It's fantastic to see Prince presence on the boards, especially when you did such a great job with your recent offerings.
Your attention will be very much appreciated and although you won't be able to answer some questions and release offerings which will fit needs of every person posting here I'm sure people will still appreciate the time you spend with us.
PhD engineer - currently senior R&D specialist (totally different field than yours though).
I'll allow myself to reference some issues brought up and
my 2 cents...
1. Longbody offerings - there's a certain craft in developing a stable yet maneuverable lb frame. I think there's a market for 27.25 and 27.5 inch frames, 28 inch ones are very niche and the lacks in maneuverability really affect sales of longbody frames. A customer picks up these, has troubles with timing, shanks more, feels the frame is heavy and ends up simply putting them down. Since none of us wants Prince to go bankrupt again IMHO limited model 27.5 offerings should find buyers - it's a difference big enough to be worth the shelf space and small enough to nail that stability/maneuverability performance.
2. Handle shape - while it's Prince heritage I think Prince would benefit if the handle was less round - I think a Wilson or Yonex handle shape would really increase potential sales. If I got a cent every time someone complained about the roundness of the Prince handle I'd be a rich man.
3. Paintjob robustness - sadly this has been an issue for many. It would be great if a sturdier clear coat was applied.
4. 16x20 pattern - I wholeheartedly agree with what was written by you, the pattern is important but depending on the head shape and string spacing it can work. Still if I could choose I'd take a 16x20 over 16x18 on the Phantoms, 97 as well as 100.
5. Tieoff grommet design - I think all manufacturers could learn a thing or two from Tecnifibre.
I think this design should be an industry standard. This really works great and increases the lifespan of grommets.
Wish list?
All of the above and the possibility to purchase grommets for older frames - some kind of 3D printing service? Minimum order of 10 sets? 20? Premium price for the hassle? Don't really know but this is an issue with all manufacturers.
Probably not doable and it may hurt business since someone can just buy grommets instead of new frames but on the other hand the fact that one won't have to worry about getting grommets might attract additional customers, though not many...
My experience with Prince frames back in the day- keep in mind that my memory is not what it used to be so some errors might occur...
Diablo Mid - great mid at the time, while Wilson and Head models were reigning supreme this was a sleeper which IMHO stood its own when compared to the mid offerings of the aforementioned. My only gripes were it was slightly shorter than the competition, slightly stiffish feeling and the mains were too widely spread in the middle - I would have preferred an 8 main throat piece grommet. But overall like it a lot but it was too much of a racquet for me.
Prince Graphite Longbody - great 28-incher. Main gripe? The stringpattern was too open for my taste - tight 16x20 or 16x19 would be much better.
Prince TT Warrior MP - fun and almost perfect frame for me at the time. Would prefer it slightly more maneuverable and slightly extended (27.25 or 27.5). Only gripe was that the paintjob turned yellow, IIRC, and I'd prefer a full bumper guard - the perforations didn't really help with protecting the frame on claycourts.
Prince Shark MP - one of the best tweener frames I've played. Not for my game but like it so much more than the Pure Drive iteration offered at the time.
Tour NXG Graphite MP - hated it. Don't know what it was but it felt terrible to me...
O3 or ported frames in general - I have to say I'm not a particular fan of the ports. I've owned a couple of ported retails and some ported prostocks and the response was too muted. It was the ports which made Prince less interesting to me but never missed an opportunity to give such frames another try. I think the addition of grommet inserts and not going with ports all over the frame really improved the performance and feedback. O3 Hybrid Tour was the right direction in my view, but the specs and string pattern made it tough to control - I'm actually waiting for a prostock version of it but with an 18x20 pattern (supposedly Querrey used that one). Should be an interesting hit if I ever get around to it.
That's about it...
Hopefully you can make Prince great again!
