Fred Perry Branded 1980s Racquets

[Grafil Injection]

Anyone know about the FP Legend and FP Master, which are midsize graphites from the mid 1980s? I've seen a few retail listings for these, and they pop up on **** regularly, but I've never come across any details. What is interesting is that the head shape is a bit different to your usual Taiwan model, being slightly hexagon, and they are both 100% graphite. Actually, I have a feeling the Legend is the same as the Master, just a few years later they applied glossy paint. The grommet channel looks just like a Black Max's. Just wondering if anyone knows if they are a decent hit?

 

[retrowagen]

As I recollect, the Fred Perry composite frames of circa 1984-1985 were pressed from the same mould as the Durbin-branded frames (with the two brands’ aluminum frames being rebranded twins as well). The head shape was very similar to the Fischer “Powerspot” which was like the roughly pentagonal “Superform” but with a rounded upper hoop as opposed to the more angular top. I think both brands of racquets were the contract produce of “Princeton Sports Products” in New Jersey, via licensing agreements (i.e., “Your Name Here”).

 

[Sanglier]

Enoch Durbin, the inventor of the eponymous teardrop design, was a Harvard-educated physicist who taught at Princeton (hence “Princeton Sports Products”, or PSP, not to be confused with Prince, named after Princeton the town rather than the school). As far as racquet designers go, Durbin might have been the most overqualified ever, before or since. His patent reads like an academic paper, and Retro might be the only one here who has the professional background to grasp all of its finer points.

Durbin obviously couldn’t have made any of the racquets himself. The aluminum ones were farmed out to the Taiwanese, while the earlier graphite ones were made by American Sports Equipment. Later models (individually grommeted) came from Taiwan. The Fred Perry version was effectively a contract-made frame of a contract-made frame. Contract-squared!

That said. Fred Perry had lots of such frames made by lots of contractors. The earliest graphite one was a clone of the 1976 Slazenger Phantom. I think OP is talking about some later models. After 1985-1986, they were all Taiwan-made.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Yeah the Legend and Master are early-mid 80s, almost certainly Taiwan, although I can't see a label. I shouldn't copy the **** UK photos, but I'll see if I can get one cheap.

 

[Grafil Injection]

Just confirming that the Fred Perry Master is from the same mould as the Emrik Dictator, as suspected. Same head-size, string pattern (very open), 17mm beam width, and throat shape. Even the handles and butt-caps are the same. Similar weights too at 360g and 364g, although the beastly Emrik is even balanced, compared a much more pleasant 31.75cm balance for the Perry. Doing the maths on that 1-inch difference in balance, you would expect the Emrik to be about 40pt SW points higher! It's not impossible. The Perry feels about 335sw, so the Emrik could be 375sw as it's harder to swing than most of my 400g sticks. Perhaps I just got a nasty one.

The 100% graphite Perry does feel a touch stiffer than the Graphite-Glass Emrik, but it's still a flexy mid-50s RA. Both are very similar in feel to Prince Graphite Pro 90s, which means solid and smooth, and both have a bit of flutter off-centre, but the middles have great plow and pocketing.

The Dictator was quite expensive in its mid 1980s day at around £95 when a MAX 200G was £70. The Perry was somewhat cheaper I believe, coming out a couple of years later. Initially, the Emrik looks more premium with its richer black finish, but the Perry is pleasantly stealthy up close with its industrial grey paintjob.

 

[retrowagen]

Just confirming that the Fred Perry Master is from the same mould as the Emrik Dictator, as suspected. Same head-size, string pattern (very open), 17mm beam width, and throat shape. Even the handles and butt-caps are the same. Similar weights too at 360g and 364g, although the beastly Emrik is even balanced, compared a much more pleasant 31.75cm balance for the Perry. Doing the maths on that 1-inch difference in balance, you would expect the Emrik to be about 40pt SW points higher! It's not impossible. The Perry feels about 335sw, so the Emrik could be 375sw as it's harder to swing than most of my 400g sticks. Perhaps I just got a nasty one.

The 100% graphite Perry does feel a touch stiffer than the Graphite-Glass Emrik, but it's still a flexy mid-50s RA. Both are very similar in feel to Prince Graphite Pro 90s, which means solid and smooth, and both have a bit of flutter off-centre, but the middles have great plow and pocketing.

The Dictator was quite expensive in its mid 1980s day at around £95 when a MAX 200G was £70. The Perry was somewhat cheaper I believe, coming out a couple of years later. Initially, the Emrik looks more premium with its richer black finish, but the Perry is pleasantly stealthy up close with its industrial grey paintjob.

Those appear to be from the same mold as the roughly concurrent Dunlop Turbo Pro and Turbo Plus models… likely all OEM’ed by a “Your Name Here” Taiwanese factory!

 

[Grafil Injection]

Those appear to be from the same mold as the roughly concurrent Dunlop Turbo Pro and Turbo Plus models… likely all OEM’ed by a “Your Name Here” Taiwanese factory!

Yeah, as mentioned above the Dunlop Turbos and Durbin rackets also used the same mould. The Emrik Dictator was priced above a 200G and Wilson Sting, and was described as being 'unique' in its day, so perhaps it was the first one to use that form. However, Emrik's marketing was a bit suspicious.