Wilson 100% "Graphite" Midsize w/yellow stripes?

[FedererClone]

One on the big auction site... yellow paint on black with pws... anyone have info on the stick?

[uk_skippy]

Originally Posted by FedererClone

One on the big auction site... yellow paint on black with pws... anyone have info on the stick?

Got an item number?

[FedererClone]

Looks like someone nabbed it, auction closed early:

item # 251183542331

[Sanglier]

It was me.

It's a 'Buy-it-Now' item and was listed 2 days ago. There have been two dozen lookers but I was the first to bite.

I resisted the hypnotic draw of the yellow on black paint scheme for as long as I could, but this morning I went 'oh, what the heck... this here is just too darn prrty to pass up".

Since I began thrifting a year ago, this is the first month I have batted .000 at all of my local stores. I am actually batting negative if I counted the $55 parking ticket I got last week in front of a Salvation Army store (in a stretch of curb where there have ALWAYS been parked cars for as long as I have visited the area, and at least 75 ft away from the nearest no-parking sign). What kind of heartless db would ticket Salvation Army patrons while they are rummaging through used undies?!

I felt it was ok to indulge a little under these circumstances.

The seller (perhaps he is a regular here? since he is obviously not a neophyte when it comes to tennis) included many photos with his listing, but I'll post a clearer picture when I receive the racquet. To me, it looks like this frame came out of the same mold as the PS 85. And if I am not mistaken, the 'SKQ' code situated above the 'W' is indicative of Taiwan manufacture; which would suggest that this is a lesser known stablemate of the Taiwan PS 85. The question is whether the graphite in this frame is braided or not.

Anyway, the yellow on black color scheme was the pinnacle of cool circa 1988. What was ultimate in 1988 will always be ultimate enough for me.

[FedererClone]

Thanks for letting us know. Would love to hear if its a braided stick. Love the yellow on black... ugh $55 is a stinker huh? Let us know how she hits!

[Sanglier]

The racquet has arrived. It is more or less what I had expected it to be. The paint is finished in high gloss (comparable to that of the Sting), and it is definitely made in Taiwan (the butt cap sticker is gone, but the imprint is still there).

The weather here has been really crappy as of late, so I probably won't get to hit with it for a while. Instead, I did some measuring using the TW online calculator. The results in the small table at the bottom of the figure should give you a rough idea of how the stick would play relative to its cousins.




The frame feels more flexible than that of the PS; I would say that it is essentially a Sting that has had its cross bar lopped off, giving it a more PS-like balance. It could not have come out of the same mold as my Taiwan PS (too leaded up to be included in my measurements), but does appear to share the latter's grommet strip, though in gray rather than black.

On the whole, I rather like it.

[FedererClone]

Originally Posted by Sanglier

I would say that it is essentially a Sting that has had its cross bar lopped off.

... like the Sting SC? Have you hit with that frame? How does the stick compare?

[Sanglier]

I have never had the pleasure of handling a Sting SC, but yes, this thing looks remarkably like your SC. Even the graphics are effectively identical, now that I've studied your pictures a little more closely. Only the color schemes appear to differ.

I don't know how much real-world difference the ceramic fibers make, but I suspect these two frames would play very similar to one another when strung the same way. In my rather brief experience with the racquet so far, the "Graphite" feels like a slightly faster Sting; nothing more, nothing less. The difference is most noticeable during serves, where the Graphite seems to 'fit' my motion a little better than the Sting.

There is no telling whether this felt difference originates entirely from the racquet proper, or if it is the residual psychosomatic effect of my having molested this thing at length with a micrometer upon its arrival. It's too late for a double-blind study

[FedererClone]

Sanglier - if you contact me directly via email I can send you the Sting SC to compare - but you have to also micrometer the frame before sending it back to me?