Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

I want to thank whomever it was on this Forum for giving all of us a heads up on Wilson A2000 knockoffs. Let me tell you about my most recent experience:

Last week, I was searching new glove listings on eBay as I usually do throughout the day, when I spotted a listing for a Wilson A2000 XLO. "Buy it Now" price was $65, plus s/h charges. I bought it, congratulating myself on scoring a nice A2000 glove for less than A2000 money. When I got it, the glove looked like a decent glove, but most definitely not A2000 quality. I had read some of the older postings on this board (just last week!) about A2000 knockoffs and the lightbulb went off (well not literally, of course) and I started doing some checking. I sent an email inquiry to Wilson Sporting Goods, and got a reply from Francesca Campobasso. She asked me to send pictures of the glove, which I did immediately. Well it took a couple of days, but she got back to me this morning and my worst fears were confirmed, it was in fact a knockoff. After a few emails back and forth with the seller, he agreed (somewhat grudgingly) to take the glove back and return my money. Bottom line, Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware. This was truly my mistake for not looking more closely before I bought the glove. In my excitement over spotting what I thought was a great deal, I did not use due diligence. It cost me some time, a whole lot of aggravation, and numerous emails, but I was lucky to get it resolved. I will be a lot smarter in the future, thanks to what I've learned. I feel kind of foolish, because I've been doing this long enough to know better. Live and learn.

Getting back to my first thought: Thank you to the member(s) who posted this topic and thanks to the other members for contributing to the thread. If not for that, I would never have known about A2000 knockoffs.

Thank you also to Francesca Campobasso @ Wilson Sporting Goods. Fran, you are simply the best. Thank you so much for your time and efforts in helping me to get this issue resolved.

I understand that this posting makes me look kind of stupid for not being more careful, I'm fully aware of that. I just hope that my mistake helps to prevent someone else from repeating it. I was lucky to get my money back, maybe the next person won't be so fortunate. Caveat Emptor!

regards to all, br

I remember warning the board if the Chinese can decrypt Microsoft Windows and render perfect copies of Rolex Watches, they sure as heck could knock off a Wilson A2000 baseball glove.

The counterfeiters can copy an A2000 looks, but I doubt they can tan cowhide to "original Wilson specs".

Glad you caught it.


-GG

Hello wjr953,

Was this an "XLO" with a closed basket web, a Rawlings-style fastback finger hole, and a Wilson Korea circle on it? I see this kind of glove from time to time on ebay, and almost always ask myself why an A2000 would have features inconsistent with what the A2000s were running during that time. These gloves are fishy.

I'm glad that you got your money back.

Sincerely,

John

My question is this? Is the Wilson name/brand anywhere on the glove or does it just say, "A2000?" And it seems the glove may be missing some of the standard features of the regular Wilson A2000s. So mainly a knockoff of the A2000 name and some basic look a like?
Funny because I just picked up a Wilson Pro 1000 which is a model Rawlings has had for years.

John,
Yes, the glove is exactly as you described it. The round "W" fabric logo has Korea written just below it and the "Wilson" fabric logo has Made in Korea written just below that. The leather quality is most definitely not A2000. It also has the cloth inner palm lining, not leather. I don't know if Wilson made an A2000 with a cloth lining in the inner palm, I'd thought they were all leather. In the seller's defense, it's really not a bad looking glove. It's simply not an A2000 and as such it does NOT warrant A2000 money! Another tip-off, in the inner pocket just below the web, it has "DeepT Well Pocket" imprinted on the leather just above the "A2000" circle logo. If anyone would like to see pictures of the glove, you can contact me via email and I will be glad to send them along to you. The other more important thing that we all need to think about here is this, if there's one out there then there's probably a whole lot more out there, and that's just plain wrong. What the heck is this world coming to when people are counterfeiting baseball gloves?? Geez! Is nothing sacred anymore? Again, thanks to all of the forum members for being on top of this and getting the word out.

br

Softball,
Yes, it has the Wilson logo all over the glove. Unless you knew what you were looking for, and unless you knew A2000's, it could pass. Especially for someone that doesn't have the knowledge or experience to know the difference. I am one of those people that really should have known better. I have never stepped away from admitting a stupid mistake when I make one, and this was certainly one of those. The only thing that saved my butt was that the eBay seller offered a 7-day money back guarantee. If it was a "Sold As Is" auction, I might not have been so lucky. If that had happened, I would have been forced to get eBay involved to resolve the dispute. My past experience with eBay has been that they are unavailable and virtually unreachable. Invisible really, especially when it comes to getting problems resolved, unless of course it favors them. The outcome would have been 50/50 or lose/lose. This glove was sent back to the seller, my refund is pending. Refund has been received.

br