Ncode Pro Open re-issue!!! *Screams in Lopez*

mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame

Wilson nPro Open Racquet | Tennis Warehouse

www.tennis-warehouse.com www.tennis-warehouse.com
rs.php


@TW Staff Is it a fairly faithful re-issue? As good as the original? I know some folks were none too pleased with the MG Radical re-issue. Just want to know your thoughts on it.
 
M

mrravioli

Semi-Pro
Wilson did a good job re issuing old classics, but apparently they don’t sell even closely as well as new fancy sticks. Head just let people scream instead which is probably sensible business wise
 
A_Instead

A_Instead

Legend
Hmmm...interesting these were pretty decent back in the day...
Wonder how it would be compared to the current offers of today...?
Perhaps the Kobra Tour reissue someday...let's hope..
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
A_Instead said:
Hmmm...interesting these were pretty decent back in the day...
Wonder how it would be compared to the current offers of today...?
Perhaps the Kobra Tour reissue someday...let's hope..
Click to expand...

Any of the Pro Opens are miles better than the Ultra line. Assuming you can bring even a little racket head speed. Pure Drive ease of use without tennis elbow? ding!

A_Instead said:
Hmmm...interesting these were pretty decent back in the day...
Wonder how it would be compared to the current offers of today...?
Perhaps the Kobra Tour reissue someday...let's hope..
Click to expand...

I don't feel the Kobra brought anything to the table that the Pro Opens did not. If they made a heavier Pro Open I thing it would largely perform the same with measurably better feel. Honestly leathering up a Pro Open did wonders for me feel-wise, but I witched back to synthetic for other reasons.

Basically, I love the Pro Opens and costing 100 bucks less than a modern frame that does not offer much (if any) more makes this a no-brainer for the tweener category. But marketing will do marketing things and these will fly under the radar
 
Seth

Seth

Legend
This is wonderful news. Prince brings back the Speedport Black (great frame), now Wilson with the Pro Open.
 
stingstang

stingstang

Professional
mrravioli said:
Wilson did a good job re issuing old classics, but apparently they don’t sell even closely as well as new fancy sticks. Head just let people scream instead which is probably sensible business wise
Click to expand...
It's easy money. No R&D, no marketing, no endorsements - just press the print button.

I didn't know the Npro was popular enough for a re-run though. Looking forward to the K95's
 
milk of amnesia

milk of amnesia

Legend
I know someone who plays with this racquet and could be very happy to see this reissue although the old racquets are listed at 7 pts headlight and the new ones are only 4pt. I wonder what prompted Wilson to reissue this and how long is it going to be around.
 
fullwesternforehand

fullwesternforehand

Rookie
Come to think of it, all these years later and Wilson STILL can't find a popular tweener racquet line. Pro open, juice, ultra, burn clash= all attempts to copy the pure drive. I'll always have a soft spot for this racquet, as it was the first big boy racquet I played with in high school
 
Lavs

Lavs

Hall of Fame
fullwesternforehand said:
Come to think of it, all these years later and Wilson STILL can't find a popular tweener racquet line. Pro open, juice, ultra, burn clash= all attempts to copy the pure drive. I'll always have a soft spot for this racquet, as it was the first big boy racquet I played with in high school
Click to expand...
Wilson became "copy machine" since they had been done with Pro Staff & Six One lines (which were fantastic rackets, especially original models).
Since then and till now:
- Blade => Head Radical
- Pro Open / Ultra / Juice / Clash <you name it> => Babolat Pure Drive
- Kobra => Babolat Aeropro Drive
- H19 / 22 / 25 => Head Prestige Pro Stocks
...
Did I miss anything?
 
Lavs

Lavs

Hall of Fame
mpournaras said:
Any of the Pro Opens are miles better than the Ultra line. Assuming you can bring even a little racket head speed. Pure Drive ease of use without tennis elbow? ding!
Click to expand...
I do not think that so. Performance-Wise Pro Open is nowhere near PD. Tennis Elbow is more a matter of technique + strings + tension than RA. As a matter of fact - Pure Drive with added weight and wise string/tension + good technique combination is not worse than any Wilson's copy in terms of comfort.
 
Zoolander

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
Doesnt Lopez use the XL version of this still? Interesting that they have changed the balance and the SW by a lot for the modern game. Also i thought the original was a very thick straight beam which is why i never tried it?
 
Zoolander

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
And i wanna know, if this reissue is made with the same quality graphite etc as the other wilson models, how can they sell it for only $129 at a profit? And how much profit do they make on their $229-$249 racquets?!
 
Automatix

Automatix

Legend
Zoolander said:
And i wanna know, if this reissue is made with the same quality graphite etc as the other wilson models, how can they sell it for only $129 at a profit? And how much profit do they make on their $229-$249 racquets?!
Click to expand...
The cost of material is next to nothing.
 
B

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
mrravioli said:
Wilson did a good job re issuing old classics, but apparently they don’t sell even closely as well as new fancy sticks. Head just let people scream instead which is probably sensible business wise
Click to expand...

the vocal users on such forum probably represent 1% of tennis players, if not less.
so while 10% of the forum users might be willing to buy some "good old" classic sticks, which by the way doesn't need to be 1 brand, the demand from these users might not be enough for industrial production.
 
B

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
mpournaras said:
Any of the Pro Opens are miles better than the Ultra line. Assuming you can bring even a little racket head speed. Pure Drive ease of use without tennis elbow? ding!
Click to expand...

TTW published RA at 67.
At this level many users already complain about tennis elbow and wrist issues without even touching a Babolat.
So, how would this line be PD ease of use without tennis elbow?
 
Zoolander

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
Having a look at this, the original npro open had a 26mm straight beam according to TW. This reissue is 23/26. I think this is the blx pro open reincarnated again in npro PJ, thats my guess.
 
U

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
Continue to produce the 6.1 95 18x20 and re-issue the 6.1 95 16x19. Those frames should never be out of production. H22 and H19 are produced for a select few. Juniors and collegiate players could benefit from these frames being produced.
 
Last edited:
A

aarenes

Rookie
@Zoolander - I just went to racquetfinder to compare specs and you are right.
The nPro re-issue is more like the BLX Pro Open specs ...and the beam width is different as well.
I have 1 Npro open and 4 BLX Pro Opens 2012....I for one am likely to take a plunge on this re-issue. If the feel and playability is the same, I might stock up on another 4 and retire my older ones

Original NPro Open
302 swingweight and 6 points HL
Material: Ncoded Graphite (probably means little)
Beam: Straight 26mm

BLX Pro Open
315 swingweight and 3points HL
Material: Basalt
Beam: Straight 26mm

NPro Open Re-issue
315 swingweight and 4 points HL
Material: Graphite (no BLX, no Karphorite, no Ncode!!!)
Beam: 23/26/23
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
aarenes said:
@Zoolander - I just went to racquetfinder to compare specs and you are right.
The nPro re-issue is more like the BLX Pro Open specs ...and the beam width is different as well.
I have 1 Npro open and 4 BLX Pro Opens 2012....I for one am likely to take a plunge on this re-issue. If the feel and playability is the same, I might stock up on another 4 and retire my older ones

Original NPro Open
302 swingweight and 6 points HL
Material: Ncoded Graphite (probably means little)
Beam: Straight 26mm

BLX Pro Open
315 swingweight and 3points HL
Material: Basalt
Beam: Straight 26mm

NPro Open Re-issue
315 swingweight and 4 points HL
Material: Graphite (no BLX, no Karphorite, no Ncode!!!)
Beam: 23/26/23
Click to expand...
My BLX Pro Opens are 100% NOT 26mm stright beam
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
NPO-big.jpg



This was captured from the TW page in 2007. The tip of that frame does not look 26mm wither. Maybe TW can chime in on it.

If it *were* a BLX mold that would not be bad either... those frames were fire
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
blablavla said:
TTW published RA at 67.
At this level many users already complain about tennis elbow and wrist issues without even touching a Babolat.
So, how would this line be PD ease of use without tennis elbow?
Click to expand...
Thats 4 (3 depending on what generation) points under that of the pure drive. Thats a measurably softer frame considering it is a round-beam tweener. It wont solve tennis elbow but the risk is no doubt lower than if you used a pure drive. That being said its no 57 RA HEAD racket lol
 
A_Instead

A_Instead

Legend
With all of these different specs, what can be concluded of what racket this actually is??... one determination is that the paint scheme is a Ncode... but what else? what actual racket do we have here?.. this gets more and more interesting...
 
stingstang

stingstang

Professional
USPTARF97 said:
Continue to produce the 6.1 95 18x20 and re-issue the 6.1 95 16x19. Those frames should never be out of production. H22 and H19 are produced for a select few. Juniors and collegiate players could benefit from these frames being produced.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's crazy the six one isn't in production. I picked up some 2017 reissues and they are great frames. They sold out very quickly at the time, I don't know where the idea that these reissues don't sell came from. The $129 price tag alone will mean these have no trouble.
 
A_Instead

A_Instead

Legend
If my memory serves me correctly.. i tried every 100 in this heritage.. one of my favs was the Kpro open.. the army green with yellow one..
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
Looking at the VLOG just posted on TWs Youtube page... it looks to be 26mm constant but rounded beam all the way down. They may have copied the BLX dimensions in a pinch. Mold-wise it seems to be an accurate representation of the NCode but the specs are quite interestingly different.
 
Bobble

Bobble

Semi-Pro
Somebody buy this thing already and tell us how it is. Such an interesting reissue, wish they would splurge the extra 2 cents for the real buttcap.
 
A

aarenes

Rookie
I measured both the NPro Opens and BLX Pro Open (2012). They are both 26ish, especially at the beginning of the throat . Nowhere are they 23mm.
When I measure tape at the center of the hoop holding the tape flush to the elliptical beam, it actually is almost 30mm... but I assume these reported measurements are done using callipers vs measuring tape:)

So my assessment is that this is a BLX Pro Open spec (swing weight, RA, beam width) with NPro Open paint job and material (Graphite vs Basalt / BLX).
As many have said, BLX Pro Opens are great frames and I think with graphite vs BLX, the feel should be better.

A_Instead said:
With all of these different specs, what can be concluded of what racket this actually is??... one determination is that the paint scheme is a Ncode... but what else? what actual racket do we have here?.. this gets more and more interesting...
Click to expand...

aarenes said:
I'm going to eyeball measure my NPro Open and Pro Open when I get home in a couple of hours.
Click to expand...
 
C

colan5934

Professional
Zoolander said:
And i wanna know, if this reissue is made with the same quality graphite etc as the other wilson models, how can they sell it for only $129 at a profit? And how much profit do they make on their $229-$249 racquets?!
Click to expand...

Probably similar graphite quality, and when no money goes to the marketing of the racquet through pros or ads, that’ll help keep costs down.

Also, it may not be a huge profit margin...for example, the Head Ti.S6 has a wholesale cost around $75 which is barely below the $80 they regularly sell for. However, Head offers a large volume discount on that frame if enough are purchased, so places like TW and big-box sporting goods stores can get tons of them for a bit less than $75 and keep the price low. It TW bought a bunch, then Wilson made money even if they did use high quality graphite, though maybe not as big of a profit margin compared to a current racquet filled with modern updates.
 
A_Instead

A_Instead

Legend
I may get one as now that I am and can use poly in the low 40's..I am curios to see how it will perform..as back then I was not a full time poly user and strung mostly in the 50s..
 
mpournaras

mpournaras

Hall of Fame
aarenes said:
Mpournas - can you measure them? I did measure them at the beginning of the hoop, the center of the hoop and at the middle of the bumper.
Click to expand...

EXTREMELY crude measurement... the jig may not have been cut perfectly straight (reads 21-22mm but could easily be 23 at the bottom of the opening) but the point is still shown:

Tip and Throat are thinner than they middle of the head

*EDIT: After adjusting my tool and measuring, the results are: 22-23 Throat, 26 head, 24 tip
 
Last edited:
B

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
colan5934 said:
Probably similar graphite quality, and when no money goes to the marketing of the racquet through pros or ads, that’ll help keep costs down.

Also, it may not be a huge profit margin...for example, the Head Ti.S6 has a wholesale cost around $75 which is barely below the $80 they regularly sell for. However, Head offers a large volume discount on that frame if enough are purchased, so places like TW and big-box sporting goods stores can get tons of them for a bit less than $75 and keep the price low. It TW bought a bunch, then Wilson made money even if they did use high quality graphite, though maybe not as big of a profit margin compared to a current racquet filled with modern updates.
Click to expand...

that's a good logic.
subject only to people keep purchasing the expensive frames.
if people stop purchasing the expensive frames, or purchasing less of expensive frames because of such low-priced frames, then a company with a bunch of contracts might run into financial troubles as they still need to pay endorsements to pros for example, and perhaps finance some other financial / mkt obligations
 
C

colan5934

Professional
blablavla said:
that's a good logic.
subject only to people keep purchasing the expensive frames.
if people stop purchasing the expensive frames, or purchasing less of expensive frames because of such low-priced frames, then a company with a bunch of contracts might run into financial troubles as they still need to pay endorsements to pros for example, and perhaps finance some other financial / mkt obligations
Click to expand...
Wilson has the luxury of being owned by Amer Sports. Amer Sports was just purchased by Anta for almost half a billion more than it’s worth. From what I have heard, Anta is planning to throw tons of money into Wilson tennis. They’re making a push to dominate the market, especially against Head and Babolat, by bringing back classic frames, sponsoring more teaching pros/clubs, and passing out free product left and right—Yonex also has tons of money (maybe more than Wilson/Amer/Anta) but has been sponsoring pros and juniors instead of re-releasing frames and saturating the market with free/discounted product, though they are making a bigger push in the US now after being big in Asia for some time.

Keep in mind that this is primarily mumblings around the tennis specialty community, but seeing how generous my Wilson rep has been both on personal and pro shop orders lately, I think there is a bit of truth to it.
 
J

Jeremy k Jones

New User
I purchased this reissue!
I used this stick back in the day, retired them a few years after they stopped manufacturing Them. I switched to that pure drive at the time. I later suffered from the arm issues that stick caused. I actually stepped away from the game for several years and have gotten back into playing recently. I took the Ultra v3 and this Npro Open reissue out for a hit just today. First I will point out that despite what specs you read online... the reissue frame is stamped with EXACT same specs as the Ultra V3. (10.6 ounces, 7 points headlight). After hitting with them both extensively, there are very subtle differences. First to me was the ultra frame was far more stiff, not quite pure drive rigid (which I play tested at the same time to contrast), but obviously more stiff than the Npro. It’s been prob 10 years or more since I played with my old Npros... but I had my new stick strung exactly like my old frames (hybrid of synth gut and RPM Blast). This stick instantly felt at home in my hand, and maybe felt just bit more stiff and bit more powerful than the old ones. Maybe? Serving with both Ultra and Npro felt very similar with my serving style, with the Npro being a bit more spin friendly and the Ultra lending itself more to flat heavy serves with its slightly more powerful frame. My take away after about 2 hours of play. The Ultra is bit more punchy off the ground and plays similar to a Pure Drive but with much softer ball strike. The Npro with a bit more flexible frame is a tad lower on power but sacrificed that edge to a bit more control and feel, think a bit more like a blade. Overall for me, the Npro tickles me on many levels, like being reunited with a lost friend and suits my game a bit better than the Ultra. At the current price, a no brainer!! I’ll prob add 4 to my bag. Damn, now I need to find a new matching bag too. Lol.
(BTW: I’m 4.5-5.0 player, 49 M, Pace server, one handed back hand, tend to hit flatter on my forehand than most modern heavy topspin players, was a former S&V player in my younger days)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Wilson BLX Pro Open
Replies
20
Views
4K
SteveI
SteveI
N
are re-issue racquets really the same quailty
Replies
0
Views
827
newton296
N
P
TW: Chances of bringing in Wilson Tour 90 Asian Versions?
Replies
3
Views
794
vkartikv
vkartikv
K
New racquet after Wilson BLX pro open.
Replies
27
Views
600
Kule
K
forzmr_b
I'm on a quest to either find a new ideal racket or conclude that the Blade 98 18x20 2013 (v4) is the ONE for me
Replies
38
Views
2K
socallefty
socallefty
Top