Rawlings Century and CII gloves

[MAS]

can anyone comment about the Rawlings Century Series and CII gloves.

how did their quality fall within the Rawlings product lineup.

What current Rawlings gloves would be comparable?

So many of the current rawlings gloves feel cheap. Is there anything decent without moving to the HOH gloves?

I can't find something comparable to the gloves I had as a kid for my kids.

[pageian]

I can't help you with where those gloves fell quality-wise with other Rawlings gloves or what they have that would be comparable today. I can tell you though that I've had a Rawlings CII-7 series glove since 1993 (? maybe '92 or '94) and it's still in good shape. They were good quality gloves. I've taken care of mine and it hasn't been abused but it has held up very well given it's age.

Mine wasn't the highest end glove that Rawlings makes I'm sure, iirc I paid something like $85 for it new. Surely they had other, more expensive gloves at the time. It may not have been the fanciest but it was definitely well built, I don't think they skimped on materials or construction. If I had to guess I'd say they were the best glove Rawlings made before you got into position specific gloves or high end pro or amateur gloves. So, maybe they could be considered top of the line for the weekend warrior.

Check out Nokona gloves if you're looking for a good quality glove for your kids. They're well built, good material etc.... A little pricey but they seem to be worth it.

[MAS]

I think I purchased my CII-4 somewhere around 92-93. It is still in great shape and I too have always taken care of it.

I agree that it wasn't the highest grade glove out there. I don't remember what I paid, but I thing the retail price was somewhere around $120-130.

As I recall, the Gold Glove Series HOH gloves at the time were in the $175-200 range. They were above what I could afford to spend on a glove at the time.

I considered the Century and CII gloves to be upper-mid level gloves. I always thought the signature gloves with the fake Ricky Henderson or Darryl Strawberry signature were the entry level gloves, then the ones without a player signature were a bit above that, and then you moved up to the gloves with the leather piping.

I talked to someone a while back who thought that even the mid grade gloves made 15 or more years ago were of the quality of today's top of the line gloves.

I have not been impressed with the selection of gloves at the local sporting goods stores. I hate to order something without being able to feel the glove. So many of the gloves today are just pieces of crap. The gloves with the vinyl linings are not going to be around 15 years from now. Even $90 gloves have vinly pieces on the back of the glove--not just the piping or the lining.

I saw some of the new Rawlings Sandlot gloves recently, then I tried it on, and the inside is cloth. Maybe they have some reason for this, but to me, a good solid glove is all leather. No vinyl. No other materials. Just leather--and good quality leather too.

[rawlingsman]

I've had my Century Series glove since 88. It's held up well over the years with the expected wear and tear. The binding has worn by the index finger as I always wore it with my finger outside the stall but that's to be expected. Not really sure what the Rawlings line-up looked like back then but if I had to guess at a comparable glove in the current line-up based on leather quality and construction, I'd say the current Gold Glove models are comparable. They can be had for less that $100 and will hold up well with some TLC. I have a HOH of more recent vintage and I think it clearly outclasses the Century Series.