| This article is a summary of the most notable / special | | | | speed glue, but opinions on this are mixed. |
| rubbers and blades from the Butterfly brand. This is not | | | | The new Tenergy 05 has been creating a bit of stir |
| meant to promote or criticize the brand or products in | | | | lately as the latest glue-free offensive rubber, but it's a |
| any way, it's simply a summary of opinions on the | | | | little too early to tell how successful it will be. Other |
| more famous and highly regarded products of the | | | | offensive rubbers worth noting are the Tackifire C, |
| brand. | | | | Cermet and Catapult which have been successful for |
| Butterfly is one of the most famous and largest table | | | | some people, but don't stand out as much as the ones |
| tennis equipment manufacturers in the world. | | | | above. The Raystorm is one of the more popular |
| Established in 1950 in Japan, They have developed into | | | | short pimple rubber. |
| one of the market leaders, with high quality products, | | | | For the more all-round or defensive styles, there are |
| although with higher price-tags to match. They have | | | | the Tackiness C and D, which were very popular for |
| many factories producing their products, including | | | | many years and still used by some people today. The |
| several rubber factories Japan, Germany and China, | | | | Feint Long II and III are their more popular long pimples, |
| and blade factories in Japan, Hungary and China. | | | | but have not had a huge following. The Super Anti |
| One of the reasons the Butterfly is so well known is | | | | appears to be one of the more highly regarded |
| marketing and information...there are few others who | | | | anti-spin rubbers out there, but with only a small |
| put in the same effort and have the same budget. All | | | | percentage of players playing with these types of |
| the information is of great benefit to users, and is a | | | | rubbers these days, we tend not to hear much about |
| credit to the company. Although a lot of the products | | | | it. With the frictionless long pimple ban now in place, this |
| are very good, some or no better than those made by | | | | rubber may well make a comeback. |
| some other manufacturer, often made in the same | | | | Butterfly Blades: |
| factory, but it's the marketing and promotion that turns | | | | The Butterfly blades are generally regarded as high |
| people to Butterfly. Most people can find a suitable | | | | quality blades. They have factories in several different |
| blade and rubbers from several of the major | | | | countries, but those made in Japan clearly stand out as |
| manufacturers, but it's often personal preference or | | | | top quality blades. |
| brand loyalty that drives them to this brand. Of course | | | | The Primorac, Primorac carbon, Petr Korbel, Gergely, |
| this is the same for several of the other major brands. | | | | Sardius, Andrejz Grubba and Mazunov have been |
| After talking to many people, and getting lots of great | | | | around for many years and have been the most |
| feedback from people on the online table tennis | | | | successful blades. |
| forums, I've summarised the most popular Butterfly | | | | In recent years, more research and technology has |
| rubbers and blades below. Although the popularity can | | | | produced high-tech blades wich appear to have |
| be biassed by marketing and availability, there are | | | | overtaken some of the earlier carbon blades in |
| some that many agree on to be great products, so | | | | popularity. The Michael Maze and Timo Boll Spirit are |
| there must be something to it... | | | | high quality blades and have become very popular, and |
| Butterfly Rubbers: | | | | are used by some of the current top players in the |
| Sriver - probably the most famous of all rubbers, that | | | | world. The Schlager carbon seems to have a |
| has stood the test of time and is still commonly used in | | | | following, but it's likely to be too fast to control for most |
| modern days, even after several decades since it | | | | people, although the sheer speed is often an attraction. |
| was released. This rubber is suitable for all levels, | | | | The Kong Linghui Special is also highly regarded with a |
| where thinner sponges are usually used for more | | | | good following. |
| control at the lower levels and they rubbers are speed | | | | The Cypress-S seems to be the most popular J-pen |
| glued at higher level for extra performance. | | | | blades, partially due to poor availability (in western |
| Other Sriver variants (Sriver EL, FX, G2, G2-FX) | | | | countries) to the other J-pen blades. |
| Building on the great reputation of sriver, several other | | | | The Matsushita Pro and the Joo Se Hyuk appear to |
| variants have been developed over the years. The FX | | | | be the most popular more defensive blades, and |
| and particularly the EL have also enjoyed great | | | | appear to be growing in popularity. |
| success, the G2 and G2-FX are more recent and | | | | Final words: |
| have not been quite as popular, partially due to the | | | | It is likely that a player of any level and style can find |
| wide range of similar rubbers now on the market. | | | | something appropriate from the Butterfly brand, |
| Bryce series - Bryce and Bryce FX are without a | | | | although this is the case for many of the other major |
| doubt two of the most popular choices for offensive | | | | brands too. Hopefully this summary will be useful for |
| players at higher levels, especially where speed glue is | | | | fans or those that only have this brand available to |
| used. Many (but not all) agree that this rubber needs to | | | | choose from. They also have a range of other table |
| be speed glue to really make it come alive, so with the | | | | tennis related items, in fact they pretty much sell |
| upcoming ban, it may lose some of it's popularity. The | | | | everything related to table tennis, but blades and |
| Bryce Speed, Bryce Speed FX are an attempt to | | | | rubbers are the extent of this article. |
| modify the rubber to make it more usable without | | | | |