New Graphene Radicals/Prestiges for 2014

Say Chi Sin Lo said:
So... why were they flying off the self in the olden days? Is it because kids nowadays is all about POWER POWER AND MOAR POWER, and they don't care about timing and good technique?

Any of us who play (or played with one for extended amount of time) know Prestige Mid is a wonderful racquet. And if you've got the strokes, it's just like any other racquets.
Click to expand...

Of course I can't give you hard evidence favoring my hypothesis, but I'd say that rackets such as the Mid sold well in the past because many (top) tour players were playing with it (resp. the various iterations). Today rec players don't get to see the Prestige Mid very often on tour (on the top of my head, I'd say Haase and Kamke are the only players using a Prestige Mid in the top 100, are there others? And if so, they're nowhere near as popular as the guys at the top.)
So people are more inclined to buy what they see, plus what's marketed by the companies. Do you see ads for the Prestige Mid? Heck, Head even didn't "dare" to make the 25th anniversary Prestige a Mid. Probably because they assumed that it wouldn't sell as well as a MidPlus. - If that's actually true is another question, of course.
And (most) people will fare better using a racket like a 100 squin Speed, for instance, compared to the small Prestige Mid. Simply because it's easier and allows for a larger margin of error. And if you try to emulate the "modern" game, you'll need a lot of margin :)
When I was playing as a teenager, I loved my Prestige Mid (I had the second gen Prestige Pro and the first Prestige 600 back then. Unfortunately, both were thrown away by my mom in a house cleaning operation literally just weeks before I found my love for the game again, but at least I was able to save the rest of my old equipment. If only I had stored the Prestiges in the attic...). But I personally wouldn't touch the racket today and prefer my Radicals when it comes to Head rackets.
 
vsbabolat said:
I would not make those assumptions. TW is already almost all sold out of the IG Prestige Mid. They have 6 racquets left.:shock:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/orderproduct.html?pcode=HYIGPM
Click to expand...

Yes, but who is buying here? And what quantities are we talking about in total? Over which time period?
Of course such a classic racket will always have a following, that's why they kept it in the lineup for so long. Head probably just feels that the MidPlus is enough "classic" Prestige right there.
 
Friend of mine got a hold of one to test. I think they look pretty good!

9600376321_316094942b.jpg
 
Anyone know what the pallet length is gonna be on the Rev Pro Prestige?? Will it be longer, like it is on the IG Prestige Mid, or the normal length??
 
Anyone can (or did) measure the balance of the new radical? I wish so much Head made them at least 5-6 pts headlight, while keeping the same flex.

With the (alleged) lower weight, this could be my new holy grail.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
So... why were they flying off the self in the olden days? Is it because kids nowadays is all about POWER POWER AND MOAR POWER, and they don't care about timing and good technique?

Any of us who play (or played with one for extended amount of time) know Prestige Mid is a wonderful racquet. And if you've got the strokes, it's just like any other racquets.
Click to expand...

If this forum existed in 1983, wooden racquet players would have been saying the same thing about the PS85. Times change.
 
this reminds me of Prince when they discontinued the Graphite series, the company's icon, now they are pretty much off the map. Hope same thing gonna happen to Head so that they'd bring back the *REAL* Prestige mids. Moral of the story? Never bite the hands that feed you.

I jest, please bring back the 18x20 Prestige mids, the new pj will grow on you, the bright red grommet is alright but it will look like crap when scratched. I was hoping for dark red.
 
Am I the only one thinking it will look cool with black capped groms? A inner hoop red accent to an all black racket is looking good to me.

I'm not going to even demo these rackets as it might temp me to switch. I'll stick to my 25th prestiges
 
Saw these new paintjobs today at ****. Love the new Radical look - kind of old school feeling to me, somehow. Hated the Prestige look. Last two versions kept it mostly simple and classic, the way the Prestige should always be.
 
Yaz said:
Friend of mine got a hold of one to test. I think they look pretty good!

9600376321_316094942b.jpg
Click to expand...

Those CAPs would look better if they were black. Too much orangey red going on any the moment. In fact, come to think of it, they should make the whole racquet primarily black. Would add some distinctiveness compared to the orange Rads, and the black/white/brown Speeds.
 
I hated them. Took about five minutes to grow on me. Interested to try the prestige with a true 93 though.Never cared much for radicals since the I radical anyway.
 
So much going wrong with this entire thread. A lot of bush-leaguers on here. First off, yes, it's a total d*ck move to post smartphone pictures of the frames, when the rep who kindly showed them to you, asked you to respect a privacy agreement. That rep obviously felt highly enough of you to show you the frames long before their intended launch date, and you turned right around and proved why your generation is rapidly destroying civilization. Stein - show some respect towards the industry and respect the widely understood etiquettes. Secondly, what everyone should be talking about is not the paintjobs of the Radicals (which are dramatically different, yes), but more importantly how the flex rating jumps to a whopping 68 RA, and the string pattern opens to 16x19, leaving this once treasured "feel-oriented" frame in the history books. The Radical MP is essentially now, just a Blade 16x19. Looks like the PACIFIC XForce line now stands alone, and should garner the patronage of all those who don't wish to hit the ball ten feet long on every groundstroke, with nothing to show for it but defeats and sore elbows.
 
Stevo Karlovic said:
So much going wrong with this entire thread. A lot of bush-leaguers on here. First off, yes, it's a total d*ck move to post smartphone pictures of the frames, when the rep who kindly showed them to you, asked you to respect a privacy agreement. That rep obviously felt highly enough of you to show you the frames long before their intended launch date, and you turned right around and proved why your generation is rapidly destroying civilization. Stein - show some respect towards the industry and respect the widely understood etiquettes. Secondly, what everyone should be talking about is not the paintjobs of the Radicals (which are dramatically different, yes), but more importantly how the flex rating jumps to a whopping 68 RA, and the string pattern opens to 16x19, leaving this once treasured "feel-oriented" frame in the history books. The Radical MP is essentially now, just a Blade 16x19. Looks like the PACIFIC XForce line now stands alone, and should garner the patronage of all those who don't wish to hit the ball ten feet long on every groundstroke, with nothing to show for it but defeats and sore elbows.
Click to expand...

Somewhat agree about the pictures, but I think that's taking it a bit too far. The person that gave him the pictures should know well enough that no one would keep that kind of thing to himself. It's not that big of a deal.

Anyhow, that stiffness rating sucks. Also does the pattern. I didn't like the blade 16x19, so I'm not going to like this radical either. Gobs of power that is quite unnecessary. Why couldn't they just keep it the way it was? Grrr.
 
^ totally disagree steveo. By the time they come out the paint job won't be new and ugly. I think it's good to build some hype about a new product. Especially whereas they're changing the line substantially. It wouldn't be great if you were expecting the same old stuff And drastic changes to your favorite racquet occurred. Kind of helps IMO.


Awesome signature though Utah haha
 
I prefer the IG PJs on the Radical. Also prefer the YT and IG PJs on the Prestige. If these new models are really much stiffer, then I'm going to stick with older frames.
 
MikeHitsHard93 said:
Somewhat agree about the pictures, but I think that's taking it a bit too far. The person that gave him the pictures should know well enough that no one would keep that kind of thing to himself. It's not that big of a deal.

Anyhow, that stiffness rating sucks. Also does the pattern. I didn't like the blade 16x19, so I'm not going to like this radical either. Gobs of power that is quite unnecessary. Why couldn't they just keep it the way it was? Grrr.
Click to expand...

But the racket in your sig is nothing like the radical and has way more power. I'd think you'd prefer these newer rackets judging by what a speed port black is like.
 
sargeinaz said:
But the racket in your sig is nothing like the radical and has way more power. I'd think you'd prefer these newer rackets judging by what a speed port black is like.
Click to expand...

True, I might like these. I just don't like change when it comes to rackets :) not too much change at least. Because that means I'm going to have to demo them LOL.
 
> I hope new line does not have d3o in the composition.

The paper insert says "The power of You" so it sounds like the new frames will still have d3o.
 
movdqa said:
> I hope new line does not have d3o in the composition.

The paper insert says "The power of You" so it sounds like the new frames will still have d3o.
Click to expand...

But I don't see d3o printed on Graphene Speed MP, which must be there if the material is used/licensed.
"Power of You" is not exclusively about d3o, as far as I can understand.
 
Stevo Karlovic said:
Secondly, what everyone should be talking about is not the paintjobs of the Radicals (which are dramatically different, yes), but more importantly how the flex rating jumps to a whopping 68 RA, and the string pattern opens to 16x19, leaving this once treasured "feel-oriented" frame in the history books.
Click to expand...

Yes yes yes.

I could care less about the PJ.

But stiff and open pattern is completely opposite of what Radical line has been historically. Makes me sad as a long time Rad user. Will need to look for a new stick once my current frames are done.
 
It made it feel stiff at basically my tolerance level in the YT. The IG provides dampening which makes it a bit more comfortable.
 
Just picked up my Youtek Prestige Mid after getting strung at my local shop. Manager of the shop said the Head rep brought the new Mid in (I asked if he was sure it wasn't the Rev Pro - he said he's sure it was the new Mid) - and it's still going to be out before year end. We'll see.
 
Stevo Karlovic said:
So much going wrong with this entire thread. A lot of bush-leaguers on here. First off, yes, it's a total d*ck move to post smartphone pictures of the frames, when the rep who kindly showed them to you, asked you to respect a privacy agreement. That rep obviously felt highly enough of you to show you the frames long before their intended launch date, and you turned right around and proved why your generation is rapidly destroying civilization. Stein - show some respect towards the industry and respect the widely understood etiquettes. Secondly, what everyone should be talking about is not the paintjobs of the Radicals (which are dramatically different, yes), but more importantly how the flex rating jumps to a whopping 68 RA, and the string pattern opens to 16x19, leaving this once treasured "feel-oriented" frame in the history books. The Radical MP is essentially now, just a Blade 16x19. Looks like the PACIFIC XForce line now stands alone, and should garner the patronage of all those who don't wish to hit the ball ten feet long on every groundstroke, with nothing to show for it but defeats and sore elbows.
Click to expand...


Great post, but I crave to see the new pics sometimes. And these so called leakers are feeding my bad habit:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dantespark33
List of rackets that can be capped/ capping guide
9 10 11
Replies
509
Views
138K
mg_teaneck
mg_teaneck
E
New XT Prestiges!
Replies
14
Views
3K
TennisHound
TennisHound
P
Specs for the new Head racquets (MG Prestige line)
Replies
6
Views
1K
vinnier6
V
bleno567
flexpoint pretige non C.A.P. grommet
Replies
23
Views
2K
bleno567
bleno567
P
Which racquet is more arm friendly?
Replies
3
Views
1K
LeeD
L
Back
Top