gotta say thats one of the nicest rackets i've seen in recent memory. Seeing as the JS12II doesn't have any sinking issues from what i know, maybe they found a way to sort out the durability prob
e1981 has it already listed (https://www.e1981.com/product-3782.html) and to me, this looks like a major disappointment. In the sense that this is not a JS10II, but a simple repaint of the original one (or the Q?). None of the latest techs like the plastic (sorry, Freecore) handle have been implemented in this one: So they gave the JS12 a complete makeover but the 10 only some new make-up? Just when I thought that Victor finally took a turn in the right direction...
To be fair, the only real issue with the Jet 10 was the frame-sinking... have the fixed that? (The Q was the one I called The Watermelon, if memory serves... I preferred the first one.)
Shark Tec has been cancelled on the later versions of the Odol-JS10 as well iirc. Edit: Nope, you’re right. It disappeared with the watermelon. Arrrghh… it would be even more disappointing if it’s a repaint of the Q. I always preferred the original one.
They already did the JS10Q repaint with the Jetspeed Star Wars, let's hope its more than a repaint. The first gen JS10 was the best in my opinion. I didn't have much issue with sinking but seem to be in the minority.
Victor Taiwan recently ceased production of the JS10 and the entire production line was moved under Victor China, so there's a chance that even this won't feel the same as the watermelon racket.
Not sure if that is a bad thing though. Victor has produced a number of great rackets in their China factory (TK7000S being one of them). But still... very surprising move. Do you know this for sure or is it just some internet hearsay?
I have been monitoring the JS10 price in China closely and noticed that none had any in stock since June last year. A few months later the China made version of JS10 (no Taiwan on cap) started appearing on badmintoncn and forum members claimed to be associated with Victor CN explained that the JS10 production line was moved to Nanjing China, so going forward all JS10 sold (if not globally, at least in China) will be China produced. This did not come as a big surprise at all, because the same happened to the blue TK-Falcon just a couple of months before. There has been ongoing rumor on badmintoncn that Victor has decided to move their manufacturing capacity to China due to China having 'better' control of COVID so manufacturing will not be easily impacted if there are COVID waves. I can't confirm the China produced rackets will only be sold in China or globally, but wouldn't be surprised if people can still find the watermelon JS10 or blue TK-Falcon with Taiwan cap, seeing as they are such old rackets where demand for them are so low by now that they could be old stocks, and being infamous for frame sinking issue doesn't exactly help.
Interesting. Something is clearly going on inside Victor if they start producing even their highend rackets in their China factories. We'll have to wait and see where this will end up. As said, you can produce the same quality in China as in Taiwan if you have the same processes and are willing to invest the same effort and QC. Still a significant change for an openly proud taiwanese company like Victor.
It is more of a marriage of convenience where Victor TW enjoys the cheaper labor and material cost in China, while Victor CN get access to Victor TW's racket technology. People of TW and China don't view Victor CN and TW as the same company ever since the founder passed Victor CN and TW to his eldest and second son respectively. There are a lot of talks on badmintoncn about how the brothers are actually at odds which led to an internal rivalry between the two companies, and you can kind of see that by how Victor TW don't usually share their technology with Victor CN ('freecore' handle came to mind), but things are changing now since Victor TW needs to rely on CN's manufacturing capacity.
I didn't know these details, thanks for the insight. Victor in general has such a "shattered" company structure - like with Victor Europe also being a fully seperate company that sells the regular Victor TW/CN stuff but also rackets, shirts and stuff that are exlusively made for them. But with the regular Victor logo. Strategically, it is a very good setting to have established factories in both areas. That's what Yonex and endless companies from other industries are also doing. The big marketing challenge will be to keep the "premium" Made in Taiwan flair but still having all core processes and production in CN.
Maybe even with the same techs of the watermelon they are able to create a third different feeling racket? I mean, how often we have seen different playing racket models which sounded equal on paper? I also enjoyed the Odol much more, because the watermelon was really hard on my arm and felt slightly more stiff and with much more vibration.
That would be the worst possible result imo. Kind of a shame that they put together a proper JS12II (without any reported sinking issues yet) but seem to go the easy and cheap way to keep the JS10 alive. Barely alive.
On the other hand Yonex also mastered this with their transition from the original ones to Game/Tour/Pro chaos and were able to still improve some Astrox. IMO a third version can be something between the worst or best possible result depending who we ask and what they make out of it. IMO the JS10 is as branding nearly burned so I'm quite confused if it is a smart release because the first gen played so well or a bad choice because S and Q version (not my Q, but had seen here some pics) had quality issues so, potential buyers are more gingerly. I'm really interested if they fixed the issues and it plays more forgiving than the Q.
