These are a few of my favorite things.......

[NYC]

Maverick, the XLO is an excellent gamer! What’s strange is I’ve only ever used A2000’s, never owned a Rawlings ever before until I joined here! Having said that, no idea why I’ve never bought a SP125 cause with my Wilson background, I’m sure I’d like it..........may be next?

ANNASDAD You'd be blown away with a custom Wilson in Orange or Saddle tan.

 

[MaverickAH]

I grabbed one of the 12" Evolutions when Amazon had them for like $89.99 a few years back. Between the thick leather and heavy padding it makes HOH's and A2000's feel cheap, just an absolute tank.

I always wear a batting/golf glove in my fielding glove to prevent the lining from getting damaged or sweat-soaked. My Evolution is the only glove I own that I'm tempted to go barehanded with, it just feels so good. I find the dimpling helps with airflow too, my hand never seems to get hot in that glove.

Don't forget that the Evolution's were made to sell for $250. They're not a cheap glove or cheaply made! I really wish that they had made one bigger than 12" although I'd have no problem using a 12" or even their 11.75" model for softball.

I couldn't wear a batting glove with most of my current gamers if my life depended on it! I'd never be able to get them on.

I've never been a fan of Bruciato and your glove leather looks nothing like previous offerings such as their 12" basket web glove.

Why & what do you mean, ".....looks nothing like...."?

Maverick, the XLO is an excellent gamer! What’s strange is I’ve only ever used A2000’s, never owned a Rawlings ever before until I joined here! Having said that, no idea why I’ve never bought a SP125 cause with my Wilson background, I’m sure I’d like it..........may be next?

Through high school, college & my first 15 years of softball, all I ever used were A2000's. I hated Rawlings! I just couldn't get them liked. A lot of that dislike was irrational (those "red" patches...….shudder!) but their "feel" was off for me & I did not like their balance on the hand. I was primarily a baseball pitcher so I always used a closed web glove of the dual hinged variety. Usually an A2000 XL.

You might find a SP125 to be bigger than you currently prefer. If you're like me, I've always found it easier to go down in size than go up. It's not that I can't do it. It's just that the adjustment period always seems to be longer.

 

[Hiltz]

Don't forget that the Evolution's were made to sell for $250. They're not a cheap glove or cheaply made! I really wish that they had made one bigger than 12" although I'd have no problem using a 12" or even their 11.75" model for softball.

If LS had chosen better stock pics for the Evolutions and Icons, they might've actually sold some for $250.

I play around with my 12" model at 2b occasionally, but only against weak teams. If there would've been some 12.75" H-webs cleared out for the same prices as the smaller models I would've hoarded a few of them.

 

[Wally Gator]

When I think of the PROS20BR, the leather looks like a milky puke brown. Your 302S looks deep and rich. I wouldn't have guessed Bruciato if I had to.

 

[defos]

When I think of the PROS20BR, the leather looks like a milky puke brown. Your 302S looks deep and rich. I wouldn't have guessed Bruciato if I had to.

I had to do a search, but the PROS20BRs I found online do look lighter and rather washed out. The few bruciato gloves I've had were/are much darker and richer. Those PROS20s look like midway between rich tan and bruciato.

 

[MaverickAH]

The blond looks good and you are so right about the dimple liners. Felt great in the finger stalls. The thing though when you looked at the welting, it was never straight. That was the one knock I would always hear when selling them.
When Sports A@thority carried the line, I had a buddy who was a regional manager who gave me killer deals on NWTs because they weren’t moving. Set one brother in law up with a Team like yours except with black trim and the other with an All Out H web in the reddish/brown shade like yours. 5 or 6 years later and they still don’t want to sell them to me.

the welting was the first thing i notice on all of these. it's a shame because the first thing you think is that they didn't put in the effort and makes you think less of the glove itself.

A couple of thoughts on the Insignia's came to mind when I revisited this thread...….

I don't know how many of you remember but Insignia was created after the investor group that bought Nokona in 2005, sold it back to the Storey family in 2010. Part of the agreement in selling the company back was that they were able to use Nokona glove patents in order to make their own line of gloves. Insignia was formed.

The reason that the partnership failed in the first place was that the new investors tried to automate production in order to reduce costs. In doing this, they made some ill-advised choices that almost irreparably damaged quality & the Nokona brand name. They had the right idea but bad application as they tried to computerize the process of cutting the parts of a glove out of a piece of hide in order to maximize the number pieces they could get out of said hide thus reducing costs. Unfortunately, they didn't take into account that certain parts of a hide should be used for certain parts of a glove. Their process resulted in inconsistent quality & unhappy customers.

Early on, Insignia still had the same problem, hence all of the "Blems". Once they figured it out, they were able to produce some quality gloves & still reduce production costs. Insignia All Out = Nokona Bloodline. All Out - $280. Bloodline - $500.

If LS had chosen better stock pics for the Evolutions and Icons, they might've actually sold some for $250.

I play around with my 12" model at 2b occasionally, but only against weak teams. If there would've been some 12.75" H-webs cleared out for the same prices as the smaller models I would've hoarded a few of them.

LS was never going to get $250 no matter how good the gloves were. Their name just doesn't command it. The same goes with Easton, Worth, Spalding & a bunch of other brands. I've had gloves from them & others that were as good as or better than the big three. While people wouldn't hesitate to pay that much for a glove from the big three, they immediately balk at considering other brands. That's just the reality & something that one can use in order to pick up high end quality gloves at discounted prices. Nokona is probably the only brand that consistently bucks this trend because of the Made in USA label & the more human involvement in the making of their gloves. The negative is that now the entry level for their gloves is now ~$300.

 

[Hiltz]

If LS had chosen better stock pics for the Evolutions and Icons, they might've actually sold some for $250.

LS was never going to get $250 no matter how good the gloves were. Their name just doesn't command it. The same goes with Easton, Worth, Spalding & a bunch of other brands. I've had gloves from them & others that were as good as or better than the big three. While people would hesitate to pay that much for a glove from the big three, they immediately balk at considering other brands.

You're probably right. And the average consumer didn't realize that certain LS gloves were being made in the US by another company, they probably just saw the LS logo and wondered why in the hell they cost so much more than their usual models.

But man, some of those stock pics made the Icon and Evolution lines look like $50 gloves, which they weren't.

The reason that the partnership failed in the first place was that the new investors tried to automate production in order to reduce costs. In doing this, they made some ill-advised choices that almost irreparably damaged quality & the Nokona brand name. They had the right idea but bad application as they tried to computerize the process of cutting the parts of a glove out of a piece of hide in order to maximize the number pieces they could get out of said hide thus reducing costs. Unfortunately, they didn't take into account that certain parts of a hide should be used for certain parts of a glove. Their process resulted in inconsistent quality & unhappy customers.

I remember Rous talking about this before, he also mentioned the leather's grain structure. Hides actually have a grain and pieces of leather will stretch certain ways depending on how the grain is oriented. The grain of palm pieces is oriented so the palm will stretch heel to fingertips. Since Insignia was trying to maximize the pieces they could cut out of a hide, they were flipping the pieces around with zero regard for grain orientation. So one palm piece could be cut out correctly, the next could be cut 90* to the first one and end up with bubbles and wrinkles in the finished product. I think Aso discusses this is one of his videos too.

 

[etnstudios]

i think Easton is making some steps in the glove game by getting pros involved. i'm thinking that the returns on Bregman are gonna start showing up

 

[smarkley3]

Nice post Mav, you make me wanna do a custom Optimus, LOL.
As for Insignia, the biggest problem they had is they were leather apparel people, not ball glove guys.....
I liked that Dyesville myself and had a small batch of slowpitch gloves they made but, could not work things out with them. One of the nicest samples I had was a black w red lace mod trap. It was stiff and as good as any Bloodline Nokona

 

[MaverickAH]

Bump because a couple of people asked about this thread!

 

[etnstudios]

new custom GW ordered and i hope i can add some of the features to my favorite things

 

[bajones2]

@MaverickAH do you happen to have any more pics of that PRO1000-12P?

I just found one of these in LHT the other day and I can't wait to get my hands on it. That oxblood color is a beauty and that web is nice as well.

 

[MaverickAH]

@MaverickAH do you happen to have any more pics of that PRO1000-12P?

I just found one of these in LHT the other day and I can't wait to get my hands on it. That oxblood color is a beauty and that web is nice as well.

I do! Here you go:

 

[MaverickAH]

Rawlings family pics:

 

[bajones2]

Dang that thing swallows a softball!

 

[MaverickAH]

You'll find that it plays big for a 12.25". You've got to remember that it was designed to be for the P position or a utility glove in baseball. That makes it perfect for softball infield. If you decide to use yours, just loosen the middle web laces to give them a little slack if you want to deepen the pocket even further.

 

[bajones2]

You'll find that it plays big for a 12.25". You've got to remember that it was designed to be for the P position or a utility glove in baseball. That makes it perfect for softball infield. If you decide to use yours, just loosen the middle web laces to give them a little slack if you want to deepen the pocket even further.

nice, Yeah I'm actually planning to use this as my pitching glove in baseball. I'm digging the Gerrit Cole web these days.

 

[MaverickAH]

I've been getting a lot of questions lately so I'm dragging this thread back from the depths of hell...…..

 

[Rous]

I know it's been a while since this thread started, but I can add a little clarification regarding Nokona (I got this from Rob Story himself). in about 2005 Nokona was contacted by a private equity firm out of Boston (I want to say it was called "Fenway Group" or some such). They sold Nokona a story about making Nokona a rival to Rawlings and Wilson and the two formed a partnership. They spent a lot of money on marketing and contracted with a "high tech" factory in Massachusetts to increase production. They also started making lower level gloves in China and had a bat making firm in Massachusetts start producing bats.

Then the 2008 collapse hit and bankruptcy followed. They owed the factory in Massachusetts a lot of money and in the settlement, the factory got to keep the patterns they had for making gloves. I am not sure if insignia was the factories home brand or if it was some other group that started it. They also made gloves for LS.

Nokona was still in trouble and Cutter's gloves bought out the struggling company away from the Nokona/Fenway Group. Then Phoenix-based Cutter's sold the football glove part of the business to Shock Doctor but the Cutter's founder kept Nokona. Last I heard, a few years back, the ownership HQ moved from Phoenix to the Dallas area (Nocona is about 90 minutes from downtown Dallas). So, the Storey family is still heavily involved, but they no longer own Nokona.

 

[Hiltz]

They spent a lot of money on marketing and contracted with a "high tech" factory in Massachusetts to increase production. They also started making lower level gloves in China and had a bat making firm in Massachusetts start producing bats.

That was when they brought out the "Wrecking Crew" bat line and signed endorsement deals with David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada and Vladimir Guerrero. I believe it was the first time Nokona paid for player endorsements and it didn't pay off, beginning of the end.

 

[Rous]

That was when they brought out the "Wrecking Crew" bat line and signed endorsement deals with David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada and Vladimir Guerrero. I believe it was the first time Nokona paid for player endorsements and it didn't pay off, beginning of the end.

Yep, exactly.

 

[sleepin4matty]

I thought i was the only person with that issue with the ESB #21, the hand stall seems so very tiny it almost hurts my hand

 

[MaverickAH]

The hand stall isn't tiny. The hand opening is a little smaller than what you regularly find but once your hand is in the glove there's plenty of room.

 

[sleepin4matty]

The hand stall isn't tiny. The hand opening is a little smaller than what you regularly find but once your hand is in the glove there's plenty of room.

yes, this^^^

 

[MaverickAH]

Had someone ask me about this thread so I’m bumping it up. I’ll probably be putting up some of these for sale soon. So inquiries are welcomed!

 

[rhino54]

Rawlings family pics:

What is that on the far left? I feel like I need it!

 

[MaverickAH]

What is that on the far left? I feel like I need it!

It’s a Rawlings Pro Preferred PROS3029-6BR (12.75").

It was a limited production run that Rawlings did a few years ago. It’s an exclusive release in bruciato with pittards sheepskin lining.

 

[rhino54]

It’s an absolute beauty