Members of the Samba Historical Society will no doubt know that the original Samba was Made in Japan and the recent successor Samba+ was Made in Germany.  Samba 19 and 27 are back to the land of the rising sun however, and are once again Made in Japan.

The sponge is baby blue and looks nigh-on identical to Stiga Airoc (I believe Samba 27, the harder version, comes with a red sponge, similar to ITC rubbers).  The topsheet is different though and doesn't have that crazy shine Airoc has - it feels a lot more natural (and normal really, more along the lines of regular eurojap rubbers).  A quick spin test actually fills me with some confidence - it feels a lot easier to spin the ball up via topsheet contact than any of the Airocs I've tried in the past.

The sheet has a similar dome to Airoc too, but is perhaps a bit more relaxed.  Still tricky to glue down though.  Uncut weight is 61.69g, standard 169x169 size.

I'll give it a try and report back when I can.  If it goes well I might invest in a sheet of 27 as well.  The price is currently discounted to around €35 in europe which is pretty keen.

Yeah, TSP also have Regalis Blue and Regalis Red on the way soon, which are also Made in Japan and sound suspiciously similar (at least in terms of sponges).  And they also have Spectol Blue/Red and Spinpips Blue/Red.  Lots of action going on over there in Japan.

The topsheet grip is better than Airoc, but not at the level of some recent ESN rubbers.  It compares well to something like Acuda Blue, but not to Omega V Asia (for example).  Like Acuda Blue, it's pretty muted at low speeds and not very spin sensitive, so it blocks incredibly well and pushes with a lot of security.

The problem I have with it is the catapult - I just can't work it out.  Maybe I'm too used to how softer ESN rubbers behave now, but Samba 19 just seems strange to me.  The catapult kicks in fairly early and the medium gears are quite lively, but on harder stokes the spin just seems to vanish and the arc flattens out.  Quite often I would serve (or receive a serve with a push) and be very happy with the close control and spin level.  Then I would loop the next ball with a medium effort stroke and be happy with the spin and arc.  But finally I'd attack the next ball hard and I was never really sure of what the results would be - sometimes the ball would be fast, low and empty, and I'd miss the table (no spin to bring the ball down).  Sometimes the spin would be there but the ball wouldn't clear the net.  It felt like the topsheet was collapsing in some way when the sponge bottomed out.

I've tried it on two blades so far (Crest AR+ and Levi Basalt) and not been happy with either session.  The harder 27 version would hopefully be a lot more stable, because the 19 doesn't feel like a harmonious package at all.

p.s. apologies for going a bit off-topic - just reminiscing about the good old days here.

So does Stiga Mantra...

So does Tsp Regilis Red...

Samba 19, Airoc, Gegilis Blue, Flyatt Spin all use that baby blue sponge....

ntec is not anymore on ittf list.

is really more expensive than 19 and 27...