No, but there are many players out there for whom USD200-250 for a racket doesn't even make a noticable difference to their weekly paycheck, so say USD400 for something totally custom wouldnt be out of the question.
Problem is that badminton rackets only take one hit with a partner to blow away your $400-500 bucks. You don't get that danger with the other sports for custom equipment. I have broken a MP99 by hitting the cork HARD with the frame at 26 lbs tension. With the other equipment you are pretty much guaranteed a long playing life assuming you don't do something stupid like club the floor with the tennis racquet or toss your golf clubs into a lake (but you COULD still get that one back). Unless you are sponsored I don't think it's worth it given the dangers of breakage. It's like buying carbon fiber fenders and doors for your daily driver/track car just to save weight, but all it takes is one shopping cart to toss away $1k+.
I think the sooner the wider sporting public become aware that they are paying mainly for the marketing of a product the more likely a full customisation brand will appear. I'm sure people would rather pay a premium for something they have designed to suit their own game than paying a premium for someone famous to use a racket that isn't even the same as the one they are being sold! I think whenever you pay for a premium product you run the risk of breaking it, especially in badminton. As racket manufacturers seem to have reached a point where only marketing will now is there any other progression other than a completely customisable racket?
That's why I went from Yonex to Panda. It's priced well for the performance that it gives you and you get to pick (within a range) on your specs. Not FULL custom, but at least you have some choice.
I have had a look at the way Panda is doing things and it looks great as a service to people "in the loop" but doesn't really benefit the wider public. Does anyone think there is scope for a manufacturer to stock an amount of heads of varying shapes, shafts of different flex, different weight heads and shafts etc etc and then put the various components together once someone "builds" their own spec? I just don't see how the major manufacturers can progress their products beyond customisation?
A Custom Brand isn't going to 'benefit the wider public' either, because they're going to cost more than a standard high-end offering. Don't you mean 'progress beyond mass production'? They can't - like I've said many times, current companies are not set up for customisation, don't understand it, and aren't interested in it. It would take a brand new start-up to start a fully custom made racket company.
