Please help take a look at my At-900P

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by KazeCloud, Mar 29, 2009.

  1. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Hi. My dad just bought me a 3ug5 At-900P from China for around HK $1200 which is around $154. It was bought in WongKok city on Garden something street, he might get the name of the store later from the receipt. It wasn't strung at first, its strung with BG-80 in the same store at 22lbs. Even though my little brother said there were a lot of people in the store and in a populous street, I am very afraid it may be fake, just because. I have inspected it and it does seem of very high quality, but I have heard people are making high quality fakes.

    Positives:
    • Racket shaft serial: 8094519
    • Cone serial: 271184SP (November 27, 2008 right?)
    • The racket had a balance point of 310 CM without grip and with strings.
    • The racket had a balacee point of 300 CM with a shortened Wilson Xtra Tack grip.
    • The racket seems stiff.
    • The PBSI logo is "IN" the cone not just a sticker, it is half covered under a transparent Yonex hologram that is see through, so you can see the PBSI through the hologram. See picture.
    • On the top of the frame, there are the TI mesh stuff. Its grayish blackish. I'm not sure if the picture shows. I think it does.
    • Overall seem high quality
    But here are some of the things I am worried about of my racket:

    1. As I tried to check the engraved serial I tried to scratch it with my nails, indeed it looks like it curves inwards,that means its engraved right? But when I do scratch it, the white pain starts to receede a bit. Although it looks like if I scratch very extensively the paint may come all the way off, I can tell there will still be a downward imprint of the numbers. That means its still engraved right? In the pictures the color of those numbers seems even more faded where I scratched.

    2. The racket specification is engraved instead of a sticker. I have never seen that before.

    3. The end of the P on the C.S.CAP is touching the top of the first number of the shafts serial.

    4. I don't want to take the original grip off, but it seems that the cone is sticking out on the corners a bit. If you know what I'm talking about.

    5. The store guy said they ran out of Armortec sheaths and gave me an old school carbonex nylon looking sheath. Oh god that seems fake and suspicious...

    I have uploaded to MediaFire and in a .rar file. I took pictures with my Nikon D80 so its a bit big, I will be happy to take more.

    Please take a look at the pictures:

    http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=dfe3c73c62c9ecead1014a7a667fa2b4e04e75f6e8ebb871

    Oh I will be so devastated if its fake.
     
    #1 KazeCloud, Mar 29, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2009
  2. BennyC

    BennyC Regular Member

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    peel some of the grip from the handle and if you see a screw in the handle, its real.
     
  3. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Um. A screw in the handle? The grip is put pretty nicely on. I would be really sad if I peel it off and it never goes back the same way again. And are you serious? >_<

    Edit: It did come with a plastic wrap on the handle with a barcode. I was so anxious I think I threw that away after taking it off.
     
    #3 KazeCloud, Mar 29, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2009
  4. Tsumaranai

    Tsumaranai Regular Member

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    It'd be easier to verify if you just posted the pictures, instead of having people download them. Just go to imageshack and upload, then post. It is not unusual that stores run out bags for certain series.

    This seems to be the only odd part. "2. The racket specification is engraved instead of a sticker. I have never seen that before."
     
  5. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Its a very easy download. I really have to eat. Please be patient, if you must have it uploaded I will upload it right away. I have seen a thread where a guy said that engraved specification was on the newer releases.
     
  6. BennyC

    BennyC Regular Member

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    honestly..just pull that grip down..its the easiest way to tell, regardless if you have a million pictures for us to analyze. Well its up to you, not my racket =)
     
  7. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Well. I don't know. Maybe as a last resort. If everybody starts accusing it of being fake, I guess I'll pull it down. What if the fakes starts putting screws in it? O_O

    Here is the image gallery from imageshack. Please take a look:

    http://img10.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=dsc0335tzn.jpg
     
  8. BennyC

    BennyC Regular Member

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    i know one thing and its that theres a really low chance that fakes use screws. Out of the fakes I've bought in the past, not 1 had a screw.
     
  9. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Well. How are the pictures? o_O...

    I'm pretty sure if I take it off, the grip will never be the same again. Lets see if we can spot things without doing it first. I really appreciate the idea though BennyC. They had no screws but were they good quality fakes too?
     
    #9 KazeCloud, Mar 29, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2009
  10. Tsumaranai

    Tsumaranai Regular Member

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    It looks quite authentic to me. I have taken a look at all of the images and have looked at my own racket, and they are almost identical, except for the serial which is a bit overlapped by the "C.S. CAP". That is not really unusual, however, as it is just a matter of printing. As you have mentioned, the specs are supposedly now also engraved, which, I guess, would just be a step by Yonex to further differentiate fakes with the real article. Have fun with your new friend. :p:D
     
  11. jhirata

    jhirata Regular Member

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    Sounds real. All racquets made after Oct 2008 or something (not too sure when, but some month in 2008) have the racquet specifications engraved.
     
  12. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Oh man. I am so happy you said that Tsumaranai. And I know you are very familiar with your racket. =D

    I'm so happy!

    I now have time to resize the pictures and upload them here for further analysis. I'm going to watch pictures from their vacation. Hoping to come back with more confirmation that its real. >_<''

    But what is that cone sticking out on the corners thing? I feel that the grip kind of shrinks in at that point, and the corner of the cone is sticking out.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    #12 KazeCloud, Mar 29, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2009
  13. Tsumaranai

    Tsumaranai Regular Member

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    What do you mean "cone sticking out on the corners thing"?
     
  14. KazeCloud

    KazeCloud Regular Member

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    Correction. Just one side. Let me grudgingly open the grip tape on the top and check whats going on. I will report back Tsumaranai sir with a recon.
     
  15. DonnyGan

    DonnyGan Regular Member

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    my AT900P looks just like this. the white paint on the serial is not really paint. it should be etched. & the stock grips on the AT is horrible. even if you wrap with a overgrip, the tape could also rip them off when you are gonna replace it.
     
  16. Deathsticks

    Deathsticks Regular Member

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    Well you can almost tell that its fake by looking at the but cap
    all yonex butcaps are always curved at the ends and should be mid green always
    i assure you your racket is real im 90% sure

    my opinion i've seen lot of fakes and there butcaps were either flat or just had the Japan thing as a sticker or looked diff

    but feel suspicious on the dark blue POWER thing on top
    look dark then usual
     
  17. Tsumaranai

    Tsumaranai Regular Member

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    I would assume that it's just the camera. I also don't really think it's supposed to be blue, but because of the gloss, it's not as dark a black as it could be. I could be wrong, though, and it may just be a dark blue, but then it has been fooling me. :p Nonetheless, I believe it's just the camera.
     
  18. dinitial

    dinitial Regular Member

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    I think it is real. Not just looking at the racket. It's the street where you bought it. It is a very famous street in Hong Kong to buy (real) sport stuff.
     
  19. DonnyGan

    DonnyGan Regular Member

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    i think till now we are just looking at the features. have you posted your serial for verification? You can get some help from Leehsim.

    Aside from that, have you tried swinging & playing with it? fake will definitely give way really soon.
     
  20. Athelete1234

    Athelete1234 Regular Member

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    The cone is supposed to stick out of the grip; since it's not a round base like a regular cone, it will have little bits protruding out. It's like that for all AT racquets with the old CS cap.
     

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