The Brand: Mandarina Duck is an Italian luxury luggage brand which was established in 1977 by childhood friends Paolo Trento and Pietro Mannato . Since then, it has quickly become one of those luggage brands favoured by quality luggage connoisseurs. Owing to the founders’ background in the field of plastic materials and rubber, they are renowned for their bags made out of avant-garde synthetic materials. Fun fact: The duck on Mandarina Duck’s logo represents a particular species that comes from the banks of river Ussuri, on the border between Russia and China, where it symbolises happiness and loyalty. The duck is monogamous, and has a brightly coloured and waterproof plumage.
The Collection: Mandarina Duck’s Tank line of products was launched in 1981. Today it is back with a restyled version of the distinctive, dynamic design that has made it an all-time icon. The newly discovered breakthrough of its thermoformed rubber and fabric guarantees lightweight, but sturdy protection, “with all the energy and protection of a manly hug”. The current set of Tank products were designed by Daniel Valsesia.
Product description: First out is the 8CV02 Tank Trolley which comes in black, titanium (grey), fire (red) and cement (beige). I went for the grey version.
Other dimensions are as follows:
* 3,2 kg
* 15,8×21,7×7,9 inch
* 7,1 lbs
* 9,9 gal uK
The 8CV02 Tank Trolley: The laundry and shoe pockets.
Although I wen for the beige one, the 8CV02 Tank trolley can be matched with a similarly coloured 8CT03 Tank backpack, which features the same soft but sturdy thermoformed rubber:
- * 39×45,5×21,5 cm
- * 1,2 kg
- * 15,4×17,9×8,5 inch
- * 2,6 lbs
The 8CT03 Tank Backpack:The Interior
Luxury Travel Beat’s Review: The more I travel the less I inclined I am to schlepping around heavy luggage. Having recently mastered the art of packing enough clothes to last me a week in a cabin-sized hand-luggage suitcase, I was excited to receive the Mandarina Duck 8CV02 tank trolley and accompanying 8CT03 backpack for review. At just over 7 pounds, the trolley is light enough to not let me incur extra charges with those airlines that penalize one for having hand luggage which weighs more than 10 kg. The fact that it comes with a matching backpack is just the icing on the cake.
Highs: The colours! The tank trolley suitcase is s a nice and sophisticated polished grey colour with a playful yellow zip on the one side, and a grey one on the other side. I’m also thrilled with the size, the separate laundry and shoe bags which will ensure I don’t mix my smelly gym shoes and clothes with the rest of my clothes on the homeward journey. The beige 8CT03 Tank backpack is a mild beige colour, which shows off its superb Italian design, which is also at the top of the list of the advantages of this collection.
Lows: I haven’t found any yet. I’m still in the infatuation stage in my relationship with this particular collection, but I will make sure to write an update if I find one!
The 8CT03 Tank Backpack retails at £ 229, while the Tank Trolley retails at £ 279 on http://www.mandarinaduck.com.
I’ve been with MD more than 25 years. My wife now(then fiancee) was working for MD in S’pore branch.I’m still using my favourite tank wallet she gave me & she too was keeping her sling bag.But too bad,I’m not sure still has a branch in S’pore. Cheers!
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This trolley was on offer at M-duck earlier. Before making up my mind whether I’m going to buy it or not, I found your blog. Thanks for the review. I was looking exactly for cabin luggage and was not sure if this trolley really meets the strict requirements from budget airlines, such as Easy Jet. (I wasn’t sure if the measurements quoted on M-duck’s website include the wheels or not.) It’s reassuring that you’ve used this trolley as cabin luggage too, So I finally bought it for my upcoming trip. This is my 4th piece of M-duck travel gear (previous ones are from the MD 20 and Work series). Hopefully Easy Jet won’t give me a hard time at the airport with this trolley!
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I’m so glad I could help Amelia, do come back and tell us if Easy Jet gives you a hard time. I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to with them. RyanAir on the other hand….Bon voyage!
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Hi Cynthia! The trolley DOES satisfy EasyJet’s definition of cabin luggage. I got that checked in anyway as I have another piece of luggage (laptop bag) and they allow strictly one piece of hand-carried luggage per person on board.
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Thank you for confirming this Amelia, much appreciated.
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Dear all,
I kindly inform you that I bought 3 pieces of Mandarina at the main store at special discount of 85% of the original value. I got the tank model like the big tank trolley like, but without wheels, the backpack and one briefcase, each item I paid about 40bucks each. I thought made a real bargain.
I destroyed the tank after one week. The zippers were really weak especially the bottom side, not YKK zippers. How can the drunk engineer design the zipper to be located also on the bottom of the tank? A weak point in origin…
Then not water resistant at all, then all items drop to the bottom. It is a mess if you wish to convert and use it as a backpack. The two belts are not ergonomic.
The 2nd item I bought: the back pack: what a mess: in the 2 side pockets you can’t store anything. The top one is easy to be robbed. Inside there is no room for a conventional 14″ notebook. Don’t forget cables, power-cord and mouse. The tank backpack is a mess.
The handle is so bad nylon quality, all items are made in China, that the skin on your fingers will suffer immediately if you wish to handle with your soft hands and no neoprene gloves on. The main zippers on the backpack suffer that if you place a padlock on it, you can easy shock it on your head if you r running or you put it on your shoulder in a quick way, hitting the padlock the back of your neck.
Useless back pack, may be good for a young children going for a vacation of one day trip on a school bus.
The importance of these items is the quality of the zippers. As not for a reason, Schott invented the first bomber jacket with zippers. Mandarina duck has to learn a lot about zippers.
I am sorry to compare Schott USA to mandarina duck.
All the items suffered the premature damage of the zippers especially located in the curves.
And what about the last black item: the tank briefcase for notebook: the perfect junction of the rubber and the tissue: yes.. it is a nightmare, as when you insert the notebook, it cannot pass thru the junction and the rubber is not so elastic to push down the computer inside. So I had to use the old computer case and leave the mandarina duck briefcase for gift to someone utilizing small ebooks.
Cordiality
Ridley1999@hotmail.com
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My Mandarina Duck cloud trolley bag fell apart after less than 11 months of use. The zips have broken, seams are coming undone, and there’s a massive dent in the frame. My last bag lasted me over 15 years (not Mandarina Duck brand). In the first instance, I contacted Mandarina Duck with photos and descriptions of the damage and proof of purchase, and they took three weeks to respond beyond an automated response and only after several follow up emails(!). The reply? Oh, it is just part of ‘wear and tear’ by airlines and thus is not covered by their warranty. I could not find a copy of their warranty online, however, given my prior bag lasted over 15 years of airline ‘wear and tear’ without breaking, I find a ‘luxury’ product with a warranty breaking within a few months unthinkable. They have not replied to my subsequent emails asking for the warranty and clarification of their decision.
For any product under warranty, breaking after less than 11 months of use demonstrates that it is not fit for purpose, however when it is branded and advertised as a luxury and quality product, you expect that they would want to remedy situation.
I will not be purchasing their products again. And instead go back to brands with reputations for looking after their customers, lifetime warranties, and not blame airlines for reasonable use causing their bags to become unusable.
I will be advising all friends, family and colleagues to not purchase Mandarina Duck products.
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