Dunlop Galaxy Mid (wood)

[Grafil Injection]

I can't find a lot of information about this find, but the design and construction suggest it came out around the time of the A-Player, Edgewood and Slazenger V-24, in the early 1980s. The headsize is about 80sqi, with the same length string-bed as a MAX 200G, but about 1cm thinner across the middle width. The oval shape is like a V-24 and Edgewood, with the same 16x21 pattern and half-height reinforcement. Eat your heart out Yonex Isometric, this has a very large sweet-spot north-south.

There's no weight sticker, but at 391g strung, 32cm balance, I suspect it's a Medium. Construction has 6 plies, from outside to in: Maple, Maple, Fibre, Ash, Hardwood, Maple. The facing reinforcement is FRP, rather than graphite used on the A-Player, Edgewood and V-24 (graphite and fibre in the latter). So far it hits fantastically, with good power and no flutter at all. Probably the stiffest feeling wooden racket I've tried. I would estimate the RA as low 50s. Makes me want to track down an A-Player now. I have an A-Player Plus, but that's too flexy!

 

[kevin qmto]

Interesting! I initially suspected this was just a Dunlop branded version of the Slazenger Scarlet Panther, but the throat design is definitely different. Wonder how else their makeup differs.

 

[michael valek]

I had something similar from Olympus sport, if that even existed back in 83 in England

 

[Bambooman]

I'd love to know what the Hardwood is considering the other lams are also hardwoods.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Interesting! I initially suspected this was just a Dunlop branded version of the Slazenger Scarlet Panther, but the throat design is definitely different. Wonder how else their makeup differs.

Scarlet Panther is full graphite overlay, and I guess a few years later, but haven't hit with that. Have you tried it?

 

[Grafil Injection]

I'd love to know what the Hardwood is considering the other lams are also hardwoods.

Yes, I think we had that nomenclature challenge with the A-Player too. You can identify that ply as it's lighter than both the ash and maple layers, so I'm guessing beach.

 

[Grafil Injection]

I'd love to know what the Hardwood is considering the other lams are also hardwoods.

Just looking at a picture of an A-Player, and I note it has Maple and Soft Maple listed separately, and Soft Maple is in the same position as Hardwood on the Galaxy, so perhaps Soft Maple is a hardwood too! Lol.

 

[Grafil Injection]

I had something similar from Olympus sport, if that even existed back in 83 in England

Yeah, I remember Olympus. They were probably Dunlops that were chucked out when the 200G started dominating.

 

[michael valek]

It was blue and definitely Olympus branded same split wood design

 

[vsbabolat]

I liked the A Player. That’s the only wood/graphite midsize Dunlop I tried

 

[Grafil Injection]

I liked the A Player. That’s the only wood/graphite midsize Dunlop I tried

I really noticed the increase in sweet-spot and ease of play with this Galaxy, compared to a Maxply for example. But then switching to a broadly similar sized 200G was another big step up. Everything was immediately better.

 

[Bambooman]

Just looking at a picture of an A-Player, and I note it has Maple and Soft Maple listed separately, and Soft Maple is in the same position as Hardwood on the Galaxy, so perhaps Soft Maple is a hardwood too! Lol.

It is a hardwood too,

 

[Grafil Injection]

It is a hardwood too,

I think that's it as the positioning next to the fibre layer is the same.

 

[Bambooman]

I think that's it as the positioning next to the fibre layer is the same.

I wonder why they didn't just list them by name. Really there's no special magic by mixing up those woods. They are all pretty similar.

I think it must have been the wood equivalent idea of using 5 different modern fibers as if there was some sort of magic in the variety.

 

[kevin qmto]

I wonder why they didn't just list them by name. Really there's no special magic by mixing up those woods. They are all pretty similar.

I think it must have been the wood equivalent idea of using 5 different modern fibers as if there was some sort of magic in the variety.

In racket marketing, every materiel has to seem like some ultra calculated formula that has been selected in that rackets layup. Like each frame is one step closer to tennis perfection.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Well after a full hour's hitting tonight I can say this is the real deal, no issues at all. Solid, powerful, good control, even spin! And one of the easiest 390g+ rackets I've used. I guess you need the mass with a large headed wooden racket. Really surprisingly good. I was a bit lucky to get one with the strings still reasonably tight I suppose. Hope they last!

 

[Grafil Injection]

I wonder why they didn't just list them by name. Really there's no special magic by mixing up those woods. They are all pretty similar.

I think it must have been the wood equivalent idea of using 5 different modern fibers as if there was some sort of magic in the variety.

I think I've seen most of Dunlop's 70s rackets say Hardwood, then a couple of their 80s rackets introduce Soft Maple, so perhaps it was just a clarification. Soft Maple probably sounded a bit wimpy in the 70s lol.

Anyway, what I don't quite understand is why this Galaxy's hoop is so solid even high up where there is no face reinforcement. I'm guessing it's just the mass, but perhaps the squared off top helps.

 

[Grafil Injection]

In racket marketing, every materiel has to seem like some ultra calculated formula that has been selected in that rackets layup. Like each frame is one step closer to tennis perfection.

Whilst I agree that Dunlop made the most out of their 1932 MAXPLY developments with lots of advertising, I don't think they fooled the tennis community for 50 years!

You can definitely see the plies align with the named laminations within one racket and across different models. And most players back then knew that the top frames like the Maxply, JKA etc did have more plies and used stiffer woods like beach and hickory in the hoop, plus mahogany and walnut in the flake and throat-bridge, so it's not complete BS. More plies of stronger wood would create a stiffer racket, which was always good in the wood era. Moreover, the Maxply was slightly different in that it was made using plies the thickness of three rackets, of wood that had been properly dried first, then bent without steam and sliced into 3 rackets, which was a more time consuming process that followed furniture techniques to get the best spring out of the wood. Whereas, most lower level rackets would steam bend individual racket sized plies, then dry the frames afterwards. So we're not talking piezo-electric intellifibre nonsense here! It was fairly useful information to know how many plies and what they were made of. Kind of like knowing whether a racket is 100% braided graphite or 50:50 graphite : fibreglass today.

 

[retrowagen]

The Galaxy dates from around 1982-3, at the last gasp of wood. It looks like a clone of the concurrent Dunlop Davis Cup and Slazenger Vilas Pro (not the V-24), both of which were made in Taiwan (probably by Kunnan) and appear to have been laminated in the same press, but had slightly different facings. All three are good racquets, not unlike their relatives, the Pro Kennex Golden Ace and Blue Ace.

 

[Grafil Injection]

The Galaxy dates from around 1982-3, at the last gasp of wood. It looks like a clone of the concurrent Dunlop Davis Cup and Slazenger Vilas Pro (not the V-24), both of which were made in Taiwan (probably by Kunnan) and appear to have been laminated in the same press, but had slightly different facings. All three are good racquets, not unlike their relatives, the Pro Kennex Golden Ace and Blue Ace.

Yes, definitely very similar to those, and highly likely Taiwan as the end-cap doesn't say England. The two things that seems to distinguish the Galaxy from the others is the straight angled throat joins rather than rounded, and the fibre reinforcement rather than graphite, so it was probably lower range. But it doesn't lack in any solidity.

 

[teachingprotx]

My beach house rental is on hardwood drive !

 

[Grafil Injection]

My beach house rental is on hardwood drive !

I guess the ones on Flexy-Fibreglass Avenue were already sold?

 

[teachingprotx]

Indeed they were