinhe Vis-A by PingPongHolic10 to review (and moronic enough to take so long doing it).

I don't know much about the background of this blade at all but PPH told me that this is Yinhe's Viscaria clone.

PPH sent the blade to me with Sigma 2 Euro and Joola Maxx-P on it & I hit for an hour with that combo. While I have demo'ed those 2 rubbers earlier, I don't use them on my blades so I had to wait for my shipment of MX-P to land. I put MX-P and Rasant Grip on both the TB-ALC and the Vis-A to test them.

Initial Feel: To me, the Vis-A (92g) seemed a lot like the TB-ALC (mine was 86g) rather than the Viscaria. Its ST handle seemed VERY similar to that of the TB-ALC except that it felt more solid & less hollow (which, to me, is a great attribute). It felt really good in the hand. To me, looking at the side view of both blades (sorry: I don't know how to take good side photos with my phone), it seemed that the ply composition is the same as that of the TB-ALC but with a thicker and more solid feeling core: the Vis-A blade that I demo'ed has a thickness of 6.16mm where as my TB-ALC was 5.72mm thick (which is around normal for those blades). Not sure how old the blade is but the outer ply seemed a shade softer and darker in color than the ply in the TB-ALC (both positive attributes in this class of blades, IMHO).

Playing characteristics: This is very close to what I'd imagine a professional player's TB-ALC would be. The blade feels like my TB-ALC but more solid and packs a punch (more than a TB-ALC does) when you wallop from mid-distance. It has a shade more feel than the TB-ALC but I'm not sure at this time if that is a consistent trait among all Vis-A blades or it is a 'small sample' thing. I don't own a TB-ZLC at this time but I do have a 90g MJ at home. To me, its power rating would be between that of the TB-ALC and the MJ but with exactly the TB-ALC like feel. So, in a way, it is the TB-ALC for the new plastic ball. The stiffness, throw angle and spin seemed to be similar in both blades. The sweet spot is just as good.

Concerns: The one good thing you can say about BTY is its build quality. While this one looks great, I don't know how it holds out (I'm assuming that it shall hold out great). It certainly feels great and like the BTY blade.

I would seal the blade just to be safe. 

Another advantage of the TB-ALC is that it more or less preserves its resale value. But the TB-ALC now costs a whopping $150. I don't know how much the Vis-A costs but I'm assuming that it is a small bargain compared to that (and this takes care of both of the above concerns). 

In short, if I feel like I need a TB-ALC, but I'm hesitant (both because of the price hike & some new-found anti-BTY bias) I'm calling PPH to set me up with the Vis-A ST blade.