Armortec 700 Limited 2008
Model AT-700LTD · Lin Dan
Price history
Not enough dated pre-owned sales yet for a price chart — our threshold is 3. 9 verified sales on record so far.
9 verified transactions on record · USD · methodology
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Armortec 700 Limited 2008: the numbered dragon edition of Lin Dan’s Beijing-era frame
Numbered, and argued over
The Armortec 700 Limited is a numbered 2008 edition of the frame most associated with Lin Dan’s rise. Retail copy says Yonex made it to commemorate the Beijing Olympics, with a Chinese dragon theme, in a run of 5,000 pieces, and examples carry individual numbers: one offered on the BadmintonCentral forum in 2013 read 1058/5000. The story told most often about it is that Lin Dan won his Beijing gold with it. That was disputed on the day he won. On August 17, 2008, BadmintonCentral posters comparing match photographs argued that he played the final with the older, taped AT700 he had used all tournament, which has a black cone, and not the Limited, whose cone is yellow. One poster said Yonex officials had confirmed the Limited, but never backed it up. No documentation of his using the Limited has surfaced since.
A dragon on a proven frame
By 2008 the Armortec 700 was a mature design. BadmintonCentral’s review thread opened on May 28, 2003, with posters calling it a new 2003 model alongside the Armortec 500, so the frame had been on sale for about five years when the Limited appeared. The construction did not change: ultra-high-modulus graphite with gForce Ti titanium in the head and Ultimum Ti in the shaft, Yonex’s Power Armor frame structure, an isometric head and a Control Support Cap. Retail copy claimed “3% more stability in the face” and “4% more speed” for the design, with no stated baseline. The Limited changed the dress. It is dark red and black with dragon-scale striping, a white-and-silver dragon amid flames around the words “Armortec 700 Limited” on the shaft, and a full cover printed with a dragon and Armortec in gold.
Lin Dan and the AT700
The AT700 is the racquet most associated with Lin Dan’s breakthrough. Between 2006 and 2008 he won the World Championships in Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, the All England twice, and Olympic gold in Beijing, beating Lee Chong Wei 21–12, 21–8 in the final on August 17, 2008. He lost the 2005 world final in Anaheim to Taufik Hidayat, a title Yonex’s own retrospective of Taufik files under the AT700. Peter Gade and Zhang Ning appear on retailer lists of AT700 players, without dated evidence. The Limited belongs to the end of this era. In April 2009 China’s national team switched its sponsorship from Yonex to Li-Ning, and Lin Dan played Li-Ning frames until he re-signed with Yonex in January 2015.
The AT700 family
Collectors split the AT700 into generations; the names are community shorthand rather than Yonex designations. The first generation, from 2003, is dark red with a black cone, and it is the version Lin Dan is identified with. A US-market “Armortec 700 2007” in red may be a catalog year rather than a separate model. The 2008 Limited sits apart, with its dragon graphics, yellow cone and edition number. Listings describe it as SP-coded and Made in Japan. Yonex Japan’s release gave it the same specification as the Armortec 700 and listed it in 3U only: head-heavy and, as Yonex rated the 700 in 2008, extra stiff, though listings often call it stiff. A second generation, reviewed in April 2009, is a brighter red with black at the 6-to-8 o’clock position of the head; its reviewer noted that some hardcore players felt “a sentimental longing” for the first. In April 2012 an AT700 Premium, an Asian-market edition Yonex Japan never listed, appeared alongside an ArcSaber 10 Premium, after Voltric had become Yonex’s head-heavy line.
What the sales show
Verified sales of the Limited have so far come from the Japanese resale market, and the price panel above lists them. Nearly all were pre-owned frames. The one new, cased example sold for far more than any used one, which shows how much condition and completeness weigh on this model. Many used examples show wear or repairs, or come without the gold-printed cover. The early market was less scarce than the “limited” label implied: in 2013, forum members reported new Limiteds still on retail shelves in Singapore years after release, and a BadmintonCentral staff member recalled further batches after the first serial run. Dealer asks on archived pages are not a guide to value, and neither is a seller’s claim of Olympic use.
Mislabels and copies
Because the Limited is the collectible version, the most common risk is a plain AT700 described as a Limited, and that needs no counterfeiter. The dragon graphics, yellow cone, edition number and gold-printed cover are what separate the two, and a listing that shows none of them is describing a standard frame. Outright counterfeits are a separate risk; Yonex publishes guidance on spotting fake racquets, and a copy of the shape does not reproduce Yonex’s laser-engraved codes. The Beijing story adds a third problem. A claim that a particular frame was used by Lin Dan cannot be verified and should not add to the price.
The end of an era
The Limited arrived as Yonex’s long partnership with the Chinese national team was ending. The team moved to Li-Ning in April 2009, Yonex introduced the Voltric line as its head-heavy family in 2010, and the Armortec name faded without an announced end date. The 2012 AT700 Premium was a later special edition, and no edition numbering has been reported for it. The Limited’s standing with collectors rests on what can be checked: a dated, numbered, Japan-made edition from the Olympic year of Lin Dan’s first gold. The match provenance sellers attach to it has never been shown.
Start with the variant. The Limited has dragon-scale striping, a white-and-silver dragon around “Armortec 700 Limited” on the shaft and, per forum comparisons made at the time, a yellow cone where the first-generation AT700’s is black. Look for an individual edition number out of 5,000 (one sold example read 1058/5000); a “Limited” with no number is a red flag. Documented examples are SP-coded and Made in Japan. On genuine Yonex frames the codes on the shaft and on the cone above the handle are laser-engraved, not printed. If a Yonex hologram sticker is present, it should resist peeling. Check the butt cap for crisp YONEX lettering and the factory grip for a barcode underneath. Ask for the gold-printed dragon cover; a frame without it is harder to place.
The Limited belongs in an Armortec or Lin Dan collection on its checkable features: the edition number, yellow cone, dragon graphics, SP coding and Made in Japan mark, ideally with the gold-printed cover. Treat any claim of Lin Dan’s use at Beijing as unproven and don’t pay for it. Make clear photos of the cone and the number a condition of purchase. A new, unstrung example with its cover is far rarer than a played one.
Verified prices last updated May 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.