I was wondering about the two companies. I finally got a new Ti-10. I was playing with it today and I was very pleased by it's performance, but it's still hard to get use to it. My hits a little off, but in time I'll adapt to the Ti-10's heavy head. Anyway, I didn't get this racquet myself. It was bought from my friend. He went to Hong Kong during the Winter break and got himself a Nanospeed and me a Ti-10. I was trying to prove it's legimentcy. I already know the whole serial number reading, but one one thing, the serial number is covered by a sunrise sticker. The sticker is holographic gold color. It looks like a legit Sunrise sticker. On the sticker there is also a small black printing with "C1376990". I remember reading somewhere in the BC Equipement forums that Sunrise and PBSI helps confrim legititmency of a Yonex racquet, but we all know these stuff can be cloned. I dare not to take the sticker off just yet. I want to learn more about the Sunrise and Yonex relation. Is there anyway to confrim a sunrise sticker? And ultimitly confirming my Yonex Ti-10 Titanium Mesh Long 3ug5 is a real Yonex produced racquet without taking off the sticker? What harm is it taking off the sticker? I have already compared my Ti-10 with other real Ti-10s. I dont see anything different besides the head of the racquet. The paint on the very top head of the Isometric Head is a little more rough than other Ti-10. My friend told me that he bought the racquet at a trust worthy Badminton Store. If the history of the store is needed, I can question him more about it. The price for the Ti-10 was 110 USD with strings. If you guys want pictures of the racquet, just tell me the spots and I'll try to get clear pictures at the points.
whats the shape of the sticker? if im correct it should be rectangular with curved corners, mines TH thats why i dont have the sticker of sunrise, anyway maybe you could post some pictures of your racket, specifically the shaft+cone area.
You're right in saying that the sticker can be easily copied. I personally didn't think twice about removing the sticker, I've removed both stickers on my Ti-10s. But then I got them from a very reliable source, so authenticity was never an issue for me. Checking the serial would help, but if you prefer to keep the sticker, just leave it on ...
I recently bought a NS8000 racket with both the Sunrise Sticker and PBSI symbol on it. The racket had all the features of a really racket that people posted on this site. The only thing that gave it away is the serial number and the general feel of the racket hitting against my hand. You can feel the vibrations more on a fake racket. The sunrise sticker was also covering the serial number on the NS8000 as you described on your post. If i were you, i'll take the sticker off and check the serial number. You can confirm the legitimacy of your racket by emailing the serial number to yonex international. If you need the email address let me know.
If you have never encounter with sunrise sticker, you should know: 1. It's rectangular size 2. It has a piece of plastic cover 3. Cannot be taken off unless you scratch it / or stick it out. Everytime I have a sunrise racket in, the first thing I do is to use clear tape to "stick out" the sticker after removing the plastic piece. It does take some time to fully clear up the thing Normally, sunrise sticker is right on the spot of the serials, so I have to take out the sticker in order to key in the serial databases. It's quite annoying I think (and I hope sunrise don't do that anymore!)
Yeah, I got a brand new one Ti-10 SP with the sticker on the serial. Took the sticker off and proceeded to string it. Damn, I dropped the weight too fast 3/4 way through the cross and cracked the frame between 7 and 8 o'clock ! The cracked SP version was actually stiffer and heavier than the IP. The IP survived my torture .
I tried taking pictures with my Camera Phone, but the quality is really poor. I'll ask to use my brother's Digital Camera when he gets home. Pointless to look at blurr numbers. Is the Sunrise sticker legit if it's Gold color? I haven't taken if off yet. Whats the harm in taking it off? Anyway I'll get the pictures soon. Question about the bottom of the cones. I use to get fake yonex racquets. And I noticed that at the bottom of the cones, there are numbers engraved in the green cone above or below the Yonex logo. Is there any real Yonex racquets that has some sort of number below the cone?
The Sunrise sticker can be removed neatly by scraping off the transparent plastic protector on top then apply WD40 and wipe off with a paper kitchen towel. The easiest way to see if you have a real Ti-10 is the titanium mesh areas at 3 and 9 o clock. If you have real unpainted meshed metal there then it is real.
I cant provide pictures because I dont have a digital camera handy to take close detailed pictures. So i removed the sticker. The sunrise sticker really isn't a sticker. Like you said, the clear part comes off and there is this yellow stuff. It cant be easily scraped off. I didn't have a towel handy but i used tape (LOL). The serial goes: 5585199 060657SP If my reading is right, it should say: June 6th, 2005 Shipped to Singapore. Looks legit to me. Considering the serial number and how the Sunrise sticker really isn't a sticker but a clear tape like over some gold/yellow stuff. Whats the point of a Sunrise tag anyway? If it's blocking the serial number, whats the point of having it? I mean, I was puzzled for a while. If you want more ways to prove a raquet's legitmecy, why make a new method to make it harder? lol
I have checked in the information of your Yonex TI-10 Titanium Mesh Long 5585199 060657SP (date=06 Jun 2005) to my information list of Yonex rackets made in Japan, its serial no. and date code are legitimate. When I bought my TI-10 Titanium Mesh Long 5639913, I scrapped away the Sunrise hologram without any hesitation to reveal the date code of 070757SP (date=07 Jul 2005)