Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

hello all, I always have always been curious as to what has made aperson collect a certain item, why so and so collects this brand and why this person collects this ..., what propelled your collection of a certain player, maker, style, etc..... Share your thoughts. As for me I collect Tryon items, more specifically TruSport items. Strangly enough my TruSport facination started with items outside of Baseball. My grandfather was an avid fisherman and when he passed away he left me his collection of old lures and odd sport related items. In his collection he had a bunch of wood lures that still had the TruSport logo on them, so I started looking to see what else they may have made and cam across a catalog that showed a number of items that were made by Edward K Tryon, and the collection has gone from there. I think I have around 20 gloves, Tennis Rackets, BB's, Bats, Lures, Spoftballs, etc... and I still want more!

I collect the Sonnett and OK MFG brand because of their quality and unique characteristics. To me, the gloves are every bit on par with the "big" makers and they often tried new designs that didn't catch on but did make for a very interesting piece. I love the look of the 3 Finger models from the 1940's and the high quality Lightning gloves from the 1960's.

That's a cool story ...

I got into glove collecting for purely selfish reasons, I suppose. When I was a kid playing Little League I had a cheap little glove that was too small and I was always envious of the kids with the nice gloves. Years later when my kid started playing I made sure his gloves were good ones. Then, when I got into coaching, I rediscovered the importance of the right glove for the right position. The equipment catalogs that were sent to me ... oh, my goodness! All the gloves and mitts and bats ... I was like a kid in a candy store! The gloves fascinated me.

I was looking for a glove I saw a kid use back when I was in Little League. I always thought it was so cool. It had a black leather 4-point star cutout in the web. My web search led me to this site a couple years ago *I was the 100th member, I think, and I still have not received my prize * The good gentlemen here helped me find the glove, and as I read the posts I started getting even more into gloves. I dug out my dad's old glove (a non-descript, anonymous split finger), and my uncle's Little League glove (a Hurricane Trophy model). I cleaned them up a little bit; neither are in very good shape, though the sentimental value is huge.

I started my own little Hall of Fame with MY favorite players' endorsed gloves and baseball cards: Dale Murphy, Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken, Jr., Ted Williams, to name a few. Looking for them on ebay, I can't help but look at all the other great gloves that are out there.

I also have a personal, deep-seated psychological problem that leads me to look at a lot of gloves: I have a very large hand, and back when I was playing softball I had to try on a lot of the gloves in the store to find the one in a dozen that would fit. I found that I have a "thing" for trying on gloves.

The truth is, I have little reason to own baseball gloves; I need one to play catch with, and that's about it. But I own over 20 of them now, mostly from the modern era, and mostly inexpensive store brands. I guess I am subconsciously trying to make up for my lack of a decent glove back when I was a kid!

Now, I find myself, more and more often, wistfully planning on acquiring a nice D & M "Lucky Dog" glove, and nice MacGregor Henry Aaron, and maybe a .... oh, who knows where my whims will take me next? And that is part of the charm of this hobby!

I also collect books, pocket knives, and Cross pens. I guess I am an "acquirer of stuff I like," or an acquisitor, or maybe just a collector!