Fake Asian Pro Staff Tour 90

jamauss · Jun 10, 2011

Just received a fake Asian Pro Staff Tour 90 in the mail today from an E-b-a-y auction I won. Unfortunately, I started becoming suspicious as soon as I took it out of the box and it was in a cover (I didn't think they came w/ their own covers).

Pulling it out and looking it over got me even more suspicious - 20mm beam width instead of 17 - weight of 254g strung instead of about 305g and the worst part of all - not head light...AT ALL. I did the ol' finger in the throat test and the racquet head fell all the way down and went grip handle up!

Needless to say, I've contacted the seller asking what he wants to do to make things right. Unfortunately, I don't think the seller (an individual) even knew it was a fake.

I'll post pics in this thread later and keep anyone interested up to date on how things turn out. I didn't even realize fakes were made for this racquet or I would have been more stringent in asking questions before buying.

geese_com · Jun 10, 2011

Booo! That's no good. I have never heard of a fake PT90 before. Hopefully, you and the seller can figure something out.

Rorsach · Jun 10, 2011

jamauss said:
Unfortunately, I don't think the seller (an individual) even knew it was a fake.

That's not your problem, he should reimburse you fully.

And i'm looking forward to those pics.

Squidward · Jun 10, 2011

I also was tempted by a great deal on *bay. Fortunatly, I wised up and payed the extra $30 to purchase from a reputable dealer. Peace of mind and verified authenticity.

Good Luck with the refund!

martini1 · Jun 10, 2011

I'm looking for a PStour 90 too. Disappointed to know the fakes are still around passing off as new ones for such an old model. It sucks.

jamauss · Jun 10, 2011

Squidward said:
I also was tempted by a great deal on *bay. Fortunatly, I wised up and payed the extra $30 to purchase from a reputable dealer. Peace of mind and verified authenticity.

Good Luck with the refund!

If this were a racquet I could buy from a dealer, I would, no problem.

Problem is, you can't (where I live - USA) find an Asian PS Tour 90, even when they WERE being sold in shops. This is a stick you can only get from the bay or on here. It looks like the refund process won't be easy. This guy is from Romania and doesn't seem too apologetic. We'll see how it goes. I'll post some pics up here in a few minutes.

jamauss · Jun 10, 2011

martini1 said:
I'm looking for a PStour 90 too. Disappointed to know the fakes are still around passing off as new ones for such an old model. It sucks.

If you want the regular non-Asian version, I have a couple extra, if you want one. let me know.

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

Here are some pics - the fake is on top in the pictures.

Exhibit A: Beam width of fake is 20mm. The real one is 17mm.

Exhibit B: The spray-paint covered, short, flimsy grip pallet

Exhibit C: The non-standard specs display in the throat. This actually matches the US version, but not the Asian version. Also notice the finish, and no trace of the braided graphite coming through.

Exhibit D: differences in the throat area

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

Exhibit E: more throat area differences

Exhibit F: red "PS" paint should extend well over the silver line. My real one does:

While the fake one doesn't:

Exhibit G: The hoop paint of the fake one is more orange than yellow

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

Exhibit H: Where the string holes should fall on the "Wilson" logo (here's the real one)

And where they fall on the fake one (plus the "Wilson" logo itself is a little larger on the fake one)

Exhibit I: The fake one is probably closer in head size to a 100' than a 90' (sq. inch head size)

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

Exhibit J: When taking off the trap door to inspect the grip, it shouldn't have lightweight material that you can just push in with your finger like this (on the fake one):

It should look something more like this (my real one):

Here's a link to the album on Imgur:
http://imgur.com/a/8PqNw

martini1 · Jun 11, 2011

jamauss said:
If you want the regular non-Asian version, I have a couple extra, if you want one. let me know.

Thanks. If I couldn't find it locally I"ll give you a halla.

Squidward · Jun 11, 2011

Prett obvious the differance between the two racquets.

BTW, were any pics with the auction?

TheMagicianOfPrecision · Jun 11, 2011

I have a racket like this, bought in 2001 that i have been trying to sell. Interested? 60 USD

cy1126dragonamul · Jun 11, 2011

there used to be a 100sq inch head size of the prostaff tour version....I've seen one. it's lighter, bigger head size, thicker beam width and the difference in paintjobs, I'd say it's from a different batch. tell me if I'm wrong....thanks.

martini1 · Jun 11, 2011

jamauss said:
If this were a racquet I could buy from a dealer, I would, no problem.

Problem is, you can't (where I live - USA) find an Asian PS Tour 90, even when they WERE being sold in shops. This is a stick you can only get from the bay or on here. It looks like the refund process won't be easy. This guy is from Romania and doesn't seem too apologetic. We'll see how it goes. I'll post some pics up here in a few minutes.

On the K90 all difference between the AK90 is the weight of the grip. They probably used a lighter filling on the AK90 so it is less hl and overall lighter. A lot of people end up adding lead to it so I don't really see the AK90 being so special. When I bought my K90 I even cherry picked the most hl one from the batch. Just in case I wanted to add some lead on 12 but don't need to counter weight much.

JoelDali · Jun 11, 2011

Wow, I saw that on the Bay and was gonna buy but I could totally tell it was a fake. Paint was totally wrong in so many places it was obvious!

UCSF2012 · Jun 11, 2011

The problem is that he didn't sell you a Tour 90. He sold you a Tour 95, which is based on the PS6.1 classic, not the PS85.

The Tour 95 has a 20mm beam, 95 sq in head, and uses UNBRAIDED graphite (to the best of my recollection). I own both the Tour 90 and Tour 95, but I don't have access to them now.

But it's not supposed to have the box beam, so yours MAY be a fake (or another racket). Can't tell without my rackets as a reference.

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

TheMagicianOfPrecision said:
I have a racket like this, bought in 2001 that i have been trying to sell. Interested? 60 USD

You mean one that's like the one I want? Or one like I just unpleasantly received from the auction?

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

cy1126dragonamul said:
there used to be a 100sq inch head size of the prostaff tour version....I've seen one. it's lighter, bigger head size, thicker beam width and the difference in paintjobs, I'd say it's from a different batch. tell me if I'm wrong....thanks.

I'm pretty sure this one is just a fake - it only weighs about 8 ounces, strung.

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

JoelDali said:
Wow, I saw that on the Bay and was gonna buy but I could totally tell it was a fake. Paint was totally wrong in so many places it was obvious!

What about the paint made you realize it was wrong? I'm not an expert in being able to tell from the pics, only if I can hold it in person.

jamauss · Jun 11, 2011

UCSF2012 said:
The problem is that he didn't sell you a Tour 90. He sold you a Tour 95, which is based on the PS6.1 classic, not the PS85.

The Tour 95 has a 20mm beam, 95 sq in head, and uses UNBRAIDED graphite (to the best of my recollection). I own both the Tour 90 and Tour 95, but I don't have access to them now.

But it's not supposed to have the box beam, so yours MAY be a fake (or another racket). Can't tell without my rackets as a reference.

If it were a tour 95, I don't think the stuff in the throat would say "581 cm [90 sq. in.]" .

That, and I don't think there's any graphite used in it at all - it only weighs 250g, strung.

jamauss · Jun 12, 2011

Turns out the guy is totally non-apologetic and is blaming me for not accepting responsibility for what I bid on. I opened a case and explained the situation to the bay and left it up to them to decide. We'll see what happens.

TheMagicianOfPrecision · Jun 18, 2011

jamauss said:
You mean one that's like the one I want? Or one like I just unpleasantly received from the auction?

The one you want, of course

dadozen · Jun 18, 2011

Jason, I hope you can get a full refund! Did you use paypal?

corners · Jun 18, 2011

There are a lot of fake N90s with 20mm beams in Asia too.

jamauss · Jul 9, 2011

Well, I was finally able to get a refund through PayPal. Had to prove (tracking) that I shipped the racquet back, though.

Fake Asian Pro Staff Tour 90

Hall of Fame

Semi-Pro

Hall of Fame

Rookie

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Rookie

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest

New User

Hall of Fame

Talk Tennis Guru

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest

Hall of Fame

Legend

Hall of Fame

Similar threads