A two-speed blade originally designed for OX LP
This blade represents the final iteration in a series of prototypes designed for a local OX LP attacker who wanted the control and reversal of OX LP combined with the chopping and spin-generation of a sponged LP. Can't have your cake and eat it too, you say? Well, read on! My eventual solution was to make the backhand of this blade as soft as possible, a feat I accomplished by orienting its Obeche grain horizontally and attaching it with a special glue. The carbon in this blade is asymmetrically oriented, with one layer roughly in the center of the blade, and the other layer located directly behind the forehand's vertically-oriented Obeche skin. Confused yet?
The result was nothing short of revolutionary: A wooden playing surface on the backhand that mimics a sub-0.5mm sponge beneath OX LP, thus supporting consistent topspins and spinny chops, yet not diminishing the control and reversal that OX LP is prized for. This highly asymmetrical design results in a two-speed blade where the forehand side is faster than the backhand side and has noticeably different dwell.
So what about the forehand side, you ask? The ULTRA Blue Streak is a blocker's and flat-hitter's dream, with uncanny stability and control (it's been dubbed "The Door" by local players due to this effortless blocking). Being soft itself, this blade pairs well with hard-sponged inverted rubbers. I impregnate the entire edge with a special coating that significantly improves the durability in the event you accidentally run the blade into the table.
You'll be hard pressed to find another 6-ply blade anywhere in the market, let alone one with this blade's unique construction. Perhaps owing to that construction, this fairly thick Balsa blade plays nothing like any thick Balsa blade I've tried, most of which are too springy and awkwardly non-linear. The ULTRA Blue Streak is neither. Rather, it provides a well-dampened feeling and predictable linearity which is why I like to think of it as "the Balsa blade for players who hate Balsa blades."
p.s. That OX LP attacker eventually moved to 755 1.0mm, and the ULTRA Blue Streak is still his preferred blade, proving that it also works well with sponge.