Ten New Products I'm Hoping to See in 2026
1. Hugo Calderano’s blade
Why put this one first? Because it’s the easiest to come true; there’s already a prototype, after all. Based on earlier observations, this is a Korean-made blade with inner green-aramid carbon. As for who Hugo will partner with as his new home (or whether he’ll start his own brand), that should be announced any day now.
Korea’s ADK is trending toward becoming the ESN of the blade world, with many brands OEM-ing through this company. Yesterday a reader asked: is the green fiber in these Korean-made blades also from Japan? Indeed it is, from Japan’s Kuraray. That includes the green fiber in Saviga’s blades (like my Moyu) as well, also imported from Japan.
Of course, not all green fiber is Japanese; some is DuPont’s, from the US. And I’d guess there’s surely some that’s merely dyed…
2. Stiga LUMA Carbo
This is Stiga’s new 2026 blade, also Korean-made, with rising national-team star Wen Ruibo as its ambassador. The structure is simple, similar to the Viscaria but with green-aramid carbon. I’ve written before that this kind of Korean-made outer green-aramid blade comes in at least two directions. One is on the harder, stiffer side, like the Stiga Inspiration Carbo and the Tibhar Hurricane Alex; the other is softer and more ball-holding, like the Double Fish Zhou Qihao Project Z. But even the first two hold the ball decently. I wonder which style the LUMA Carbo will be. Through the degree of fiber curing, you can actually tune a blade’s softness or stiffness quite easily.
3. A Fan Zhendong limited edition
This one still looks uncertain; it just seems we can’t avoid talking about it. Especially given that the likelihood of Fan Zhendong returning to the national team is decreasing, shouldn’t Butterfly seize the moment and cash in early… Of course, Butterfly’s business philosophy surely isn’t that shallow, otherwise the custom workshop wouldn’t have opened and then paused. (By the way, in the new year, could I get a new Butterfly tokuchu at a not-too-outrageous price? If you have one, please message me. I’d like to compare the differences between the new and old ones…)
Or else, let’s just change it to: hoping for a new Butterfly limited-edition blade next year. Preferably one more interesting than this year’s Omar limited edition.
4. A Lin Shidong ALC
This one also looks like it might not happen. If the Fan Zhendong ALC keeps selling like hotcakes, why bother releasing a Lin Shidong ALC? There’s no incentive at all.
Or else, let’s just change it to: hoping for a new Butterfly blade next year.
5. ZEED 03
In July 2024, I speculated in an article that Z03 would be Butterfly’s next-generation flagship. I was right about Z03, but I didn’t expect it to be ZYRE-03 rather than ZEED 03. As for that legendary rubber said to surpass boosted Hurricane? Since ZEED 03 didn’t come out in 2025, we’ll keep hoping in 2026.
But honestly, in 2019 Boll used Tenergy 09c and Jun Mizutani tried Lemuria, and neither has hit the market even now. Who dares say ZEED 03 is definitely coming next year?
Still, at the very least, we can look forward to new Butterfly rubbers next year, whether high-end or mid-range.
6. Saviga Yazhi Max ZFC
This one is for real. Don’t believe me? Look at the picture below. Inner-fiber structure. This fiber is similar to Butterfly’s SZLC, also imported. From the test play so far, it seems a bit softer. But it won’t hit the market that early; it still needs adjusting. Just like the Saviga Yazhi PLC (a Blue-Gold workshop special) launched in the last couple of days: I already released test photos and spy shots back in August, but it didn’t officially launch until late December.
7. PRO-01 G
Another piece of Yinhe news is that they’ll release a green-aramid blade. The naming makes it obvious: this is the budget version of an outer green-aramid blade. Budget version though it may be, it’s still worth looking forward to, because the more cutthroat the brands get, the more consumers benefit.
In my January 2023 equipment column, I wrote “the age of green-aramid carbon has arrived.” Now it’s in full bloom, blossoms on a thousand trees.
8. Stiga I1
Stiga has a new blade. It uses the lightest and hardest Ingla carbon fiber, still in the Swedish-made flavor. I have to say, the Cosmos carbon gave me a bright, sunny feeling, so I trust the I1 won’t disappoint. In this era where aramid-carbon blades have more pop, can the I1 rewrite some of that landscape?
9. Double Fish ESN rubber
The Korean-made Project Z lifted Double Fish’s blade quality to a new height. Even though everyone likes different types, and even though Double Fish’s brand presence in the blade arena isn’t all that strong yet, there’s no doubt Project Z is still a quality piece of work.
10. Something from the new Joola
On December 29, Joola China issued a statement, and we also saw the relaunch of the Joola (Shenzhen) company. Among next year’s ten most-anticipated new products, one absolutely has to come from the new Joola. We’ll announce more details later.
Beyond all this, Sanwei will also release a higher-tier version of the Guobiao 3, which is worth looking forward to as well.