Down under
New User
Best items you found at thrift stores (Goodwill)?
- Thread starter flashfire276
- Start date
kevin qmto
Legend
Yep so there were at least three versions of a PK Copper series frame. I wonder if yours is also 40% graphite and 60% fiberglass.Album — Postimages
postimg.cc
Down under
New User
It doesn’t show how much. It’s not light weight at all. 340 strung. But feel very light.
kevin qmto
Legend
I just wanted to post this because I was shocked to see that you can actually buy a brand new, standard headsize tennis racket in 2024. I was googling trying to find some string reels and this thumbnail caught my eye, and upon further investigation, it looks like some factory in China cloned the old Red Head Tournament, and is still producing it to this day. I never would have guessed anyone would think there’s a market for a 70ish sq in adult tennis racket today. I’m sure this is super cheaply made and awful, but the fact it exists at all…. I want to hold one lol.
headcoachsports.com
Standard Size Aluminum Frame Tennis Racket
Shop HeadCoachSports.com for sporting goods and team sports equipment for schools, leagues, teams, and athletes.
headcoachsports.com
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Since the thread title says 'items', and whilst the USA historically made the Super-8s in the Cricket World Cup yesterday, I thought I'd mention this bat I picked up recently. Gunn & Moore Maestro 5-Star, a top-of-the-line bat from the mid to late 1980s, used by various famous players. GM were founded in 1885 but have a history back to the 18th Century, and have continuously hand-made bats from English willow since then. They still make some of the best bats you can get today. This is a long-handle version at 37', 2lb 10.5oz (1200g), 52cm balance. In pretty good condition, probably because those specs are at the upper end. Estimated swing-weight 2000! It makes my 390g F200 feel like a tooth-pick, if I do a few square-cuts and cover-drives beforehand. USA should be playing against South Africa, the West Indies and England next week.
Steve Huff
G.O.A.T.
Reminds me somewhat of the paddle my gym teacher used on me (and others) on occasion, with the 2-handed handle option.
kevin qmto
Legend
nothing to speak of tonight in the 3 stores I dropped by after work. But this caught my eye and made me chuckle. This complete in original case head squash racket. I didn't know they made a Genesis Squash line. Its not only copied the graphics, but even has the double-power-wedge shape in tact from the tennis version! So the squash world had a widebody era of its own lol?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
nothing to speak of tonight in the 3 stores I dropped by after work. But this caught my eye and made me chuckle. This complete in original case head squash racket. I didn't know they made a Genesis Squash line. Its not only copied the graphics, but even has the double-power-wedge shape in tact from the tennis version! So the squash world had a widebody era of its own lol?
Squash certainly did have a wide-body revolution, at exactly the same time. There's even a gold coloured Wilson Profile squash racket, matching the 2.7. Subsequently, some of the mid-90s tennis racket shapes were inspired by earlier squash rackets. There were badminton rackets using the wide-body names at the time too, like the PK Destiny series, although they were not actually wide-bodies clearly.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
This Comp 100 is the usual 358g strung and has the 22c grommet strip (16x19) like the Matrixes, Pro Comps, my Gtx-2000 etc. Handsome sparkly dark grey is the option here. Feels fine, just like the others. Solid, low 50s flex, somewhat weak outside the middle, but consistent string bed north-south.
My favourite sku being SKU, this is 1987 I believe.
My favourite sku being SKU, this is 1987 I believe.
kevin qmto
Legend
Does it have PWS? Funny how unlike a lot of them it doesn’t say Wilson Midsize on the beam.This Comp 100 is the usual 358g strung and has the 22c grommet strip (16x19) like the Matrixes, Pro Comps, my Gtx-2000 etc. Handsome sparkly dark grey is the option here. Feels fine, just like the others. Solid, low 50s flex, somewhat weak outside the middle, but consistent string bed north-south.
My favourite sku being SKU, this is 1987 I believe.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
I was just trying to be Avant Garde with my pics! No PWS, but says Midsize at the top. Actually feels a touch more solid than my Matrix and Pro Matrix, but that may be because it's 33cm balanced.
kevin qmto
Legend
Out of the endless Dunlop McEnroe endorsed frames, I was on the lookout for this particular version more than most, the Limited Boron/Graphite. Found it at a Savers for $3.49. It definitely takes after the 200g in terms of graphics, and feels very solid, its beam is slightly thinner and obviously it has that egg shape head. 364g strung, and the head size might be smaller than 84 sq in. I took some pics and a side by side with the 200G, guess I gotta compare them someday. I love seeing old shop stringing tags on rackets, though I did remove this one after taking a photo as it was pretty tattered. This racket traveled from California to make it to me.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Out of the endless Dunlop McEnroe endorsed frames, I was on the lookout for this particular version more than most, the Limited Boron/Graphite. Found it at a Savers for $3.49. It definitely takes after the 200g in terms of graphics, and feels very solid, its beam is slightly thinner and obviously it has that egg shape head. 364g strung, and the head size might be smaller than 84 sq in. I took some pics and a side by side with the 200G, guess I gotta compare them someday. I love seeing old shop stringing tags on rackets, though I did remove this one after taking a photo as it was pretty tattered. This racket traveled from California to make it to me.
Looks similar to the Slazenger Challenge Comp, with the egg-head, gentle taper 21-18mm and thinner bridge, which went on to become the Phantom IMF shape. Lay it on the MAX upside-down to see if it's also 84sqi. If it's like the Slazenger, it will hit really sweetly.
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michael valek
Hall of Fame
Was always gray nicolls for me
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yeah, I really want a late 80s Dynadrive, but a similar vintage Slazenger V100 is my grail.
kevin qmto
Legend
Left some interesting Prostaffs at a PIAS due to price, but there was a PS lite 6.8 for $20 and a PS Stretch EB 4.8 for $15. Near coloring on both but I have about 6 PS’s right now and really only use one of ‘em.
5sets
Hall of Fame
I’ll see your Genesis and raise you an Intelligence.nothing to speak of tonight in the 3 stores I dropped by after work. But this caught my eye and made me chuckle. This complete in original case head squash racket. I didn't know they made a Genesis Squash line. Its not only copied the graphics, but even has the double-power-wedge shape in tact from the tennis version! So the squash world had a widebody era of its own lol?
Seems racquet companies frequently recycled names. Even from racquets to golf clubs, i.e. Wilson profile, pro staff or Dunlop Black Max.
I dunno if this’ll show up lol, but it was a Head intelligence racquetball racquet for $3.25
https://imgur.com/a/1dUQkw4
recent finds are and not limited to Donnay 99 White, Head Graphite Edge, Prince 03 Spectrum mid, Wilson Steam 105s
https://imgur.com/a/1dUQkw4
kevin qmto
Legend
@Grafil Injection I saw this Dunlop McEnroe Comp II tonight for $4 and thought it looked a lot like your comp 100 above, maybe the head is slightly rounder but I have a suspicion both these were products of Kunnan Lo. Which for me, is usually a good sign. It means fun plush, flexy times are ahead. But I'm actually planning on giving this racket to a friend to see if he'll get into classic frames. he's taken an interest in my hoarding problem and finds it fascinating, he owns all of 4 rackets, plays regularly but tends to just sell his old rackets when getting new ones, and never hits with anything over 5 years old. I'll bring this in the bag tomorrow and see if he likes it, fingers crossed. But here's some pics for the class.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
@Grafil Injection I saw this Dunlop McEnroe Comp II tonight for $4 and thought it looked a lot like your comp 100 above, maybe the head is slightly rounder but I have a suspicion both these were products of Kunnan Lo. Which for me, is usually a good sign. It means fun plush, flexy times are ahead. But I'm actually planning on giving this racket to a friend to see if he'll get into classic frames. he's taken an interest in my hoarding problem and finds it fascinating, he owns all of 4 rackets, plays regularly but tends to just sell his old rackets when getting new ones, and never hits with anything over 5 years old. I'll bring this in the bag tomorrow and see if he likes it, fingers crossed. But here's some pics for the class.
Definitely similar, but like you say slightly less oval perhaps. Does it have a grommet strip code? Somewhat similar to the Mc Comp 1 v2 as well. My Wilson Comp 100 (and the Matrices etc) being SKU code are SanHoSun I believe.
Looks nice condition. Would be interesting to hear how it hits compared to the Boron Limited.
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Bisquick
Semi-Pro
Picked up a Kneissl Red Star Twin today in nice shape with the head cover. It’s the silver and red - Boron version. OverGrip going on tonight for play tmrw.
Hoping it plays similar to the weird SPI competition that I posted about a while back - it’s become my new fave but it needs a similar looking mate in the bag - cause I just cannot find another SPI out there
Hoping it plays similar to the weird SPI competition that I posted about a while back - it’s become my new fave but it needs a similar looking mate in the bag - cause I just cannot find another SPI out there
Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
And stiff, eh?
It doesn’t show how much. It’s not light weight at all. 340 strung. But feel very light.
kevin qmto
Legend
Weird that they put that on the blurb since none of the other copper frames would have been considered stiff, even back then.
Down under
New User
Maybe stiffer than the original copper ace? Which I don’t have. But compared to other PK I have, clearly it’s softer than 7g(66Ra), similar to ki5(63ra), stiffer than black ace pro(57j, I feel it’s around 60, I could be wrong, though , as feel is quite subjective! It says light as well, 340 is quite light during that time, but quite heavy nowadays.
kevin qmto
Legend
I'd love to give a report on how that McEnroe Comp II hits but I took it out and I kid you not, on the 4th ground stroke from the baseline, I turned up the heat a little on a forehand, and the strings simply exploded lol. Not often I snap multiple strings and there's a gap main between them. Umm, I guess I can say it felt nice during mini tennis?
Then I switched to my trusty Barricade and about 20 mins later I broke another string! And unlike the dunlop which had likely 36-38 year old strings, these Yonex Poly Tour Rev strings were only put in back in April! It's actually the first time in a LONG time I've broken a full bed of poly, usually I restring due to going dead long before they snap.
Then I switched to my trusty Barricade and about 20 mins later I broke another string! And unlike the dunlop which had likely 36-38 year old strings, these Yonex Poly Tour Rev strings were only put in back in April! It's actually the first time in a LONG time I've broken a full bed of poly, usually I restring due to going dead long before they snap.
kevin qmto
Legend
On the way home after hitting, I swung by the Goodwill and found this. First Puma I've ever seen in person actually. It's been quite a week for grey with red stripes rackets! It is a classic combo that always looks good to me. Anyways, onto the Onyx Saber, 362g strung hefty and solid. Anyone know what the deal Puma had for making the shaft thinner right before it connects to the grip section? They do that on the Becker Winner frames too.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Unlucky! Well at least you have an excuse to restring the Comp 2 now!
Perhaps Puma's handle moulding machine needed that size to clamp at the top?
I wouldn't usually consider a Hammer racket, but this 6.2 Titanium Power Holes was minty for £5 with full cover, and has a 21mm straight beam, which is weird for a Hammer. Basically a 6.1 95 mould with large grommet holes at 3 & 9.
At 276g strung, 38cm balance, it makes you wonder what it would be like with about 70g added to the handle, which should change to balance to 32-33cm. Nice Wilson Syn Gut Extreme at good tension too.
Perhaps Puma's handle moulding machine needed that size to clamp at the top?
I wouldn't usually consider a Hammer racket, but this 6.2 Titanium Power Holes was minty for £5 with full cover, and has a 21mm straight beam, which is weird for a Hammer. Basically a 6.1 95 mould with large grommet holes at 3 & 9.
At 276g strung, 38cm balance, it makes you wonder what it would be like with about 70g added to the handle, which should change to balance to 32-33cm. Nice Wilson Syn Gut Extreme at good tension too.
kevin qmto
Legend
Probably the same system they used on the last version of the Sting, though by that point they called them Power Slots.Unlucky! Well at least you have an excuse to restring the Comp 2 now!
Perhaps Puma's handle moulding machine needed that size to clamp at the top?
I wouldn't usually consider a Hammer racket, but this 6.2 Titanium Power Holes was minty for £5 with full cover, and has a 21mm straight beam, which is weird for a Hammer. Basically a 6.1 95 mould with large grommet holes at 3 & 9.
At 276g strung, 38cm balance, it makes you wonder what it would be like with about 70g added to the handle, which should change to balance to 32-33cm. Nice Wilson Syn Gut Extreme at good tension too.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
The 6.2 Titanium hits like a civilised Hammer, with quite nice control. Very easy to swing and reasonable solid feeling when you're attacking despite being 276g, but at the same time a bit hollow and twisty when on defence. Launch angle is quite low, perhaps because the tension is still great. I can see how these frames lead to TE though, as they are constantly pulling your hand down. In lieu of a full tail-weighting, I've just added 6g in the butt and a leather grip for another 6g, taking it to 288g, 36cm balance, which makes it almost like a normal racket. I feel like ultimately despite a sensation of power, with the thin beam it's more of a control stick. Kinda like a TiS6 for a precision player.
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Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Meanwhile, the Wilson Comp 100 midsize is rather impressive. Easy power and control. Completely solid against fast balls. Nicer feel than any of the Matrices or other Wilson Comps I've tried over the years, it doesn't have flutter or dead-zones outside the centre like they usually seemed to. Perhaps I got lucky with the more HH specs (33cm balance), as any sense of fibreglass weakness is gone. Reasonable spin and great slice. Beefy SW probably the only downside, making serves a bit tricky.
kevin qmto
Legend
Those fluttery dead zones are what keep me from liking my Sting SC or Pro Select much. I still haven’t hit with an original Prostaff 6.0 to see if it does better than these similar offerings.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
I can definitely recommend the Comp100 then. Seems like they stiffened it up compared to the earlier midsizes. Very consistent hitting. The PS85 is on another level however. Rock solid all over the hoop, but still comfortable.
kevin qmto
Legend
Found a gold/black Diadora 6 racket bag at Play it Again, but left it as I don’t really have any need for it. I’d never seen or know about them making gear besides clothes for tennis. That sound like an item anybody here would want?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Used to be very big in football (soccer) equipment, especially boots. Nowadays, their tennis shoes seem to still have somewhat late 1980s designs, which is good!
kevin qmto
Legend
I’ve been searching for the blue/yellow shirt Guga wore in 1997 (and again in 2008 during his last match) but have been coming up empty for years.
gino
Legend
These are my favorite kind of gear searches
For 10 years looked for a pair of breathe cage 2s and found them 6 months ago for $45. Got a haas aerogel pro stock I coveted for 15 years a few years back. Simply the best feeling. Hoping you get the guga 97 shirt at some point
emkayenaim
Rookie
Extra cool points for being endorsed by Roberto Baggio. And Weah, Vialli, Keane and Totti among others.
Back then even smaller brands had big stars endorsing their boots:
Lotto (Gullit, Hagi, Suker, Shevchenko, Cafu)
Mizuno (Rivaldo, Zola)
Kronos (Stoichkov)
Joma (Morientes)
Asics (Mancini)
Umbro (Shearer, Roberto Carlos, Owen, Deco)
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davced1
Hall of Fame
Just found a Wilson hyper hammer 5.2 95 in the trash can at the court. Broken strings but the racquet seemed intact so I took it to the local pro at the club and he was keen to string it for me he also confirmed the racquet was ok and added it’s a classic racquet it would be a shame to waste it.
Will have it strung by Monday he recommended 21.5 kg so I will go with that not sure what string he has but he said it was some blue Head string and he offered it for free so I assume that’s the string he plays with himself.
Will take some pictures when I get it back but as far as I could tell the condition was pretty good except for the head guards. It's grip size 3 and had no overgrip on just some Wilson replacement grip in good condition but it was wrapped in a way I don't like so will have to re-wrap it but that's no biggie.
Will have it strung by Monday he recommended 21.5 kg so I will go with that not sure what string he has but he said it was some blue Head string and he offered it for free so I assume that’s the string he plays with himself.
Will take some pictures when I get it back but as far as I could tell the condition was pretty good except for the head guards. It's grip size 3 and had no overgrip on just some Wilson replacement grip in good condition but it was wrapped in a way I don't like so will have to re-wrap it but that's no biggie.
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kevin qmto
Legend
Was hanging with my collector friend. He had a Dunlop Pro Comp 10 on his wall, it appears to be exactly the same as my McEnroe Comp II above except minus Mac’s name. Anyone know what years Dunlop had exclusive rights to slap Mac’s name on any old racket they liked? Could this have been made after that expired?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
I'd guess his main contract was 1982-86 as he went off the rails a bit for a few years after that, tried a few other sticks 88-89, and I don't recall his name on any main-line wide-bodies (no Phantom/Silhouette/Revelation McEnroes as far as I'm aware). But he clearly had a flexible arrangement given the various 'one-off' sticks through the 90s and 00s too.
As to the Pro Comp 10's timing, I noted that the same stick came with two different covers, one early-mid-80s style, another more mid-late 80s 'Pro Series' graphics, so I would expect it was overlapping rather than specifically after the McEnroe Comp II. There are a few others from that mould too, with the 'Graphite Composite' at the top, like the MAX LT, which was 1985.
As to the Pro Comp 10's timing, I noted that the same stick came with two different covers, one early-mid-80s style, another more mid-late 80s 'Pro Series' graphics, so I would expect it was overlapping rather than specifically after the McEnroe Comp II. There are a few others from that mould too, with the 'Graphite Composite' at the top, like the MAX LT, which was 1985.
kevin qmto
Legend
Yeah, I’m my search I found another with the same mould, the McEnroe Graphite Force. I suppose the layup could be different, but it could also be a case of, one year the frame was called one thing, and the next they call it another. At best this was a mid end graphite frame, and was probably sold in sporting goods stores and not tennis shops. Still hits nice though.
That egg shaped McEnroe Limited Boron doesn’t hit as nice, but that probably had to do with its 65lb tension. Absolute brick wall feeling.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
The Pro Comp 10 does work well as a sign too (!):
Yeah, I think the vintage synguts are great in the 50s lbs range, but >60lbs is too much. Was probably meant just for gut.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
Excellent hunting today (on vacation with Mrs Retrowagen and Retro Jr.) in the Monterey Peninsula area of California. Picked up a Wilson K Blade 98, 1st-gen PK Silver Ace, a minty PK Destiny Comp widebody, a minty Matchmate Graphite, and minty Yonex RQ-180 and RQ-150 pair in original covers.
Also ate a plate of Jaegerschnitzel mit Spaetzle at my favorite Swiss restaurant, so - happy day!
Also ate a plate of Jaegerschnitzel mit Spaetzle at my favorite Swiss restaurant, so - happy day!
Sanglier
Professional
You must be in Carmel? Such a pretty little town with some truly fabulous (in the 'fable' sense) homes. I didn't even know thrifting was an option there!
If you want to compliment the Swiss for their dish, you should ditch standard German and spell Spaetzli with an "i" like they do. You are halfway there already by banishing the umlaut.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
In Pacific Grove for the weekend; Carmel at lunch. A meal at Lugano never disappoints!
kevin qmto
Legend
Puma Onyx didn’t suit me as well as I’d hoped. Went right back to the Copper Ace and it was smooth sailing. Maybe needs new strings but I’d hate to lose that cool factory stencil even if it’s worn off a bit. I was late to seemingly everything with the Puma, it’s got a high static weight of 360g but a SW of only 312 so idk what the deal is. Played a few games against a decent opp and lost all of em. Won a few with the Copper.
Copper Ace sits at 350g strung and 310 SW, but felt worlds nicer.
Copper Ace sits at 350g strung and 310 SW, but felt worlds nicer.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Strangely low SWs for rackets of such weight. My Copper Ace is fairly light around 348g, but still feels like about 325sw to me. Are they balanced really HL?
