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[Vitas Cricket]

Shame some of the bigger boys LE look so poor though and i have seen many indifference in there rules.

I have seen many this season at the three shops i have been too good looking lower grades but poor higher grades.

Not sure if you have noticed this yet i know Vitas and others do hand pick to gain better quality and looking

We tend to leave the sort of bats you are referring to with the suppliers. But as you have seen they definitely exist and must end up somewhere.
If someone is spending a lot of money they usually want it to look good as well as perform nicely, so i like to think we do a good job picking out the very best top end that we can.

Never had an OLE from GM (the only major brand who we deal with who don't allow handpicking) that I've looked at and thought 'thats not really up to scratch.'

[WalkingWicket37]

Amazing!!!!!!!

Buy it quick mate, don't want another bat to become impossible to own! 

[TBONTB]

Another grading thread I have 606 that is mostly heartwood like this and its very grainy and a nice left 2.8 purist. It is just the heartwood, which I don't really care about but some do. Could you create a heartwood cricket brand and see at a cheaper price?

IveWoodforyourheart!

[nottinghamtiger]

Adding here so as to not create yet another grading thread!
I was pretty much set on returning to GM this year after a few years using different bats.  I decided to have a look at some of the older models bats (Flare/Halo/Epic) as well as the 2015 range at 909, Original or Original LE grade. 
Have to say I was very disappointed, particularly with the LE grade bats I saw, many of which didn't match GM's own grading criteria (lots of heartwood, wavy grains and blemishes that shouldn't be on LE bats).  In many cases, the Original bats appeared to be better than the LE bats, and sometimes even the 909s appeared to be better than both!
I'm not saying this was the case with every bat, but by far the best I found were both Originals (Flare and Halo) but both were a touch too heavy for my liking. 
Now we all know grading doesn't always reflect performance, but the least GM should be able to do is apply their own criteria to the bats they make!

[liscon12]

I'd rather trust the judgement and selection process of grading willow from a smaller independent company rather than a large outfit such as GM.

[nottinghamtiger]

I'd rather trust the judgement and selection process of grading willow from a smaller independent company rather than a large outfit such as GM.

I used to trust GM more as there is no industry standard.  At least they are open with the criteria they use and a few years ago I think it was used rigorously to grade the bats and the label on the bat could be trusted.
Nowadays, I'm not too sure.  I've barely seen any LEs that I think were as good as the LEs of a few years ago. 

[wiki]

Got a reply that this one is sold but they have a 31 grain 909 in 2-8

Sent couple of emails to talent cricket for that super grainy Mogul... No reply :-(

[i12breakfree]

Sent couple of emails to talent cricket for that super grainy Mogul... No reply :-(

Send them a tweet. That is how I got my reply.

[wiki]

Got a reply that this one is sold but they have a 31 grain 909 in 2-8

that 909 is also sold out :-(