In at number 8 we have the Nike Zoom Force 1 in Blue / Black
These are a thing of beauty. A snowboard boot based on the Air Force One silhoutte. A blue waterproof upper with black swoosh and heel tab. The swoosh is stitched on with white cotton, while the Nike Air logo on the heel tab is finished in white plastic. The inner boot was heat moulded to the foot when purchased for ultimate comfort.
The midsole does contain embedded Zoom air cushioning to help stable the snowboard ride, the sole of the boot also resemble's that of the duck boot, with extra heightened traction points throughout.
Although clearly built as a performance shoe, these encorporate everything that is lovable about the Air Force One and therefore are wearable on the slopes and quiet Bishop's Stortford streets. I have worn these 0 times to snowboard in so far, and once into town to do shopping.
In April next year I will wear these 10 hours a day for 5 days straight while in Austria, I have to say that week can't come soon enough.
In at number 9 we have the Air Jordan 4 in Black and Red (BRED)
This is a retro of the 1989 classic that Jordan hit 'The Shot' in. A complete nubuck black upper makes this shoe ooze class. The midsole has subtle hints of red, white and grey to add just enough colour.
The tongue clearly displays the Air Jordan flight logo and is an absolute classic. This is only the second retro release after its last drop in 1999, the main differance here is the lack of Nike Air on the heel. This has now been replaced by the jumpman.
This shoe was not too difficult to get hold of, most websites completely crashed and had sold out when they became live again but Nike store had stable servers and all sizes left 25 minutes after release. Overall a very wearable, classy shoe that is hands down more appealing than the Military Blue and Fire Red colour ways that released again this year.
Aren't blogs built to neglect them? Well it's been nearly ten months without a post so after some inspiration recently from a fellow collector Mark Whitfield (follow his blog) I'm also putting together a best of list from purchases this year. Drum Roll please...... In at number 10 we have the Nike Dunk Hi Premium QS in Rogue Green / Black
As detailed above this pair consist of a mainly Rogue Green upper, 3M detailing on the swoosh, a black plastic midsole and translucent sole. This colour way features the words Kilo and Delta in black military letting behind the swoosh which stand for the initials of Kevin Durant (Kobe and LeBron had a colour way each also)
This pair were released in February 2012 as part of Nike's annual releases to coincide with the NBA All Star game. This year it was held in Florida, the home of NASA and so had a 'Galaxy' theme across all shoes that were to tie in with the weekend. Admittedly the Dunk's were the easiest to attain, there was no camping for 7 days on Oxford Street for these but personally they were the best of the bunch. Above you can see the Nike lettering in NASA font on the sole of the shoe. A great touch.
NASA were responsible for the development of Velcro, and as a homage to this Nike chose to make the swoosh completely removable as well as the NASA inspired logo on the tongue via this means. I prefer the shoes with these features than without but it allows a bit more freedom for creativity (upside down swoosh anyone). The galaxy effect that was prominent across all of the All Star releases is subtly used on the interior of the shoe and a small flight pull tab is on the removable swoosh.
3M material is used to great effect as seen below and really makes the shoe stand out from the crowd at night.
A lot is made of Nike's pricing structure right now, it is often ridiculous how much some shoes are being released at to be re-sold at more than most people's monthly wage but these came in at £75, I think that's incredible for the amount of detail and quality these shoes have. A worthy entry into the top ten of 2012.
It needs no introduction. Royalty rarely does. August 8th 2011 Jay and Kanye dropped the throne, and they've been watching it ever since. May 18th 2012 the Throne lands in London on the start of the european tour. That shit cray.
Any blog should surely start with a passion. It seems attempting to play football and watching it on numerous occasions every week while spending stupid amounts of money on trainers I may never wear would be a great place to start.
On Friday 17th of February at 9:11pm I walked to the side of Niketown Oxford street and joined the queue to purchase the above trainer, the Air Jordan Retro IV Black/Cement. I was second in line, I felt pleased. Perhaps slightly worried that it may be the Belgium gentleman to my left and myself the only ones bothered by this release. It was a relief then that when the doors opened at 11:55pm I was at the head of a 200 strong line of 'sneakerheads' all going crazy for this shoe.
And why not. A piece of sneaker history. Never make the mistake of calling this JUST a trainer. Originally released in 1989, it was the second design by architect turned designer Tinker Hatfield after his previous model the Jordan III. Michael Jordan wore this design on his way to a fifth-in-a-row ALL-STAR game and third-in-a-row League scoring title. However arguably Michael's stand out moment in the shoe would come in the opening round playoff game against Cleveland when he would hit the series clinching hanging jumper over Craig Ehlo to beat the buzzer, cue pandemonium and an iconic celebration that was actually missed when aired live.
After firmly establishing itself in basketball history the shoe then went onto do the same in popular culture with its appearance in the Spike Lee movie 'Do The Right Thing' where the character Buggin' Out, bugged out over the Celtic's fan who scuffed his brand new pair.
To finally drill home the idea of this being the must have sneaker Nike had already been using Spike Lee's Knicks loving Mars Blackmon to promote the Jordan III's and it turned the screw on the hugely memorable commercial campaigns when the Air Jordan IV was released. The Jordan/Mars Blackmon ads are considered Nike's most successful even rivalling Apple's '1984' ad campaign. All of this marketing was unheard of in 1989, and helped establish the Air Jordan IV as one of, if not the most influential sneaker of all time.
The shoe saw a re-release in 1999 with the Nike Air logo displayed on the heel as per the 1989 model and it hasn't been seen in this OG colour way since. 13 years is a long time to wait for a classic. The shoes mix of white leather, mesh and cement coloured plastic hasn't aged a day and even the replacing of the Nike Air logo with the Jumpman logo (Jordan brand try to not be labelled as Nike) may upset purists you can't deny this look is timeless.
As londoners and tourists passed the ever growing line on Friday evening many would stop and ask why. Is there a sale on? Quite the opposite. Many people uttered the words "For a trainer, are you mad?" Again quite the opposite. To me, mad is watching the omnibus of Eastenders. 3 hours of mental and physical torture. Standing in line for under three hours for a huge slice of sneaker/basketball/pop-culture history was a pleasure not a burden.
This is the first of many camp-outs this year, every Jordan holds a story and i'll be there to tell it.
