R11 FCT Sleeve Adapter: Fakes

After the original R9 FCT sleeve (1st generation), it's been pretty difficult to tell (genuine or fakes), as these people who makes them sleeves puts in extra effort to perfect them. Fake FCT sleeves that are reproduced by counterfeiters are no longer straight bore; they are now able to adjust. So its not as easy to tell them apart anymore.
You may get a sleeve that is not straight bore and you go "oh I bought the real deal". THINK TWICE

Just a couple of weeks back my friend Nick was asking me: "Why are there china sellers on eBay selling the R11 FCT sleeves at rock bottom price? They can't be real can they?"
I replied "I am not 100% sure if its the real deal, but hey, this guy is selling over 130pcs in less than a month....compared to my pathetic 1 a day. However, I can't compete with the china sellers' prices. It would be below cost for me"
Nick was puzzled and decided to do some digging on his own. Obviously, his sales are equally as affected as mine.

My friend Nick decided to buy a sleeve from a china seller; to have a look.
When he received it, he told me there were differences. He then shipped the 'china guy' sleeve to me.
Kudos to Nick for the effort.

The first thing I looked out for were the basics:
Number printed above (production number)   CHECK
Slanted and not a straight bore sleeve             CHECK
Ok, so at first look, its decent. A casual person would be happy with this purchase.

I looked deeper into it. The differences I see are very fine. You'd need a seasoned eye to look out for it. Which proves the improvement of counterfeit technology and equipment. LOL

To look out for these: (click on pictures to enlarge)

1) The fonts were different

 Fonts are slightly different, the line is slightly thicker on the china guy sleeve

2) The color on the china guy sleeve is chili red; the real sleeve is like a glossy red
3) The china guy sleeve is slightly longer
4) The base depth line on the china guy sleeve is longer

As above, you can see that the real sleeve has more 'slant' compared to that of the china guy's

The slant determines the adjustments of the club

5) The lines on the teeth are more significant on the real sleeve and seems more 'natural and consistent

6) The top part of the FCT sleeve where it forms a curves:

The real one is deeper; china guy's sleeve is quite shallow and not as deep 

The real FCT sleeve forms a curve nicely downwards; china guy's is flat straight

 You can see that on the top part of the Real FCT sleeve where it curves, it curves downwards too; the china guy's sleeve curved surface is flat

7) I measured the depth of the sleeve (How deep your shaft goes into the sleeve)

Real sleeve: 6.957 inch

China Guy: 7.031 inch

Hope this is helpful as the old guides to spotting fake FCT sleeves from the 1st generation R9 series are no longer helpful with spotting them for the R11. The fakes are so nicely done now.

So china folks selling them at rock bottom price? Think again...and again. Unless you don't mind that 2 degrees become 1 degree. LOL!

Shoutout to Nick; thanks for your initiative on this

*After consulting a few friends, they told me that the china guy's sleeves are counterfeits.
Part of the mould of the sleeves were stolen and they tried to do their own copies. That is why although their sleeves has slant, it is minimal and not 100% accurate

2011 Taylormade R11 FCT Sleeves

Final complete versions of the Taylormade R11 FCT sleeves with ferrule

there's another hybrid sleeve for the Rescue '11 club... will write about that another day


Pictures (left = .350) (right = TP .335)

 Number '3' on .350 and number '7' on TP .335

Taylormade 2011 Tour Putters - what's used on tour now

This Ghost Tour series putter will be a hit!
Not sure when is the official retail launch date...

It's like a kiama-ghost marriage putter, if you know what I mean, LOL!

Things to love:
ghosted image (check)
adjustable weight ports (check)
smooth inserts (check)
range of models/designs (check)
nice looks (check)

We have a winner already!

So far I have only managed to get 3 models:
TM110 (Daytona style)
TM770 (Fontana style)
TM880 (Maranello style)
Looks like Taylormade is doing away with style names....they are into style numbers now! LOL!

Pictures...
Extreme left will be TM110, center will be TM770 and extreme right will be TM880

 TM110 has 6 weight ports at the back of the putter

 TM770 has 4 weight ports. 2 at the toe, 2 at the heel

 TM880 has 4 weight ports. 2 at the toe, 2 at the heel

New 2011 pure roll insert by Taylormade

Taylormade R11 ASP...different versions

There will be 4 versions of ASP plates...I may be wrong; there may be more than 4, but as far as I know, I am only made aware of 4 versions now:

Red 8

Red 9

Gold 8

Gold 9

The gold plates are exclusive to Japanese R11s only...but if you wanna pimp your driver, you can get a gold plate from me. You can have a look at how the gold plate looks on the head here

So it leaves us to the question, what's the difference between 8 and 9?

However, upon closer examination, seems like I could spot a difference:

On the 9, there is another 'inner circle' 

What does the 'inner circle' do?

I remember reading on golfsmith that the TP R11 has a lower CG. So there must be some kind of a difference

I have had a friend who told me:

- The '8' plates are found in retail heads. They adjust 2 degree closed and 2 degree open

- The '9' plates are tour issue plates. They adjust 1 degree closed and 1 degree open

There will be 4 different plates adjustable in 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 degrees respectively. 

Thanks for the info buddy! The info is from my buddy Scott T.

I have previously discussed about 'questionable' number 8 plates: Link 1  Link 2

I will continue to work on this 'project' and find the other asp plates!

30 Jan 2011 update:

Heard from my supplier that an ASP plate with number 5 has been discovered! That must be the 0.5 or 1.5 degree version! Keep in the loop! :)

I heart this project!

Interested to buy gold/red ASP plates? Contact me

Taylormade R11 ASP

I've taken these pictures like so long ago, I think 3 months ago, LOL

Since I'm in the mood to blog... but do not know what to write about, I'm digging this up to write for fun

So back a while back there were talks of fake ASP plates...or AST plates whatever we used to call it. Non adjustable plates. Remour was that people 'made' these copy plates to match it up with fake R11 heads to sell even months before the retail release date.

Some argue that they are prototype versions, which the white number 8 printed behind

Truth be told, today there are genuine number 8 ASP plates. They will be shipped with the R11s come 2nd Feb. I will later write in another post on the number 8 and number 9 plates.

I guess it was just the white printed number, and nerdy fonts on the plates that raised eyebrows.

Just some comparisons... (the left one with the number 8 is the questionable plate whereas the right one is the confirmed genuine version)

The workmanship is clearly better on the right plate yeah?

Oh I hate the nerdy fonts on the left plate

Workmanship

Weight of the 'real' one: 4.2g

Weight of the questionable plate: 3.8g

Anyways, I don't think there will still be a lot of these 'weird' plates floating around

Link to another post regarding this here

Different versions of ASP here

2011 Taylormade Drivers

I think for 2011 Taylormade has launched the sexist clubs - hands down!
That piece of Burner Superfast 2.0 will be going into my bag - based on functionality
The Gold R11 is my favourite judging from the looks department but based on hitting it well (for me) ... that club on the extreme right will get a space in my bag :)

2011 Taylormade R11 Driver

Which one do you prefer? I personally like the Gold Japanese version

Gold digger I am! haha

Fake R11; Visible signs

In no mood for small talk, so bang straight to the point:

It should not be pointed like this; it should be rounded

Not in line, LOL!!!

Inside the paint fill, there are many uneven dimples, ugly lines. Just not smooth like silk.

Watch out for R11 heads with lousy paint jobs

Keeping it short and sweet here as I need to go wrap Xmas presents (LOL!)

Watch out for a batch of R11 heads now that are not 100% genuine stuff
Insider scoop is that there are a bunch of stolen heads = 'blanks' (heads that are raw metal...no paint, no inserts no nothing)

Smart alecs will then work on the blanks THEMSELVES!!!!! OMG!!!!! Like add on to it....so its 50% genuine probably. The giveaway: the paint job
Always also remember that Taylormade has a trademark red, white and yellow paint color tone. A sharp eye will catch it.

Merry Xmas!

R11 has AST and ASP!

My goodness! the R11 has 2 versions, one is AST which we all know stands for Adjustable Sole Technology...
now theres another one that's ASP!!!! What the heck stands for ASP?
Adjustable Sole Plate

Works the same I think...

AST: Initial Prototype Release

ASP: Final Release version

Pictures of final released R11 heads here

Taylormade R11 - FCT Sleeves

Pictures are up! On sale on ebay now!

Adjusts lie and loft

No longer adjusts face angle as we now have the ASP plates to work on that aspect

Ebay item number: 150531245694

*Please take note that for the R11 FCT sleeves, there will be right handed and left handed sleeves

Final released version of R11 sleeves here

R11 FCT sleeves

The R11 FCT sleeves for now I know, are available in 3 options:
.335
.350
Hybrid .370


So, it means there will be a new hybrid coming too! YEAH! Im a hybrid fanatic.

R11 uses new FCT sleeves

Oh my God!

The R11 will feature another kind of FCT sleeve again!

Taylormade fans are complaining already...