Astrox 88 D (Ruby Red)
Model AX-88D · Marcus Gideon, Kento Momota
Price history
Chart: monthly median of verified pre-owned sales · USD · methodology
Saw a sale? Report it →Where to find it
Search live eBay listings →Places to search for this racquet. We don't track stock, and listings and asking prices change fast, so check at the source.
Astrox 88 D Ruby Red: Gideon’s All England racquet, and Momota’s before the 99
A doubles racquet that won singles titles
Yonex designed the Astrox 88 D for the player at the back of a doubles pair, yet two of its best-known 2018 wins came in men’s singles. Kento Momota used it to win the Asia Championships in Wuhan that April, beating Lee Chong Wei in the semifinals and Chen Long 21–17, 21–13 in the final. In July he won the Indonesia Open as an unseeded player, beating top seed Viktor Axelsen 21–14, 21–9 in 38 minutes. Yonex called that final an “ASTROX 88 showdown”, because Axelsen was playing with the sister racquet, the 88 S. Both results appear in Yonex’s own equipment lists. At the end of July Yonex announced that Momota would use the new Astrox 99 from the World Championships onward, so the 88 D is the racquet of his spring and summer, not of the world titles that followed. In doubles, its best-known user was Marcus Fernaldi Gideon.
Skill, Dominate and a longer frame
Yonex announced the Astrox 88 S and 88 D together in January 2018 and released them worldwide in mid-March as a matched doubles pair: the S, for Skill, for the front-court player, and the D, for Dominate, for the back. Lee Yong-dae, the Korean former men’s doubles world No. 1 and Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medalist, advised on the design. The 88 S flexes along the whole frame for control at the net. The 88 D flexes mainly in the upper frame, which Yonex says holds the shuttle down and drives it steeply into the court, and it is 10 mm longer than standard, against 5 mm for the 88 S. Both have Nanometric and tungsten in the frame, Namd in the shaft only and a reshaped cap Yonex named the Energy Boost Cap. Some descriptions credit the 88 D with the Rotational Generator System, but Yonex presented it as technology shared with the Astrox 77, on sale since September 2017. The Japanese price was ¥25,000 before tax.
Gideon, Mogensen and the doubles lists
Yonex documents match use before the racquet reached shops. At the Swiss Open in February 2018, Denmark’s Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe won the men’s doubles in their first tournament with the 88 D and 88 S respectively. Three weeks later, at the All England, Gideon on the 88 D and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo on the 88 S beat the same Danes 21–18, 21–17 for their second consecutive title there. “The ASTROX 88 D gives me more power to my smash, and lets me drive the shuttle faster,” Gideon told Yonex. In July the Indonesians won their home Open for the first time, 21–13, 21–16 over Takuto Inoue and Yuki Kaneko, and Yonex’s 2019 US catalog still listed Gideon with the 88 D. Yonex’s lists also put Yuki Fukushima on it at the 2018 Asia Championships and the 2019 World Championships, and Fajar Alfian at the same 2019 Worlds.
Ruby Red, Off White and three generations
Ruby Red was the launch finish. In late May 2020 Yonex added Off White/Red, sold worldwide under the same AX88D code with the same materials, sizes and Japanese price, and named Gideon and Sukamuljo, Keigo Sonoda and Takeshi Kamura, and Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota as its users. The Emerald Green racquet sometimes described as an 88 D colorway is the 88 S. Yonex Japan dropped the first generation from its Astrox list between November 2020 and January 2021, making way for the second-generation 88 D Pro, a Camel Gold frame with Volume Cut Resin that went on sale in March 2021. Some players kept the original longer: Yonex’s list for the March 2021 All England still has Fukushima and Kaneko on the first-generation 88 D. A third generation, with a Power-Assist Bumper at the frame top, followed in March 2024.
What the verified sales show
The verified sales shown above are pre-owned first-generation frames from Asian resale. They vary widely and sit well below the racquet’s launch price. They do not separate Ruby Red from the 2020 Off White/Red, which carries the same code, and no unused example has a verified sale yet. Yonex never published production figures, and neither finish was sold as a limited edition. What gives the model its interest is the 2018 record: the racquet Gideon carried through his second All England title and his first Indonesia Open, and the one Momota used in the months before the Astrox 99. That provenance belongs to the model, not to any individual frame on the market.
Why listings go wrong
Popular pro frames attract counterfeiters, and the 88 D also has a naming problem. Yonex has sold three generations of Astrox 88 D, in 2018, 2021 and 2024, and the later two came in several tiers, some made outside Japan, such as the Taiwan-made 2024 88 D Game. A listing can pair first-generation photographs with a later racquet’s description, or sell a lower tier simply as an “88 D”. The first generation has Nanometric in the frame, where the 2021 Pro uses Volume Cut Resin, and it has no Power-Assist Bumper. Its only finishes are Ruby Red and Off White/Red. Because the 88 S shares the frame materials and differs mainly in color, flex pattern and length, a mislabeled 88 S is a second trap.
Where the 88 line starts
When Yonex announced the second generation in January 2021, it called the originals “popular doubles-concept racquets” and launched the new pair with Gideon, Sukamuljo, Fukushima and Hirota. The position-specific idea has lasted: Yonex’s 2024 third generation keeps the 88 D 10 mm longer than standard and the 88 S 5 mm longer. The Ruby Red is where that line begins. It also records a short, well-documented crossover, when a racquet built for back-court doubles smashes carried the future world champion through the Asia Championships and the Indonesia Open before he moved to the Astrox 99.
Check the country of origin first: Yonex lists both first-generation finishes, Ruby Red and Off White/Red, as made in Japan. Yonex’s own authenticity test is the hologram sticker, which should resist lifting with a fingernail. Retailer guides add that genuine serial numbers are laser-engraved as well as printed. Then compare the racquet with Yonex’s specification: code AX88D, stiff flex, a frame 10 mm longer than standard (the 88 S is 5 mm longer), 3U at an average of 88 g or 4U at 83 g, and recommended tension of 21–29 lbs for 3U and 20–28 lbs for 4U. It should have the Energy Boost Cap and no Power-Assist Bumper, and any mention of Volume Cut Resin points to the 2021 Pro rather than the original. If in doubt, Yonex advises contacting its customer support.
For collectors, the 88 D’s interest is documented 2018 provenance: Gideon and Sukamuljo’s All England and home Indonesia Open, and Momota’s two titles before the Astrox 99. That history attaches to the model, not to any single frame. Played examples make up the verified record, so condition and a clear first-generation match (Ruby Red or Off White/Red, made in Japan) matter most. Anyone buying one to play should expect later 88 D generations to appear under the same name, and check which one a listing describes.
Verified prices last updated Sep 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.