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Most Expensive Gloves Available Today
Price tags can be all over the place for baseball and softball gloves.
Some are surprisingly cheap.
Others may cause you to do a double take to make sure you’re seeing things right.
In this article, we tackle the topic of very expensive gloves for baseball and softball.
We touch on things like what causes gloves to be costly, typical price ranges for high-end gloves, and we look at some of the most expensive gloves on the market today.
Ready? Let’s go!
What Makes Gloves Expensive in The First Place?
There’s got to be real reasons why some gloves are so expensive.
Right?
Of course there are.
In our experience, we see at least four main factors that drive up the cost of a glove.
Rareness
If you've ever collected baseball cards, you understand the value of something that's rare.
A Shohei Ohtani card that's 1 of 1 has such a low pop and is so rare that it will command tons of money.
So it is with gloves.
Some manufacturers make limited edition gloves that are low population. There might only be five of the same type, for example.
Such scarcity, or rareness, drives up price.
Materials Used
The types of materials used in a glove can also dramatically affect the price.
It's not just having high quality materials - although that's important - it's also about the rareness of what's used.
For example, very unique, specialty animal hides (such as giraffe) can command top dollar.
If steerhide is used (which most gloves are made of), typically Japanese kip leather is the most premium and expensive steerhide.
Where it Was Made
Where a glove was manufactured also matters when it comes to price.
Like many products, something made in the US or Europe will be more expensive than something made in China, for example.
Nokona is a good example of a glove maker who manufactures their products exclusively in the US while Mizuno makes their gloves in China.
Customization
Ordering a custom glove is more expensive than ordering a non-customized glove.
With most manufacturers, the more elements of a glove that are customized the higher the price. For example, if you customize seven parts of a glove, it will cost more than if you customize only one part.
The Most Expensive Gloves For Sale Today
Now that we’ve established what (generally) causes certain baseball and softball gloves to have high prices, we’ll now look at some of the most expensive gloves you can buy.
Baseball Gloves
Nokona Exotics G-Series
The Exotic G Series by Nokona are the most expensive gloves currently on the market.
Let's take a look at what's influencing their cost.
First and foremost, they're made out of animal hides not normally used in gloves. In particular, they use one of the following five animal hides: giraffe, alligator, elephant, caiman and shark.
Talk about exotic (hence the name).
So if you ever wanted a baseball glove made out of a shark, this one's for you.
Nokona acquired hides for Exotic G series gloves through the process laid out by the "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species", so everything was legally obtained.
In addition to the unique material in each glove, only five of each have ever been made.
Each one arrives in a custom built box too, which is pretty neat.
So if you have a glove in this series, you'll own one of the rarest types of gloves on the planet.
Lastly, each glove was handmade at Nokona's factory in the USA.
For all these reasons, Exotic G Series gloves are some of the most costly of any gloves freely available on the market.
At the time of publication, they cost from $1,200 to $1,000 each.
Other practical specs about these gloves are that they are all designed for infielders at 11.5 inches (except the elephant glove at 12 inches) and that they are designed to be broken in, so they're stiff out the box.
Nokona SKN Series
Nokona's SKN series of gloves is their most expensive set that's not limited to a certain number made.
What's driving cost north on this glove series?
Mostly, it's the type of leather being used. SKN gloves use a combination of American bison leather and hide from Japanese calves.
The result is a strong but lightweight, premium feeling glove.
SKN's are also made in America, by hand, which influences the price.
Nokona makes SKN gloves for first base (13") and the infield (11.5" and 12"), and currently they retail around $550 each.
Nokona X2 Series
The next most expensive glove series is made by… you guessed it, Nokona!
Coming in at the third highest price baseball glove is the Nokona X2 series, which currently retails around $480 each.
They have a real nice dark, walnut color, which gives it sort of a vintage look.
X2 gloves leather is made out of a mix of steerhide and kangaroo, the latter of which is known for being especially durable.
It's American made, and a big selling point is that it comes mostly broken in already.
Nokona makes an incredibly wide variety of different sized X2 gloves, including infielder gloves, outfielder gloves and an X2 catcher's mitt.
Fastpitch Softball Gloves
Nokona SKN Series
The most expensive fastpitch softball glove you can get is the SKN series by Nokona.
Like its baseball counterpart, SKN gloves are made of the same mix of bison and Japanese calf leather.
They were also handmade in the US.
You can pick one up at either 11.5 or 12.5 inches for around $540 each.
Nokona American Kip Series
There's a lot of America in this glove series.
Not only were Nokona's American Kip series gloves made in America, but they use leather from steer that were born and bred in the USA.
That leather then goes through a tanning process to make it resemble premium Japanese kip leather.
This series has a lot of variety in terms of having many different sizes and colors you can pick from.
And it can all be yours for around $460 each.
Other Expensive Gloves (not named Nokona)
One thing is for certain, Nokona makes some expensive gloves.
They're expensive because they're handmade in the US and they involve many different, high quality materials.
What about other gloves on the market? What about those that are also expensive, even if they may not surpass Nokona prices?
There are two non-Nokona glove series in particular that are premium quality and cost a decent amount.
First is the Wilson A2K. These gloves are made with the top tier of leather hides that Wilson owns and they tend to have added palm padding.
And did we mention they look incredible?
There are A2K gloves available for every position.
As of the publication date, A2K gloves cost between $300 - $400 each, depending on the exact model.
Another expensive glove model is the Pro Elite by All Star.
These are super high-end catcher's mitts available at the following sizes: 32", 33.5" and two 35" models.
Outside of Nokona models, the All Star Pro Elite series are the most expensive catcher's mitts on the market. One can be had for about $450, as of today.
Thanks for Reading!
If you were looking to learn more about the most expensive gloves out there, then I hope you found this article to be helpful.
Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments.
Thanks for stopping by Catchers Home.
Scott Perry
Scott Perry is the owner and lead author at Catchers Home. He's a former baseball player, a current coach, a husband and a Dad. He remains as passionate about baseball today as he was as a kid.
