Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Custom companies => Topic started by: Washington on December 09, 2009, 02:05:34 PM
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Hey guys,
These are some pics of the Solitaire I ordered from Roger last week. I asked him to make it in the profile of an Incurza and here are the results. As you can see there are a few blemishes on the blade, however, Roger has assured me that he grades his clefts on performance and sometimes that means having an 'uglier' cleft for want of a better word.
He is in the process of finishing it and should have it by Friday so will do a review
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_001jpg_3.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_001jpg_3.jpg)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_002jpg_4.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_002jpg_4.jpg)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_003jpg_1.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_003jpg_1.jpg)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_004jpg_2.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_004jpg_2.jpg)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/cricket_bats_9122009_005jpg_5.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/cricket_bats_9122009_005jpg_5.jpg)
http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/cricket_bats_9122009_006jpg_6.jpg (http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/cricket_bats_9122009_006jpg_6.jpg)
Let me know what you think
Cheers
Dan
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Did he charge you the price of grade 1 willow?
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£100
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So Roger grades his willow on performance then?
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I received photos of the cleft when it was in a more basic form i.e. handled and pressed only. I rang him to discuss the bat and its finishing. He assured me that it was a quality cleft, so i will take his word for it for the time being until i get my hands on it and have the opportunity to review it and pass judgement then, pointless judging it before I can see/use it and would be nieve to judge it purely on looks.
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What weight did you ask for?
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I'm sure it will play well - I was merely interested in how Roger grades his bats, obviously he does this on performance as opposed to cosmetics.....which is the logical way of doing it, the only problem being if some people order a grade 1 bat they may expect 10 straight sapwood grains with no blemishes.......but for £100 you cant grumble if it plays well!
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Love the profile, it looks massive!!
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Norb - I asked for 2.10lbs he said he might struggle to get it to that weight because of the specs I wanted but he said it should come in at that or just over.
SS - yeah reading back my reply does sound a bit defensive, sorry :) Yeah he explains to you when you order over the phone that he picks the cleft for lightness and not necessarily beauty, but he did say sometimes you get both, if your lucky! He said it was also finding the cleft for my specs so guess that didn't help.
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Mine two should be here tommorrow lads...will do a review and photos asap.
Liam
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How can you grade on performance if all you have is G1?
Perhaps he just buys willow from the merchant (you usually have to buy a mix of grades) and sells it all as G1?
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Dose he do an L.E. bat? If so, how much more is it and would this be a mixture of both performance and cosmetic beauty as opposed to him just finding a cleft that would perform well to your specs?
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Thats what i was thinking - if all he did was sell g1's then he would have several hundred/thousand grade 3/4's and velums lying about which he would have to do something with - passing them off as grade 1's would be bloody difficult mind you as people should realise that a knotted and stained cleft isn't really a grade 1.....im still a little dubious of Roger for some reason, im sure he's a top bloke but just one of those feelings i guess.
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Norb - I asked for 2.10lbs he said he might struggle to get it to that weight because of the specs I wanted but he said it should come in at that or just over.
SS - yeah reading back my reply does sound a bit defensive, sorry :) Yeah he explains to you when you order over the phone that he picks the cleft for lightness and not necessarily beauty, but he did say sometimes you get both, if your lucky! He said it was also finding the cleft for my specs so guess that didn't help.
That is slightly confusing as if he picks for lightness you should be able to get 2lb 10oz on an incruza profile. Unless you asked for specific spine and edge height
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yeah i asked for bigger edges than that of the adidas and a thicker toe as i have, like Tom (ayrtek), problems with edges and toes splitting/cracking, ask Hit4Six . . .
As to comments regarding grading etc you would have to ask Roger, but as ive said previously i will reserve judgement until ive taken delivery.
SS I have seen 100's of bats from all the top brands GM, Puma etc that sell bats as a G1 with staining and knots, this doesn't mean they are not G1 in my humble opinion. . .
With regards to Roger and his G1, if thats what they are, then you would struggle to find a G2/G3 for that price.
Its something i am willing to take a gamble on . . .it may pay off and may not
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I would say it is around 2lb 14oz maybe more with grip etc
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Yeah as it is in the photo but its unfinished
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Dan, there is a big difference between the top end bats with a few pinholes and the odd watermark and those bats with knots and stains - anyway, the point being, he must have a shed load of lower grade willow which he will have to use or is already using and passing them off as grade 1's.......there is no way on earth he could go into wrights and order 100 grade 1 clefts and not have to buy 200 grade 2's, 400 grade 3's and a shedload of grade 4's and velum.
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and if he says he is grading on performance....people dont think about it at all when a pig ugly bit of willow turns up! Because they think it will perform like g1.
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Yeah i see what you are getting at but I guess i just need, for the time being, to trust Roger. When i get the blade i will do an honest assessment/review of the quality of the product.
Come January i will be able to give a more detailed review
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Sorry mate, it sounds like im having a rant at you - I'm not - I'm just skeptical of his grade 1 bats........when you do put pics up could you do one of the handle please - thanks :)
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Yeah as it is in the photo but its unfinished
Based it on this one and looks like it has a grip on it?
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/cricket_bats_9122009_004jpg_2.jpg)
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Nice dan yeah bat looks great.
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very nice looking bat with shape, unlike the Solitaire shape I have seen usually on forums.
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SS - not its ok mate im the biggest skeptic there is, so i guess i im trying to justify my outlay! haha . . .yeah i will do mate no worries will have extensive pics :)
Norbair - yeah but its been modified since then, ideally i was after a 2.10lbs but if its an ounce ot 2 over i dont mind as I have bats upto 2.14lbs
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Ahh ok..
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Looks nice, great shape. The only grade one bat I ever purchased was a plank, since then I've ignored looks but with mixed results.
SS- "and a shedload of grade 4's and velum." What is Velum willow?
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Re: willow purchasing i have spoke to Roger about this on the phones as i knew you were fairly sceptical and rightly so Dom. Roger's reply was that he has had a very good relationship with Jeremy at Wright's for over thirty years from when he made bats for other companies back in the day and i think it may be sort of a personal arrangement.
I am thinking chaps, of asking Roger if he will do a Q+A via email as sort of an interview which i can then type up and put on the forum. Would you lads have lots of questions?
Liam
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Looks to me that a lot of people have opinions based on very little, don't see anyone saying they have bought a bat and there was a problem with it. There are a lot of bat makers who grade the bats on performance and a lot who base it on cosmetics and i feel there are negatives on both ways.
I'm pretty sure most bat makers buy willow from the merchant and then re grade it to suit themselves and a lot of makers hold massively different opinions on what is grade 1 and whats not. I fall on the side of grading on performance as i want ultimate performance on all of my bats regardless of what they look like. Ive had many lower grade bats which have been considerably better than most G1 bats I've had.
My bat should be here tomorrow from Roger so i will have no problems passing on my opinions good or bad once i have seen it and played with it.
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Dont warsop do only grade 1 bats?
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watsontotty - I agree with you , people will have varying notions of what passes as grade 1 willow and it's really not that important if the bat plays well. My problem with Roger's 'only grade 1' bats is this. If you grade on perfromance all the time, then every single one of his bat's could potentially pass as grade 1, whereas if you grade on cosmetics this makes the grade 1 bats less widely available due to the limited nature of clean willow with x amount of grains.......there are of course pro's and con's both ways and in a sense you will never please everyone...... It's always interesting to hear everyone's view on this kind of debate. I agree with you, if a bat plays well it couldn't care less if it has knots, stains or wavy willow.
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GM have 3 levels of Grade 1 bats -
Original LE - The very best unbleached naturally seasoned Grade 1 English Willow, selected for grain structure and weight, Limited by willow availability
Original - Superior unbleached naturally seasoned Grade 1 English Willow, Straight grained with a hint of colour and minor cosmetic blemishes
909 - Unbleached naturally seasoned Grade 1 English Willow, Predominantly straight grained with colour on one edge and minor blemishes
Why cannot a G1 be just a G1..... i do not understand 3 grades in G1 - so is this like G1++, G1+ and G1???
Going by my experience a week back, the stock of the LE and the Original seemed to be not limited by willow availability as all the shops had ample stocks of these 2 grade and in some cases even more stock than the 909's......
I picked-up a 909 which had 8-9 grains - not straight (slightly angled) but evenly spaced and just a bit of color on one edge and a butterfly mark towards the toes (which is good for a bat with a thin toe).... but surprisingly this bat felt and pinged much better than the Original and similar to the LE )all bats were the same weight). The only diff was that the LE had a cleaner blade (mostly all the LEs had 8-12 grains but not always evenly spaced) and the Original had tight grains (but not evenly spaced) and some color on one edge.
But does this matter?
It is quite diff to understand how the batmakers grade their willow - basically everyone tried to do what suits them and their business more and get more money in.....
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They have Butterfly bats along with the technique bats that they could be using a lesser grade willow for - but that is just a guess.
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Yash i see where you are coming from. . .there is roughly a £100 difference between the LE and 909 and what do you get for that extra £100? The answer is an aesthetically more pleasing bat ie easy on the eye. I friend of mine has just bought a GM Flare 909 from Romida for i think was £170 or there abouts and that has several blemishes and stains on the face and several more on the back of the bat. . . .but the pick up and feel of it was extraordinary! It was 2.8lbs and it felt superb. He brought it to me in work yesterday and we gave it a few taps with the mallet and first impressions were great.
So why spend a £100 more on the same model but an LE when all your getting is nicer grains?? It madness! I once spent £240 on a Newbery Uzi and it was sh*t it looked like Cheryl Cole I tell you but when it came to performance it was more of a Cheryl from the royle family!
From that day on i decided i would try the 'smaller' companies who offer G1 willow at lower prices with a greater service. Its not that im cheap it just makes sense
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Dont warsop do only grade 1 bats?
No
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Re: willow purchasing i have spoke to Roger about this on the phones as i knew you were fairly sceptical and rightly so Dom. Roger's reply was that he has had a very good relationship with Jeremy at Wright's for over thirty years from when he made bats for other companies back in the day and i think it may be sort of a personal arrangement.
I am thinking chaps, of asking Roger if he will do a Q+A via email as sort of an interview which i can then type up and put on the forum. Would you lads have lots of questions?
Im so tempted to get a solitaire bat as I am not to far away from his workshop. I would love to see what his bats are like the the flesh as Solitaire seems to be a bit of a Marmite company - people either seem to love it or not!
However I do think it would be beneficial for Roger to come on the forum and try to answer the questions that people seem to have over his brand. I for one would like to hear more about Solitaire
Liam
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Hey guys,
I took delivery of my Solitaire this morning so thought I would post a review seeing as Solitaire are making quite a stir here on the forum.
Ok so when i spoke with Roger these are the specs i was after (in brackets is what i got)
Weight - 2.10oz (2.11oz)
Handle - SH, Oval (SH, Oval)
Profile - Adidas Incurza with the following alterations - extra thick edges and toe. (exactly what i ordered)
I was after the Incurza profile as I used an Elite for a game last season and it felt great, and I scored some runs with it! haha. But what i liked about it was that it was very forgiving, like an oversized driver in golf. So i asked Roger for a long middle on the bat. I had sent Roger as many pics of the profile as I could to help him. Unfortunately my team mate is over in oz playing some cric with his incurza so couldn't send it to Roger to copy.
I have to admit I ws very skeptical after the intitial reactions from the unfinished pics i posted a few days back, and I was anxious to take delivery of the bat.
My first impressions were . . .oh sh*t there are stickers on it (when i had asked for it blank), I can honestly say though im over the moon with what i got. You really have to see the size of this bat to believe how big it is and how little it weighs!! The pick up and balance are great!! Funnily enough i kind of like the stickers!! Had i not ordered some adidas ones i would have left them on!!
The oval handle of the bat is large in diameter, but luckily enough my hands are big so it suits me fine! But just for those who are considering buying a Solitaire this maybe a point to consider if your ordering an oval handle.
That blade of the bat has 8 grains, not dead straight but near enough and has a few marks but overall its a good looking bat . . .no Cheryl Cole . . .but hey!! The finishing of the bat is great and its obvious Roger takes great care in his work.
So I then picked up my trusted old slaz bat mallet and gave it a few gentle taps, then plunged straight in and gave the middle a few whacks! The sound was high pitched which was great to hear and the rebound quality was fantastic!
CONSULTATION AND TIME TO MAKE BAT - 8 Days - 10/10
COMMUNICATION - PHONE AND EMAIL - 9/10
DELIVERY - 9/10
SPECS - Overall very happy - 8/10
BALANCE AND PICK UP - 8/10
FINISHING - 8/10
VALUE FOR MONEY - 10/10
SERVICE - 9/10
OVERALL - 9/10
Would recommend Solitaire very highly guys for a £110 posted you cant go wrong. I may not have covered everything so if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0654.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0655.jpg)
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(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0656.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0657.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0658.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0660.jpg)
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(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0661.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0662.jpg)
(http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/yabby21/My%20Solitaire/DSCF0663.jpg)
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that is one cracking bat :D
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Looks a lot better and more balanced then the original pic's
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Looks really really nice.. See you have pretty good photography skills also... :)
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haha cheers mate i like to dabble :)
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looks like a pretty lush bat, hope it plays as well as you want it to
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Yeah i guess thats the ultimate test or the acid test. . .will know a bit more come jan/feb and should have a good opinion on it by may after a few games
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Think you can often get a goodfeel of a bat from picking it up and using the mallet with it so first impressions sound like it should be a good'un. I think it is a shame for Roger as lots of people in this forum have formed or had formed for them negative oppinions on Solitaire.
I might have to take a little drive to Worcester to have a visit and find out more
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Yeah thats a fair point. . .and out of all the bats i have its the one im looking forward to most using this summer!
I think its a great shame, and if im honest i was one of those! I had sent him an e-mail mid season as someone had recommended him but he never got back to me so i left it til a couple of weeks back! I had a £100 knocking about and i wanted another bat so i thought i would give it a try and im utterly glad i did. If it plays as well as i feel it will roger will do some great business out of from me for a few years.
You can have any bat made you want for £110 posted
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looks really nice, good review too. Great value for money at £110, i have to say!
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Great news just goes to show you dont have to get ripped off by some bat merchants for a quality performing bat, my two have arrived aswell so keep your eyes peeled in the reviews section chaps!
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that is quite some bow! did you order this?
looks a very nice bat although im afraid to say im still a skeptic.
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Yeah the Incurza is quite bowed anyway, but im a bit a of front foot player, love a drive . . .so simply asked for a pronounced bow.
Well i dont expect anyone to change their opinion based on my word, but i like to think im an honest guy so i just hope my review gives an unbiased view and cuts Roger a little slack as he's a good guy and doesn't deserve the opinions some seem to have of him.
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Correct Dan! My review is also up in the bat reviews section!
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I know what you mean about being a little bit of a skeptic - but so far I am quite impressed from what I've seen.
The profile looks great and it looks like a nice bat Dan. And for a ton, it looks excellent value too.
Nice review - and look forward to seeing your reviews seedy.
Will be ordering one early next year to try one myself!
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Pete- how many bats do you have?!!! You're like me, every decent picture of a bat I see, I NEED to own!!
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Around 45 bats :-\
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f**k off . . . 45 bats???
Thats mental!!! hahahaha
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MY GOD!!! 45 bats!!! Are you married? how on earth do you a) store them b) pay for them c) use them all??
You would need to play every day through the entire calendar year! I thought I was bad!!
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Yes married with kids. Store them in a large coffin which I store in my wardrobe, althhough they are also in a couple of large bags/
Pay for them - with cash mate! I work hard, earn a lot of money, and buy what i want.
Use them all - I play on Sundays and Wednesdays. But also play some matches for a company side. Also a level 2 coach and do some net sessions.
So although i cant use them all, i have the opportunity to use several a year if i want to!
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Blimey, I think I would be divorced and broke at the same time! I love a good bat too, but I just couldnt get away with it! Lucky man!!!!
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Well, the wife hasnnt needed to work in the last 12 years, and she has her handbags, her shoes, and her place in Italy and Cape Verde - so she lets me have pretty much loads of slack!! ;D
Saying that, I think that I may have enough for the moment!! :-\
Will even cut my collection down by half next year! It's a great collection though, and won't be easy to decide what I want to keep!
I may start a new topic so that everyone can help me decide what to keep ???
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Quite a large bow on that!
Willow looks quite nice, as do most of the solitaires ive seen.
Just dont like the shapes.
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lol at 45 bats
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Lucifer they are all custom you can have made what you like!
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Graet idea for a topic that pete . . .would love to know what you have in your collection :)
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yeah, and rank them in terms of preference/ runs scored etc
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I would do, but quite frankly, I have only used several of them so far!
But I will certainly make a list in a new topic, so that people can look at the list and question my sanity! :)
It's 46 bats actually! As I ordered an AS V3 from Pakistan!
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Get it done Pete . . .your sanity is intact, if i had the money you've got I would have 100's!!
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Thats one quality solitaire!
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as much as I'm intrigued by the 45 bats, I'm more intrigued in what Pete does for a living!!!!
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they are £100 but whats £55 between friends! Yeah im pretty intrigued too, wonder if he wants an gofer??? :)