Fischer Elliptics

[retrowagen]

My favorite midsize frame is the 1988 Head Elite Pro, and my favorite midplus tennis racquets are the various Fischer Elliptic models.

A few Elliptic Comps:


The pretty Vacuum Elliptic from 1991:


The ultra-rare Vacuum Elliptic Pro of 1990:




And I also enjoy my Twin Tec and Twin Tec Pro from 1991:

[Love50]

I have a black Vacuum Elliptic (outside) with 100% Boron Graphite on the inside of the throat. Any information on this one?

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by Love50

I have a black Vacuum Elliptic (outside) with 100% Boron Graphite on the inside of the throat. Any information on this one?

I believe that's a later (Chinese production) model, circa 1995-ish, and is from a different mold. Does it have eight mains going through its bridge, or six? Fischer had a bad habit of naming its models in a very confusing and redundant fashion in the 1990's.

[Love50]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

I believe that's a later (Chinese production) model, circa 1995-ish, and is from a different mold. Does it have eight mains going through its bridge, or six? Fischer had a bad habit of naming its models in a very confusing and redundant fashion in the 1990's.

It has eight mains. Is the Fischer Austria on the side sort of the same as Donnay Belgium vs Made in Belgium?

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by Love50

It has eight mains. Is the Fischer Austria on the side sort of the same as Donnay Belgium vs Made in Belgium?

Yes, exactly. The company was (and still is, as far as I know, though they are out of tennis production) Austrian-headquartered and owned, but from sometime circa 1992 or 1993, stopped making tennis racquets in Austria.

The mold with eight mains through the bridge is totally different in character from the one with six. It is either constant-beamed, or tapers in the opposite fasion, where it's thinnest right above the grip, and fattest at the top of the head. That version's variable-beam mold is almost, but not quite identical to the Vacuum Pro Midplus / Vacuum Technic 98 Pro / Pro Number 1 (first three versions). They're nice playing racquets with exquisite feel and good power, but not quite as crisp as the six-main tapered-beam mold, IMHO. One highlight of this "other" Elliptic mold is this beauty, which has the most exquisite paint I've ever seen on a tennis racquet:

[courtking]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

The ultra-rare Vacuum Elliptic Pro of 1990:

this is one of the best of Fischer series.. very very rare one .. I believe it is the original one made with Fischer Vacuum Pro 90 in the 1990.. I have one in mint condition..

[treblings]

Hi Retro, nice collection what about the elliptic ceramics? Made in Austria.
do you own one of these?

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by treblings

Hi Retro, nice collection what about the elliptic ceramics? Made in Austria.
do you own one of these?

Hallo Treblings! Thank you for the nice complement. No, I don't have one of the Elliptic Ceramics in my collection, actually.

And I have to be honest: the 1990 Vacuum Elliptic Pro pictured above is not mine; rather, a photo to show the top model in the range.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

Hallo Treblings! Thank you for the nice complement. No, I don't have one of the Elliptic Ceramics in my collection, actually.

And I have to be honest: the 1990 Vacuum Elliptic Pro pictured above is not mine; rather, a photo to show the top model in the range.

well, the ceramics is the racket i have in my attic that i promised to send you a long time ago unfortunately it´s in not too good condition, but it´s ready to travel in your direction if you´re still interested.

i play with a vacuum classic 280 for fun doubles. how do you get grommets for your fischers?

[Captain Haddock]

These are all beautiful frames, and they will all be mine one day. Muahahahaha!
The tapered beam design is a feature that racquet manufacturers should bring back. How about a relaunched FPK from Wilson and a new series of Elliptics from Pacific? That design is far superior to the Pure Drive's, which everyone now copies. It offers great feel and good, controllable power, in an arm friendly package. What more could anybody want?

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by treblings

well, the ceramics is the racket i have in my attic that i promised to send you a long time ago unfortunately it´s in not too good condition, but it´s ready to travel in your direction if you´re still interested.

i play with a vacuum classic 280 for fun doubles. how do you get grommets for your fischers?

Ah yes, Treblings, I'd love to have it. Can we work something out? --> retrowagen <at> yahoo <dot> com ...

Grommets for Fischers can be hard to find now. Your best hope is to check with small independently-owned sports shops who once sold the Fischer brand, or, if you use the older Pro No. 1, look for a Tecnifibre TFlash 315 VO2 grommet kit. Now that Pacific Tennis is using some of the old Fischer molds for its new line of racquets, there could also be a source for those who love the old Vacuum Pro Classic 90 and newer Pro No. 1.

Maybe some of our classic racquet lover friends in Germany can work with Pacific management to gain access to more old Fischer moulds and grommets? As my friend 'Captain Haddock' said above, the Elliptic models are quite relevant to today's style of tennis and are a perfect tool - far better in some regards, in our opinion - than much of the high-end equipment available today in your local pro shop (or online retailer).

[Kevin T]

Loved the Twin Tec Pro!! One of the best paintjobs of all time. I remember Stich using this paintjob when the model was released (I'm sure his Vac Pro 90 was underneath that paint). As mentioned by Cap Haddock, the taper was similar to the FPK, another fantastic stick. Thanks for the pics, Retro.

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by Kevin T

Loved the Twin Tec Pro!! One of the best paintjobs of all time. I remember Stich using this paintjob when the model was released (I'm sure his Vac Pro 90 was underneath that paint). As mentioned by Cap Haddock, the taper was similar to the FPK, another fantastic stick. Thanks for the pics, Retro.

Kev, the 1991 vintage Vac Pro 90 (as used famously be Michael Stich) came stock with the same pretty smoky paintjob as the Vacuum Twin Tec Pro, which was itself used by Karl-Uwe ("Charly") Steeb (my VTTP has a Charly Steeb autograph sticker applied to the inside of the throat!)...

Most (if not all, but I can't remember to be certain) of the 1991 Fischer line-up had the elegant smoky/metallic paintjobs with futuristic Fischer typefont graphics (courtesy of designer Nicole Dürr).

[treblings]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

Ah yes, Treblings, I'd love to have it. Can we work something out? --> retrowagen <at> yahoo <dot> com ...

Grommets for Fischers can be hard to find now. Your best hope is to check with small independently-owned sports shops who once sold the Fischer brand, or, if you use the older Pro No. 1, look for a Tecnifibre TFlash 315 VO2 grommet kit. Now that Pacific Tennis is using some of the old Fischer molds for its new line of racquets, there could also be a source for those who love the old Vacuum Pro Classic 90 and newer Pro No. 1.

Maybe some of our classic racquet lover friends in Germany can work with Pacific management to gain access to more old Fischer moulds and grommets? As my friend 'Captain Haddock' said above, the Elliptic models are quite relevant to today's style of tennis and are a perfect tool - far better in some regards, in our opinion - than much of the high-end equipment available today in your local pro shop (or online retailer).

There´s not a lot to work out, i just send it to you. you sent me the elite pro grommets, remember? btw, i got a second oneelite pro, that is
a friend of mine knows the owner of Pacific quite well, they played tennis together. don´t know if they stayed in contact

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by treblings

There´s not a lot to work out, i just send it to you. you sent me the elite pro grommets, remember? btw, i got a second oneelite pro, that is

Thank you, that's very friendly of you! (my address has changed since the last time we sent packages to each other, please contact me for the new one)

Originally Posted by treblings

a friend of mine knows the owner of Pacific quite well, they played tennis together. don´t know if they stayed in contact

Hmm... perhaps this will give some good results?

[Kevin T]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

Kev, the 1991 vintage Vac Pro 90 (as used famously be Michael Stich) came stock with the same pretty smoky paintjob as the Vacuum Twin Tec Pro, which was itself used by Karl-Uwe ("Charly") Steeb (my VTTP has a Charly Steeb autograph sticker applied to the inside of the throat!)...

Most (if not all, but I can't remember to be certain) of the 1991 Fischer line-up had the elegant smoky/metallic paintjobs with futuristic Fischer typefont graphics (courtesy of designer Nicole Dürr).

Very interesting. I just assumed it was a paint job. Fischer and Volkl were pretty exotic brands back then. I used to love watching the eastern European and Soviet/Russian players just to check out the racquets. Steeb was one of the first Fischer players I remember from my pre-teen/teen tennis days.

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by Kevin T

Very interesting. I just assumed it was a paint job. Fischer and Volkl were pretty exotic brands back then. I used to love watching the eastern European and Soviet/Russian players just to check out the racquets. Steeb was one of the first Fischer players I remember from my pre-teen/teen tennis days.

Yeah, there weren't too many big-name Fischer-sponsored pros out there prior to Steeb und Stich. Just Stan the Man Smith, Anders Jarryd, Jonas B. Svensson, and Jan Gunnarsson on the ATP side, and Jo Durie on the WTA side, all using the striped monoshaft Superform Mid. There were also a host of journey(wo)man pros sponsored by Fischer, mainly from German-speaking lands.

Völkl would have seemed like a particularly exotic racquet brand to most in the USA in the 80's, what with their top team pros such as Sylvia Hanika and Andrei Chesnokov! In fact, if I'm not mistaken, they sponsored (racquets, clothing, shoes) the entire USSR national team in the mid-80's, prior to the fall of the Wall.

[rony67]

Sorry, I know this is an Elliptic-thread. But I just wanted to share to you Fischer-interested TT-members this photo of my Vac Pro 90, directly from a Pro stated above. I usually play my classic racquets, but I just cannot make myself unwrap this plastic handle, I don't know why... It's a hefty thing, lead under grommets, lead under handle.

[Colpo]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

Yeah, there weren't too many big-name Fischer-sponsored pros out there prior to Steeb und Stich. Just Stan the Man Smith, Anders Jarryd, Jonas B. Svensson, and Jan Gunnarsson on the ATP side, and Jo Durie on the WTA side, all using the striped monoshaft Superform Mid. There were also a host of journey(wo)man pros sponsored by Fischer, mainly from German-speaking lands.

Völkl would have seemed like a particularly exotic racquet brand to most in the USA in the 80's, what with their top team pros such as Sylvia Hanika and Andrei Chesnokov! In fact, if I'm not mistaken, they sponsored (racquets, clothing, shoes) the entire USSR national team in the mid-80's, prior to the fall of the Wall.

Man, those were the days! Charly Steeb with an autograph frame! Hoo-rah! Different times! Would you now go buy a J.I. Chela autograph? Steeb had a nifty ranking and did some special things at the Davis Cup level, but auto frames back then were akin to playoff-advancement guarantees from Patrick Ewing...let's call it commonplace.

Re: the USSR and Volkl, I might have been initially under the impression that Volkl was a Soviet brand. I recall they'd equip the Soviets from "tip to grip" -- shoes, clothes, racquets of course. When Chesnokov came out of nowhere to knock off Wilander at the '86 French, I craved his game, with his racquet a close second; some odd-looking, deep-red and white midplus with a plastic throatpiece and a virtual monoshaft. Exotic! Not readily available! And to think that years earlier, the American southerner Mark Dickson played Volkl -- just did not compute.

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by Colpo

Re: the USSR and Volkl, I might have been initially under the impression that Volkl was a Soviet brand. I recall they'd equip the Soviets from "tip to grip" -- shoes, clothes, racquets of course. When Chesnokov came out of nowhere to knock off Wilander at the '86 French, I craved his game, with his racquet a close second; some odd-looking, deep-red and white midplus with a plastic throatpiece and a virtual monoshaft. Exotic! Not readily available! And to think that years earlier, the American southerner Mark Dickson played Volkl -- just did not compute.

Oh yeah, Mark Dickson with the Völkl. It was weird; presumably almost as though some guy in a trenchcoat, hat, and Wayfarers met him an alley somewhere, saying in a mysterious foreign accent, "Heer, Buddy: take zees tenees racquets!" I wonder what the real backstory on that sponsorship was (although, IIRC, Völkl Tennis USA was HQ'ed in North Carolina in the mid-80's...)