Random Glove Musings - Vol 2

[MaverickAH]

Wow........ Haven't done this in a long while! I didn't realize how long it had been until I did a search for my old threads. It's been over 3 years!

I was in the neighborhood of the local sports/outdoors emporium yesterday & since I had some time available, I decided to stop in for a few. I figured that they would be fully restocked for the Christmas rush. They pretty much were.........

My thoughts..........

• This color sync craze is making me want to throw up. I swear that the wall of gloves almost look like a pack of Skittles! I should've taken pics!

• The vast majority of gloves on hand were of the high end variety. You know........., A2000, A2K, HOH, Pro Preferred, Pro Limited......... You get the idea. Not really surprising as it's a high end store in a high income neighborhood.

• I picked up a Rawlings HOH Pro Stock spring training glove earlier this year. I was surprised at how much softer it was than I was expecting it to be, but I attributed it to Rawlings making it easier for pro players to game on the spot & that it was a leftover from a couple of springs ago. I was wrong......... I seems that the big 3 have all gone to a softer feeling leather. A high quality leather for sure but definitely with a softer, easier to break in feel to it. Rawlings still claims a 70% player break-in on their high end gloves. I'm now calling BS on that one. There wasn't one glove that I felt that I couldn't have game ready in no more than a weeks worth of time. Now this isn't a case of gloves being displayed & handled for a while. These were newly restocked gloves of the holiday season. I highly doubt they were out long & were, in most cases, 4 to 6 deep. I didn't view any of these gloves as ones that you could fully use, pass on to your son who could then pass it on to his son. Sad............

• BTW.......... I find no difference between Rawlings Pro Stock gloves & their stock gloves other than color combos. That's my official stance.

• All is not lost! I did find some things that piqued my interest. First was a 12.25" HOH model from Rawlings (see below). Model # was PRO207-6BO, a store exclusive. The "BO" stands for "Blacked Out" & that it was! With the exception of the Silver writing on the wrist & thumb logo, the glove was all black. Very attractive! What was also interesting was that "1000 Pattern" was embossed on the thumb. I took this to mean that this glove was based on the PRO1000 pattern. Interestingly enough, there were some items from on display from Wilson that were truly murdered out. Of interest were the key ring tags included on the gloves that said, "Custom Gloves Advisory Staff". These were true display models but they did have price tags on them. The models on display were all A2000's. A KP92, a 1787(?) & a DW5. Very nice indeed! Now I was able to replicate the look in the Wilson custom glove builder so I'm not sure if that was what the store was doing or did. I did not check the Rawlings custom glove builder but it wouldn't surprise me if I was able to do the same. Both the Rawlings & the Wilsons were priced at $359.95 which is the price for a custom so I'm not sure what the actual deal is. If retail stores are now going the way of an internet store "exclusive", that would be news indeed!

• Outside of those special models, what I did like were the usual suspects. The DW5........ The 1799........ The PRO200 Series........ One model that I personally had not experienced before that I really liked was the TDFTHR. One thing I must note is that the special models were no stiffer than the stock models.

• For those of you with smaller hands, I found the Rawlings PRO300 series gloves to be a good alternative. I also found the new Wilson A1000 series gloves to be perfectly acceptable at half the cost of an A2000. Surprisingly good for the price.

That's about all that I garnered in about the 30 minutes or so I was in-store.

 

[Felks32]

I agree with you on the colour sync. Most of them are awful.

My custom PRO207-6 also has "1000 Pattern" stamped on the thumb...I took it to mean that the 1000 and 200 patterns are the same.

I also liked the way the TDFTHR felt on my hand, except I hated the colourway. Grey & Black clown glove. Felt like a 12.25" SP125 more than a new TF21. The one I tried on definitely wanted to be a thumb to pinky break.

Love me some 302. I'm actually building a new custom right now, and can't decide between 3028, 208 and 504. All 12.5" models.

 

[mpk]

• This color sync craze is making me want to throw up. I swear that the wall of gloves almost look like a pack of Skittles! I should've taken pics!

100% with you. They're awful. And that's before they're caked in dirt. Of course if I was 15 I'd probably have a 3 or 4 of them

• All is not lost! I did find some things that piqued my interest. First was a 12.25" HOH model from Rawlings (see below). Model # was PRO207-6BO, a store exclusive. The "BO" stands for "Blacked Out" & that it was! With the exception of the Silver writing on the wrist & thumb logo, the glove was all black. Very attractive! What was also interesting was that "1000 Pattern" was embossed on the thumb. I took this to mean that this glove was based on the PRO1000 pattern. Interestingly enough, there were some items from on display from Wilson that were truly murdered out. Of interest were the key ring tags included on the gloves that said, "Custom Gloves Advisory Staff". These were true display models but they did have price tags on them. The models on display were all A2000's. A KP92, a 1787(?) & a DW5. Very nice indeed! Now I was able to replicate the look in the Wilson custom glove builder so I'm not sure if that was what the store was doing or did. I did not check the Rawlings custom glove builder but it wouldn't surprise me if I was able to do the same. Both the Rawlings & the Wilsons were priced at $359.95 which is the price for a custom so I'm not sure what the actual deal is. If retail stores are now going the way of an internet store "exclusive", that would be news indeed!

Yeah, the murdered out look is sick. It's really surprising to me that Wilson and Rawlings have not made more of them. I was a dyed in the wool classic tan glove guy but then I got an exclusive blacked out DP15 earlier this year off the bay for cheap that made me fall in love with the look. I have a custom black on black glove on order now. Planning on make a post when I get it. It's just such a good look and will stay good looking for a long time!

Here's your answer on that glove being labeled both PRO207 and 1000 pattern. They are the same. Rawlings did a name change a few years ago:
http://rawlingsgear.blogspot.com/2014/06/breaking-down-new-patterns-in-rawlings.html:

Eleven new patterns are available:
· Model number PROSC47 (select CB 11” PROSC47) is an 11” adult glove with a conventional back. It's the shortest glove available.
· Model number PRO200 (select CB 12” PRO200) is a 12” glove with a conventional back. It was previously model number PRO1000.
etc...

 

[NYC]

The color sync is targeted towards kids. I don't lik fruity gloves but some of cespedes' gloves looked pretty cool;

 

[Wally Gator]

The Blacked Out looks great and I like the idea of SMU's, but at $359 makes zero sense for a HOH. Rolled black welting when they could've used split black. I think many of the more informed buyers would go the custom route... for less.

 

[huntaholic21]

Great post Mav! I've basically chalked it up that I'm going to want the highest quality leather available, and that means paying the extra for custom. Plus Wilson's factory break-in they do on stock gloves is garbage.

 

[MaverickAH]

It does make sense if you think of it like this:

They are actually custom gloves that a retailer ordered in limited quantities. You won't see them in the standard stock lineup on either company's website. They can be replicated through the custom glove builders though & a custom HOH or A2000 costs you what? $339.95 in the case of a HOH & $359.99 in the case of an A2000.

Would you pay another $20 above that price to be able to walk into a store & have this glove in your hand immediately instead of waiting 4-6 weeks? I think that most would. Only knowing that you could get an even better deal from a place like SBF (most people don't know & most places don't do........) could make the savings worth the wait.

 

[Hiltz]

Would you pay another $20 above that price to be able to walk into a store & have this glove in your hand immediately instead of waiting 4-6 weeks? I think that most would. Only knowing that you could get an even better deal from a place like SBF (most people don't know & most places don't do........) could make the savings worth the wait.

You're not only avoiding the wait, you can try on several of the same model and see which one feels best. I'd gladly pay an extra $20 to avoid a palm bubble.

 

[Swinging Bunt]

You're not only avoiding the wait, you can try on several of the same model and see which one feels best. I'd gladly pay an extra $20 to avoid a palm bubble.

This used to be the case for me (but the quality and feel has been much more consistent out of the box from the past several years). I would never have bought gloves online previously for that reason.

 

[Swinging Bunt]

The Blacked Out looks great and I like the idea of SMU's, but at $359 makes zero sense for a HOH. Rolled black welting when they could've used split black. I think many of the more informed buyers would go the custom route... for less.

So many designs out there that just missed the mark by just 1 or 2 tiny details.