NEXY Reviews: the COLOR blade (FL)

Updates on my reviews will follow shortly. I have another beast to test tonight and hence my Color gets to rest for today's play. I will post more of my findings once i finish the testing of a Super Tuned Haifu Shark II FT (from Alex Li's Haifu testing program) today. I will use K-5 for its testing and hence Color gets to rest.

Blade:  Nexy Color, a 5 ply all wood blade, with a straight handle
Speed:  8.0
Control:  9.0
Feel:  Medium to soft
Weight:  91 grams
Rubbers

Day 1  : Red 2.2mm Outlaw forehand and black 2.2mm Wraith backhand, (taken off Samsonov Alpha for initial test (bat weight 181 grams)

Day 2 onwards : Black 2.15mm TG3 Neo forehand and Red 2.15mm TG3 Neo backhand, which had arrived in the morning. (bat weight 183 grams)

Construction :

The blade is constructed with high grade wood and to a high standard . The Kiso Hinoki outer plies, are varnished and the same thickness as the Oscar and Ishlion outer plies. The Spruce inner plies are slightly thinner and laid across the blade, adding some rigidity, to give the blade good speed and are laid on a 3 mm Ayous centre ply.

Blade thickness is around 6.3 and well balanced, which I consider an asset, if you are going to use heavy rubbers on it.

The Color I�ve received for testing and reviewing, has a comfortable straight handle, with similar dimensions and feel to the TBS straight handle.

My initial impression of the Color was it has a unique feel, which is hard to quantify, for various reasons.

Hinoki outer plies tend to make a blade feel more alive, if that makes sense. The combination of woods used in it�s construction are also a different combination to any other blade I�ve played with too and the result is blade that is unlike any other wooden blade I�ve played with before.

JCDI tried to sum up the blade in one word �Wow�.

My one word to sum up the blade would be �synergy�, i.e. the whole is greater than the sum of the parts". In other words I consider it a great blade.

So how does it play and why do I like it?

It has better dwell time, than most 6.3mm blades; making it easy to generate a lot of spin, which I appreciated for a variety of shots. There are plenty of blades on the market with good dwell time, but most tend to be thinner than the 6.3mm thick Color.

The exception to the rule is the Donic Dima Sawtec, which is also 6.3mm thick blade, with good dwell time and great for generating spin on a lot of shots. However, it�s a lightweight blade around 80 grams, designed for a close to the table game and doesn�t have the power of the 91 gram Color and therefore doesn�t perform as well, when three or more feet off the table.

Where the Color excels is looping off the bounce and the top of it. I can also loop very consistently with it 3-6 feet off the table; but in this respect, I prefer the Oscar, which has more power and speed on tap.

There are some great looping blades on the market, like the Petr Korbel, Yasaka Extra and the Offensive Classic, to name a few, that have served a lot of players well, me included. Most of them tend to be around 6mm or thinner, which gives them the dwell time, to loop well, but in general they aren�t as good at blocking or smashing, as the Color.

When using looping blades like the Yasaka Extra, Offensive Classic and Petr Korbel, the tendency is to take advantage of their strength by loop killing, rather than smashing. The Color has the stiffness to be ideal for smashing over the table.

Speedwise, the Color is slower than the Oscar, offensive minus I would say, compared to offensive for the Oscar.

The control is more akin to an allround plus blade, than an offensive minus blade and although it might not impress as much as the Oscar on first play, control is one of it�s strengths.

Being 91 grams, it has more inherent power than lighter weight blades, like my 83 gram Samsonov Alpha and 79 gram Dima Sawtec.

I know from experience that 3 grams difference with even the same blade, can mean subtle, but noticeable differences in the way each one performs and I�ve no doubt that JCDI�s 88 gram Color, will have less power and speed than my 91 gram Color, but slightly better control over the table.

Does it create more spin than more conventional blades? Yes and no.

Yes, I can generate more spin, particularly sidespin on loops with the Color, compared to the Samsonov Alpha, using Outlaw and Wraith.

However, the choice of blades and rubbers on the market is large enough, that you will come across another set up, that will deliver as much spin, from time to time.

Background History :

Through my correspondence with Mr Moon, I�m aware that the blade took about 18 months to develop from the drawing board to the final production model. Various prototypes were tested, by Koreans players and their feedback was used to get the blade�s construction right, before it was released onto the Korean market.

The research and development that has gone into this blade has paid dividends, as the Nexy Color has received good reviews, since it was released onto the Korean market and has sold well in Korea, as a result.

I can understand why Mr Moon has asked for international reviewers to test this blade, as I think it has the potential to sell well around the world, as well as in the home market.

Conclusion :

The question is would I buy one? or recommend the blade?

If I hadn�t received a Color for testing and saw this thread, I would certainly have been interested in finding out more about this blade, as I have been seriously thinking of buying an all wood Hinoki blade, in the last two months.

I liked the Hinoki feel of my Ishlion, which I enjoyed playing with for three months in the summer; with Energy Xtra on the forehand and Mambo on the backhand. However, I found its short dwell time meant I was generating less spin on loops, than with the same rubbers on the Donic Persson Powerplay Senso V1 and therefore I�d been thinking of getting a Hinoki blade, with better dwell time than the Ishlion, more suitable for looping.

The Hinoki blades that caught my attention were the Cornilleau Hinotec offensive- and offensive blades, being sold by Bribar TT in the UK, which are about the same price; as the Nexy Color.

I have yet to try a Cornilleau Hinotec blade, so can�t comment on them; but what I do know is after playing with the Color for about eight hours, I rate it as one of the best all wood blades I�ve tested in a long time and it�s not often that I test blades, that impress me as much as the Color and the Oscar have.

The design with the colours on the handle and the picture on the blade face, are eye catching to start with. However, it�s the performance of a blade that is the ultimate decider and I think Nexy have produced two great blades with the Oscar and Color, in that respect.

Which do I feel is the better blade of the two? At this present in time, the answer for me is the Oscar.

Foot note :

One point to note is the photograph showing the cross section of the Color on Tak9.com gives a false impression that there is a thin Kiso Hinoki outer ply, with another another ply underneath it, covering the Spruce ply.

This is merely an optical illusion, which becomes apparent to anyone who holds the Color in their hand and anyone who looks at Rokphish�s photographs, as you can see quite clearly that the outer Kiso Hinoki outer ply, is in fact around 1mm thick and the only ply on top of the Spruce inner ply.