Prince Original Graphite ( POG ) Mid and OS versions

WYK

Hall of Fame
Without a grip, these are ~330grams strung with 18G poly(KB PL II). The original Prince leather grip is ~25 grams!

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t-swede

Semi-Pro
Can anyone comment on the 2013-2014 tour version of the Pog classic it had green lettering on the crossbar? How does it compare to current Pog?
Regards
 
I have a chance to pick up a pog with a 90 inch head. It is 27 inches. I don't have a lot of knowledge of the older pogs. Can anyone give me specs or any kind of information. The seller is not a tennis player and doesn't know anything about it. Also the picture is no help.
 

djNEiGht

Legend
I have a chance to pick up a pog with a 90 inch head. It is 27 inches. I don't have a lot of knowledge of the older pogs. Can anyone give me specs or any kind of information. The seller is not a tennis player and doesn't know anything about it. Also the picture is no help.
try the racquet finder on TW
 

WYK

Hall of Fame
I have a chance to pick up a pog with a 90 inch head. It is 27 inches. I don't have a lot of knowledge of the older pogs. Can anyone give me specs or any kind of information. The seller is not a tennis player and doesn't know anything about it. Also the picture is no help.

Typically the 90's came in at 66RA ish, 340g+ strung.
The Graphite Pros were closer to 54RA.
I have a POG mid that feels easily stiffer than all my other racquets. One of which is a Tour 97F which is supposed to be about 66RA.
 
Typically the 90's came in at 66RA ish, 340g+ strung.
The Graphite Pros were closer to 54RA.
I have a POG mid that feels easily stiffer than all my other racquets. One of which is a Tour 97F which is supposed to be about 66RA.
Perfect. I will pass on it. No room for customizing and I only like arm friendly rackets.
 

WYK

Hall of Fame
Yeah, it's not like 70RA. But you could maybe get one closer to 68 it seems.
With it's mass, it is fairly forgiving.
The problem I have with it is the POG doesn't have the control many modern player sticks have.
But it is still fun to play with.
 

graycrait

Legend
I think I had 9 POG Mids at one time plus a few other Prince 90s (actually all 93"). I have 4 POG 90s left. The lightest one I have with a synthetic grip is 11.9oz. After trying more and more mids once I acquired a Volkl Quantum Tour 10 Mid I quit looking for any more and gave away the ROKs, Yonex, Blades, some Heads but forget which ones, etc. Everything else in 93" plays like a log compared to the Quantum Tour 10 Mid IMHO. That little Yonex was kind of sweet but I know a Yonex guy and he appreciated it more than I would have.
 
I just picked up a Graphite today. It is a 4 stripe I believe. Made in 1987, says Graphite 90, made in Taiwan. 14x18 pattern and 110 head it has prince in gold above the throat written 4 times. It also says 90 at 12 o'clock. Can anyone give me the specs on it? Also I know it should be strung high tension. I play with Prince Problend. In current rackets I string at around 59/55. Should I go like 65/61? I am a high level player but will just be using it for fun. It says recommend tension 50-65. Some people I have seen as high as 75.
 
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I have 2. it's lighter than the Tour cosmetic; the 107 is 327g unstrung (vs 331-2g or so for the Tour)
Hi, just bought a used POG 107 online. Also have a 93 POG (got it a few weeks back) to compare & see which I prefer. A couple things about the 107 seem a bit odd though:

1) It is 379 grams (13.3 oz) strung up, leather grip, wilson pro overgrip, no dampener which seems a fair bit heavier than expected. It doesn't have any lead tape on it or any apparent modifications. According to RaquetFinder it should be around 343 grams strung. Perhaps this is an older version that is heavier? It is also head heavy, which also seems odd. I don't really mind the extra weight, but expected it to be round the same as the 93, which is 357 g, with about 10 grams of lead tape on it.

2) The grip seems to be shorter, maybe an inch or so, than the one on the 93.

Any thoughts/advice? These are my 1st POGs so I don't know much about them.
the 107 you have is a ery heavy versio of the 107. Very similar to the prokenne ki
Hi, just bought a used POG 107 online. Also have a 93 POG (got it a few weeks back) to compare & see which I prefer. A couple things about the 107 seem a bit odd though:

1) It is 379 grams (13.3 oz) strung up, leather grip, wilson pro overgrip, no dampener which seems a fair bit heavier than expected. It doesn't have any lead tape on it or any apparent modifications. According to RaquetFinder it should be around 343 grams strung. Perhaps this is an older version that is heavier? It is also head heavy, which also seems odd. I don't really mind the extra weight, but expected it to be round the same as the 93, which is 357 g, with about 10 grams of lead tape on it.

2) The grip seems to be shorter, maybe an inch or so, than the one on the 93.

Any thoughts/advice? These are my 1st POGs so I don't know much about them.
the 107 you have was the 2019 or maybe 2020 version made for a very short time by Prince. Really very heavy similar to the PK Ki ,5 pse. No longer available and much heavier than the current classic 107 now available
 

t-swede

Semi-Pro
What kind of prince buttcap would fit a prince graphite straight shaft racket that's currently on the market?

Regards
 

t-swede

Semi-Pro
Forgot to mention that tw Europe only sells the textreme range would that fit the prince graphite pallet?
 

yatahaze

New User
Could someone please write the technical specs of the older POG 4 stripes (weight, balance, swingweight, and so on) and possibly also the previous one stripe?
thanks
 

jxs653

Professional
Does the POG OS grommet set TW used to sell fit the "one-stripe with bumper" version? I remember it fit with "four-stripe version" (I replaced it once) but wonder if it would with one stripe. I looked at them closely side by side but they don't look identical.
 

jxs653

Professional
Oh TW sells Prince Classic Graphite and its grommets and are they meant to be POG? Anyway, I am curious if the grommets fit the older one-stripe version.
 

joah310

Professional
Does the POG OS grommet set TW used to sell fit the "one-stripe with bumper" version? I remember it fit with "four-stripe version" (I replaced it once) but wonder if it would with one stripe. I looked at them closely side by side but they don't look identical.
I think it kinda depends on which one stripe it is, there are one stripes with individual grommets throughout the frame, the grommets will not fit them. If they have a grommet strip with a bumperguard, I believe they should fit.
 

jxs653

Professional
I think it kinda depends on which one stripe it is, there are one stripes with individual grommets throughout the frame, the grommets will not fit them. If they have a grommet strip with a bumperguard, I believe they should fit.
Many thanks for your response, but I asked this question because I felt my one-stripe-with-bumperguard and four-stripes didn't look the same with their grommet patterns.
 

chrischris

G.O.A.T.
Picked Up a couple of 4stripe recently and strung one with Toalson syn gut and the other with a soft copoly. Actually like the feedback and feel of the the syn gut setup better... Anyone got the same impression?
 
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joah310

Professional
Picked Up a couple of 4stripe recently and strung one with Toalson syn gut and the other with a soft copoly. Actually like the feedback and feel of the the syn gut setuo better... Anyone got the same impression?
for me, the extra touch does give a good response from the racket. Kinda what it was made for. the larger string spacing does allow for no sacrifice in spin, but personally, I do like the crisper feeling of a poly in my sticks
 

Ultra 2

Professional
Many thanks for your response, but I asked this question because I felt my one-stripe-with-bumperguard and four-stripes didn't look the same with their grommet patterns.

there are many variants of the one strip POG but if yours is not the following:

1) no grommet version
2) single round grommet version

The chances are highly likely that the grommets that TW currently carry will fit. If nothing else, it’s $7.99 gamble.
 

graycrait

Legend
I‘m just curious how different it is from my POG OSs.
What other "POG" OS's do you have?
My favorites in order: 4-stripe, Tour & PCG. I only have 4 POG Mids left, two Tours and 2 1-stripe with grommets. The one stripe Mid I have strung up with leather grip and 1 OG weighs dead on 368g/13oz. I have 3 Tour POG OSs left. My 4-stripes all went down the road a ways to my racket trading friend for his stash of "when he is my age" rackets.

When I feel like hitting with OS rackets now I key on: Head Radicals going back to original Bumble Bee & subsequent models (107" 18x19), Ncode Nblade (106 18x19) or the Wilson EB series of 110" or 115" all 18x20, 4.7 or 5.7 115" chopped to 27.3" or 6.7 110" standard length.
 

makinao

Rookie
Hi. Does the POG 3 OS feel anything like the POG 1 OS? I'm asking because someone is selling a 3 near me, but I've never tried one. My grommetless/bumperless POG 1 is my personal favorite because of its liveliness. The 3-stripe ones are too muted for me, hence I sold them.
 
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I got some used off e bay.
The first two came with Wilson NXT 17G.
Played real crisp.
I normally use Gamma Ruff 16G in the past on my nonPOG rackets. (Prince Approach Midplus).

I restrung them with Gamma Ruff, but I don't remember how it felt now.

My strings are now hybrid, and I love the feel and response. Adequate power for me, and good spin on the forehand with the modern forehand swing and on the one-handed modern backhand (more "C" shaped swing with high take back and then low to high swing through.).

Alu Power Rough mains @ 58#.
Prince Syn Gut crosses @ 63#.

-or- my latest cheap setup ($5-$6 total cost for boths strings)

Tourna Silver 7 mains at 50.5#.
Prince Syn Gut crosses @ 55.5.

I think they play real nice with the modern forehand and one handed backhand. I haven't served yet with the Tourna.
 

B Cubed

Semi-Pro
I've been searching for this thread for a little while, finally found it. I've been a POG user off and on for the last 20 years. Had the version out in the early oughts, I believe it's the same as the Tour series? Graduated to the PCG 100 for a few years. Recently have gravitated to the 2013 (OS) model, and have a current Tour Series (OS).

I've been tempted to return to the POG in match play.

I saw some comments from about two years back on the 2013 version; anyone else gravitate towards the 2013/2014 (OS)? Althought a little lighter, and brassier, I like the pop and extra maneuverability.
 

kevin qmto

Hall of Fame
Hello everyone,

Looking to get the very 1st gen POG to add this to my collection, since I just found out how gamechanging this racket is in tennis history, based on this article in tennis nerd which I recommend. Found this on e b a y, is this the 1st gen? Thank you!

https://tennisnerd.net/history/a-head-of-the-game/26583

You should know from the first post in this thread, that any POG with grommets can’t be the 1st Gen. Likely a 2 since it has individual grommets.
 

Sanglier

Professional
Welcome to the forum! You are at the best place on the planet to learn about these things if this is your area of interest. There is a lot to read, but some of it is repetitive, and not all of it is accurate (I routinely find errors in my older posts, because we are all learning here, continuously). In general, information that is repeated often and never challenged is likely reliable, so read as many of the archived threads as you can to separate the wheat from the chaff!

The article you referenced is mostly correct, but contains several significant errors as well.

Howard Head did not invent oversized racquets (threads elsewhere in the forum addressed this topic), but he was the first to claim IP rights to them, and not just in the US. With the notable exception of Germany (mentioned in the article you linked), his effort was surprisingly successful around the world, likely because racquet-making had never been an extraordinarily profitable undertaking; no one else had the wherewithal to challenge him. Within the industry, this patent was seen as a logic-defying travesty, and had the immediate effect of stifling innovation and competition among the manufacturers, pricing the smaller players out of the game entirely, while compelling and accelerating the wholesale shift of production to Asia. The latter would likely have happened anyway without Head's push due to many other factors, but it most definitely made low-volume production a guaranteed money-loser everywhere except in the Far East. So no, Howard Head was not seen as a genius or hero by people who made racquets for a living.

The Prince/Head patent covered string bed sizes from 85 to 135 SqIn, not 95 -135 as mentioned in the article; so yes, Wilson had to pay Prince a share of their take for every PS85 sold, and for pretty much every racquet they sold after they discontinued the last of their standard-sized frames until the patent expired. While Wilson was not happy with this arrangement, it was tolerated based on the assumption that Prince's aggressive enforcement of the patent claims around the world helped to reduce the field of competition and raise the entry barrier; both of which were beneficial to Wilson in the long run, all for an annoying but ultimately predictable and affordable cost.

Other manufacturers, including Howard's eponymous company turned competitor, tried to circumvent the patent initially by making weirdly-shaped frames, such as the snow-shoe-like offerings that were narrower than the minimum width covered by the patent, or the slightly sub-85 SqIn midsize models with enigmatic fractional specifications (84.5 SqIn head, 23.456% larger sweet spot, etc). It's not that racquet engineers and marketing people had suddenly developed an aversion towards integers, but because the in-house lawyers thought this was necessary to keep their Prince counterpart at bay.

Howard Head most definitely did not invent graphite racquets. When he was still running Head, he had an opportunity to produce the earliest compression-molded synthetic racquet in the world but chose to forgo it in favor of his own aluminum sandwich architecture. The earliest commercially available graphite racquet came out in 1973, though the first wave of compression-molded graphite frames were launched in 1975, slightly ahead of the aluminum Prince. At the time, Prince was strictly a ball machine-maker, as the article correctly pointed out. Prince's racquet projects were farmed out to other manufacturers. The original aluminum frame was first made by Maark Corporation using ALCOA-sourced alloy, and eventually by Kunnan in Taiwan using imported and (later) locally-sourced alloy. POG was developed entirely by the R&D staff at Fansteel’s sports equipment division to Prince's size and durability specifications. It was a scaled-up and reconfigured Tony Trabert C-6, which was already 4 years old by the time POG was launched. Howard Head was responsible for POG’s size and shape, but nothing else.

The racquet pictured in your photos is a very late US-made example that dates to 1982-1983, when production was being shifted irreversibly to Kunnan. This sub-variant is actually not very common, as most of these individually-grommeted POGs were made in Taiwan.

Elsewhere in this thread you will find examples of the earliest Fansteel-made POG and its Grafalloy-produced successor, both of which are considered first generation by collectors, but are visually quite distinct due to their very different grips and other cosmetic features. Check them out, and good luck with your hunt!
 
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