Wilson ProStaff RF97 Autograph

burn1986

Banned
On Federerfan07's website, Fed looks like an indian (native american) with his red and gray Nike outfit/ headband and his tribal racquet. lol
 

ECUmedford

New User
Not buying a racquet because of its paint job is pretty hilarious. I don't care what color it is, I can't wait to try it out.

It probably would not be that hard to spray some paint remover and paint it matte black. I did this on a road racing bike I restored a couple of years ago.
 

burn1986

Banned
Not buying a racquet because of its paint job is pretty hilarious. I don't care what color it is, I can't wait to try it out.

It probably would not be that hard to spray some paint remover and paint it matte black. I did this on a road racing bike I restored a couple of years ago.

Oh yeah, I can't wait to try it, even if it was turd brown.
 
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Power Player

Bionic Poster
Not buying a racquet because of its paint job is pretty hilarious. I don't care what color it is, I can't wait to try it out.

I agree.

Plus since a fellow TTer designed it, I think it makes it cool regardless.

Definitely not my favorite PJ, but I remember thinking the yonex Tour G looked terrible and the I saw it in person and loved it. The matte PJs always look much better in person.
 

burn1986

Banned
Its better than the matte black he was using. I predict this line of Wilsons will be the start of Wilson taking the top spot over Babalot, if they haven't already.
 

burn1986

Banned
Ha! Good play

Wilson's timing on this racquet and racquet line could not be better. Not only 3 months before Christmas, but also at a time when Head soured their buyers with subpar racquets and Babalot failed with the Strike.
 
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BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I think the red has something to do with its most famous user being from Switzerland.
Nah...red has been a corporate color for Wilson for decades even before Federer.

DSC04490_zps895461ca.jpg



Wilson's logo has been a red "W" even going back to their wood racquets.

jack-kramer-autograph.jpg



And their butt caps had a big red "W" for a long time:

IMG_1339.jpg
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Congrats to PeterFig off the boards for being the one responsible for the design. Apparently his mockups that he posted here landed him a deal with Wilson. Score for him!

http://www.tennis.com/gear/2014/08/final-design/52318/#.U9u3***G-8A
Wow, cool. I suspected that was the reason why all those threads with Peter Fig's designs were deleted from this board - Wilson didn't want any designs being revealed prematurely and also because now they are paying for those designs and presumably owns them. But I have to ask why Wilson didn't use one of the really cool designs that Peter Fig posted on this board? They were 100 times better than what Wilson ended up going with, IMO. Some of the red and white designs that Peter came up with were really great! I'm really disappointed that Wilson didn't go with one of Peter's original designs. :(

Oh, and now that we have confirmation that Wilson reads this board and gets ideas from here, I guess I can claim that they got the "Roger Federer Autograph" name idea from me then. :)
 

darklore009

Hall of Fame
Peter, do us a favor, please redesign every line of rackets that wilson designed,cept the blades. keep it black and silver.
 

SpinToWin

Talk Tennis Guru
Wow, cool. I suspected that was the reason why all those threads with Peter Fig's designs were deleted from this board - Wilson didn't want any designs being revealed prematurely and also because now they are paying for those designs and presumably owns them. But I have to ask why Wilson didn't use one of the really cool designs that Peter Fig posted on this board? They were 100 times better than what Wilson ended up going with, IMO. Some of the red and white designs that Peter came up with were really great! I'm really disappointed that Wilson didn't go with one of Peter's original designs. :(

Oh, and now that we have confirmation that Wilson reads this board and gets ideas from here, I guess I can claim that they got the "Roger Federer Autograph" name idea from me then. :)

I suspected that from the start to be honest… The name fit too perfectly with what you suggested :)
 

kimguroo

Legend
Oh, and now that we have confirmation that Wilson reads this board and gets ideas from here, I guess I can claim that they got the "Roger Federer Autograph" name idea from me then. :)

What a surprise:shock:
Congratulation peter fig ^_^
Actually I am the first person who named 97" prostaff RF for fed's new racket.
Here is the proof. http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=8300695#post8300695
Then Willson added Idea of breakpoint's "Autograph"

Hey Willson, Are we going to get any compensation from it hahahaha.

Great story for Internet forum.
Now I am wondering why nike does not contact me yet ^_^
Congratulation again peter fig. Hope you can bring fresh ideas for upcoming Willson's PJ.
 

PeterFig

Professional
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now. :)
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking. :)

Peter
 

endbegin

Rookie
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now. :)
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking. :)

Peter

Thanks Peter. I think you did a great job.

I bet all the folks who are complaining about the PJ will get over it. :)
 

endbegin

Rookie
@PeterFig Hope you can tell us if got to hang out with Roger and what the experience of designing the racquet was like ... ;)
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now.
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking.

Peter
Thanks for chiming in and finally being able to come out of hiding Peter! :)

Nice work on the new paintjob! But for some reason, if my memory serves me correctly, your original red and white design looked different from this one, and I thought, more striking. Maybe it was the contrast between the red and the white or maybe because it was done on a box beam frame or maybe it was because the fonts and graphics were different, I'm not sure. Now that the official RF97 design has been revealed, are you allowed to post that original red and white design so that we can compare side-by-side? Or is that original design being saved for another new Wilson model?

Yeah, it's funny how Wilson authorized the "Autograph" name for this new Federer racquet.

For those who haven't noticed, if you zoom in, it does indeed say "Roger Federer Autograph" on the right shaft. :)

wilson_rf97_01.jpg
 
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now. :)
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking. :)

Peter

Peter

I think you did a fabulous job. Mine, and any other of our personal tastes should not be a negative criticism for you. It's impossible for you to cater to everyone.

From the teaser, I had a feeling that Wilson has been paying attention to these message boards. Simply because every single teaser featured a matte black paint, which is what EVERYONE unanimously requested for the new Pro Staff. Now it all make sense, Wilson has been paying attention to these message boards by listening to you!

Do not let mine, or any other persons' indifference to the amount of red (although there is a lot of it, more than I thought), placement of the red. If anything, you've done more for this community who's been yearning for another matte black Pro Staff. We've come pretty close, and the fact that I can call this the "Vampire Staff" is kind of cool.

Great job Peter, and congrats on your gig with Wilson. Can you tell them to CONTINUE the Pro Staff/Tour 90 line please? Thanks!
 
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PeterFig

Professional
Thanks for chiming in and finally being able to come out of hiding Peter! :)

Nice work on the new paintjob! But for some reason, if my memory serves me correctly, your original red and white design looked different from this one, and I thought, more striking. Maybe it was the contrast between the red and the white or maybe because it was done on a box beam frame or maybe it was because the fonts and graphics were different, I'm not sure. Now that the official RF97 design has been revealed, are you allowed to post that original red and white design so that we can compare side-by-side? Or is that original design being saved for another new Wilson model?

Yeah, it's funny how Wilson authorized the "Autograph" name for this new Federer racquet.

For those who haven't noticed, if you zoom in, it does indeed say "Roger Federer Autograph" on the right shaft. :)

wilson_rf97_01.jpg

I'll see if I can dig up some of the early stuff and post a comparison later - just about to board a plane leaving Chicago from a week of meetings about lots of new stuff that won't be on the market for quite some time! :) #teaser

Design is very similar to my original ones. And you will need to see this in person too. I'm pretty happy with the final design!
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I'll see if I can dig up some of the early stuff and post a comparison later - just about to board a plane leaving Chicago from a week of meetings about lots of new stuff that won't be on the market for quite some time! :) #teaser

Design is very similar to my original ones. And you will need to see this in person too. I'm pretty happy with the final design!
Thanks Peter! Sounds like you're doing quite a bit of work with Wilson at their HQ in Chicago. So are you one of the "mad scientists" in any of those "Betterer" videos? :)

Have a safe flight!
 

PeterFig

Professional
Peter

I think you did a fabulous job. Mine, and any other of our personal tastes should not be a negative criticism for you. It's impossible for you to cater to everyone.

From the teaser, I had a feeling that Wilson has been paying attention to these message boards. Simply because every single teaser featured a matte black paint, which is what EVERYONE unanimously requested for the new Pro Staff. Now it all make sense, Wilson has been paying attention to these message boards by listening to you!

Do not let mine, or any other persons' indifference to the amount of red (although there is a lot of it, more than I thought), placement of the red. If anything, you've done more for this community who's been yearning for another matte black Pro Staff. We've come pretty close, and the fact that I can call this the "Vampire Staff" is kind of cool.

Great job Peter, and congrats on your gig with Wilson. Can you tell them to CONTINUE the Pro Staff/Tour 90 line please? Thanks!

Thanks! I'm quite happy to hear all the opinions and have been following all the reactions here and on social media.
 

anhuynh16

Hall of Fame
I'll see if I can dig up some of the early stuff and post a comparison later - just about to board a plane leaving Chicago from a week of meetings about lots of new stuff that won't be on the market for quite some time! :) #teaser

Design is very similar to my original ones. And you will need to see this in person too. I'm pretty happy with the final design!

PeterFig has taken the path from semi-pro to GOAT on TT.
 

burn1986

Banned
Well, the PJ will grow on us, and at least they've given it a lot of color. I also think it's way cool that the design was gained from PeterFig on this forum. Too cool!
 

aimr75

Hall of Fame
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now. :)
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking. :)

Peter

Well done Peter. I actually like it. Was expecting less red but I remember those previous designs of yours. Particularly the all red hoop and can see where this one ended up from that design.

Can you share anything about the paint jobs of the other frames ? Do they have anything particularly different to separate from the rf?
 

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
That pretty awesome that someone on this forum worked on the racket.

Also, Kinda random but Federer has some small hands. Maybe 4 3/8th is his actual gripsize and he doesn't intentionally scale down like Nadal does as it has been suggested for a while.
 

President

Legend
That pretty awesome that someone on this forum worked on the racket.

Also, Kinda random but Federer has some small hands. Maybe 4 3/8th is his actual gripsize and he doesn't intentionally scale down like Nadal does as it has been suggested for a while.

12.jpg


They look pretty normal to me, on the large side actually.
 

PeterFig

Professional
As peter fig confirmed, the autograph name preceded BP's suggestion

I think using the "The Roger Federer Autograph" name is quite fitting and something we wanted to do right from the beginning. It's both a re-invented Pro Staff with a lot of collaboration with Roger and also has a great heritage tie-in.
 

Team10

Hall of Fame
Hello everyone!
I can officially come out of hiding now. :)
It's been fun reading all the various posts and I appreciate all the feedback on the design (good and bad - it's all great to read).

Funny enough the day BreakPoint posted the "Autograph" name idea I actually had a design prototype with that name sitting on my desk so that made me chuckle a bit.

I know you guys have only seen photos of it so far, but it's actually not that far off from my original designs posted here. It has the red hoop and a different coloured shaft. My original idea did have a white shaft but we decided to go with black to tie it better to the heritage of the Pro Staff which had black as one of it's primary colors for many of it's iterations.

Funny enough I did post a red hoop, black shaft design here back then just a day or two before the thread was removed. It was based on some of you thinking that combo would look better than the white shaft. This final cosmetic of the Pro Staff RF97 is basically that with the 3 & 9 black color blocking. :)

Peter

Great work! I really like how the racquet looks, black and red are two of my favorite colors and Fed is my favorite player. I think some people are a little apprehensive of the red being a little flashy but personally I think it looks amazing. They'll get used to it like they always do.

So cool to have someone on here land a job with Wilson and actually design Fed's racquet, guess a lot of tennis companies read this forum more than we think ;)
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I think using the "The Roger Federer Autograph" name is quite fitting and something we wanted to do right from the beginning. It's both a re-invented Pro Staff with a lot of collaboration with Roger and also has a great heritage tie-in.
I totally agree! :)

Did you or Wilson ever consider using a pictograph of Roger (like the one of his signature straight-arm forehand) to tie it in with the classic Autograph models like on the "Chris Evert Autograph" and "Stan Smith Autograph"? :)
 

roundiesee

Hall of Fame
Wow, many congratulations Peter! The rackets do look very nice especially in that video (part 3) when Roger pulled them out of his bag!
And kudos to Breakpoint for suggesting the name! :)
(Still a bit gutted they are not all black though.... ) :(
 
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