Best items you found at thrift stores (Goodwill)?
- Thread starter flashfire276
- Start date
Racket Crazy
Rookie
A few nice finds the past few days! Only took pics of one of them this time though.
Picked up a Dunlop 200G 95 Hot Melt for €2 to add to all the other 200G versions I have. I wanted this one for a while since I had read good things about it, but this was my first time seeing one in a thrift store. Also picked up the Dunlop 200G 95 Muscle Weave with it!
In another thift store I picked up a Pro Kennex Grapite Destiny "copy" made by the brand Ferry Force. They sold various other brands under their name for years.
Lastly a beautiful Yonex MP- 3i racket for less than €3. The strangest isometric Yonex frame I have ever seen. Frame is really long and very narrow... almost like a shoe box. It hits pretty decently, but will need new strings before I can comfortably assess what it can really do!
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Picked up a Dunlop 200G 95 Hot Melt for €2 to add to all the other 200G versions I have. I wanted this one for a while since I had read good things about it, but this was my first time seeing one in a thrift store. Also picked up the Dunlop 200G 95 Muscle Weave with it!
In another thift store I picked up a Pro Kennex Grapite Destiny "copy" made by the brand Ferry Force. They sold various other brands under their name for years.
Lastly a beautiful Yonex MP- 3i racket for less than €3. The strangest isometric Yonex frame I have ever seen. Frame is really long and very narrow... almost like a shoe box. It hits pretty decently, but will need new strings before I can comfortably assess what it can really do!
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Plainsman83
Rookie
Today at GW I saw a racquet I was totally unfamiliar with, a Donnay 725 Pro. It looked very late 70's, with an open throat but with what appeared to be a separate throat piece (imagine a black Head Pro "redhead" from the 70's). It was Belgian made, graphite construction, black with the multicolor Donnay stripes. It was the usual $2.99 and I almost bought it until I noticed a bunch of the grommets were sliding down the strings. It actually had a nice heft to it. Any insights?
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
It was from the mid 80’s.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
A quick pass by a local thrift store on my way home from the office netted a very early specimen of the original 95 square inch Wilson Profile, not by any means a favorite racquet of mine, but certainly a significant model in the evolution of tennis equipment, and, I think, an essential in one’s playable museum. This one cleaned up very well, still has its original Fairway grip, and full-length cover.
graycrait
Legend
I am starting to become aggravated with you folks. The last good racket I came across was a nice PT280 I ended up trading off. I have not even seen a remotely interesting racket in the thrift/GW shops. However I am eyeballing a Wonder Wand 135" on an auction site as I type this.
coachrick
Hall of Fame
My WonderWand is in a local tennis shop on consignment.
graycrait
Legend
I saw another 135 WW online at a PIAS shop. I think I need to cool my jets and get more string before I get another racket however much I think I need another obscure racket. Day before yesterday I forked over 12.00 for a Triple Threat 115 with 8.00 shipping on the auction site.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
I’m surprised such a new racquets and one with plastic on the handle never used is only £5.
£5 brand new in the wilds of west London. I understand from the collective wisdom of this forum that it’s a bit of a dog. However, as it was at the vanguard of the sensor craze, i reckon it has historical value.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
Not a bad way to spend a fiver.
Henry Hub
Professional
Cost less than the celebratory pint afterwards...
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
That’s what I was thinking. Good value, that, when a racquet costs as much as two cans of balls!
Hey, when in London, what are the thrift shop type of stores that carry tennis stuff?
£5 brand new in the wilds of west London. I understand from the collective wisdom of this forum that it’s a bit of a dog. However, as it was at the vanguard of the sensor craze, i reckon it has historical value.
Henry Hub
Professional
Bit of a lottery to be honest. It depends more on the season (summer obviously the best time to look) than the chain of shops. Area can be a factor but typically it’s just pot luck (there are a few areas where 5-10 charity shops are grouped so you may bump up your chances of finding something). The old rule of thumb that charity shops in the most affluent areas have the best stock does not hold true for tennis rackets in London - while I’ve found some great stuff in places like South Kensington and St James Park, I’ve had equal success in Ealing, Romford and the Holloway Road.
That all said, the larger chains that seem most bankable in my experience for rackets are Oxfam, Farah, Cancer Research, North London Hospice and increasingly Trinity Hospice. The ones that almost never stock anything include British Heart Foundation, Scope, Octavia and Shelter (although they still cough up the odd gem every few months).
If you are planning a trip and know where you are staying I can give you some ideas of areas to try.
jonestim
Hall of Fame
4-5 years ago I was pretty active in this thread. I had a lot more time to go thrifting. Now I just do it occasionally, which means I am not finding much. This weekend however, I did find really good condition Pro Kennex 5G in my grip size. It's a racquet I have wanted to try, so I am pretty happy about it. It was at the most expensive thrift shop in town so it was $20. Strung it up last night and will hit with it Wednesday.
I'll be staying in Vauxhall neighborhood, any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Also - since you may know, how do I get tickets to a Premiere League football? It seems the tickets are sold out on official sites (Chelsea, Tottenham, etc) but I can't imgaine there's no way to get them....
Henry Hub
Professional
To avoid cluttering up the thread, I’ve sent you a separate message on this. Hope it helps!
Totally forgot about this. These are the big stripe ones right? And is the grommet strip the same as the SV PS85?
Henry Hub
Professional
Found this Snauwaert MCE 9009 in a Kentish Town chazza shop for £2 today.
It is a beefy number, making the Profile look positively trim in comparison. The sculpting of the throat has pretensions to the aero stylings of the Kneissls, Babs and later Rossignols and Lacostes. The decals boast its McEnroe connections to high heavens but also interestingly suggests it rocks a meaty 410 SW.
This SW seems off-market to me (seems way above the profile, thunderstick spcs) so any additional info on the racket would be gratefully received!
It is a beefy number, making the Profile look positively trim in comparison. The sculpting of the throat has pretensions to the aero stylings of the Kneissls, Babs and later Rossignols and Lacostes. The decals boast its McEnroe connections to high heavens but also interestingly suggests it rocks a meaty 410 SW.
This SW seems off-market to me (seems way above the profile, thunderstick spcs) so any additional info on the racket would be gratefully received!
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graycrait
Legend
@Henry Hub , Let me know when you find a pair of Baboloat Pure Storm 95" LTD GT + (27.5"). They were sold only in Europe but I somehow got a hold of one via the big auction site over here for a very reasonable price, but can find no others in my grip size (4.5").
Henry Hub
Professional
Will do!
Racket Crazy
Rookie
While £20 is not exactly a thrift store/charity shop price that warms the heart, that is an AMAZING find and a good price for that frame regardless... so good job!It’s been a good start to the week - passed on a Dunlop Max 500i but stumbled upon this £20 Volkl Super G 10 Mid 320 (catchy) squirrelled away in an Artengo bag:
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tennisbike
Professional
Can't help myself with a Wilson St. Vincent Pro Staff for $16, Wilson Blade 104 for $45, and a Prince Tour DB for $23. Still downloading the pic..
tennisbike
Professional
Reminded me of a Head Vilas. How does it play?Pro Kennex Powerwood
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coachrick
Hall of Fame
More Edgewood I would think.
I’ll try it out over the weekend and get back to you.
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bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
I do not get people obsessed with older racquets. They are old and obsoleted because of yesterday technology. It is like using the Atari or Commodore 64 in 2019. 
PT630Wannabe
Professional
I do not get people obsessed with older racquets. They are old and obsoleted because of yesterday technology. It is like using the Atari or Commodore 64 in 2019.
And I don’t understand people who buy old quality solid wood antique furniture. Why not just get laminated stuff from Ikea?
graycrait
Legend
For me there is some nostalgia and opportunities missed from back in the 80's and 90s primarily. I have some 60's and 70s rackets as well. I started playing in 1960. If there has been a remarkable tech jump from the mid 90s to now I am not sure what it might have been other than to more light powerful rackets. I may be mistaken and often am but I think the materials are the same basic ingredients. I don't accumulate these things for value, I just want to have a hit with them. For instance I would have never guessed any racket would supplant my infatuation with the Chang Ti 95 28" rackets, but then along comes a 27.5 Babolat Pure Storm LTD+ GT in 18x20 and there you have it 3 more rackets hanging on my wall while my new to me precious for 1/4 what a new racket costs and who wouldn't want to try out a PK Micro Mid 93" 22x30 pattern and so it goes...
bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
People buy old quality solid wood antique furniture for display and sentimental value. I also buy antique furniture so that I can display them around the house. I just do not sit in them because they are not comfortable. I still have McEnroe's Jack Krammer wooden racquet but it sit in a display case. No way I am going to play with that 40 years old technology racquet.
legrandLeconte
Rookie
Wood yes, graphite noI do not get people obsessed with older racquets. They are old and obsoleted because of yesterday technology. It is like using the Atari or Commodore 64 in 2019.
PBODY99
Legend
The Mc Enroe endorsement lasted for a year before the USA operation closed. I am not sure about Europe, but a range of frames from a thin players stick to a wide body were sold off an Americbyan discount chain {Value City}, from which I purchased at least 20 of the various models.Found this Snauwaert MCE 9009 in a Kentish Town chazza shop for £2 today.
It is a beefy number, making the Profile look positively trim in comparison. The sculpting of the throat has pretensions to the aero stylings of the Kneissls, Babs and later Rossignols and Lacostes. The decals boast its McEnroe connections to high heavens but also interestingly suggests it rocks a meaty 410 SW.
This SW seems off-market to me (seems way above the profile, thunderstick spcs) so any additional info on the racket would be gratefully received!
Enjoy your find. All of the frames were good hitters in their respective ranges
You might be missing out. My current frame is a Rossignol F230 from the 80s. Before that I was hitting with a PK Copper Ace also from the 80s. I would not have guessed that these 1980s frames hit better than any modern frame I've played, but they do. I have three almost new PC95s, the newest version of the Pure Storm LTD which @graycrait just picked up, and they sit idle because those older frames are just so sweet to play with. Not saying the old frames are for everyone, but the feel of hitting with them is definitely not like anything made today.
Sanglier
Professional
I do not get people obsessed with older racquets. They are old and obsoleted because of yesterday technology. It is like using the Atari or Commodore 64 in 2019.
For the same reason that people still put on armor and bash each other over the head with swords at renaissance fairs; because it's fun (for those people), while shooting at each other at point blank range with modern firearms is probably not fun (for most of us).
Suum cuique.
retrowagen
Hall of Fame
Hate to burst your bubble, but since 1993 or so, racquet manufacturing has made do with lesser quality graphite materials from suppliers, as aerospace and military demands ramped up and the tennis industry went into a nosedive. The natural result was manufacturers making frames with less material... lighter racquets... but charging the end user just as much or more. The lighter weight and different prepreg made for a harsher feel, harder on joints and muscles. Some new shapes (cross sections) and string patterns have been tried, but there has been no really new technology brought to tennis racquets, only marketing of fake “technology” to make consumers keep buying these products.I do not get people obsessed with older racquets. They are old and obsoleted because of yesterday technology. It is like using the Atari or Commodore 64 in 2019.
New racquets aren’t better. The manufacturing processes were optimized around 1987, and generally after 1993, quality tailed off.
bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
How do you know that there has been now new technology bought to tennis racquets in the past 30 years? Do you have any evidences to back that up?
Let assume what you said is true. If that is the case, shouldn't today's players be using yesterday racquets that were made before 1993? What do you think will happen to Djokovic if he uses racquets that were made before 1993 against Federer or Nadal? He'll get crushed.
legrandLeconte
Rookie
Murray PT57A 1993
PT630Wannabe
Professional
Have you not read ANY of the other threads about racquets on this forum?
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
No, he hasn’t. He has no idea that Murray uses a racquet that originally came out in 1993, that Djokovic’s racquet mold came out in 1999 or even that Nadal is still really using the original AeroPro Drive of 2005. He came on here to troll us.
bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
They might be using the original molding in 1999 but the manufacturing process is not 1999, it is 2019. None of these guys are playing with racquets that were manufactured in 1999 or 2005. Do you think the 1999 Ford Shelby Mustang can outrun the 2019 Ford Shelby Mustang? Get real....
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
You have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about. Do you know what a tennis racquet is made of!? It’s made of carbon fiber and epoxy resin. The rest is all marketing fluff. Please tell how has the manufacturing process changed in the last 27 years?
PS I also have new manufactured PT57A that originally came out in 1993 and I hate to break it to you but it plays and performs exactly like the original. I have first hand experience with these racquets. Too bad you don’t and decided to troll this thread and derail it.
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Slingerland61
New User
I found a PS Classic 6.1 last week for $5. It has a few chips, but it cleaned up super nice and hits even better. One of my favorite rackets of all time.
Unrelated note: I find it sad how someone would come on a Classic Tennis Racket forum and disparage classic rackets. Such a weak and obvious troll. No creativity. [emoji23]
Happy holiday season my friends.
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Unrelated note: I find it sad how someone would come on a Classic Tennis Racket forum and disparage classic rackets. Such a weak and obvious troll. No creativity. [emoji23]
Happy holiday season my friends.
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