The problem with less expensive gloves and nearly all gloves sold in sporting goods stores is that they're somewhat pre-broken in, and heavily impregnated with oil (which trashes the leather IMNHO). My son went through a Rawlings first base mitt in 2 months, till the point it was floppy and would have problems with scooping up balls. He now has a custom Glovesmith made from CRS leather that was a bear to break-in but it's now on it's 2nd full season and works wonderfully. I had a catchers mitt (roughly on par with a Wilson A1000) that I used to catch my son with and a 6th grade in-house team back in the day. We'll I let my son's friend use it to catch 9th grade ball while he was breaking-in his All-Star and it's pretty much useless (worn out in a couple of months of heavy use). At the end of the day cheap gloves are a false economy. I would rather spend $300 on a decent glove every 2-4 years than $90-$150 every 6 months on a less expensive model. Those gloves are fine for 10-13 year olds, but once you've entered high school you really should look at better quality gloves that are very stiff and need breaking in. Pick up a good catchers mitt and maybe it will be ready to catch games this winter or next spring. If you want a no brainer pick up the All-Star CM3100 now ($120) and if you like it, save up the coin for an All-Star CM3000 ($325) for x-mass. The CM3100 will last you until you get the CM3000 broken in and then you can use it in the slop or when your CM3000 is being relaced.