Cloned Racquet or Different Manufacturing Plants?

[WARPWOODIE]

I have recently acquired two Prince Racquets, the Classic Aluminum (with the green throat bridge) and the Magnesium Pro, both are 110 head size that will pair up with the same models I already have. After careful inspection, I noticed some disimilarities on both racquets.

On the Classic Aluminum, I noticed that one bridge has a glossy finish where the other has a matte finish, the bridge throats have different holes, one has three and the other has four. The Label "Prince" on the bridge throat is smaller than the other, and the aluminum finish is duller than the other.

On the Magnesium Pro, one handle is shorter by a quarter of an inch than the other. The grommets seem to be better on one than the other, one having a longer sleeve, where the other has a shorter sleeve.

So, is the difference a result of cloning or were the same model racquets made in different plants? On the issue of a possible cloning...how problematic was this for the 80 era made racquets?

Thanks in advance to your replies.

 

[khw72004]

The Magnesium Pro is a very good racket to hit with. Actually it is one of few prince rackets that I have kept in my collection. I believe that the throat is made of different material giving it a different buttery feel. Good find on the Mag Pro

 

[JUAN_PRADO]

Yes the magnesium pro are very good for play in the 80s but many many frames have a problems with brokens in the arc bridge
Pat Cash wins Wimbledon in 1987 with one Magnesium pro

 

[coachrick]

A significant 'update' resulted in the 'original' Prince Classic changing appearance during the '80s. It was my opinion at the time that Prince sourced some seriously lower supplier/design/construction details for a big push to prestrung mass marketing for the Classic. Same thing happened to the 'Pro' as it became a completely different racket a decade after the decline of the original Pro. In my opinion, neither 'update' was an improvement over the originals.

I wasn't aware of a change in the Mag Pro. For retailers, the 'window of opportunity' for the Mag Pro was fairly short(couple of years?), even though many users of the Mag held on much much longer .