Reissues

[Mr. Mitt]

Hunt has updated their descriptions. Perhaps not 100% accurate, but much better than before. Curious as to if they'll allow bid retractions based on the revisions. Will be interesting to watch and see how high they go.

This has been a fun and informative thread!

[BretMan]

When someone first mentioned the Rawlings reissues, I thought of an older print ad, not the newer 2000 catalog.

This magazine ad was (from what I can find) published in 1969 to hearld the coming of Rawling's latest invention, the Fastback fielder's glove. The ad features a collection of Rawlings gloves with innovative features from the earliest days of baseball.

This is the only image of the ad I was able to track down. Perhaps someone here has a copy of better quality. It's kind of blurry, but it looks like maybe the stamping on the Bill Doak glove matches the glove that JD posted earlier in this thread. The stampings on the 2000 catalog glove include the word "Rawlings", whereas the glove in the earlier ad apparently does not.

I do have a few reissues in my collection that I either picked up on the cheap or was given as a gift over the years. They are the Akadema Ken-Wel Dazzy Vance, the Nokona Joe Jackson and an Akadema Reach Babe Ruth, complete with reproduction picture box. The Ruth was given to me by Akadema co-owner Joe Gilligan as a token of his appreciation for reviewing their line of remakes on an internet dicussion forum.

[murphusa]

I really had to do a double take when coming across those Rawlings gloves at Hunt. My first reaction was WOW!!! The Rolfe with the "wound trap" is spectacular. Then I began to wonder if the pair were reissues as their conditions are too nice to be vintage. I assumed they were, but never kept track of remakes, so don't know when they're from.

Given that Hunt mistakenly categorized the gloves as vintage, what's your take on the Wilson "Ace of Diamonds" counter display sign? Again, they say vintage, but it sure appears to be a reproduction to me.

In going through the auction catologs this past week, I came across another Wilson sign and they describe it as cardboard with a felt like material

I think that would have to be in any description

[Mr. Mitt]

Thanks for snooping, murph. I was burned once on a Stall & Dean Cobb advertising display and won't make that mistake again. They're too easy to reproduce and I don't know enough about them to be confident about originality. I made the choice years ago to simply stay away from them.

[murphusa]

Sign went for $369.00
Rolfe $483.00
other one $238.00

[vintagebrett]

That's crazy for the Rolfe. Wonder what a vintage mint one would bring.

[Rickybulldog]

Just in case anybody was worried about me outbidding you on something in the Hunt auction I just got my catalog in the mail today! Thank goodness for the internet!

[mikesglove]

Spalding made their version of reissues and called them the "Retro Series". From what I read, they were originally offered 25 years ago and have since been discontinued. As far as marketing, Spalding made good use of their history in the glove box graphics.

The glove is a retro/modern Trapocket model. Along the pinky is stamped "Game Used Leather". The leather does look distressed to a certain extent. The old design Spalding cloth patch was blown up 5 times the size and sewn to the wrist strap. I think this glove & box sold for about $75 on ebay.

[mikesglove]

The Spalding retro series also included a catchers mitt with the same style box. The ebay seller was asking $500 for this mitt w/box. Anyone know of any other Spalding retro series?

[mikesglove]

Here's a Wilson A2000 "Shooting Star" reissue model made in Japan.

[mikesglove]

Thanks for getting pictures of the tagging - they are definitely not vintage. They may not have been made for the intent of resale but I still classify them as reproductions as they are not vintage stock. I bet there were made with a purpose in mind - most likely as a display models as you suggest - either for a ballpark or for a Rawlings display.

I'll get a better quality pic of this next time I run over to my parents house but as you can see, on the cover of the 2000 Rawlings catalog, they had these reproduced versions of the gloves. There is a Rolfe glove and it looks similar to the one in the Hunts auction.



Value is whatever they end up at in the auction - I'd value them less because I'm not a big Rawlings fan and they are not vintage. But to someone who likes Rawlings items, they could be very valuable.

I'm glad that David has been monitoring this and will update the listing. The gloves will still do well but it's reassuring to know that the bidders will be informed as to what they actually are.

This has been a great discussion - thanks for everyone's assistance and opinions - keep them coming!!

I found a photo of the back of gloves in a Rawlings display.