Abundance of new chalk 'flavours'...

[Flakeandrun]

There's a wave of new chalks all copying or emulating a mixture of TP and Taom (a lot with the same smaller square shape of Ding Jun Hui/Pagulayan becoming popular lately). All have one or more similarities with the other. From boxes, to soft-hard ratings. From octagonal Roku or Predator style to Round Taom style. There's hundreds popping up here. They are all likely to be spending more money producing an eye-catching box than the actual chalk itself...

This one interested me due to the names they have sponsored (they must have a bit of money in the bank) - the brand is called Ninehalf - got given a piece of the grey chalk to try. Interesting that they chose to make a pink, when I know that TP discontinued their pink as the producers of the Chinese table events basically didn't like it...

At the end of the day, it's just chalk. But it's amazing to see just how many there are to choose from now... It seems like the new way to kick-start a brand. Chalk to gloves, to accessories, apparel and cases.

The taobao link had the funniest picture of the Ko brothers I have ever seen. Edited to the point of the chiseled macho man meme. I'll spare them the embarrassment of posting it here lol

 

[Bavafongoul]

A single piece of TAOM V10 chalk is now entering its 2nd year of continuous use.
I bought a box of Pagulayan chalk a year ago thinking I’d likely be using it by now.

Nope, I was wrong. The piece of V10 still has life and maybe in 2026, it will need
replacement & I’ll get to use the Pagulayan chalk I talked about in my thread last yr.

 

[Cord]

The taobao link had the funniest picture of the Ko brothers I have ever seen. Edited to the point of the chiseled macho man meme. I'll spare them the embarrassment of posting it here lol

Oh, c'mon, man! You can't blue-ball us like that. You know damned well most of us are too old & lazy to look it up ourselves.

Also, are any of the new ones in square format worth trying to order in the US?

 

[Flakeandrun]

A single piece of TAOM V10 chalk is now entering its 2nd year of continuous use.
I bought a box of Pagulayan chalk a year ago thinking I’d likely be using it by now.

Nope, I was wrong. The piece of V10 still has life and maybe in 2026, it will need
replacement & I’ll get to use the Pagulayan chalk I talked about in my thread last yr.

I have so many pieces of chalk, and you're right, the longevity is so long these days.
Pagulayan is nice chalk, so is just about anything else. I have a piece of the blue Pagulayan that I used for a couple months, now it's a case spare.
I've been using the HeddaRo Max 8000, and it's clean, grippy to the tip and blue. Can't ask for anything else.

Oh, c'mon, man! You can't blue-ball us like that. You know damned well most of us are too old & lazy to look it up ourselves.

KPC and KPH both got the heavy hand of the Photoshop editor haha

Also, are any of the new ones in square format worth trying to order in the US?

So, a lot of them are like this Ninehalf, styled in the squat, square style. I'd say Ding Jun Hui (which is identical to Pagulayan), is worth a shout. They released a white-ish grey, that if I had to spend money on chalk, I probably would get one. There's honestly so many brands now with weird names, strange packaging and advertising teams on crack... I mean the TP advertisements are some of the weirdest I've seen, and have little to nothing to do with pool. But it's just for the purpose of making noise and being noticed. Sykrs put a lot of effort into advertising on Chinese table streams, not sure whether it's good or bad. Not seen one in the wild. Seems to be a little bit of a divide between Chinese and American table enthusiasts (same products sold but brands tailoring themselves to one or the other)