Any prince racquet made in Japan?
- Thread starter yonexRx32
- Start date
ericykchan
Rookie
No, all of them is made in China.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Fraid not. Only places prince ever made frames was: USA, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and China.
PBODY99
Legend
@yonexRx32
I thought the same thing before I picked one up..
My 105 {right handed} has Japan produce on the shaft, but made in China in the light grey print on the hoop.
See 18 seconds into this video
I thought the same thing before I picked one up..
My 105 {right handed} has Japan produce on the shaft, but made in China in the light grey print on the hoop.
See 18 seconds into this video
yonexRx32
Professional
Japan Produce? You can go to the local market and buy a couple of pounds of them? What does that say about Prince as a corporation, if they don't have one person in the entire company to properly label their products? Who can believe that they conduct meaningful research and do thorough engineering when they use some outdated version of babelfish to design their product label?
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I’m betting that’s a bit of engrish from the Japanese branch of Prince. Basically it amounts to “designed in Japan”. But I’d bet the farm elsewhere on the frame, or the packaging, it’ll say made in China.
PBODY99
Legend
@kevin qmto
It does state " made in China " on my 105.
It does state " made in China " on my 105.
yonexRx32
Professional
They have an office in Atlanta, Georgia... They could consult with each other before launching a product..
jmacdaununder2
Legend
Sadly one really needs to consider Prince Japan and Prince ROTW as two different brands, with Japan throwing the odd bone every so often. (Sigh.)
At this point, I'm pretty sure Prince only manufacturers their retail frames in China.
That said, I've been having a side love affair with an old flame lately -- an early-90's made-in-Thailand CTS Synergy 26 MidPlus (97" 16x18, non-DB model, green/silver) with full bed TP Black Knight 1.23 and a strung spec of 355g/31.7cm (~8pts HL)/338sw (the low-ish swing weight -- for Synergy's of that time anyways -- I attribute to the lighter-than-normal head guard, which has larger cutouts in it than what you'll typically see on the 26 and others in the range -- I wish I could find more of these grommets sets with the lighter / more porous head guard included, but alas, they seem to be all-but-extinct):
Besides the SWEET paint job and overall finish quality, which is a noticeable step above anything they're making today, the feel and flex of these frames is also much more substantial -- they definitely have that "don't make 'em like they used to" vibe, akin to so many other beefier, all-graphite frames from other brands around that time (Head, etc). Aside from simply having more (and better quality?) graphite in it, I wonder what, if anything, might have changed in Prince's manufacturing in the move from Thailand (and elsewhere) to China? If anything, I would think the modern-day manufacturing would have more capability to turn out an even better product, but as @Automatix has said in other threads: pay, and China will deliver; it's just that most OEM's aren't willing to pay above whatever gets them minimum viability. On one hand, you can't really blame them, but on the other hand, we can at least try to vote with our wallets whenever we see/feel something that's a bit better than average (not that it happens much any more...).
That said, I've been having a side love affair with an old flame lately -- an early-90's made-in-Thailand CTS Synergy 26 MidPlus (97" 16x18, non-DB model, green/silver) with full bed TP Black Knight 1.23 and a strung spec of 355g/31.7cm (~8pts HL)/338sw (the low-ish swing weight -- for Synergy's of that time anyways -- I attribute to the lighter-than-normal head guard, which has larger cutouts in it than what you'll typically see on the 26 and others in the range -- I wish I could find more of these grommets sets with the lighter / more porous head guard included, but alas, they seem to be all-but-extinct):
Besides the SWEET paint job and overall finish quality, which is a noticeable step above anything they're making today, the feel and flex of these frames is also much more substantial -- they definitely have that "don't make 'em like they used to" vibe, akin to so many other beefier, all-graphite frames from other brands around that time (Head, etc). Aside from simply having more (and better quality?) graphite in it, I wonder what, if anything, might have changed in Prince's manufacturing in the move from Thailand (and elsewhere) to China? If anything, I would think the modern-day manufacturing would have more capability to turn out an even better product, but as @Automatix has said in other threads: pay, and China will deliver; it's just that most OEM's aren't willing to pay above whatever gets them minimum viability. On one hand, you can't really blame them, but on the other hand, we can at least try to vote with our wallets whenever we see/feel something that's a bit better than average (not that it happens much any more...).
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PurcellPower
Rookie
Great racquet. Played with one in my younger days when Prince was still at the top. The feel of the 90s gen Prince racquets is unbeatable in my opinion.At this point, I'm pretty sure Prince only manufacturers their retail frames in China.
That said, I've been having a side love affair with an old flame lately -- an early-90's made-in-Thailand CTS Synergy 26 MidPlus (97" 16x18, non-DB model, green/silver) with full bed TP Black Knight 1.23 and a strung spec of 355g/31.7cm (~8pts HL)/338sw (the low-ish swing weight -- for Synergy's of that time anyways -- I attribute to the lighter-than-normal head guard, which has larger cutouts in it than what you'll typically see on the 26 and others in the range -- I wish I could find more of these grommets sets with the lighter / more porous head guard included, but alas, they seem to be all-but-extinct):
Besides the SWEET paint job and overall finish quality, which is a noticeable step above anything they're making today, the feel and flex of these frames is also much more substantial -- they definitely have that "don't make 'em like they used to" vibe, akin to so many other beefier, all-graphite frames from other brands around that time (Head, etc). Aside from simply having more (and better quality?) graphite in it, I wonder what, if anything, might have changed in Prince's manufacturing in the move from Thailand (and elsewhere) to China? If anything, I would think the modern-day manufacturing would have more capability to turn out an even better product, but as @Automatix has said in other threads: pay, and China will deliver; it's just that most OEM's aren't willing to pay above whatever gets them minimum viability. On one hand, you can't really blame them, but on the other hand, we can at least try to vote with our wallets whenever we see/feel something that's a bit better than average (not that it happens much any more...).
lefty10spro
Semi-Pro
I believe the Twistpowers are made in Japan.
Nope. Made in China. Although they say "Japan Produce", which I guess is their ode to where they were designed, they are still made in China, per the following photos of my X97 Tour:
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