Prince Woodie W90 Pat Cash Model

rodracquet

rodracquet

Rookie
After winning Wimbledon in 1987 Pat Cash hooked up with Prince to find something that was a little more like wood than his magnesium model. They put 5 of these sticks together in a 90 version of the woodie 110 with a graphite laminate. Pat didn't like either so I am very lucky to have been gifted one of the 5. Thanks to my Swedish connection

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That w90 prince is a very nice piece of tennis history. I remember a rumour that Cash used a PK Golden Ace painted to look like a Prince Woody. Wonder if its a paint job or really a limited Prince production ? In either case, a very rare collectible.
 
Thats a great racquet. Same cosmetics as the Prince Woodie. For 1985 Cash played using a custom made Prince Woodie in midsize. Then in 1986 he swicthed to the Magnesium Pro 90. Maybe those racquets are from the 1985 season?
 
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vsbabolat said:
Thats a great racquet. Same cosmetics as the Prince Woodie. For 1985 Cash played using a Prince Woodie in midsize. Then in 1986 he swicthed to the Magnesium Pro 90
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Indeed, I have a 1986 German-market Prince catalog in my collection of miscellaneous 80's catalogues, and there is a large photo of him with the midsize Woodie, in action... taken the season before.

I wonder how close these are to a Slazenger V-24 in size, shape, and pattern... Rod, do you have a V-24 to compare the two?

Thanks for sharing, by the way - I enjoy your posts on Facebook and recommend everyone subscribe to the Aussie Collectors feed.
 
A couple of people have suggested this W90 looks like a Slazenger V24. All I have on hand from that stable is a VILAS PRO which is very similar indeed. The W90 is a tad wider, and the handle a little shorter. Drill holes are close but not the same. Wood laminations also different. I will say they are closer than the true Woodie model is to the W90. I guess if they were a hand made run they could have come from any stocks even PK.
 
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Retrowagen, please post a pic of Cash with the mid size Woodie. Assume then that they did market a model like this or similar.
Thanks Rod
 
rodracquet said:
Retrowagen, please post a pic of Cash with the mid size Woodie. Assume then that they did market a model like this or similar.
Thanks Rod
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Prince never sold or marketed a midsize Woodie. Prince advertised Cash as using the Prince Woodie that was sold to the public and that was called Oversize but in reality was 100sq.in.
 
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I'll try to dig out the brochure and scan that photo when time permits.
It is quite obviously a mid; it looks different than the oversize, consumer Woodie.
One obvious way the Slaz and the Prince Cash model differ from the PK Golden Mid is that there is no "collar" flake of wood above the grip on the V-24 or Cash Prince.
And I don't think it was ever made public - Prince killed their OS Woodie the following season; the market's impetus had moved on to newer materials... ceramics, kevlar, magnesium, etc. and to lighter, stiffer construction.
 
Can we simply surmise that it was manufactured by whoever was the predominant OEM for open-throated woodies back then? All I can think of is Kennex/Kunnan Lo. Any others?

The woodflake collar was omitted and the "W-90" typeface closely resembles the sans serif (Helvetica?) of the V-24 - something easily adjusted for on the OEM production run-sheet?
 
I fear the PK Golden Ace rumour came from me. I had Mark Kratzmann hitting at my old club in the mid-late 80's and mentioned the 'small' Prince Woodie and he said it was probably a painted Golden Ace.

Doesn't mean it was.

It's a great find you got there Rod!
 
Nice find Rod!

This would be a beast!

I never saw this but I do remember Cashy trying to get the weight off the V24s.
He did his shoulder playing with the Slazengers and I know they were popular with quite a few English pros in the 80s. I remember picking them up in 83 and thinking..no way!

They were way too heavy for me, the POG was solid for 4 or 5 years but I could not play with them at any altitude! You had to watch stringing with poly in them otherwise it was ridiculous! So much power going from the Dunlop Maxply fort with gut...

Peter Mac played the woodie for a while too and if he hadn't have hurt his knee would have been solid for Prince for another 5 years at least.
Paul Mc got Cash into the Princes I think, Magnesium was a better fit and the rest is history..

Thanks for the memories all of you.
 
vsbabolat said:
Prince never sold or marketed a midsize Woodie. Prince advertised Cash as using the Prince Woodie that was sold to the public and that was called Oversize but in reality was 100sq.in.
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Yes, around mid 80s the 85si rackets were considered mids and 100si head size rackets were called OS.
 
joe sch said:
That w90 prince is a very nice piece of tennis history. I remember a rumour that Cash used a PK Golden Ace painted to look like a Prince Woody. Wonder if its a paint job or really a limited Prince production ? In either case, a very rare collectible.
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Aloha Joe,

Weren't these two sticks actually made at the same PK factory, like many racquets from that era? I also have heard the PK Golden Ace and Prince Woodie 90 are the same, sans the cosmetics.
 
Puddy said:
Aloha Joe,

Weren't these two sticks actually made at the same PK factory, like many racquets from that era? I also have heard the PK Golden Ace and Prince Woodie 90 are the same, sans the cosmetics.
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Yes Puddy, I believe that is the case and Im sure @Sanglier can provide the story
 
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Well Joe, most of my notes on these came from what you, @retrowagen and @vsbabolat et al posted here in the past. In any case, I doubt that I can say anything about a single racquet with wood in it that you didn't already know like the back of your hand! :)

@rodracquet is the only one who can tell Jerry whether the Golden Ace hypothesis is supported by physical evidence, since he has an actual example on hand to examine (1 of only 5 made, per his opening post), though Retro had already pointed out in post #9 that at a minimum, the grips are not set up the same way on the two models in question.

However, it is a virtual given that Kunnan Lo made the W90, as by then he was the only contractor making racquets for Prince, regardless of frame composition.
 
Sanglier said:
Well Joe, most of my notes on these came from what you, @retrowagen and @vsbabolat et al posted here in the past. In any case, I doubt that I can say anything about a single racquet with wood in it that you didn't already know like the back of your hand! :)

@rodracquet is the only one who can tell Jerry whether the Golden Ace hypothesis is supported by physical evidence, since he has an actual example on hand to examine (1 of only 5 made, per his opening post), though Retro had already pointed out in post #9 that at a minimum, the grips are not set up the same way on the two models in question.

However, it is a virtual given that Kunnan Lo made the W90, as by then he was the only contractor making racquets for Prince, regardless of frame composition.
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Understand, I was just referring to the Kunnan Lo relationship.
It is suspect that the grips were not the same and only 5 were produced.
Thanks
 
pro10s said:
I now have two of these Prince Woodie 90s..
IMG_20220214_224957-scaled.jpg
IMG_20220214_224937-scaled.jpg
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Just in case you're curious about the history - and people can correct me about this - my recollection is that Cash used this racquet after the Slazenger and before the Magnesium. I do remember an interview with Cash when he said that he originally wanted to sign with Head to use the Edgewood but Henri Leconte was using that frame and they didn't have anything else he liked. At the time he wanted to stay with a wood-graphite so he had to look at another brand. Prince got in touch and created the racquet you've got now. Maybe it'd be interesting to grab an Edgewood and compare the two.
 
AndrewD said:
Just in case you're curious about the history - and people can correct me about this - my recollection is that Cash used this racquet after the Slazenger and before the Magnesium. I do remember an interview with Cash when he said that he originally wanted to sign with Head to use the Edgewood but Henri Leconte was using that frame and they didn't have anything else he liked. At the time he wanted to stay with a wood-graphite so he had to look at another brand. Prince got in touch and created the racquet you've got now. Maybe it'd be interesting to grab an Edgewood and compare the two.
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I remember that as well. I have an Edgewood and it is a really nice wood/graphite frame.
 
There are two frames and they are different widths.. the graphite is marginally thicker than the W-90. These were frames that were originally owned by Rich Janes who was responsible for many of the technical innovations from Prince.
 
That’s an interesting find - I wonder how many racquets Cashy still has in his own collection. There is a guy here selling one of Pat’s V Engine Volkl frames.
 
joe sch said:
Hard to predict since the market has really been down. Best way to find out is list it on auction site. Would realy help if the condition was nice like the above pics that look NOS never strung.
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i think the covid pandemic made people realize that tennis racquet collecting is inessential
 
I have a Prince W-90 frame that has all the same graphics as the W-90 midsize Woodie frame. It has a 4 5/8 grip like the very limited run of midsize Woodies they made for Cash. However, my frame looks more like a Slazenger V24 frame, especially with colors. I'm looking for more information on my frame, which I got from a lady who worked at Prince in the 80s. The biggest difference with my frame is the throat shape, which differs from the Woodie, V24, Golden Ace and Edgewood. I'd love more information on my frame if you know anything. I've attached a Facebook link which has pictures.

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Kiwibronco said:
I have a Prince W-90 frame that has all the same graphics as the W-90 midsize Woodie frame. It has a 4 5/8 grip like the very limited run of midsize Woodies they made for Cash. However, my frame looks more like a Slazenger V24 frame, especially with colors. I'm looking for more information on my frame, which I got from a lady who worked at Prince in the 80s. The biggest difference with my frame is the throat shape, which differs from the Woodie, V24, Golden Ace and Edgewood. I'd love more information on my frame if you know anything. I've attached a Facebook link which has pictures.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
Click to expand...
Did you recently post this on Facebook? I saw it and DM'd Cash directly at his Instagram account and asked him about it. He's been kind enough to reply to a DM from me before but he hasn't answered this one yet. I hope he does.
 
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