Hathaway Victory Professional Table Tennis Table Review

The Hathaway Victory Professional Grade Table Tennis Table may be one of the best table tennis options for recreational and competitive players. It offers many great features, but its best is the price. It is an excellent piece of equipment for home use as well.

From a premium playing surface to its sturdy frame, excellent materials and design come together in the Victory. The only negative is its substantial weight, which is about 265 lbs (approximately 120 kg).

Assembly

The Assembly of this table is straightforward and easy. There is only 6-step you need to get it done. So in just a couple of minutes, you can have the table set up and ready to play the game.

Tabletop

This table features 1 inch (25mm) thick CARB certified MDF playing surface. There are 20 layers of high-quality coating on the surface of the table. With such quality built, it is very sturdy, and offers players a uniform and consistent bounce. The table is also supported by 2 inches heavy-gauge steel supports, making the table very robust.

Net Set

The net and post come together with the table. It is equipped with locking clamps where it is easy for you to attach to the table.

Integrated Leg Levelers

The table has 4 independent and stabilizing leg levelers. The height of each leg can be adjusted easily. With such a feature in place, you are guaranteed to have an even playing field.

Safe and Secure Features

8 high-grade 5-inches diameter locking wheels come with the table. The wheels make the table effortless to move. Also, the locking wheels can ensure players have a stable and secure play.

Besides the locking wheels, there is also a unique safety mechanism that can quickly lock the table during normal play or storage. The safety mechanism meets the US and European standards.

Dimensions

It is a standard table tennis table that has the size of 9 ft x 5 ft. And the folded dimensions is 60″ x 40″ x 65″.

The Good​

• • Top to bottom, stem to stem, the Hathaway Victory delivers some great features. The top is made from 1-inch thick MDF. Many other tables are ¾-inch thick, and some even less than that. Thicker MDF means more stability and less warping. The playing surface involves a lot more than just thick MDF, however. Twenty layers of a non-marking coating sit atop the MDF. Why is this such an important feature? Without the right coating or a sufficient thickness, ball bounce becomes inconsistent. The Victory’s playing surface is described as “fast.”
  • The heaviness of this table requires a substantial support structure, and the Victory delivers here. Its 2-inch thick powder-coated steel legs work with a steel frame to keep the table steady and stable. Leg levelers enable making adjustments to accommodate uneven floor surfaces. At the base are a set of good quality 5-inch locking wheels. Those big wheels can be great for traversing various floor types when moving and storing the Victory. However, its weight issue can make even getting the unassembled pieces into place difficult. Nonetheless, the table’s actual assembly is relatively straightforward, just a matter of attaching the legs to the table with several bolts.
  • Using, moving, and storing this item poses a few problems for most owners. It is relatively easy to fold up one side of the Victory to enable single-player bounce-back mode. For various reasons, Hathaway went with a 2-piece storage setup. It may be advantageous for several reasons, and considering the inclusion of a quality locking guard system for safety (especially in terms of young children), the design has its merits. Those locking mechanisms are vital to safety while the table is in a bounce-back position. The table folds easily. It gives you the option of storing the pieces in separate spaces, a good thing if your closet space is limited. It also means you are only pushing and pulling half the bulk of this table at a time. Some love this feature, and some do not. It is what it is and should not be a deal-breaker when comparing different models.

The Bad

• • When you have an item with obvious good engineering and decent quality materials, complaints often come in the guise of design preferences, and here, one big issue is the two-piece set-up. As mentioned previously, this is a heavy table (around 265 lbs.), and its sheer mass helps keep it in place (be sure to lock those wheels before playing). What makes the two-piece system attractive to some causes others’ issues, especially those who bring real competitiveness to each match. A good bump or jostle might cause misaligned halves. There are no mechanisms for attaching or locking together the two sides when in full play mode.
  • Despite what appears to be a substantial and well-designed frame, some have issues with the table’s sturdiness, and others find the wheels not up to the job of moving such a bulky item. As with any mass-produced item, flaws happen, including less than flat playing surfaces and damaged accessories. Beyond that, the missing parts bugaboo occurs with the Victory, where the pieces of the table arrive without the hardware necessary for assembling it.
  • With all the good things about this table, you would think at least the included set of balls and paddles would be of good quality. However, they may be best suited for use by kids, so be prepared to go out and get your accessories.

Conclusion

Despite problems with missing pieces and concerns about the heaviness of the Victory table tennis table, this item’s overall opinion is that it is an excellent table for the money and provides better stability and features than some other, better-known brands.

In terms of its two-piece storage configuration, some love it for the options it provides in terms of storage space, while others dislike it because of table misalignment potential. Unless you play physical table tennis, the two-piece issue should not become an issue.

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Warren Davies