The "old" Blade 4 isn't news to anybody, obviously, but I just got one so I figured I'd throw out my impressions of both the board and the transaction.
The board was $49.99 at Ozone Billiards. They ship US orders over $50 for free, so I added a set of flights. It came packed in an oversize, heavy-duty box crammed with those giant inflate-o-bubble thingies. Took a week to get here.
I asked Ozone to open the board and inspect it before they shipped (something I was unaware I should do in my earlier Gladiator II debacle). It seems like they did, because one end of the Winmau carton was unsealed and the flights were inside with the board.
The board looked pretty close to perfect. Bull centered, with the black, white, red and green dyes where they belonged and only where they belonged. The only thumbs-down would be for the fat mounting screw that goes in the center of the back. Cheap junk.
With the board mounted, I was surprised by the lack of bright-whiteness in the white areas. This is only my third new board, but when the other two were brand new, and this also goes for the new boards I've seen in bars, the white areas were so white they almost seemed like they were illuminated from within. But with the Blade 4 it's more of a dingy gray. I know others on Dartnutz (and maybe someone from Winmau?) have speculated that this might be caused by dye transfer that happens when players pull their darts, but this board was like that right out of the box.
The Stilton-cheese-like veining is also much pronounced on this board than on others I've played on. Not a bad thing, just different.
In use, the first thing I noticed was that the spider wires are not only quite thin, but they're nearly flush with the sisal. I have pretty good light, and the wires aren't easy to see. In crummy pub light they might be invisible.
And the sisal seems a bit softer (if that's the right word) than I'm used to. With my previous Viper board, a fairly zippy dart would hit with a "thunk." With the Blade 4, it's more of a "koosh."
All in all, cool board. Definitely an upgrade from what I had.
The board was $49.99 at Ozone Billiards. They ship US orders over $50 for free, so I added a set of flights. It came packed in an oversize, heavy-duty box crammed with those giant inflate-o-bubble thingies. Took a week to get here.
I asked Ozone to open the board and inspect it before they shipped (something I was unaware I should do in my earlier Gladiator II debacle). It seems like they did, because one end of the Winmau carton was unsealed and the flights were inside with the board.
The board looked pretty close to perfect. Bull centered, with the black, white, red and green dyes where they belonged and only where they belonged. The only thumbs-down would be for the fat mounting screw that goes in the center of the back. Cheap junk.
With the board mounted, I was surprised by the lack of bright-whiteness in the white areas. This is only my third new board, but when the other two were brand new, and this also goes for the new boards I've seen in bars, the white areas were so white they almost seemed like they were illuminated from within. But with the Blade 4 it's more of a dingy gray. I know others on Dartnutz (and maybe someone from Winmau?) have speculated that this might be caused by dye transfer that happens when players pull their darts, but this board was like that right out of the box.
The Stilton-cheese-like veining is also much pronounced on this board than on others I've played on. Not a bad thing, just different.
In use, the first thing I noticed was that the spider wires are not only quite thin, but they're nearly flush with the sisal. I have pretty good light, and the wires aren't easy to see. In crummy pub light they might be invisible.
And the sisal seems a bit softer (if that's the right word) than I'm used to. With my previous Viper board, a fairly zippy dart would hit with a "thunk." With the Blade 4, it's more of a "koosh."
All in all, cool board. Definitely an upgrade from what I had.