Thanks for sharing this. I remember this as a little catalogue that comes attached to every new Yonex racket. Back then we were not so well endowed and I remember staring at those Carbonex racket models for hours, the diagonal stripes running down the racket grip which I still think is the most beautiful design ever, beating other racket brands and even modern Yonex racket. When I was playing badminton as a schoolboy, I had to make do with hand me down rackets of all sorts - Carlton classic, Yonex Blacken. But playing the game then was a great camaraderie, my friends were more than happy to share their rackets for the game. It was then I really fell in love with first, the Carbonex 7. Then another friend got a Carbonex 15, which I think was the best Yonex Carbonex I have played with; great power and control. When I started to work and was able to afford something of my own, the first Yonex racket that I bought was the B 8000 Alumina Hy Power. It was just ok, as I couldn’t afford the Carbonex range. Then I remembered my brother coming back from Ireland in 1985, and he brought back a Yonex Carbonex 9 gold and a Carbonex 20 in Burgundy red. Boy, that was a huge upgrade for me. As my brother stopped playing the game, I have the good fortune of inheriting this wonderful Cab 20, which I still kept till this day. The wonders of online shopping has make looking for all the classic Yonex rackets which I crave but was not able to afford then, a much simpler task. So here I am happy to share with you my tiny little collection of Yonex.
I once used to play with the Kennex Boron racquets but do not remember the model. They were light and also head-light, was not able to adapt and changed to Winnex racquets with a heavier head.
Another addition to the Boron family. Just have to wait patiently for the lockdown to end so that I can restring it and give it a swing. Feels great in hand doing a few dry swing. It’s a shame the original leather grip had been stripped off. I’m a big fan of original leather grip for my rackets.
Speaking of original leather grip, here is a fine example of a wet kept original leather grip, on the Carbonex 21, first version with silver lettering and stripes, and the iconic red band at 4 & 8 o’clock position.
My prized collection would be a 2u Cab-20 witht the old Yonex gold logo and also a CN version (original grip still intact)
They still sell leather grip in that colour (in Japan at least). And iirc the 4 and 8 o'clock stripes are pink on the Cab21
Indeed (gold with baby blue and silver with pink), but not red. I had the pink one (and after that I got the first Aerotus)
Manage to find a Aerotus 110 to add to my collection. Awesome racket! Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
I have just start playing with my carbonex 10 again from 1984 , it's still feel better than the new racket I have in my back .
I concur. The modern rackets are definitely lighter, faster, with higher tensions strung but somehow they don’t have or give the same ‘feel’.
Yours look to be a later version with a new colour scheme. The early generation had a light metallic green head and chromed shaft. The next had a slightly thicker shaft that is brass coloured but still retained the green colour of the head. I have all three versions. The oldest version did not have the plastic cone of the handle, rather the entire handle including the ‘cone’ is one wooden piece, with the ‘cone’ part painted in white.
I am still using the Yonex B8000, originally the green colored T joint broke and I get it replaced with another T joint. I am still using it now for my regular games. This racket was given to me by my school badminton master in 1974 and it was already a used racket which I had chosen. I love this racket. Must be more then 47 years old racket. I tied the string at 20 lbs
If I remember correctly, the Cab7, here in Australia, was re- named the Blacken 2, and had what was called a hybrid Carbon shaft, which was a really thin sheet shaft with an outer layer of carbon, and was 7mm thick
