Different Nikes???

[The Ripper]

  Hello fellow Umpires hope you’re having a great day! I’ve been watching different Umpires for a while and have noticed that the Umpires that wear Nikes have similar and different looking masks. The thing that differs the most are the bars on the Nike. Some appear to be bigger, wider and  more forward while others seem to be further back and smaller. I have some pictures I posted on the bottom for you guys to check out. Does anybody know why this is and where do you get the Nikes that Quinn Wolcott and Mark Bass have in the photos, if anybody knows? Hope everybody has a good rest of the day. Happy umpiring!

Quinn Wolcott and Mark Bass:

 

Other:

 

[wolfe_man]

These are the same frames to be honest.  I think they look different thought when viewed at different angles - and definitely different with pads vs. without pads.  I've had many versions of the Nike Ti from all different years and they're all the same, but can look really different when viewed from a higher or lower vantage point.

I used to think the original Ti's had a bit wider ears, but I think part of it is the color changes from shiny silver to dull grey over time which plays tricks on your eyes by making it appear the earguards are different shapes.

I'll be happy to change my tune if anyone has proof they're using a different platform, but this is my two cents (or whatever inflation adjusted amount inserted here).

[MadMax]

We also have to consider this photographic phenomenon called "depth of field" and "focal length". 

The two photos of our professional umpires are taken with premium SLR cameras with premium HD lenses that have  (relative to what we peons use) enormous depths of field and focal lengths. 

It's the smartphone / selfie effect. That third photo of the mask frame itself, on a flat surface, is likely taken with a much smaller and less-capable (relative to an SLR lens) camera, and the depth of field is extremely truncated. 

Ever see those selfies of chicks, from certain angles, and their faces look much slimmer than what they really and otherwise are? Yup. That. That's what's going on here. 

However, to my esteemed colleague's (wolfe's) point, the Nike "Icon" Ti of today is different than the "first wave" models from the early 2000's. Those first-run ones had a fuller, taller XCG (which Nike tabbed as a "throat guard" (TG) so as to satisfy the Safety Police). Consider, too, the Icon was built in very limited, almost hand-built batches in Indonesia. Follow-on production batches after 2010 have seen the XCG and earguards' shapes become more standardized. 

[Whosyourcaddy]

MLB was having supply issues with Nike last year, so I was supplying them their Nike masks last year.  They are the same frame.  

Mike(818)298-1376

[MadMax]

On 11/2/2023 at 9:17 PM, Whosyourcaddy said:

so I was supplying them their Nike masks last year

"Them"??! Who's "them"??! 

I'm not disputing your role or statement. I'm just looking for... clarification.

[Whosyourcaddy]

Them= Major League Baseball umpires

[BT_Blue]

Plus, if I may, take into the consideration of pad color. Wolcott is wearing tan TW pads (we all know he moved to silver MAG pads this year). While Bass is wearing a black Wilson upper and a black TW lower.

The black pads will give the illusion of being deeper. While the tan will give a shallow looking effect. 

@UmpWRB4 if you REALLY want to see a difference in mask depth. Look no further than Lance Barksdale's Wilson TI "New View" and anyone else that wears a Wilson TI (or aluminum for that matter.)