Leather Head

[17HnH]

Don't be afraid to give Leather Head a go.
I think it feels like it lands between HOH and A2K leather.
Mine is a 12.75" and plays true to size.
It's lighter than my HOH 302 and 1799 A2K.
Leather feels less "dry" than my camel HOH was and slightly less supple than my A2K.
Pinky and thumb are solid.
Not sure what lace comes in them as this has been relaced.
I've used this all year on the infield and it's still wide open on it's side.
I can use it in the outfield without a problem, but prefer the 1799 as it plays a touch longer (and softer).
Pics are pretty accurate, but it look even nicer in person. Classic and clean.

 

[NYC]

where is it made? I've seen these before but never in person.

 

[DatDuke]

Company in NJ USA. Made oversea, Highly underrated. My 2 sons are fighting over this glove, (Only one winner since I only have one lefty) I have the OF and 1B. thats his go to glove. I love the pattern and the leather. its between the Horween and JT. if you can find one for under $200. give it a go.

 

[DatDuke]

A Classic Pattern at a reasonable price, and pretty good leather. That sums it up.
My bud's review.

 

[Rous]

That 12.75 looks a lot like a 303. Have you had a 303 to compare?

 

[Wally Gator]

Had a $50 off sale over the summer, but I couldn't get past the red stitching. Wish there were options. Love the blue patches. Have heard nothing but good things about the leather.

 

[DatDuke]

That 12.75 looks a lot like a 303. Have you had a 303 to compare?

Yes, better leather than the PRO303 but not as nice as a PROS303. being a small company. the construction is flawless. I can't say that for Rawlings. Plus at that time if I wanted a OT 303, it will cost over $300. I got my LH brand new for $150.

 

[Party mafia]

View attachment 28845 View attachment 28846 Company in NJ USA. Made oversea, Highly underrated. My 2 sons are fighting over this glove, (Only one winner since I only have one lefty) I have the OF and 1B. thats his go to glove. I love the pattern and the leather. its between the Horween and JT. if you can find one for under $200. give it a go.

On leather head site, it says made in America played in America.

 

[Rous]

DatDuke, Looks like there is a "Made in ___" tag on the 12.75". If so, where was it made?

If made in USA, I wouldn't be shocked, but would be certainly surprised. I seem to remember a discussion at GWF where it came out that they were made elsewhere. But that could have changed.

 

[DatDuke]

DatDuke, Looks like there is a "Made in ___" tag on the 12.75". If so, where was it made?

If made in USA, I wouldn't be shocked, but would be certainly surprised. I seem to remember a discussion at GWF where it came out that they were made elsewhere. But that could have changed.

I am pretty sure they are made in the Philippines. I will double check for you tomorrow.

 

[smarkley3]

I am pretty sure they are made in the Philippines. I will double check for you tomorrow.

I would think the Philippines, too nice for China or Malaysia and has flat welt. Could be Taiwan? Only one "Vendor" who has capacity to make gloves for private label , they do the Roy Hobbs and are not nearly as nice. Would like to see one in person. Oh and if from the Philippines may be the same factory that does some Rawlings, LOL.

 

[Rous]

Obviously the mitt is a DCT clone. I'm guessing that pattern is used by everyone as the design is 56 years old (so the pattern may well now be in the public domain). But I cannot figure out why LH didn't adjust the location of the "flying buttress" web lacing. The web originally had a triple-bar web with no vertical post and the holes for the lacing are placed for that. With the single post version, three of the holes on each side should be moved. What sort of bugs me is that when guys at GWF were questioning Jeff Bradley about the patterns, he said that while they were similar to existing patterns, they had tweaked all the patterns enough that he considered them LeatherHead patterns.

"I can tell you, after the tweaking, changing, agonizing over patterns, fit, etc. These are Leather Head patterns."

So I cannot understand why they didn't make probably the most obvious change I would make to a glove pattern. That being said, I do think the quality of the gloves is very good.

And, BTW, I think they are made in Indonesia.

 

[DatDuke]

Obviously the mitt is a DCT clone. I'm guessing that pattern is used by everyone as the design is 56 years old (so the pattern may well now be in the public domain). But I cannot figure out why LH didn't adjust the location of the "flying buttress" web lacing. The web originally had a triple-bar web with no vertical post and the holes for the lacing are placed for that. With the single post version, three of the holes on each side should be moved. What sort of bugs me is that when guys at GWF were questioning Jeff Bradley about the patterns, he said that while they were similar to existing patterns, they had tweaked all the patterns enough that he considered them LeatherHead patterns.

"I can tell you, after the tweaking, changing, agonizing over patterns, fit, etc. These are Leather Head patterns."

So I cannot understand why they didn't make probably the most obvious change I would make to a glove pattern. That being said, I do think the quality of the gloves is very good.

And, BTW, I think they are made in Indonesia.

Yes, the lacing for the 1B web is VERY busy. It has to be frustrating when re-lacing one. Thanks for the look up, I do remember I seeing a paper tag stating the Country of Origin. I still have the tag.

 

[Rous]

i have relaced several and they are a PITA. Most lace segments of any pattern that I have come across... except maybe a Nokona BM-76.

 

[bigmac25]

A Classic Pattern at a reasonable price, and pretty good leather. That sums it up.
My bud's review.

Jay's videos are IMO the best ones out there. He has great knowledge, and is a even better person.
If you guys have not had the pleasure of talking to him, I hope you run into him in your travels.
This video is just one of many- and all his videos contain substance as well as reasoning and detailed explanations.
Its not at all one of your typical ' this is my glove, i like it because its black' video series that seem to be more common on the youtube.
Off topic i know, but since we were using his video as a reference I figured I'd bring it up and point it out.
One of the good guys for sure, and he knows his stuff!!

 

[17HnH]

That 12.75 looks a lot like a 303. Have you had a 303 to compare?

Only had the 302 to compare it to. It's a bit wider than the 302 and plays the same length, so I suspect it is very similar to the 303. A 303 Pro Preferred is my next glove and the last one I want to get a comparison with. I've had more compliments on this than any glove to date. Another thought...the ball "sticks" to this leather much better than it did with my camel HOH 302 which was another deciding factor.

 

[17HnH]

It is not made in the US. However, I have pulled the tag off since the pics. Simply can't remember. I got mine in a trade and it wasn't broken in. After gaming it, I'd be comfortable paying $225 NWT's. But if clean and open on it's side, I'd pay $175 slightly used.

 

[17HnH]

Had a $50 off sale over the summer, but I couldn't get past the red stitching. Wish there were options. Love the blue patches. Have heard nothing but good things about the leather.

I think it would look a touch better with tan stitching. However, the red is fairly subtle in person on this leather color.

 

[Swinging Bunt]

Had a $50 off sale over the summer, but I couldn't get past the red stitching. Wish there were options. Love the blue patches. Have heard nothing but good things about the leather.

I'm the opposite. I couldn't get past the blue patches. Any other color and I would have 1 or 2.

 

[DatDuke]

I'm the opposite. I couldn't get past the blue patches. Any other color and I would have 1 or 2.

May be blue stitching and Red patch and we have ourselves a winner. I wish they have the GS Custom's Leather patch. I guess there is why Rawlings and Wilson offer Custom options. One day.. may be one day..

 

[case2000]

I was reading about Leather Head on the GWF and here is a confirmation of their gloves being made it a overseas factory in Indonesia...
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Re: Leather Head Sports; baseballs gloves
by nrocket » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:08 am

GloveMaker wrote:NRocket, Thanks for posting.
A note on the laces: In the design process we specified Tennessee Tanning laces. These are the top of the line laces available.
That said, I would agree that the black laces don't have the same stiffness as the lace in our tan gloves.
If you saw a tan glove, I expect that you would appreciate the lace. It is really top notch stuff. Stiff and strong with a really nice chestnut color.

Colored laces tend to be chrome tanned, while tan laces are alum tanned, which produces a stiffer lace.
Chrome tanned lace is softer by nature. I have not talked to the folks at Tennessee tanning about this, just my general experience.

On a separate note, getting consistency in laces is always a challenge. I have found wide variations is quality from one batch to the next.

I think your observations are spot on, but I would encourage you to see how the black laces work before swapping them out.

Hey Paul just curious how does the factory in Indonesia get Tennessee tanning lace?

nrocket
Posts: 253
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2010 11:36 pm
Top
Re: Leather Head Sports; baseballs gloves
by GloveMaker » Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:31 pm

They import them. I've seen copies of the export documents so I know it's legit.

 

[fredderf]

The glove look great, I don't care for the red stitching. The gloves look great

 

[case2000]

The glove look great, I don't care for the red stitching. The gloves look great

I agree. I enjoyed reading about the company on the GWF. The red stitching is kind of a calling card for Leather Head. From what I understand, the company founder wanted to do red binding and red stitching on all of their gloves to make Leather Head unique from other companies....but Rous warned him that the red binding would fade in the sunlight over time and look pink. So they took his advice about the binding but kept their red stitching.

The founder also explained why the company had to manufacture the gloves overseas....bottom line summary - there are just not enough skilled people in the work force in the states to do all the hand crafted details - sewing etc. And it would take too long to train an assembly line of workers over here. I believe he did say that he was still hoping to one day manufacture their gloves in the USA.

 

[smarkley3]

I agree about manufacturing here but, the people to do it are just a small part of the problem. Insignia already knew how to make leather good, but had problems making constantly good gloves. Its very much more of artisan craft than a manufacturing assembly line.

 

[case2000]

Its very much more of artisan craft than a manufacturing assembly line.

I think your choice of words was much better than mine. I should not have said "assembly line". It is the shortage of skilled craftsmen here that would be the issue.

 

[Rous]

I have talked to Rob Storey at Nokona about this. For what he can afford to pay his workers, his biggest problem ramping up production was finding enough skilled workers. One of the key skills is stamping the pieces out of the leather. Leather hides have directions that they stretch and if you cut pieces in the wrong directions, gloves don't hold their shape over time. Also, you want the palm pieces to come from the upper part of the hide. The Insignia factory had a computer fit as many pieces as possible on any given hide to minimize waste (using lasers to cut all the pieces at once). That lowered cost, but the pieces were sort of all over the hide and in whatever direction minimized waste. And as a result, Insignia gloves always looked a little uneven.

 

[smarkley3]

I think your choice of words was much bette employersr than mine. I should not have said "assembly line". It is the shortage of skilled craftsmen here that would be the issue.

Yes I dont believe many younger people in America even consider going into a trade like this. And I also think that you would need to posses a craftsman mentality and have good motor skills. And then if you mastered all of this, how much would you be will to work for, how long before you became bored and/or your hands hurt so much that you would have to stop? If you have someone lace all day it has to affect your hands, arms and elbows. Ideally this should be done where you do most of the building of a single glove but, this is not the way products are mass produced and when they are not, how cost effective would they be? I think the real key would be to employ, with some for thought and planing , modern machine ( IE a Laser cutter) with trained (by recruitment and/or company training)

 

[smarkley3]

I have talked to Rob Storey at Nokona about this. For what he can afford to pay his workers, his biggest problem ramping up production was finding enough skilled workers. One of the key skills is stamping the pieces out of the leather. Leather hides have directions that they stretch and if you cut pieces in the wrong directions, gloves don't hold their shape over time. Also, you want the palm pieces to come from the upper part of the hide. The Insignia factory had a computer fit as many pieces as possible on any given hide to minimize waste (using lasers to cut all the pieces at once). That lowered cost, but the pieces were sort of all over the hide and in whatever direction minimized waste. And as a result, Insignia gloves always looked a little uneven.

Whats really sad is that to company Insignia came out of does make leather goods, a ball gloves are harder to make than most leather goods?