Prince Original Graphite ( POG ) Mid and OS versions

Dprostor

New User
Actually, I found one POG with this type of butt cap, according to description it should be 3rd generation, in state 7.5/10...and two of the 4th generation with the usual butt caps arriving soon. All of them are gripsize 4.
There will be customizations to balance them all equally, and I really like the designer's touch with cut out "P"
So if anyone would be so kind to sell/send me two of these it would be greatly appreciated thanks so much in advance
 
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soulcamp

New User
I have two POGs (that I am the original owner of). The one on the left is a four-stripe from 1987 labeled as "Graphite 90" and the one on the right is a four-stripe from 1990 or 1991 labeled "Graphite Mid Plus".

The left POG was a replacement from Prince for a one-stripe I purchased in 1986 (and that sandwiched while playing). I have no idea what the butt cap on the one-stripe looked like.

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Dprostor

New User
Definitely cool. The "p" is clearly cut-out, as opposed to the molded one on my '87.

It would be interesting to know how much cost played in the switching of designs...

Chris
Probably a lot...back in the early 80's it was a flagship $400 product
 
God this thread is old like me, lol. I’ve got about 20+ POGs of varying ages, some are brand new, I guess what they call “new/old stock”. Anyone have any idea what these might be worth? I hate the idea of selling my old racquets, but after 2 back surgeries I guess I need to be realistic and pass these beauties on to someone who will appreciate them (hopefully someone does). I’ve also got a great stringing machine, tons of string, and a Tennis Tutor ball machine in perfect condition. Any ideas (besides ****) on what to do with this stuff? I’ve thought about donating everything to my local high school but tennis has just about died around here (small town) and I hate to think about my stuff sitting in a corner some where.
 

retrowagen

Hall of Fame
God this thread is old like me, lol. I’ve got about 20+ POGs of varying ages, some are brand new, I guess what they call “new/old stock”. Anyone have any idea what these might be worth? I hate the idea of selling my old racquets, but after 2 back surgeries I guess I need to be realistic and pass these beauties on to someone who will appreciate them (hopefully someone does). I’ve also got a great stringing machine, tons of string, and a Tennis Tutor ball machine in perfect condition. Any ideas (besides ****) on what to do with this stuff? I’ve thought about donating everything to my local high school but tennis has just about died around here (small town) and I hate to think about my stuff sitting in a corner some where.
Hey, where are you located? Perhaps one of us is local, or near to you, and can assist.
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
God this thread is old like me, lol. I’ve got about 20+ POGs of varying ages, some are brand new, I guess what they call “new/old stock”. Anyone have any idea what these might be worth? I hate the idea of selling my old racquets, but after 2 back surgeries I guess I need to be realistic and pass these beauties on to someone who will appreciate them (hopefully someone does). I’ve also got a great stringing machine, tons of string, and a Tennis Tutor ball machine in perfect condition. Any ideas (besides ****) on what to do with this stuff? I’ve thought about donating everything to my local high school but tennis has just about died around here (small town) and I hate to think about my stuff sitting in a corner some where.
I buy and sell tennis stuff. I used the POG 90 for many, many years. EDay is the easiest place to sell but there are many places like OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc.

Even the classifieds section here is a good place to sell. Send me an email if you want. My address is my username @yahoo.com
 

jonestim

Hall of Fame
I listed some (4?) POG OS frames on the auction site last summer with starting bids at $20. After about 6 re-listings and not selling them they sit in my closet.
 

Dprostor

New User
I listed some (4?) POG OS frames on the auction site last summer with starting bids at $20. After about 6 re-listings and not selling them they sit in my closet.
Please do send me the photos of your POG's, I am particularly interested in 3rd generation (one stripe, bumper, grommets, ideally cut out butt cap)
 

shamaho

Professional
God this thread is old like me, lol. I’ve got about 20+ POGs of varying ages, some are brand new, I guess what they call “new/old stock”. Anyone have any idea what these might be worth? I hate the idea of selling my old racquets, but after 2 back surgeries I guess I need to be realistic and pass these beauties on to someone who will appreciate them (hopefully someone does). I’ve also got a great stringing machine, tons of string, and a Tennis Tutor ball machine in perfect condition. Any ideas (besides ****) on what to do with this stuff? I’ve thought about donating everything to my local high school but tennis has just about died around here (small town) and I hate to think about my stuff sitting in a corner some where.

oh boy oh boy.... The POG 90 (or 93) 4 stripe is my current racket of choice, I only had 2 and had to source the others from the auction site - I have 4 POG Mids, and another 4 or 5 PCG 100 for when I'll not be able to handle the Mids... :) so I'm served for the next... 12 years ?

But this stick is so good, so good... people are bound to come back to it.... one time or another.... when they realize gimmicks are merely that.....
If you're in Europe Iwould consider having couple more ;-) if your in the US then.... bad luck for me...
Good luck -they won't sit in the closed for long - thats for sure
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
That’s a very, very low swingweight. I’d probably like that!

How’d it end up so low?

298 unstrung SW is about 325-330 strung, which is indeed low compared to TW listed average sw of 336. It was a custom order and TW went through their inventory to find one that closest matched my desired unstrung specs. 298 was the lowest they could find. The next lowest were 304, 306 (L3). My other POG OS is 295 unstrung. These are my ideal specs.
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
298 unstrung SW is about 325-330 strung, which is indeed low compared to TW listed average sw of 336. It was a custom order and TW went through their inventory to find one that closest matched my desired unstrung specs. 298 was the lowest they could find. The next lowest were 304, 306 (L3). My other POG OS is 295 unstrung. These are my ideal specs.

Swingweight is a relatively new spec for me to study. When it’s listed under the specs category for racquets, is that the strung or unstrung spec?
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
I’ve always felt the POG OS swings heavier than its specs would suggest - maybe that's also why it hits harder than the specs. To may it easier to use, I tried an “extreme weight reduction” on one of my POG OS lol.

Basically I removed the leather grip and overgrip that I don't use during play. It’s possible because I hit with a 1HBH and hold low in the grip. And I even removed the butt cap which saved another 2g. The weight went from 12.1 oz to 11.74oz. I could go even further by replacing the leather grip/overgrip with synthetic grip only, which I estimate to have a final weight of 11.6oz. But I enjoy the feel of leather grip and don’t want to go that far yet.

I expected to lose some stability/plow with the weight reduction, but wasn’t sure how much more maneuverable the racuqet will actually become because all the weight removal is in the handle. So I went for a hit, and result was better than expected! If the stability was 9/10 before the treatment, it’s 8.5+/10 after. If maneuverability was 7/10 before, it’s close to 8 after. Very much worth the trade-off. Now I kinda understand why many pros use less HL balance – to keep as much stability as possible with minimum weight (maximum maneuverability).

So now I have one at 12.1oz/325sw strung, and one at 11.75oz/322sw. The POG Lite is actually realistic to use as a daily stick. It swings about the same as my normal specs of 11.9oz/low 320sw. Very happy with the results. Too bad I don’t have a spare synthetic grip, otherwise I’d try to lower the other one to 11.6oz lol.





 

Ultra 2

Professional
Interesting. I have a POG 1 stripe that weighs 11.2 ounces strung without a grip.. and this one has 6 lead plugs in the handle! Wonder how light this one will be once I remove those..
 

graycrait

Legend
@Ultra 2 , Now you have me interested, 6 plugs? I have seen these plugs but never 6 and my replacement filler seemed to "lacking." I think I will take all my POG OS and 90 grips off and take a look at plug numbers. I've had other rackets that I remember cutting that had steel rods embedded in the hairpin, causing me some surprise when using the hacksaw. Makes the discussion of QC in modern rackets sort of moot when folks complain about +/- 7g.
 

Ultra 2

Professional
@Ultra 2 , Now you have me interested, 6 plugs? I have seen these plugs but never 6 and my replacement filler seemed to "lacking." I think I will take all my POG OS and 90 grips off and take a look at plug numbers. I've had other rackets that I remember cutting that had steel rods embedded in the hairpin, causing me some surprise when using the hacksaw. Makes the discussion of QC in modern rackets sort of moot when folks complain about +/- 7g.

Yeah, it’s a 110 POG 1 stripe. I’ll post pics a little later.
 

graycrait

Legend
@Ultra 2 , Not only is the number of plugs interesting but the location (balance) as well. I grossly drilled some out one time, but I wonder if those plugs can be driven out with a punch? Then weigh one or as many as possible. Imagine how time consuming it would have been to weigh/balance each racket and then insert plugs at the right spot. This doesn't even address vibration or RA factor. P.S. that is the same scale I use:)
 

jonestim

Hall of Fame
If you are looking for a lighter POG OS, look for 2013 models and ask the seller to weigh them. I have two. One was 11.95 oz strung, but the other was 11.8 and needed about 4g of lead at 12 to bring the SW up.

I have 6 POG OS, and when I play them I use the 2013 models. With overgrip they are both sitting at 12.1 oz. I have a couple others in the 12.5 range, and I think my heavy ones are 12.8
 
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jonestim

Hall of Fame
Another option to lighten them severely is to get a full grip size larger than you usually use and then replace the leather with a Wilson Feather Thin or Tourna Pro Thin. They are 1.25mm thick and drop a full size. I haven't used the Tourna, but I did reduce a 5/8 POG to 1/2 with one. Bevel feel was still quite good because it was so thin. The Wilson only weighs around 7 grams, so you save 15-17 grams (.5 oz) over leather. It was one of the 12.6oz ones, so I added lead under the grip to bring it up to around 12.4.
 

Ultra 2

Professional
@Ultra 2 , Not only is the number of plugs interesting but the location (balance) as well. I grossly drilled some out one time, but I wonder if those plugs can be driven out with a punch? Then weigh one or as many as possible. Imagine how time consuming it would have been to weigh/balance each racket and then insert plugs at the right spot. This doesn't even address vibration or RA factor. P.S. that is the same scale I use:)

Great minds think alike.. lol. Yeah you could push the lead plugs out with a punch awl. I actually used a metal chop stick the last time.. but I suppose you don’t have one of those. If I remove the plugs, I estimate it would be around 11.1 with a synthetic grip and probably around 11.6oz with a leather grip.. way too light for me. I imagine it would be head heavy and have good plow though.
 

graycrait

Legend
@Ultra 2 , I told my wife a few weeks ago that if I again go to Korean BBQ again I am bringing my camping Spork. I snapped some tendons in my RH index finger in 2006 and have never regained the dexterity I had before, so with chop sticks I get cramps:) This also causes me to hold my tennis rackets with a hammer grip. Life is a compromise.
 

joah310

Professional
Interesting. I have a POG 1 stripe that weighs 11.2 ounces strung without a grip.. and this one has 6 lead plugs in the handle! Wonder how light this one will be once I remove those..
I just recently realized about the plugs. bought a pog and felt rattling in the handle. there was a loose plug. it went through the handle, is that ok? Now there is just a hole where it was. is only in pog 1 stripes? haven seen it in the 4 stripes or the tour we have at home.
 
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