Stiga 2016 Blades (updated with review)

Stiga Eternity VPS

Weight: 92 grams

Handle: Master Flared

Stiffness: Medium Stiff

Speed: OFF

Plies: 5 (colored limba?? or Walnut?? - spruce - ayous)

Thickness: 6.3mm

Blade Head: 150x157mm

The Eternity VPS came as a surprise because I thought this was another Ebenholz variant of the Emerald. The blade has a semi-fine texture on both the handle and blade surface. The blade head surface is not treated with nct coating or any other varnish present in past Stiga blades. The blade head 

is big unlike previous Rosewood and Ebenholz blades which have 149x155mm sizes for their blade heads. The blade is medium stiff when you tap your fingernails on it and it produces a medium pitch sound. Blade's finish is very good and it has the new white metal logo replacement for the plastic lens they have for their older blades. It has burnt spruce as a second layer and compared to the Infinity this is thicker.The Eternity is also thicker than the Infinity blade.

I used a water based glue for thsi test with the following rubbers: Stiga Genesis M and S 2.0mm, DHS Hurricane 3 Neo (boosted), Tibhar 1Q Sound. The blade did not feel head heavy with any of the above combinations especially with a euro and Chinese rubber. The 2 Genesis rubbers seem perfect for the blade's medium stiffness especially the M version because the overall set up did not feel too stiff even with the Neo H3.

Here are my observations:

Speed & Feel

The Eternity is a very fast all wood blade. Players in the past wanted the Infinity to be faster and their wishes were granted with the coming of the Eternity Blade. The speed is really evident because I was using only the commercial DHS Neo H3 with falco boosting. I have tried that same rubber to a different blade before which was faster than the Eternity but it wasn't too fast. The blade that I have tried it with first was a carbon-arylate blade. With the Eternity blade, the speed seem didn't change at all. This blade is really tailored fit for hard Chinese rubbers. The blade is powerful enough to be used even at middle distance with a Chinese rubber. I would put the blade's speed almost like that of a regular clipper wood with no cr finish or cc finish. It is as fast as 7 ply blades and also feels like a 7 ply blade but with a softer feel. It feels a few notches harder than the Infinity VPS but significantly faster. The Eternity is like a Tibhar Stratus Powerwood but feels softer and is as fast. Compared to the Emerald, the Eternity feels softer but it can seem to rival the Emerald with its speed. I can clearly say that the Eternity is good enough to be used with the polyball even with just a slow rubber. 

Weight: 93 grams

Hardness: Medium Stiff

Speed: Off

Plies: 7 (limba-textreme carbon- ayous?-ayous)

Thickness: 6.1mm

Stiga Carbonado 90

Let me just make a comparison between these 2 blades and in part their 2 predecessors, the 145 and 190 carbonado. The 2 blades seem thinner by a fraction of a mm compared to the old 145 and 190 carbonados. The 45 and 90 have a thinner textreme carbon. The newer Carbonados have a bigger head by 1mm which is 157mm. I have also used the Stiga Genesis M and S versions 2.0mm, Sanwei Target National and the Stiga Structure Short Pips for the rubbers in this test. I also used a water based glue.

Speed

The 45 and 90 seem to have almost the same speed. It doesn't feel too fast really compared to other carbon blades from other brands. I would say it feels a notch slower than a TB ALC. The 145 and 190 versions are way faster. You could really feel the difference in speed by several notches. Sometimes, the 45 and 90 blades feel like they are off- in speed. 

Looping

The 190 and 145 are already very good looping blades before but the 45 and 90 are even better looping blades due to being slower and seem to have a softer feel. The 45 and 90 versions also have a more woody feel than both the 145 and 190 blades. The 45 has a medium to high and the 90 has a medium arc when looping.  The 90 has a longer trajectory compared to the 45 version.

Control and blocking

Both have very high control and they are very easy to attack with because of the high accuracy when using both blades. Blocking for both are very easy because the medium soft and woody feel lets you control the blocks with lesser force of rebound. 

Overall, both blades performed really well in the tests but I have to hand it to the 90 version. With the 145 vs 190 blades that I tested before, I have chosen the 145 as my favorite. Now on the newer versions, I like the 90 version better. The 90 seem to be more dynamic and I felt it was easier to use and it had more accuracy and control. 

Does the Eternity, like the Infinity suggest an eternity of ply delamination?