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Old Zhanchi vs. New Zhanchi. Different plastic? All hype or fact?

Are older Zhanchi's "better" than newer Zhanchi's?

  • Yes

    Votes: 63 57.3%
  • No

    Votes: 47 42.7%

  • Total voters
    110

stensgaard

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Feb 13, 2013
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where does the stickerless ZhanChi fit into all this?
is it closer to the new or the old one in "feel" / plastic quality?
 

greenblob1818

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I am getting an "Original Plastic" ZhanChi on Monday. I found a shop in China that still had some ZhanChi's left over from the original batch. I post about how it is when I get back from China or next week as I may not have Wi-Fi.
 

mark49152

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I am getting an "Original Plastic" ZhanChi on Monday. I found a shop in China that still had some ZhanChi's left over from the original batch. I post about how it is when I get back from China or next week as I may not have Wi-Fi.
Buy them all up and sell them on here, you'd make a decent profit ;) How do you know they are "original batch" anyway?
 

greenblob1818

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Okay, so Original Plastic ZhanChi's are real and they are better.

The old ZhanChi's are pitch black unlike the newer ones which are a lighter colour. It is really clear so that's how you know if it's original. They are smoother, faster and feel more like butter once lubed. I have modded another ZhanChi and it feels as good as an original plastic, but feels cheaper and harder due to the plastic. A modded original would be amazing.

I have tried out both ZhanChi's and now I know that there IS a difference. It's fact, not hype.​
 

~Adam~

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Okay, so Original Plastic ZhanChi's are real and they are better.

Stuff

I have tried out both ZhanChi's and now I know that there IS a difference. It's fact, not hype. [/LEFT]

No two cubes feel exactly the same.
Your single data point means absolutely nothing. That's an actual fact.
 
Last edited:

jayefbe

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No two cubes feel exactly the same.
Your single data point means absolutely nothing. That's an actual fact.

This, absolutely. Add in placebo built up from the ridiculous hype surrounding the "OP" zhanchi (thanks again CBC) and that's enough to explain any perceived difference. I'm positive an unscrupulous seller could sell fake "OP" zhanchis and it would result in dozens of YouTube videos of people testifying about how much better the "OP" version is.

Plus, I'm skeptical of any shops that still have stock of 2+ year old cubes. Since its release, this has been the most popular speed cube. What kind of shop would buy so many cubes in their initial order that they couldn't sell them all in over 2 years? The Panshi, sure, but the zhanchi? Additionally, things may be done differently in China, but stock can usually be returned to the supplier if it doesn't sell.

I'm sure there are some incredibly old zhanchis sitting on the shelves of toy shops here and there. But I'm also sure that these are isolated instances where a small shop may have ordered a handful of cubes, and then never sold them all because they sell such low numbers of cubes. So how would someone across the world find such a shop? It would have to be pure dumb luck. Plus, how can someone remember when they received shipment of stock from over two years ago? Who would actually look that up for someone that only wants to buy a single cube? Especially when it's much simpler to just answer yes to every question, and guarantee a sale. My money is on the latter.
 

greenblob1818

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No two cubes feel exactly the same.
Your single data point means absolutely nothing. That's an actual fact.

Well, the plastic is a pure black (like xxoxia said in his post) unlike the new ones which you can easily tell that it is grayish. It is really noticeable.

I also got a LingYun V1 to compare and it was pitch black because they are original plastic. It is almost identical in the OP ZhanChi but it is ever so sightly lighter in colour (still pure black though, you really have to look closely have have good attention to detail.) My data is backed up by xxoxia and others. If you don't believe that OP ZhanChi's exist, fine by me.

All I'm saying on this forum is that I found that OP ZhanChi's exist and telling everyone that it isn't all hype (although CBC did create quite a bit of hype), most of the rumors are true that the plastic is different.
 

~Adam~

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Okay, so Original Plastic ZhanChi's are real and they are better.​


All I'm saying on this forum is that I found that OP ZhanChi's exist and telling everyone that it isn't all hype (although CBC did create quite a bit of hype), most of the rumors are true that the plastic is different.

It also seems as if you think that because you think yours is better that they are better.​
 

greenblob1818

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It also seems as if you think that because you think yours is better that they are better.

No. The one I got was better than the new ZhanChi's and so are other's OP ZhanChi's like CBC's, Phil's, xxoxia's, MODcuber's, Justin's, Camile's etc. They all say that they are better so I tried them and found that they are better. It proves that they are better because I have more than 10 sources saying that they are better.

Do you have an original plastic ZhanChi? If you don't then you can't day that they are worse, better or the same. You would not be able to say that my statements are false until you have one and tried it. You can believe whatever you want, you just can't say for sure unless you have one.
 
Last edited:

greenblob1818

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This, absolutely. Add in placebo built up from the ridiculous hype surrounding the "OP" zhanchi (thanks again CBC) and that's enough to explain any perceived difference. I'm positive an unscrupulous seller could sell fake "OP" zhanchis and it would result in dozens of YouTube videos of people testifying about how much better the "OP" version is.

Plus, I'm skeptical of any shops that still have stock of 2+ year old cubes. Since its release, this has been the most popular speed cube. What kind of shop would buy so many cubes in their initial order that they couldn't sell them all in over 2 years? The Panshi, sure, but the zhanchi? Additionally, things may be done differently in China, but stock can usually be returned to the supplier if it doesn't sell.

I'm sure there are some incredibly old zhanchis sitting on the shelves of toy shops here and there. But I'm also sure that these are isolated instances where a small shop may have ordered a handful of cubes, and then never sold them all because they sell such low numbers of cubes. So how would someone across the world find such a shop? It would have to be pure dumb luck. Plus, how can someone remember when they received shipment of stock from over two years ago? Who would actually look that
up for someone that only wants to buy a single cube? Especially when it's much simpler to just answer yes to every question, and guarantee a sale. My money is on the latter.

There are very few big cube shops in China. I get the cubes in China when my relatives come to Perth from several taobao shops. Go on taobao and search "zhanchi." There are lots of results and different shops that sell the ZhanChi. I contacted a small shop that sold the ZhanChi and they said that they don't sell many and that they have ZhanChi's from the original batches. For other shops, it could be complete luck.

I might have been lucky but in China, you have a higher chance of landing an OP ZhanChi.
 

~Adam~

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No. The one I got was better than the new ZhanChi's and so are other's OP ZhanChi's like CBC's, Phil's, xxoxia's, MODcuber's, Justin's, Camile's etc. They all say that they are better so I tried them and found that they are better. It proves that they are better because I have more than 10 sources saying that they are better.

Wow 10. That's almost everybody that has ever tried an original ZhanChi.

How about the hundreds of people who don't have a strong opinion on the subject so stay quiet?

Do you have an original plastic ZhanChi? If you don't then you can't day that they are worse, better or the same. You would not be able to say that my statements are false until you have one and tried it. You can believe whatever you want, you just can't say for sure unless you have one.

I have 2 originals left, I bought 4 and gave 2 away.

They feel about the same as the new ones.
 

stensgaard

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Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Messages
72
I have 3 stickerless from one batch and 3 from another.. Bought at the same shop 3-4 months apart..
And they are very different!

First 3 are the same.
Last 3 are the same.

Love the fist 3.
Last 3 are just ok!

So not sure about old vs new.. But I can confirm that there are very different versions of these cubes out there! :)
 
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