Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Any Slazengers?
Best items you found at thrift stores (Goodwill)?
- Thread starter flashfire276
- Start date
Any Slazengers?
kevin qmto
Legend
Sadly no. They did have gamma and Fischer but I left them as I didn’t want to be greedy.
kevin qmto
Legend
I never posted this here because I bought it specifically to sell to someone locally who was looking for one. I bought it Friday, and sold it Sunday. I said this about the Prince O3 Red, but man this racket series WAS the FUTURE to young me. I still need to hit with the Red though.
mixtape
Professional
Nice find. I'm curious if the material of the stencils you found are made of plastic, cardboard or steel. The tennis shop I used to get my racquets strung back in the 80's had a mix batch, but I remember one Dunlop and Prince stencil they had that was made of thin steel.
kevin qmto
Legend
All plastic.
kevin qmto
Legend
Tonights Savers find was a Match Mate Graphite. There's a giant storm headed my way, so I'll have pics in the next day or so assuming my whole house isn't obliterated. Neat oval shape, and man this thing is long lol. Never been much for extended frames but I'll give it a shot. Anyone know much about these things, the text on the side seems to imply they were made in the USA which is interesting for a graphite frame.
Sanglier
Professional
MatchMate began making ball machines in 1974, and followed Prince's footsteps into the racquet market in 1982/1983, sticking around for about a decade before tossing in the towel. The "Graphite" can trace its origin to the 1978 BBC "Big Ace". The first version (second from the left) was made in the US by Racquetech; later ones were made in Taiwan and Malaysia. This particular family tree has numerous branches carrying many different brands, expanding well into the '90s. The earliest models were among the first racquets to combine mid-plus heads with relatively open stringbed, extended length, and very light weight (due to having very thin walls), giving them a "modern" look and feel that were well ahead of their time, for better or worse. Past discussions on these frames lauded their playing quality but complained about their fragility. I believe later models were beefed up quite a bit to address the fragility issue, but they are not as frequently encountered today as the earlier examples. If the strings are good, I think you will enjoy tormenting your hapless adversaries with your new find once the storm passes.
kevin qmto
Legend
Awesome, just the man I was hoping would chime in. Why do you think they opted for the extended shape yet it doesn't even say anywhere on the frame that its extra length? I honestly didn't even notice until I started trying to research Match Mate. Anyways here's some photos of its current state. Overall condition is in the 6 to 7/10 range. There's some cracked grommets at the bends and very slight cutting into the graphite, I'll have the shop tube those parts when they restring it. I have to say, the previous owner was pretty solid at finding the sweetspot, and they're certainly getting their monies worth on these strings! I've never seen such fraying. No text on the strings, I assume its a multi of some sort.MatchMate began making ball machines in 1974, and followed Prince's footsteps into the racquet market in 1982/1983, sticking around for about a decade before tossing in the towel. The "Graphite" can trace its origin to the 1978 BBC "Big Ace". The first version (second from the left) was made in the US by Racquetech; later ones were made in Taiwan and Malaysia. This particular family tree has numerous branches carrying many different brands, expanding well into the '90s. The earliest models were among the first racquets to combine mid-plus heads with relatively open stringbed, extended length, and very light weight (due to having very thin walls), giving them a "modern" look and feel that were well ahead of their time, for better or worse. Past discussions on these frames lauded their playing quality but complained about their fragility. I believe later models were beefed up quite a bit to address the fragility issue, but they are not as frequently encountered today as the earlier examples. If the strings are good, I think you will enjoy tormenting your hapless adversaries with your new find once the storm passes.
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Sanglier
Professional
Awesome, just the man I was hoping would chime in. Why do you think they opted for the extended shape yet it doesn't even say anywhere on the frame that its extra length? I honestly didn't even notice until I started trying to research Match Mate. Anyways here's some photos of its current state. Overall condition is in the 6 to 7/10 range. There's some cracked grommets at the bends and very slight cutting into the graphite, I'll have the shop tube those parts when they restring it. I have to say, the previous owner was pretty solid at finding the sweetspot, and they're certainly getting their monies worth on these strings! I've never seen such fraying. No text on the strings, I assume its a multi of some sort.
Anytime you see an ‘80s racquet with an unusual size or strange proportions, the default cause for the anomaly should be Howard Head, or rather the many creative efforts to circumvent his Prince patent.
Head laid claim to all mid-oversized racquets between 26” and 28” in length on Prince’s behalf. BBC subsequently invented 28.5” frames. MatchMate saw no reason to stray from that formula when they adopted “Graphite”, nor did Bard, nor did Dunlop, nor did Estusa, nor did AvantGarde…
Sanglier
Professional
You should get it if it's still there. This is one of the very late models from the widebody era, but not really that wide (21-23 mm). It was still based on the original 28.5" design, only with a much more head light balance that significantly reduced its swing weight. I think it plays beautifully, and is much less common than the earlier skinny models.
Sanglier
Professional
This was a common problem on these early bumperless frames (circa 84-85, already stronger than the earliest US-made version), especially when they are strung at very high tension using kevlar strings. Yet even after half of these holes have collapsed, the racquet somehow remains playable until something worse happens. If yours only shows "slight cutting" despite having seen heavy use, it is doing better than most of its peers.
kevin qmto
Legend
what's the tension range on these things?
Sanglier
Professional
The original recommended tension range was 65-70 lbs, not extraordinary for an oversize during that period. It worked quite well with the 55 RA flex, but certainly contributed to all those collapsed holes.
kevin qmto
Legend
Think I'll go 52 lol.
kevin qmto
Legend
Finally got this video edited. I thought it was worth its own thread, but Imma post it here too because it was with a $4.67 goodwill racket after all.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Awesome, just the man I was hoping would chime in. Why do you think they opted for the extended shape yet it doesn't even say anywhere on the frame that its extra length? I honestly didn't even notice until I started trying to research Match Mate. Anyways here's some photos of its current state. Overall condition is in the 6 to 7/10 range. There's some cracked grommets at the bends and very slight cutting into the graphite, I'll have the shop tube those parts when they restring it. I have to say, the previous owner was pretty solid at finding the sweetspot, and they're certainly getting their monies worth on these strings! I've never seen such fraying. No text on the strings, I assume its a multi of some sort.
Good to see a Match-Mate as they seem rather rare in the UK. What is the actual size of the hoop? 110sqi?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
MatchMate began making ball machines in 1974, and followed Prince's footsteps into the racquet market in 1982/1983, sticking around for about a decade before tossing in the towel. The "Graphite" can trace its origin to the 1978 BBC "Big Ace". The first version (second from the left) was made in the US by Racquetech; later ones were made in Taiwan and Malaysia. This particular family tree has numerous branches carrying many different brands, expanding well into the '90s. The earliest models were among the first racquets to combine mid-plus heads with relatively open stringbed, extended length, and very light weight (due to having very thin walls), giving them a "modern" look and feel that were well ahead of their time, for better or worse. Past discussions on these frames lauded their playing quality but complained about their fragility. I believe later models were beefed up quite a bit to address the fragility issue, but they are not as frequently encountered today as the earlier examples. If the strings are good, I think you will enjoy tormenting your hapless adversaries with your new find once the storm passes.
The ovalness and beam shape of these reminds me of my Fin Genius, albeit without the merged handle. The throat of the BBC especially looks like you could split it and put a dampener in the gap. But these are 110s I believe? Must have some of the longest main-strings around.
kevin qmto
Legend
Definitely smaller than 110, I’d even guess as small as 90, it’s very oval.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Aha, I saw 110s mentioned on another MM page. If it's around 95sqi, then perhaps it's the same shape as the Fin Genius - 34.5cm x 22.75cm?
Sanglier
Professional
The MM stringbed is somewhere between 97 and 98 SqIn (Kuebler may have been the first to mass-produce a Mid-plus frame with his "Plus 30" or "Plus 40" in 1976, but BBC could definitely make a legitimate claim to having launched the first batch of Mid-plus graphites in 1978, at least one of which managed to stand the test of time by siring numerous offsprings), slightly longer and wider than that of the Fin Genius, with a more open pattern in the periphery. While these two racquets do resemble each other in their head shape, I don't believe the Fin is a direct descendant of the original "Big Ace" line. On the other hand, there are frames that don't look nearly as similar to the MM as the Fin but are in fact genetically related to the former, such as the AvantGarde "All Graphite Plus" and some of the Japanese MALL frames. If you can find an extended length AvantGarde in the UK and try it, you would know exactly what a MM feels like.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
The MM stringbed is somewhere between 97 and 98 SqIn (Kuebler may have been the first to mass-produce a Mid-plus frame with his "Plus 30" or "Plus 40" in 1976, but BBC could definitely make a legitimate claim to having launched the first batch of Mid-plus graphites in 1978, at least one of which managed to stand the test of time by siring numerous offsprings), slightly longer and wider than that of the Fin Genius, with a more open pattern in the periphery. While these two racquets do resemble each other in their head shape, I don't believe the Fin is a direct descendant of the original "Big Ace" line. On the other hand, there are frames that don't look nearly as similar to the MM as the Fin but are in fact genetically related to the former, such as the AvantGarde "All Graphite Plus" and some of the Japanese MALL frames. If you can find an extended length AvantGarde in the UK and try it, you would know exactly what a MM feels like.
Much obliged! I shall look out for one of those. I noticed that the Genius' main-strings are the same length as a typical 110sqi (34.5cm), whilst the crosses are about the same width as a midsize 85sqi at 22.75cm, so the MM's main-strings must equate to about a 120sqi racket. I'm guessing rather nice on serves!?
Sanglier
Professional
The average swing weight on the earlier models is about 370 due to the extra length and neutral balance; later models brought that down to about 355 by shifting the balance towards more HL. As long as you are ok with these figures, the serves are awesome!
kevin qmto
Legend
I always chuckle at my Max Predator, which weighs 308g strung yet the SW is 385!
oldmanyellingatcloud
Semi-Pro
MIL found 2 very good condition Microgel Extreme MPs at the same Goodwill I found my L5 Ti. Radical MP.
we are an anti-Graphene household, lol
we are an anti-Graphene household, lol
kevin qmto
Legend
That’s ok, there isn’t any Graphene in the rackets anyway.
TheLastT5000
New User
every single darn time.
I thought I had a TX-5000 (not rare or special), but I woke up and it was my T-5000. Still can't find the case.
TheLastT5000
New User
wallymann
Semi-Pro
so weird that middle-aged modestly overweight rec players can get so sour about their performance on the court -- its not like these dudes are vying for a spot on the ATP tour.
kevin qmto
Legend
Backlog post #1: Spalding Smasher find. Looks like it was barely used. This is what late stage Pancho Gonzales used right? The man was like 41 and could still take Laver 5 sets and win. Unbelievable, must be that 20x21 string pattern for ultimate control. The original stencil still looks great. One of these days I'll have a shootout between the major player endorsed standard aluminums. Spalding Smasher, Seamco Rosewall, and Rawlings Newcombe Tiebreaker, which is your pick for best frame?
kevin qmto
Legend
Backlog #2: Bancroft Borg Champion. Found this at Savers for $3.99 in 9/10 shape. I was looking for a Borg Pro or Personal, but I'll take this. Says genuine bamboo, was that ever something that was faked lol? Strung with Bancroft branded synthetic gut with an original B stencil in mint shape to boot, I didn't even know they had any strings, I never see NOS examples popping up on the bay, whereas I do for just about every other brand. Hit with it today with the old guys, and its a good un. Lots of pop and nice flex. Build up the buttcap slightly so I can really whip forehands like the Iceman himself. I love the Head pro cushion grip I threw on there, really adds to the plushness.
kevin qmto
Legend
Backlog #3: Prince Extender Blast. Holy crap, before spotting this at Goodwill for $4.67, I thought there was like 2 Extenders, the red/black 122sq in huge one, and the extended length Mono shaft one. Now after seeing this, I went on the bay, and found about 6 other examples of the teardrop shape from Princes lineup. What intrigued me about this one is its only standard length, and despite the shape, its only midplus. At 700 power level, its even within Princes spec range for player sticks, though I doubt it was marketed as such. (I believe anything under 800 was considered low power). Anyways, its in good shape, freshly strung and gripped. She'll get used maybe. Hopefully within the next few years lol. Anyone hit with this series before or know when it dates to?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Backlog #3: Prince Extender Blast. Holy crap, before spotting this at Goodwill for $4.67, I thought there was like 2 Extenders, the red/black 122sq in huge one, and the extended length Mono shaft one. Now after seeing this, I went on the bay, and found about 6 other examples of the teardrop shape from Princes lineup. What intrigued me about this one is its only standard length, and despite the shape, its only midplus. At 700 power level, its even within Princes spec range for player sticks, though I doubt it was marketed as such. (I believe anything under 800 was considered low power). Anyways, its in good shape, freshly strung and gripped. She'll get used maybe. Hopefully within the next few years lol. Anyone hit with this series before or know when it dates to?
Extenders seem to be 1995-96, when other manufacturers also had similarly shaped sticks like the Dunlop Marksmen, Wilson Sledge-Hammers etc. For some reason, despite each company having a player's version, they were rarely seen on tour. I guess the shape is inevitably too clubby and lacks feel.
What is noticeable is at this time the market is dominated by non-player's sticks, which are more expensive than the player's models. Tennis rackets are now more 'lifestyle' items mainly for the affluent, rather than serious sporting equipment. Player's sticks became demoted in the listings.
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Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Backlog #2: Bancroft Borg Champion. Found this at Savers for $3.99 in 9/10 shape. I was looking for a Borg Pro or Personal, but I'll take this. Says genuine bamboo, was that ever something that was faked lol? Strung with Bancroft branded synthetic gut with an original B stencil in mint shape to boot, I didn't even know they had any strings, I never see NOS examples popping up on the bay, whereas I do for just about every other brand. Hit with it today with the old guys, and its a good un. Lots of pop and nice flex. Build up the buttcap slightly so I can really whip forehands like the Iceman himself. I love the Head pro cushion grip I threw on there, really adds to the plushness.
What's the weight? Bamboo being somewhat lighter than other woods, although it looks like there's ash and beech in the hoop too.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Backlog post #1: Spalding Smasher find. Looks like it was barely used. This is what late stage Pancho Gonzales used right? The man was like 41 and could still take Laver 5 sets and win. Unbelievable, must be that 20x21 string pattern for ultimate control. The original stencil still looks great. One of these days I'll have a shootout between the major player endorsed standard aluminums. Spalding Smasher, Seamco Rosewall, and Rawlings Newcombe Tiebreaker, which is your pick for best frame?
What is the flex like on this aluminium? I guess in the early 1970s every other stick, be they wood, steel or fibreglass, was very flexible. Often wondered what the late 70s Slazenger X10 and X20 played like, being made from 'Tensilium', [chuckle].
kevin qmto
Legend
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kevin qmto
Legend
wow. An Extender Vortex at £270 = $339Extenders seem to be 1995-96, when other manufacturers also had similarly shaped sticks like the Dunlop Marksmen, Wilson Sledge-Hammers etc. For some reason, despite each company having a player's version, they were rarely seen on tour. I guess the shape is inevitably too clubby and lacks feel.
What is noticeable is at this time the market is dominated by non-player's sticks, which are more expensive than the player's models. Tennis rackets are now more 'lifestyle' items mainly for the affluent, rather than serious sporting equipment. Player's sticks became demoted in the listings.
Adjusted for inflation thats $694.75 in todays money!!!
And a seller just send me a discount offer of one on the bay for $20 + $12 shipping lol. Now that’s some depreciation right there lol. (and I’m probably not gonna take them up on it…)
Backspin to the Future
Rookie
Latest find at a car boot sale here in England- an early`80`s (I think ) Head Carbon Comfort.
I paid the princely sum of £1 and then just 15 minutes giving it a good clean up and treating the leather grip with saddle soap and then some dubbing to revive it.
Played with it for an hour this morning and was pleasantly surprised how well the strings had held up.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WDKOLZkuESXvKfjAAjYjOffsfRilOwGZ/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jzi0EhyyksDj6T8q0_hZ2y-n34cjAWhv/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NAyMLzi-rDtZUr1obieCqwJ-Fh1FkJ7D/view?usp=drive_link
I`ve developed a real liking for the feel of many of the `80`s/early 90`s graphite/composite midsize rackets which started with mostly the Dunlop IMF frames -but has since spread like a rash to include Head,Yamaha,Snauwaert & Pro Kennex models.
I still haven`t worked out how to insert a photo rather than just a Google Drive link into these threads if anyone can offer a simple tip ?
I paid the princely sum of £1 and then just 15 minutes giving it a good clean up and treating the leather grip with saddle soap and then some dubbing to revive it.
Played with it for an hour this morning and was pleasantly surprised how well the strings had held up.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WDKOLZkuESXvKfjAAjYjOffsfRilOwGZ/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jzi0EhyyksDj6T8q0_hZ2y-n34cjAWhv/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NAyMLzi-rDtZUr1obieCqwJ-Fh1FkJ7D/view?usp=drive_link
I`ve developed a real liking for the feel of many of the `80`s/early 90`s graphite/composite midsize rackets which started with mostly the Dunlop IMF frames -but has since spread like a rash to include Head,Yamaha,Snauwaert & Pro Kennex models.
I still haven`t worked out how to insert a photo rather than just a Google Drive link into these threads if anyone can offer a simple tip ?
Dunlop300g
Semi-Pro
A bread machine and some really nice drinking glassware. So far nothing in the way of nice tennis gear. I need to shop the more upscale neighborhoods.
kevin qmto
Legend
Use Imgur (on a PC) and post the share link called BBC. It’ll just post the image directly on the page like mine above.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yeah, makes a Regna look cheap! There were so many of those top-of-the-range models at silly prices for a few years, it's like rackets became status symbols in the mid-90s as the economy picked up. You should go for that, if it's in good condition, then at least you'll know how mad things got!
Backspin to the Future
Rookie
Thanks for the advice but Imgur won`t allow me to register in the U.K.
mixtape
Professional
Extenders seem to be 1995-96, when other manufacturers also had similarly shaped sticks like the Dunlop Marksmen, Wilson Sledge-Hammers etc. For some reason, despite each company having a player's version, they were rarely seen on tour. I guess the shape is inevitably too clubby and lacks feel.
What is noticeable is at this time the market is dominated by non-player's sticks, which are more expensive than the player's models. Tennis rackets are now more 'lifestyle' items mainly for the affluent, rather than serious sporting equipment. Player's sticks became demoted in the listings.
I'm curious about that Prince Clock. lol
kevin qmto
Legend
These poor woodies being tossed about lol.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Shocking! Another benefit of grass courts!
gino
Legend
Gorgeous pics. GOATed framesHeres the two versions of the BLX Six One 90 I got. I have 2 of the tours, and the pics here are of the one in better shape. The other one has the trademark scratches of someone who tosses a racket across a court like a boomerang. the face on one side of the hoop is scratched completely off. My teammate in high school had this racket and did the same thing.
kevin qmto
Legend
It's probably not a coinsidence that its spring cleaning season and everyone's going through Grandpa's attic and pitching his old tennis stuff on the doorstep of Goodwill. I'm not consciously looking for woods right now, but they keep popping up in great shape and I say, "ah hell, whats one more?" I might even supply my whole USTA team with woodies for the next Woodie Classic in the fall. This year is the year they all play along with me lol.
I'm most excited about finally finding one of these Kennedy frames. I'd been on the lookout for one ever since reading an old post from @Sanglier about the story of how Kunnan Lo named his newly minted house brand after whatever airport he happened to be landing in at that moment. And he made sure to make it look like the most American brand he could. Hey, they did have a new American address, why not go all in? This Kennedy is in alright shape, I already used it once and it hits like it should. I need to weigh it and get its balance specs still, I was just too excited to get the pics up. I can't imagine there's too may of these models left in decent usable shape. They only used the Kennedy name for like one year, maybe two right?
I'm most excited about finally finding one of these Kennedy frames. I'd been on the lookout for one ever since reading an old post from @Sanglier about the story of how Kunnan Lo named his newly minted house brand after whatever airport he happened to be landing in at that moment. And he made sure to make it look like the most American brand he could. Hey, they did have a new American address, why not go all in? This Kennedy is in alright shape, I already used it once and it hits like it should. I need to weigh it and get its balance specs still, I was just too excited to get the pics up. I can't imagine there's too may of these models left in decent usable shape. They only used the Kennedy name for like one year, maybe two right?
kevin qmto
Legend
That was followed by this thing, a design I've seen under a couple different labels, but this one simply says MatchPlay I think, most of it has chipped away. Luckily the rest is in playable shape. I love open throat woods, and wonder why it wasn't more commonplace.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
That was followed by this thing, a design I've seen under a couple different labels, but this one simply says MatchPlay I think, most of it has chipped away. Luckily the rest is in playable shape. I love open throat woods, and wonder why it wasn't more commonplace.
What's the rough date of this Matchplay? With all the dark wood it makes me think of the Victorian era, but I guess the split throat makes it 1970s?
kevin qmto
Legend
Oh it’s definitely a 70’s stick. Surprisingly high craftsmanship for a ‘your brand here’ frame. Two other versions are the National Sporting Goods Concorde, and the Bill Hart Top Score.
