u/Run-ning

I ordered a custom Grace Korean kip catcher's mitt back in the Memorial Day sale (original thoughts here including other mitts: New mitt) and have been working on getting it broken in. I'm an older men's league player in an 18+ league where guys are usually throwing 70ish but our team has a couple of young guys in 78-82 range and one 83-85 that will sniff 87-89... love catching these guys. I had been gaming a Mizuno Pro mitt but since the season is winding down decided to YOLO on in with the Grace. I broke it in dry with a moist wipe down of the palm leather early and a conditioning w/ Sarna a couple of weeks back. I wear it traditional with index out and I'd guess most would call it bullpen ready at time of first game action.

2 games and 300 ish pitches w/warmups and overall I'm very happy with the mitt. Excellent pocket on the deeper side but not to the point of losing feel, super light to wield, effortless transfers even with the deepish pocket, and comfortable to use even in very hot conditions.

I was a little concerned about getting thumbed with the trim thumb pad but took a direct shot from a foul tip fastball over 80 and while it stung more than the Mizuno, there was no injury. That's some luck of the draw but my general takeaway is that it's satisfactory, and my Endoskel fits in there fine if I want to add some more protection.

Glove is dirty even after being brushed and wiped down. I'll give it a good cleaning in a couple of weeks.

TL:DR:

The good:

- Super comfortable, handled some hard pitching with no issues, easy and fast transfers, excellent pop, no real pop-outs even with my amateur break-in

The less good:

- Not much palm padding if you miss the pocket, some ringage on the index vs faster pitching unless you get it way to the left, slight slingback if caught in the web (though much less than I thought there might be)

The outlook:

I am fully comfortable with this as my new men's league gamer and am confident it will last at least a couple of seasons for my use case.

TL:DR - ordered an Emery 1627 and have some nitpicks, but overall am very pleased out of the box. Absolutely on par with HoH/A2000/my Grace, but not as plush as Pro Preferred/A2K.

I've been looking for a shallower (but not too shallow) utility-type glove and am typically a Rawlings guy, but find the KB17 to be too big/clumsy feeling for my taste and an NP pattern a little small. I also greatly prefer single welting and the split single welt is near and dear to my heart. After doing some research, I opted to get a custom Emery 12.25" 1627 in Korean kip; ordered it on June 27th and it showed up today. Initial impressions and photos are here along with a visual comparison with my Bryce Harper R9 12.5", Horween Pro1000, and custom Grace 33" catcher mitt.

Initial impression is that this thing is the stiffest glove I've ever had, right on par with the SSK Z9 I never broke in. Pattern is quite wide but still has clear potential to be fairly deep (see comparison pic w/ the PRO1000). Hand and finger stalls fit the taper of my hand almost perfectly, something between a Rawlings PRO205 (little big) and Wilson 1787 (tight and small on my hand) stall size. The PRO1000, in comparison, has excess space and is even a touch loose on my hand, and my hand is not small, while the R9 is fairly snug. The Grace, while being a catcher's mitt, is similarly comfortable to the Emery.

Leather quality seems very good and construction very good as well, completely in line with the price and reputation. Maybe the ever-so-slightest bit below the PRO1000 and Grace with respect to attention to detail but only if I'm really nitpicking, and it could very well be the result of hand-building or something simialr rather than anything truly negative. The overall texture and feel of the leather is similar to the Horween PRO1000 but less supple. It also has a slightly rougher/grainier slightly drier surface feeling to it than the Grace Korean kip that is almost shiny on the back. Not a better/worse thing at all, just a little different. The Maroon (Emery) and Wine (Grace) colors are also highly similar, shown in the pictures.

The nitpicks (and they're mostly very small): couple of small scuffs on the palm, slight dark stain on the maroon palm lacing, not the cleanest cut on the palm flap carrying over onto the back of the glove, online builder image does not show the "Summit Series" logo on the palm like others do (this is already known). The biggest thing though is that the maroon embroidery looks nothing like the shade of the maroon leather; it's almost magenta. I understand there can be variance in shades compared to the online builder but this is pretty drastic. I don't really mind it and don't know if I'll follow up with Emery on it, but it's too different to not notice and comment on.

To close, overall impression is very positive and (embroidery shade difference aside) nearly everything about the glove is as good or better than I hoped. Looking forward to breaking it in and using it.

My custom Grace catcher's mitt arrived today and, as many others have said, the quality is right on par with the upper-end gloves we all know and love. Nothing new to add there and full credit to Grace for a great mitt. Pictures of just the mitt are included after the group photos.

As my son and I are both catchers we use some other less common mitts. Thought it might be helpful to share some initial thoughts vs what I have on hand and provide visual comaprison of pattern/shape.

Bottom row:

- Wilson DPCM33, 33" Pro stock, starting break-in

- Grace, 33" Korean kip, brand new

- Mizuno MVP Prime, 34" Bio Soft leather, broken in and gamed

Top row:

- Wilson DPCM33, 33" Pro stock, well used, made in Japan (other one is not)

- Mizuno Pro GMP-2000, 33.5" Deguchi Northern European kip, recently broken in and new gamer

To start, I'll say that I like and my son loves the DPCM33 mitts and we find the new CM33 to be a notable step backwards. While the Grace is obviously not broken in at all, I find it very, very similar to the DPCM33 in construction, weight, shape, feel, and handstall size. The Japanese influence in the Grace pattern is apparent in the more square receiving area vs the Wilson, and the pocket looks like it may be even a bit deeper. Neither the Wilson nor the Grace accommodate a finger shift but they also don't strike me as being designed for anything but index finger out. You can shove your index in if you want but I find it uncomfortable vs the natural index out.

The Mizuno Pro is a much heavier duty glove a la Rawlings and IMO a completely different design philosophy; brute vs light and quick. I find it most comfortable to wear finger shifted with index in the middle finger spot, though it is becoming more comfortable to wear index out. The leather feels a little heavier and with a slightly textured finish vs the Grace's smooth kip. Neither good nor bad, just an observation.

The MVP Prime is the odd one out here as it is a budget level glove, albeit a very nice one, with a large and forgiving receiving area. Impossible for me to finger shift but as an adult must be work index out to avoid constantly taking the brunt while receiving. I actually really like this glove and find it to play with a lot of agility but use the Pro for ease of transfers... just can't get the hang of transferring out of the MVP Prime's cavernous pocket with less ball feel than the other mitts.

I've also had Rawlings CM41 and Gary Sanchez HoH mitts but disliked them for various reasons and quickly moved along.