Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

I'm ready to pull the trigger on a Rawlings custom glove from HQ4 Sports. http://www.hq4sports.com/rawlings-heart ... loves.html

My son's ox blood is a bit on the heavy side so I want to get him another glove that may be lighter. My concern is that the glove may also be on the heavy side since they both are made in the Philippines. My question for the group is this: Has anyone ordered from this website and if so, what was your experience like and what do you think of the glove? You can PM me if you like. Thanks everyone!

Ox Blood is heavy due to the "pull up leather"...its oily, moist, but soft & almost ready for game play off the shelf.

I didn't use HQ Sports, but did a custom order with ballgloves.com. Would bet they are using the same program. Anyway, I ordered a brown 11.25 NP model & it is by far the lightest HoH glove I've gotten (I have about 20 mitts)--its even lighter than the PP gloves. In fact, its so much lighter, I had concerns that it was cheaper stuff. Anyway its nice....real light....ready to play after 3 catch sessions.

That's the exact glove size I want for him. Does it have the deep or shallow pocket? Right now he's using the NP5 model at 3rd but he's probably moving to 2nd next season so he should use a smaller size. I would love to see a photo of your glove!

Thanks for the info on the ox blood leather. I'll bet you're right about HQ4 and ballgloves.com using the same shop to build their gloves. Does anyone know for sure if all of the Rawlings custom glove websites use the same shop?

Can't put up a photo, as I'm the last guy on earth w/o a digital camera...also, I ordered it with a single patch web, but have since exchanged webs with another mitt (11.5 eastbay custom usa hoh) with a single post & so you won't get the true look (although I think both mitts are improved after the switch), anyhow.

All NP's are flat pocket mitts. You'll notice that they look/feel bigger as compared to the other models with bigger measurements, as they are flater & wider. The Eastbay USA custom jobs use the deeper/smaller feeling models.

Going to the local sporting goods store & fiddling with the different models will really help get a feel for glove models, listed measurements, & how they play. ballgloves.com also has "deep", "shallow", or "wide" descriptions on many of their gloves if you look around his different glove listings.

All Rawlings public custom gloves come from the same place. They are the same patterns that are already cut regardless where you order from. The Ox Blood is a heavier leather. All NP patterns are flat and wide whereas patterns like the PRO200 are a little bit more conventional meaning deep and not as wide.

all rawlings except eastbay come from the Phillipines
Doc

Where are the Eastbay Rawlings gloves made?

washington Mo.

I recently picked up a Rawlings Don Morton glove, Pro-1000HC and love it. Horween leather. Are the Phillipines gloves as good of quality as the MO gloves made for Eastbay?

If you want a true custom, Eastbay is the way to go. Doc will do just about anything you want. I’m waiting for him to get a minute to breathe and put together a custom trapeze for me. That’s right – Dad gets the USA custom built by the master and Junior gets the imported custom. I’m sure Junior won’t mind especially when Dad is footing the bill.

Thanks to everyone so far for the great information. I feel a lot more comfortable and informed about my decision since I started this thread!

I'm a big fan of Eastbay myself, but are you saying that you can order a true custom glove with options that are off the menu? As much as I like Eastbay, their custom options really don't differ that much from all the other custom shops.

So maybe this is a question better suited for Doc, but say if I wanted an 11" flat pocket wingtip single post (which for me, would be the ultimate glove), made of dry HOH leather in tan, then Eastbay/Doc could make that happen?

If that's the case, then sign me up! As much as I've been debating whether or not to pick up a Primo, I'd have absolutely no problem putting down that kind of cash on a one-of-a-kind custom piece than on an off-the-rack Primo.

Brotherray wrote:I'm ready to pull the trigger on a Rawlings custom glove from HQ4 Sports. http://www.hq4sports.com/rawlings-heart ... loves.html

Has anyone ordered from this website and if so, what was your experience like and what do you think of the glove?

I have ordered several gloves from them. Everything was cool. Great gloves, great service.