JT dark shadow or navy?

[14harlowcano14]

Hey everybody--longtime follower first time poster here. I'm a college outfielder looking to buy my first custom and I had a few questions. Don't know if any of y'all saw shane bieber's glove this season or whatproswear's cole tucker post with the buxton plats, but both look kinda like dark shadow from afar. They both have that dry leather sheen. Not sure if that's just because they have pro stock gold glove leather or what. I've heard that dark shadow is featherlite, so it looks kinda crappy over time, but the only dark shadow glove I've ever seen in person is that ugly ass david price dual hinge joint. Other possibility: is it old navy dyed leather that turned grey over time? I know that the navy dye has a tendency to fade but neither glove looks old enough to have faded significantly. What do we think? Appreciate any stories about navy pp or hoh leather if anyone has any.

 

[davisrelacing]

Dark Shadow is absolutely NOT like Featherlite leather. It is thick and sturdy, and like you mention, has a drier feeing to it.

Also, it ages and wears well, while navy will fade to a greenish algae color.

Buy with confidence.

 

[14harlowcano14]

do you think bieber's or tucker's gloves in the pics are dark shadow? Bieber's looks way too dark to be the hoh grey but also shiny, and I can;t tell if tucker's is just worn black and the lighting is bad.

If anyone has any pics of dark shadow or navy customs feel free to drop pics in this thread.

 

[Rous]

I don't have any real experience with dark shadow, but unless I knew Rawlings had fixed the navy problem (as Davis said, it turns a silver-green-grey color over just a few years), I'd stay away from it.

 

[davisrelacing]

You can tell they are dark shadow because of the coloration - almost like a grainy color.

I relaced a DS catcher’s mitt for a player now on the Rangers, but it’s been a couple years and a thousand or so gloves ago.

 

[mvfjet]

I am interested in going Navy lace with and binding on my next custom. Does navy lace fade to a weird color too?

If so I'll probably go royal blue lace.

 

[Rous]

I am interested in going Navy lace with and binding on my next custom. Does navy lace fade to a weird color too?

If so I'll probably go royal blue lace.

That's a good question. Other than tan, all other color laces are tanned just like glove leather. The Rawlings navy seems to be worse than other brands, so maybe lace made by Tennessee Tanning won't be as bad as the leather sourced by Rawlings for the gloves. But I don't have direct experience with navy lace. that being said, at least lace can easily be replaced if it fades.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Rous re-laced and conditioned one of Anna's teammates Pro204-NGI. This glove here convinced me I'd never own a blue leather glove! Rous did a fantastic job bringing the color back, honestly when I shipped it to Rous I thought it was a gray glove it had faded so bad, plus it was just flat out wore out! Main thing.....she was very happy and thrilled to get it back! One ugly glove though!

 

[davisrelacing]

I am interested in going Navy lace with and binding on my next custom. Does navy lace fade to a weird color too?

If so I'll probably go royal blue lace.

Navy lace holds up fine.

Royal blue lace, especially what Rawlings uses in gloves nowadays, doesn’t fade as much but it isn’t high quality either. Red lace from the factory is the same way. Doesn’t fade as much, but is fragile.

 

[14harlowcano14]

thanks for the input everyone. I'm between two gloves atm--one dark shadow and the other navy but pro preferred (i'm hoping that the higher quality leather won't fade but that might be wishful thinking). Let me know which one you think would look better in person. The navy one is basically a recreation of yelich's 2020 glove so I might pull the trigger on some gold patches if i decide to go with the navy. Does anyone have any experience with metallic welting? Not sure about how flashy it is, how long it lasts, etc.

 

[davisrelacing]

thanks for the input everyone. I'm between two gloves atm--one dark shadow and the other navy but pro preferred (i'm hoping that the higher quality leather won't fade but that might be wishful thinking). Let me know which one you think would look better in person. The navy one is basically a recreation of yelich's 2020 glove so I might pull the trigger on some gold patches if i decide to go with the navy. Does anyone have any experience with metallic welting? Not sure about how flashy it is, how long it lasts, etc.

All blue leather fades, and most Pro Preferred leather wears through faster than HOH leather.
Metallic binding wears off very quickly. Stay away.

 

[14harlowcano14]

From what Davis and Rous have said, it seems like bieber's glove is likely navy leather thats worn since it looks silvery green and tucker's is dark shadow. Tucker's still looks slicker than what I've heard about the dark shadow (you can see where you've run your fingers over the leather bc of how matte it is, etc.). Would some leather conditioner take care of this and give it some sheen like in the picture?

 

[davisrelacing]

From what Davis and Rous have said, it seems like bieber's glove is likely navy leather thats worn since it looks silvery green and tucker's is dark shadow. Tucker's still looks slicker than what I've heard about the dark shadow (you can see where you've run your fingers over the leather bc of how matte it is, etc.). Would some leather conditioner take care of this and give it some sheen like in the picture?

It sounds like you have dark shadow mixed up with some other leather and leather color. DS is smooth and looks just like what is in the picture. It is not matte, not nubuck, not Featherlite.

 

[Swinging Bunt]

OP, there are 2 types of DS (nubuck and JT). Nubuck was removed from the custom options a year or two ago (can't remember exactly when but it's been a while). Nubuck is similar texture to suede (one uses the outer shell side while the other has the inner side out). Also, when DS was first introduced to the retail custom builder, it was only available as nubuck (the smoother JT was added a couple years later when both types were offered).

 

[davisrelacing]

OP, there are 2 types of DS (nubuck and JT). Nubuck was removed from the custom options a year or two ago (can't remember exactly when but it's been a while). Nubuck is similar texture to suede (one uses the outer shell side while the other has the inner side out). Also, when DS was first introduced to the retail custom builder, it was only available as nubuck (the smoother JT was added a couple years later when both types were offered).

Learning something new everyday! So the nubuck and the JT shared the same name but definitely not the same features.

I wonder why the change was made and why they shared the DS name?

 

[davisrelacing]

So this is the JT Dark Shadow leather after reconditioning. Used at the AAA MiLB level.

[GALLERY=media, 34253]D61A3034-B2A3-4D38-AD96-9EAEC16D863A by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34254]6E867652-B0BF-465E-9A43-C0C361E1230D by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34255]975C6D25-1BB1-4192-814B-EA4FC9A9530D by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34256]01511E4A-A480-4F28-93C8-B580D1482344 by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

 

[davisrelacing]

Glad I was able to contribute photos to help out the decision-making progress. These pics are from late-December 2019, about 300 gloves ago...took me a while to track down!

This nubuck Dark Shadow was severely neglected and needed a total restoration to revive the sanded finish.

Custom Rawlings Pro Preferred PROS1000-11KB

[GALLERY=media, 34257]IMG_5008[1] by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:28 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34260]IMG_5012[1] by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:28 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34258]IMG_5009[1] by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:28 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34259]IMG_5010[1] by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:28 PM[/GALLERY]

 

[davisrelacing]

Add: the JT Dark Shadow was on a HOH and the nubuck Dark Shadow was on a PP. I wonder if that’s the difference?

 

[Swinging Bunt]

Learning something new everyday! So the nubuck and the JT shared the same name but definitely not the same features.

I wonder why the change was made and why they shared the DS name?

DS used to be called only DS (Rawlings didn't add the nubuck/JT designation until they added the JT as an option). My guess is that DS was only a reference to the color (they probably got input/requests for a smooth version because it's a nice color after all and not everyone wanted the nubuck texture). However, it created a lot of confusion (Rawlings has made zero attempt to provide descriptions of the leather options) as to which is which when they offered both (I know I've had to explain to several people in the past with the DS inquiry). Ultimately, either the lack of sales or means of leather supply may have played a role as to why nubuck was removed as a custom option (but with JT DS still being specified as such on the glove builder, it means either their web designer is lazy or they may eventually bring back nubuck at some point by keeping it in the catalogue).

 

[Swinging Bunt]

Add: the JT Dark Shadow was on a HOH and the nubuck Dark Shadow was on a PP. I wonder if that’s the difference?

DS as a custom option is only available as HOH. DS on PP would require a special leather run (as a pro request or some special limited exclusive authorized by that Farrar guy).

The funny thing about nubuck is that it can be made smooth (or rather smoother than what it was) with various oils and conditioners. So if you're seeing different degrees to the textures when people send to you, then that would be the likely explanation (of being nubuck). But JT DS should be consistent like most glove leather (as a means to determine which glove has what DS version in a used/gamed state).

 

[14harlowcano14]

So this is the JT Dark Shadow leather after reconditioning. Used at the AAA MiLB level.

[GALLERY=media, 34253]D61A3034-B2A3-4D38-AD96-9EAEC16D863A by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34254]6E867652-B0BF-465E-9A43-C0C361E1230D by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34255]975C6D25-1BB1-4192-814B-EA4FC9A9530D by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

[GALLERY=media, 34256]01511E4A-A480-4F28-93C8-B580D1482344 by davisrelacing posted Aug 12, 2020 at 3:05 PM[/GALLERY]

that does look just like the tucker/buxton glove

 

[14harlowcano14]

Been a while but I'm gonna pull the trigger. Going with a navy HoH (navy welting, laces, etc.) with white stitching. Keeping it simple for what will probably be the first of many. Thanks everyone for your help on everything, especially steering me away from the metallic binding.

I haven't seen it recently but I remember seeing people put in orders for rawlings customs with Chad. Is that still a possibility?

 

[etnstudios]

yes. just start a conversation with member "milocoman"