A very interesting thread a meaningful discussion. Me being in India have started buying bats from a small boutique company in Bangalore reason being I was suddenly enlightened that I was paying way too much for these branded bats like SS,SG,BAS,BDM etc etc...Everyone here knows how many players SS,SG,BAS,NB etc sponsor & you can also imagine how much they would be paying as a sponsorship fees. End of the day they recover this money by high pricing their products. I personally have not found any difference in the quality of the bats I have bought from these guys in Bangalore. In fact I stay 600kms away from Bangalore....just spoke to them & told them what I want & they sent me exactly what I want....have already bought 3 bats from them & their prices are way way....reasonable compared to the biggies & no compromise in quality.