you can tell a fake yonex performs exactly like a genuine one since you have both? anyway, if you are unhappy with the quality of yonex racquets then why buy a fake one? i really don't understand why people buy fake racquets because i doubt the manufacturers of the fake ones can get the technology of the genuine ones to an exact science. i see fake racquets as racquets that just imitate the colors of genuine racquets but never have everything exactly the same (like in mp racquets, the bumps on the lower part of the frame). if one cannot afford a genuine yonex racquet then why not buy the cheaper brands? the only reason i can think of as to why people buy fake yonex racquets is so that from a far, other people will actually be fooled to thinking you are using a genuine one. i think buying a fake racquet totally negates all the technological advances that the manufacturers like yonex have been working on.
Yonex Clones I really agree with your comments guys a clone is still a clone, no matter how real it looks it still won't compare to the Original ones. But so far I've tested the weight and the stiffness of the racket and it's just the same, the frame can also handle a decent amount of tension around 24-25 pounds. And my play is just the same no complaints from here... I believe i got what i really paid for. For 25 bucks i paid only for the materials that made up my racket. I didn't pay for the mall rent, the middle men, shipping & handling, the taxes and the brand name. The price ($25 USD) is just too alluring to resist if i have 200 bucks i could have 8 brand new rackets that i know that almost have the same weight, the same stiffness, and could be strung around 24-25 tension and that would not affect my game play. And PLUS if it breaks (happens most of the time even if it's an Original) i won't feel bad coz i know i have 7 more to spare. I think what yonex has to do is to improve the quality of their products, their 1 ORIGINAL racket must outlive my 8 CLONE rackets and to lower the price of their products. Just imagine an Original costing around $150 to $200 USD that easily breaks around 24-26 pound tension and a Clone ($25 USD) breaking (same 24-26 tension) as often as the Original ones what would you do? money does'nt grow on trees i'd say.
Equus, I agree some of ur points, and I know someone DID using a fake yonex (high quality ones, though) tend to show off. However, I think many cases are different than the ones u described. For example, there's a really good player in my club. He received a fake cab20 (his friend does not know anything about how to spot a racket, and thought he got such a good deal for RMB200 < USD$25) as a b-day gift several yrs ago. Of course, he won't point this out in front of his face, since that's from his friend, and that poor guy really wants to give him a surprise gift. Anyway, even though the racket is fake, but he claims like it a lot, and playing very well with it. I used this racket for a little while, and the feeling is completely different than the real cab20. However, if he likes it, and it serves him very well, why not a good deal. I know it's not right to using "Yonex" the name to make fake rackets, however, it's not the customer's fault by picking a cheaper but good racket. To me, as long as the racket is good, and if I can afford it, whatever brand name, I really dont' care. I don't think the little symbol (Yonex, clone, or blah blah or even fake yonex) can effect the performance of the racket. Of course, it's more legal to use its own brand name, but if they really used "fake yonex" strategy, many ppl still won't give up the good deal (and a lot of them really don't know anyway.) Agree with kwun, the manufacture / dealers are ok to provide clones, as long as using a different brand name. The worst possible, is, using low quality cheap fake rackets, but sell the same price a real one.
Re: We know it's Fake But... I think we need to make a distinction here. Fake is defined as "a worthless imitation passed off as genuine". The distinction here is that fakes are usually sold as the genuine item (abeit at a lower price than the original) and are marketed to the consumer as the real item. Clone is defined as "one that appears to be a copy of an original form" but is marketed under a different brand name like Fleet, Winex, Ashaway, etc. The intent here is not to fool the customer in thinking that they got an original Yonex racquet but rather to show the consumer that there are cheaper and better alternatives. Will they play the same as the original, no, we all know that but they offer alternatives like different weight, balance, flex, etc. For example, the Mighty Muscle 200 is head heavy as compared to the Mighty Muscle 100 which is even balance and has similar cosmetics as the Yonex MP100. We have seen reviews of folks who bought and played with the MP100 (whatever model) and found that it doesn't suit their game, etc . Well, the clonex offer some alternatives. Obviously, if you as a consumer bought a racquet thinking that you have bought the real McCoy, you would be rightly pissed if you found that you had been ripped off (e.g. seller on eBay selling those fakes racquets as being from Yonex). Bottom line: Clones are NOT fakes and while they might copy the market leader in cosmetics and so-called "technologies", they do not claim to be Yonex
Re: Re: We know it's Fake But... Fake is defined as "a worthless imitation passed off as genuine" I don't think a fake, a copy or clone is "worhtless" if it performs the same as the real ones and breaks as often as the real ones with just the FRACTION ("abeit at a lower price than the original" does'nt even come nowhere close) of the cost. Clone is defined as "one that appears to be a copy of an original form" It's true, Clone appears to be a copy of the original form. Copy from the original form... so a fake is a clone because "it's a COPY of the original form". if one tells you (your caucasian, 6 feet in height looks like Brad Pitt) that person is your clone (your supposedly clone is anything but caucasian, short and looks like Marlon Brndo). Right! I don't think anyone would agree. In my opinion the fakes ones are clones coz they tend to look and have many similarities to the original ones. Based on your definition...
lazybuddy, i guess my point is it is ok to use cheaper racquets but why would people buy a fake yonex? because they want a ti-10? mp-99? but don't want to pay for the genuine thing? i mean as you said, the fake cab20 doesn't feel the same as the genuine one, right? so why not by a genuine wilson? prince? i tend to think people buy the fakes precisely because at least aesthetically they look like the real thing. not all sellers try to fool customers into thinking what their selling is genuine. they're just trying to make money buy addressing the market of people wanting rackets that look like genuine yonex racquets but are actually not.
A genuine Prince, Wilson and other counter parts of Yonex brands are still too expensive. I don't think we can accuire a mp100 or Ti10 original counterparts of Prince and other brands for only $25 USD. Don't get me wrong I'm a reasonable guy here, the reason I'm a Pro clone because the company that make authentic rackets betray us loyal consumers into thinking they have this high technology stuff and high compounds stuff behind every racket they sold. Maybe they do, Maybe they don't but one things for sure they break easily. So again whats the difference between an original ones who breaks as frequently as the fake ones?... THE PRICE! I personally think Original ones are expensive because of the 1.mall rent 2.the middle men 3.shipping & handling 4.taxes and here's the killer 5.brand name. ADD them all up then you'll have a very nice and expensive Original $150 - $200 USD racket. Remove the 5 things i pointed out then you'll have a very nice, economical, money saving also an Original $25 dollar racket. The lesson here from those who is making Branded, Original racket is that make your product more durable! set your standard way way WAY! higher than the fake , copy or clone ones. Like i pointed out I could have 8 fake or clone rackets (25 Bucks per piece) if i have $200 Bucks. Make sure your items are 8 times more durable than the copied ones. HECK well be happy if it's just TWICE as durable as the fake ones. Use your "high Tech stuff" in it! or the only "High Tech stuff" in your products is the paint job... Do this! if it's really a $180 Dolla racket then make us feel it's a $180 Dolla racket. Not a racket that any fake could go toe to toe with in terms of durablility and play. If you can achieve this then i'll be the first one in line who'll buy your product (coz i know it's really worth my $$)...
A genuine Prince, Wilson and other counter parts of Yonex brands are still too expensive. I don't think we can accuire a mp100 or Ti10 original counterparts of Prince and other brands for only $25 USD. Don't get me wrong I'm a reasonable guy here, the reason I'm a Pro clone because the company that make authentic rackets betray us loyal consumers into thinking they have this high technology stuff and high compounds stuff behind every racket they sold. Maybe they do, Maybe they don't but one things for sure they break easily. So again whats the difference between an original ones who breaks as frequently as the fake ones?... THE PRICE! I personally think Original ones are expensive because of the 1.mall rent 2.the middle men 3.shipping & handling 4.taxes and here's the killer 5.brand name. ADD them all up then you'll have a very nice and expensive Original $150 - $200 USD racket. Remove the 5 things i pointed out then you'll have a very nice, economical, money saving also an Original $25 dollar racket. The lesson here from those who is making Branded, Original racket is that make your product more durable! set your standard way way WAY! higher than the fake , copy or clone ones. Like i pointed out I could have 8 fake or clone rackets (25 Bucks per piece) if i have $200 Bucks. Make sure your items are 8 times more durable than the copied ones. HECK well be happy if it's just TWICE as durable as the fake ones. Use your "high Tech stuff" in it! or the only "High Tech stuff" in your products is the paint job... Do this! if it's really a $180 Dolla racket then make us feel it's a $180 Dolla racket. Not a racket that any fake could go toe to toe with in terms of durablility and play. If you can achieve this then i'll be the first one in line who'll buy your product (coz i know it's really worth my $$)...
Definitely agree with ur idea of using "clone" instead of "fake". Out of my collection of 9 rackets, only 1 is Yonex, and the rest are all good alternate brands, such as babolat, yangyang, winex, sotx, etc. I surely agree with "using fake brand name" should not be encouraged. However, maybe buyers when they purchase a racket, they have no idea about how to spot a fake. They got their "Yonex" not because they like brand name (many of them even don't know this brand very well), but just like the racket itself (if they have a chance to try it out). So, some cases are more like "discovered a gem in stone field". I surely won't encourage ppl to buy "fake" rackets (mostly Yonex), and won't feel comfortable when ppl using fake one to show off. However, if the deal is already done, I can only wish them the best of luck to get the "racket" they like, but not falling into the trap of "brand name".
Say that agian after you broke 2 original (ouch!) mp100 s, CLONEX is good alternative for the real ones for just 25 bucks... no change in my game play.
I'm thinking of buying an Original Yonex ArmoTec700 i learned that it can be strung around 25-30 tension. And i'm willing to dish out 200 bucks just for psychological reasons, knowing you racket is a Yonex not a Clonex helps psychologically but as for game play their just the same. Maybe this time it won't break as fast as my original mp100s. well if it does break there's always the Clonex AT-700...
walmart in china Local competitors are also getting into the business too, including one called Wu Mart, located about five minutes from the Wal-Mart store. One might find clonex at wu mart
The fakes is cheap... but they are not using the right materials. Not as sturdy and its not well balance.
just wanna share info with you guys , i bought my yonex Ti2 6 years ago for yen11200(maybe about USD110) ,and recently yonex nanospeed 4500 for yen16000(around USD190) both without string here in Japan pro shop , i never bought a racket even in malaysia (i'm from malaysia ) , but i heard rackets are cheaper there ... i wonder why ... may be those are fake ..
Well, I can't believe you didn't notice the fake one doesn't have the Muscle Power Grommet bar on 4-5 o'clock and 7-8 o'clock. All high-end Muscle Power racquets have these grommet bars.
