Victor uk

**paulstewart64** · 03-19-2012, 08:30 AM

Demolidor

Yes, I can see your point. I know there are certain countries in Europe such as France who have no representation for the brand.

The UK has also been weak. It's going to take time for the new Victor structure in UK to take effect. I note what you say about price increases. but I've seen this across all brands too. However, I agree that Victor prices have risen a lot and maybe they are seeing sales increases to the extent they consider the brand has developed sufficiently to warrant a higher positioning in the market.

If we take the UK badminton market, I'd be interested to know which brand you guys think are number two behind Yonex. At one time I would have said Carlton by a lot. However, i see so few Carlton racquets in clubs these days that I really don't know.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**Sevex** · 03-19-2012, 08:53 AM

Paul, it depends at what level your playing at, club level at the moment I'm seeing pretty much anything, Apacs, Yehlex, Carlton (not as much as when I started playing five years ago), Yonex (obviously), Ashaway etc etc. Pretty much every brand in existence, even Panda Power! Actually quite a lot of Ashaway.

The much higher level county players seem to be using a lot of Ashaway recently and a marked increase in Victor, presumably due to sponsorship drives by them to get their brand "out there". A few are still sponsored by Carlton but not as many. Only the very best in their age group seem to be sponsored by Yonex.

At a general county level it does seem to vary from county to county. Also I seem to encounter different brands in different parts of the country. In Reading and Berkshire (2009) it was mostly Yonex with a few Yehlex, Bristol (06-09) mostly Yonex with a few Victor and Carlton and Birmingham ('10-present) mostly Yonex with a few Ashaway.This is based upon what I seem to end stringing anyway!

I have a feeling it might be based upon what the top players in the area use and then club players who know them tend to copy and this filters through the system. In this regard Yonex had the market sewn up until recently, when Victor and Li-Ning grabbed South Korea and China. This seems especially true for juniors some of whom see rackets as fashion items as well as rackets.

BTW Li-Ning are seen as "cool" at the moment, that's what I learnt from sitting behind some Avon and Gloucester juniors at the All England anyway! They are however too expensive for juniors to afford! Is this because the China team are now sponsored by them (specifically Lin Dan)? Oddly Victor weren't seen as cool, not enough profile for the Korean players?

Back on topic, Victor UK's website is hardly working well at the moment, plus they could really do with making all their rackets easily available in the UK, rather than a select few models. (SW35 and the other braveswords are conspicuous in their absence). They are close to breaking through in the UK market but not quite there yet.

**meteor** · 03-19-2012, 11:29 AM

I noticed good players that are more casual about their rackets use Carlton. The rest use Yonex and there's some Ashaway, Yelhex, FZ, Wilson.
The mainstream high street sports shops in UK only sell high end Carltons (like razors or vapor trail) while available Yonex models are intermediate (like VT7 and 5) or low end. That perhaps explains the large number of Carlton users at club level...

Surely Victor would have succes in UK if they would make their range of equipment available and if marketed properly - a website would be a good start!
There's not even the case of talking about second place behind Yonex because at the moment they're largely unheard of.

**paulstewart64** · 03-19-2012, 05:16 PM

Guys, for reference here and I think I made the point already...

Only Central Sports are allowed to sell Victor goods online although it will be interesting if an existing supplier decide to take their stock online whether there will be a problem.

The Victor-sport.co.uk website now belongs to Victor whereas before it belong to the UK distributor. The transfer only took place late last week. Victor intend to develop the front end of this site and connect it to their existing international site. Personally I'm not comfortable with this strategy as their is a lot of product on this site which will not be available in UK.

How Victor will manage this is unknown but they do wish to have the site up-and-running in around 4 weeks, all being well I assume. There will be information about the retailers who stock their products in UK, but I don't expect to see a lot of names. As I understand it, there are 2 names in north west and possibly one of two in the south. Central Sports will continue to dominate although they do not carry the full range.

I don't know what Victors policy will be with regard to sponsorship of players or how they intend to market to players this year, bearing in mind the Central Sports connection. If I was Victor I would have a one page advert in the next addition of Courtside Magazine with a picture of LYD/JJS winning All Englands and some connection to winning with Victor racquets especially the LYD signature racquet.

Thanks guys for your comments on what brands players are using. Where I am I see little Carlton, a bit more Karakal, some Ashaway and some Victor. I haven't seen a player using a Li Ning racquet in the clubs or at county junior squad.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**demolidor** · 03-19-2012, 05:55 PM

No RSL in UK?

**amleto** · 03-20-2012, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by demolidor

No RSL in UK?

I haven't come across any.

**paulstewart64** · 03-20-2012, 01:30 PM

I haven't seen an RSL racquet in around 10 years.

The good news is I got Meteor 60 to test/review today. So now I have 60 and 70 to review along with 6/7 other Victor racquets. I also saw the 9000 Ace shoe which looks brilliant! It was worn by most of the Korean and Victor sponsored players at All Englands. Sadly it's expensive and therefore won't be seen much in UK. RRP is £130 per pair but I expect someone will retail around £110. Don't think they will sell well because there are too many good Yonex and Asics shoes on the market for a lot less money.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**meteor** · 03-20-2012, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by paulstewart64

I haven't seen an RSL racquet in around 10 years.

The good news is I got Meteor 60 to test/review today. So now I have 60 and 70 to review along with 6/7 other Victor racquets. I also saw the 9000 Ace shoe which looks brilliant! It was worn by most of the Korean and Victor sponsored players at All Englands. Sadly it's expensive and therefore won't be seen much in UK. RRP is £130 per pair but I expect someone will retail around £110. Don't think they will sell well because there are too many good Yonex and Asics shoes on the market for a lot less money.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

Look forward for your review of mx70!

**paulstewart64** · 03-24-2012, 05:11 AM

Meteor

I am looking forward to reviewing both racquets. I hope there is enough difference between them and Meteor 80 although from what I've read Meteor 70 is almost identical to Meteor 80.

I also have 5 or 6 more Victor racquets to test such as athe new Flumetecs. Whilst I don't like the name, the racquets look good.

It takes a while for me to test a racquet so expect me to post a review on my blog in two weeks or so. I'm not on court this week so have to wait until I get on court the week after for my first session with the racquets.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**meteor** · 03-25-2012, 05:19 PM

Originally Posted by paulstewart64

Meteor

I am looking forward to reviewing both racquets. I hope there is enough difference between them and Meteor 80 although from what I've read Meteor 70 is almost identical to Meteor 80.

I also have 5 or 6 more Victor racquets to test such as athe new Flumetecs. Whilst I don't like the name, the racquets look good.

It takes a while for me to test a racquet so expect me to post a review on my blog in two weeks or so. I'm not on court this week so have to wait until I get on court the week after for my first session with the racquets.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

Hi Paul, I had the mx70 for a week. My mx80 has lost a lot of tension and feels spongy while the new one came strung at 25lbs with bg66UM and feels hard. Mostly for that reason, I'm not sure how they compare.
With mx80 discontinued I trust that mx70 can become my racket of choice - simply because mx80s is bound to be unavailable soon. Having said that, it's now back for sale in the Victor range at CS...

**paulstewart64** · 03-26-2012, 03:15 AM

BWS Sports bought a few last week and quickly sold them. I think Victor ~Europe still have some in stock so they will continue to be available although they are not part of the current catalogue. Once stocks are gone its unclear what will happen. If demand is still high they will order more.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**paulstewart64** · 03-27-2012, 11:03 AM

Trying to get back on topic, it's going to take Victor some time to develop their offering in UK bearing in mind they do not have somebody full time developing the retailer network. That said, there will be one or two shops around the country who may offer demo racquets. Your role is to support these retailers to ensure they continue to invest in demo racquets, therefore allowing you the best opportunity to test racquets and make a good buying decision.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**Mark A** · 03-27-2012, 11:17 AM

Victor would be extremely daft if they killed the MX80. Most of their range seems to have collapsed into a featureless grey smear of anodyne "medium-stiff, medium-balance" nonsense, and the MX80 is the only racket sticking its head out.

Can't they be brave and do something extra-stiff and headheavy, or extra-stiff and headlight? Hang on - they did the former with the SW35... then killed it after everybody in the world bought it. If I end up testing the new ones I hope they don't play it safe again...

**paulstewart64** · 03-27-2012, 04:55 PM

Mark

I think we're going to have fun testing the new batch of Victor racquets I have.

Once we get easter holidays out of the way, we'll settle in for a morning testing session and have some fun. Usual venue and bring the pens!

I'll also have the other big name racquet to test and review at the same time.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**paulstewart64** · 03-29-2012, 05:06 PM

Back on form again after suffering a bout of sickness.

looking forwward to testing both Meteor 60 and 70 next week.

I heard from Victor today that they expect to launch a new UK website in June/July.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**paulstewart64** · 03-31-2012, 02:30 PM

Testing sesson is booked for next Saturday so I'm looking forward to comparing Meteor 60 and 70.

As I'm away whilst testing I'm hoping to have a little more time to do some writing therefore will be doing my best to get the reviews on my website very quickly.

Paul
www.badminton-coach.co.uk

**mzheng168** · 04-01-2012, 04:34 AM

After several failed attemps to buy from a UK company, i have finally decided to buy a Victor Bravesword 11 from a German website. Victor uK is really hopeless.