昨天去Pro Shop穿線的時候，突然在2手堆裡看見了這個罕見的神兵! 好久都沒在本地鋪子或者網上看到過Prostaff 85舊版本的蹤影了，所謂可遇不可求，所以這次看到了這個合理價錢8/9成新的2號Grip (Butt. Code: UGW) 寶貝自然不能放過。
其實本身已經擁有一塊台灣版的PS85(3號Grip)了，極之喜歡它獨特的手感和擊球的獨特感覺，St. Vincent、台灣版這些早期的PS85跟近兩年再版的Pro Staff 85 6.0感覺當然完全是兩回事，你親自試過就馬上知道它們的不同之處了。
最大的不同是舊版的Prostaff 85很軟身，擊球時感覺像鞭出去一樣爽，但是對持拍者的要求變態的高，遲一點點準備功夫都可能會打不中Sweet Spot，而且拍身比較重，打起來很吃力，所以玩票性質還可以，拿來比賽的話簡直就是玩殘自己。
自己見過最罕見的版本是在2010年的Hong Kong Tennis Classic，一位超級PS85收藏家拿著這塊全新的Prostaff 6.1 Paint Job Prostaff 85給Edberg簽名，哇，真羨慕死我了!
Wilson Pro Staff Midsize Appearance Evolution:
The Chicago PS85:
- original bright yellow and red pinstriping
- bumperless construction
- grip size sticker, recommended tension sticker “String at 65-70 lbs.” and specification sticker “Weight/Oz. 11.6-12.3 Unstrung; Balanced 1.0-1.5 in. headlight” inside one side of the throat
- three separate raised throat grommets
- brown Fairway leather grip
- White butt cap with large red “W”
- no registered trade mark symbol
- red primer seen at grommet drill holes and through scratches in the top black coat
- Buttcap code located below red “W”
- pinstriping and “Midsize” on both sides of throat
- Wilson Pro Staff nylon racket bag with strap, without grip venting
Transition to St. Vincent (early-mid):
- Addition of “St. Vincent W.I.” sticker above red “W” of buttcap (these are easily lost)
- Recommended tension sticker (at some point) lowered to “String at 55-65 lbs.” Some early St. Vincent frames may have the previous higher recommended tension sticker.
- transition from bumperless construction to addition of bumperguard
St. Vincent (mid-late):
- Stickers replaced in throat to decals that describe Wilson PWS on one side, recommended tension on the other (50-60 lbs.) and higher/lower tension recommendation for control/power
- black rectangular grip size sticker placed at the outside of the throat above the handle
- throat grommets are thinner
- these have either “Midsize” decal on both sides of throat or one side has “80% braided graphite/20% kevlar” decal
- addition of red registered trademark symbol at lower right of “W” on butt cap
- “Wilson Quality” hologram sticker at base of throat opposite grip size sticker. Serial number in bold black font
Transition to Taiwan (early):
- loss of red primer to grey primer
- Butt cap code location moves above red “W”
- all cap “TAIWAN” sticker placed below “W” on butt cap
- brown Fairway leather grip
Taiwan (later):
- pinstriping color darker in tint
- recommended tension decal now has recommendation for using Wilson syn gut
- “Wilson Quality” hologram sticker now has bar code and small dot-matrix print
- Fairway leather grip
- racket bag looks similar to original, but has grid-venting for grip
Transition to China:
- same as late Taiwanese, but has all cap “CHINA” sticker below “W” on butt cap (assuming use of last Taiwanese stock)
Chinese PS85 (early):
- new design with wider throat and one-piece throat grommet
- slightly different drill pattern as the old grommets no longer easily fit
- white primer
- “Italicized” Pro Staff logo
- larger font for “PWS” at sides of head
- “85 sq. in.” decal on inner face of head near throat
- brighter, wider pinstriping
- Fairway leather and white butt cap
- throat decal has specs and square with “6.0″ swing index info
- racket bag matches fonts on racket with “braided” image on face
Chinese (mid):
- use of “Pro Staff 6.0″ in Garamond font at face of throat
- transition from use of Fairway leather to Wilson leather
- transition from white butt cap to black butt cap with red square and small white Wilson “W”
- racket bag matches the fonts and graphics of frame
Chinese (late and last):
- transition to silver specification decal at insides of throat
- use of generic Wilson Pro Staff racket bag
Tour DB (Japan):
- made in China, double braided
- sold only in 85sq in headsize
- throat says ‘Tour DB,’ not 6.0
- listed on Wilson Japan’s website under ‘Pro Staff Original 6.0,’ but picture is of Tour DB model
- different string spacing than 6.0
- strung weight ~333g, strung balance 305mm
- 6.0 is also sold in Japan (called ‘US spec’), strung weight 357g, strung balance 310mm
- discontinued in 2009 prior to release of KPro Staff 88
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