Hello. Today I was talking to person working for Victor Europe. He said that as a detail buyer you can`t buy this year made shuttles! He said that this shuttles: http://www.victorsport.com/productlist.asp?id=157 are 3 years old because Victor in Asia has changed tube design. Is this true?? And is it possible that Victor selling 3 years old shuttles as a brand new?
I suppose that's possible but I find it a little difficult to believe. He might be thinking of only a certain Asian distribution for Victor. Check out this thread. scchang posted this link that shows the tube design supposedly used in Taiwan. I've never heard of there being a recent change to this, though. Also, check out this thread, wherein people are complaining about a drop in quality for this shuttle. I would think a change in manufacturing would be more likely to cause such a drop than aging stock. Also, these shuttles in these tubes are being sold all over North America and Asia(at least some parts). I can't believe their stock could last 3 years.
Next question So I have got another question are they real or fake?? Is it the best Victor`s shuttlecock?
From what I've hard from my dealer, Victor has two differnet tube designs, one which is International, the other is for something else(I forgot, but it has tournament logos with HK approved tournaments or something). They are both very indentical, but one needs to pay more attention to the tube and which champ number it is. Luckily in Canada, they get the international one which is Champ #1.
Pay attention to the green colour of the tube. There's one in a lighter and paler green, that's 1st grade duck feathers and the shuttles are not as durable. The other bright green tube are using the 1st grade goose feathers. That's the Victor's Champion 1. Do note that all prices for shuttles had an increased in prices cos of shortage of goose feathers from China.
Hmm...not only the darker green colour is the champion no.1 we all come to know....but there are 2 kinds of champion no.1 too, dun know u guys seen it.....one specifically made for China tournaments ( same dark green colour...but printed "champion no.1", and got some chinese characters) and one made for international usage (printed only "champion") By far, the specially made for China tournaments birds' quality is much much better than the latter. But its hard to come by ...... i had only played 1 tube before....1 bird can easily last 2 hard doubles game...no problem man. Best shuttle i ever played with.
Our club is using the Victor Champion Shuttles and the quality really really sucks. We now consider to change to other shuttles and currently testing Snow Peaks which last very very long.
the quility of Victor's Champion 1 really drop a lot n price too high, n that cause dealer not wanting to import for sale....
Actually, I don't think it is true. We have to kindly know that the supply of shuttlecock in China is insufficiant now. There's no reason Victor's Champion stock in 3 years old. The tube design is different in Taiwan and other country as Victor is a brand establish in Taiwan. Due to the china huge need. A lot of shuttlecock manufacturor can't buy good feather to produce products. And that's the reason why Yonex try to change ppl play with plastic birdie from feather, cause they don't have any factory to manufactur it...They've band form the OEM factories... btw, all the Victor Champion #1 will have a manufactur date on the tube. and the m-geometric.com also sale victor birdies
Victor shuttles have lost its ground due to its inconsistency in quality and rising prices. Two years ago, people thought Victor shuttles are good because its relative lower prices, but it is no longer cheaper than others now. Most of my friends have switched to other brands (aeroplanes, yonex, sealion, sosan, fleet, and some other no-brand oem ones)
Ironically, I think they are gaining some ground in Korea, although definitely not among recreational users. They have become the official tournament shuttles for middle school, high school, and university-level regional tournaments. Yonex AS-50 are still the only ones used for any professional tournaments or nation-wide tournaments at any level. Most brands here are 14,000 to 16,000W per tube except Yonex and Victor. Champion No. 1's are not even available to the public, to my knowledge. They've never been in stores and online they only sell that heavy "Champion" one that masquerades as the No. 1 in the same colour tube.