Hey folks,
here are some pics of my Nike DE Pro 11.75". Just arrived today - I splurged for the 2 day shipping since the actual glove was so freakin' cheap.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katich24/s ... 251496977/I'll just make a couple of remarks now on my first impression:
1. Leather is beautiful. I've never been a Kip person, so it isn't my favorite leather, but its very nice. VERY stiff.
2. Construction seems very sound. I found one minor odd thing - need a picture to explain. Otherwise, very well put together.
3. Huge. Though I've always used smaller gloves (eg. PRO200's at 3B), so I feel like I could use this in the OF. I don't have a soft tape measure, but I don't believe that its only 11.75".
4. Pinky seems oddly large to me. Also, there are very obvious "stays" in the thumb and pinky. Never been a fan of that.
5. Yes, it is definitely difficult to get your hand in at first. My hands aren't huge, and it was difficult. Seems like working with end of a mallet should fix it up quickly though. But in all honesty - to use a common phrase - I would not say that this glove "feels good on the hand" out of the box.
6. At the moment, it seems like it very badly wants to break in thumb to index finger, which I don't like. I tried to force it closed thumb-to-ring finger with my hand in it and i feel like i almost broke my pinky finger. Its too early to make any firm statements, but my guess is that its going to take some work to get it to close the way I want it to.
7. Glove bag and mallet are both amazing quality, though i still have no idea what the hiz-ell I'm supposed to do with a glove bag.
Overall, very nice. I mean, I got it for $99, so I'm thrilled. For the time being, I'll say that I don't think I would ever spend $300 on it, let alone $400. But its early. I'm REALLY anxious to see pictures of one of these once someone breaks one in.