Hi everyone!

Over the coming months, and into 2023, we'll be launching an entirely new series of all-new Wakkibat blades.

For us, launching this all-new line of blades has been an event over 30 months in the making.

It was a creative process beset by wild imagination, constant experimentation, rigorous testing and copious swearing... but we finally think we've gotten somewhere meaningful with it all.

This new line of products represents a fairly big chunk of why we started this business in the first place - which is why everyone at Wakkibat (ie: the both of us 😁) is so excited by it.

Here's how the upcoming launch will be rolled out:

• There will be 11 new models in the series all-up. 

• Each blade has been inspired by (and designed around) the common thematic link of celebrating Australian timbers, and Australia's sporting culture in general.

• The key defining feature of all 11 blades, will be their use of 11 different (and utterly beautiful) native Australian Timbers as an outer ply!

• Each blade will feature its own particular, specially-chosen mix of timbers and reinforcing materials in its sandwich recipe, to bring out the very best qualities we possibly can from each species of timber.

• The range will contain a number of both all-wood blades and composite fiber reinforced models. 

• Some of the composite fibers we'll be using are modern and fully synthetic, while others are all natural and ancient by comparison (not to mention also biodegradable).

• The blades will come in a range of various thicknesses, weights and speeds -- our plan being to offer something to suit the widest range of playing styles imaginable.

• We expect most of the blades will feature our own unique Wakkibat signature range shape, while others will be built around more classic outlines and profiles (we're still arguing about this one frankly - hence the long, drawn-out launch window. More details will follow on this point once we've made our final decisions.)
  
  

No one blade - or series of blades - is ever universally loved by everyone, and we don't expect this new series of blades to be any different.

Some folks will hopefully come to love these blades with a passion, while others may firmly dislike them (for whatever reasons makes the most sense to them). 

Everybody else out there we suspect may sum them up their arrival on the market with only a passing and slightly-non-committal "...eh!."

Whether you love them, hate them, or land somewhere in the indifferent middle, is entirely fine by us -- those decisions are out of our control, and we'd prefer you to make up your own mind on them anyway.

What we're utterly sure of however, is that this new line up of Wakkibat blades will be Australia's very first fully Australian-made and designed range of table tennis blades, which are made using Australia's finest and most beautiful native species of table-tennis-friendly timber.

For that reason alone, we're quietly confident that, if nothing else - you've never seen or played with anything quite like our blades in your life... which frankly was the whole idea.

We make our blades because we love making our blades! Making money in the process is part of our aim yes, but pure profit motive has never been the main driver of anything we do at our company, and nor will it ever be.

With everything Wakkibat does, we always aim to create something:

• that is new and different, 

• that has an utterly unique character all of its own, 

• that performs brilliantly at the highest levels of the sport 

• which is the equal of anything made by any other bladesmith on the planet 

• and which truly reflects the essence of who we at Wakkibat are: as individuals, as Australians, and as lovers of the beautiful and simple little ball-sport we've built our entire lives around. 

The Wakkibat Aussie XI is coming soon to a website near you! (...the one that's parked under your eyes right now, as a matter of fact 😂😂)

We sincerely hope you get the same kind of joy from using our Aussie XI, that we have gotten out of creating, designing, and making them all for you.

Thanks for reading everyone - please stay tuned for updates, and we'll see you round the tables.

Shannon from Wakkibat