I'd still like to know who made this batch of V5 bats. The quality of the handle is very good. The springs are parallel with the face of the bat, unlike most bats I've owned. Binding is perfect.
The pressing is also as forum experts describe it should be, eg you should only need to do the edges and toe. I know this is a preprepared bat, but the pressing still has plenty of rebound that will only get better. This will be a great bat once played in. The pressing is far better than the other two slazengers I had, mongoose and my mates Kooka Menace 900 and impressive for a lower grade model.
This is not to say I'm a Slazenger fanboy. To be honest they don't seem to care about their quality as demonstrated by their website that has not been updated for 3 years and the fact all the official pics of the V5 show and describe a heavily concaved bat. The fact they keep changing their English bat maker also shows cost is more important than quality to them.
No, the quality of this bat it testiment to the high standards of the individual who made this bat. Someone really loves making bats and regardless of profit cares about the bat. I'm hoping it's one of the forum bat makers. Hat's off to the actual batmaker, whomever you are.
Also thanks to Dave Rocket for starting this post, even though I didn't see you pics, your enthusiasm helped me to purchase.