Wilson Staff 85
- Thread starter NoNameZ
- Start date
IIRC, they were made in Taiwan. The mold was SLIGHTLY different than the Taiwanese PS85. The Staff's grommet channels were narrower. I have one somewhere and I think it plays a bit more like the older Sting Mid than anything else.
Great find, and a great racket--100% graphite, soft, solid and definitely worth a hit. It's quite rare and hard to find nowadays. I don't see any on these on the bay for a while now.
Use to have a pair--The U.S black version and The Euro gray version--Different background graphics, but plays the same. IIRC, these have a grove at the head to accept the bumperguard making it more of a flush look than of the prostaff 6.0 85.
uk_skippy
Hall of Fame
Hi
I've posted some info on these types of rqt and the rqts Wilson produced at the time from the same mould. Outline below is a precis of the posts I've made:-
"Wilson produced a range of frame using the now familiar ProStaff mould, but with different compositions. The PS85 is 80 graphite/20 kevlar, the staff was 100%graphite, the Aggressor was 80 graphite/20 fibreglass and the Avenger was 50 graphite/50 fiberglass. As for the col of the rqts, the PS is black with red/yello stripes that stop part of the way down the side(faceside) of the frame, the staff (in the UK was grey with red/yellow stripes that run all the way down the side to the throat and back halfway up the other side, the aggressor was black with the the same stripes as the staff and the avenger was white with green & blue stripes the running the same as the staff/aggressor. These rqts were around in 1985/86.
They were all players rqts, although the cheapest was the Avenger, then the Aggressor, then Staff and finally the PS85. I used the Staff and like it then.
Here in the UK the prices for the 4 rqts were something like - PS85 £130; Staff £100; Aggressor £80 and Avenger £60. These were the prices around 1985-87.
Obviously the PS85 is one of the greatest frames. The others weren't bad either, although It dont think the Avenger was that great. Around the clubs I played at back then, the choice of rqt was the Aggressor because i) it was cheaper than the PS85 and ii) it looked like it."
Regards
Paul
I've posted some info on these types of rqt and the rqts Wilson produced at the time from the same mould. Outline below is a precis of the posts I've made:-
"Wilson produced a range of frame using the now familiar ProStaff mould, but with different compositions. The PS85 is 80 graphite/20 kevlar, the staff was 100%graphite, the Aggressor was 80 graphite/20 fibreglass and the Avenger was 50 graphite/50 fiberglass. As for the col of the rqts, the PS is black with red/yello stripes that stop part of the way down the side(faceside) of the frame, the staff (in the UK was grey with red/yellow stripes that run all the way down the side to the throat and back halfway up the other side, the aggressor was black with the the same stripes as the staff and the avenger was white with green & blue stripes the running the same as the staff/aggressor. These rqts were around in 1985/86.
They were all players rqts, although the cheapest was the Avenger, then the Aggressor, then Staff and finally the PS85. I used the Staff and like it then.
Here in the UK the prices for the 4 rqts were something like - PS85 £130; Staff £100; Aggressor £80 and Avenger £60. These were the prices around 1985-87.
Obviously the PS85 is one of the greatest frames. The others weren't bad either, although It dont think the Avenger was that great. Around the clubs I played at back then, the choice of rqt was the Aggressor because i) it was cheaper than the PS85 and ii) it looked like it."
Regards
Paul
teachingprotx
Legend
I played high school college tennis with the pro staff 85 and loved it for years . The og 85 was unreal.. years ago I had a guy / fellow racket geek . Had a blacked out proto type “ with Wilson only painted on the side . He let me hit with it a few times as he had at strung at the club where I was part of a cast of different stringers . Back then I was the 3 rd in line ..
anyway that thing hit so good I loved it . He had lead in the handle too .. none any where else . It was heavy . But swung beautifully .years later ran into him at a Wilson meeting and he told me what that racket was .. it was the avenger blacked out . But man I thought it was a pro staff with magic in it . He said he and most everyone he let use it thought it was a pro staff demo experimental .. but it was in fact the avenger . Cool story . He still had it too . Thing was in destructible
anyway that thing hit so good I loved it . He had lead in the handle too .. none any where else . It was heavy . But swung beautifully .years later ran into him at a Wilson meeting and he told me what that racket was .. it was the avenger blacked out . But man I thought it was a pro staff with magic in it . He said he and most everyone he let use it thought it was a pro staff demo experimental .. but it was in fact the avenger . Cool story . He still had it too . Thing was in destructible
Pistol10
Professional
The Avenger is a great one? It's much cheaper than ps85. Good deal!
Is it stiffer or more flexible than ps85? Is it lighter? What about the sweet spot?
I'm looking for alternative for ps85, more flexible, lighter, suits the modern game.
