Air Jordan 11 "72-10"

Lets check out a shoe that isn't destined to hit shelves (proverbially anyways. Jordan XI's don't sit on shelves very long, if at all, nowadays) for another 6 months, but that won't stop us from hyping up this year's Jordan XI holiday drop.

Dressed in a textured leather upper, as well as it's patented patent leather wraparound look, both in black, but the latter with an almost sparkly sheen to it. White midsole, along with a translucent sole to boot. Gym red accents in all the normal spots. Jordan insignia on the ankle, tongue, and lace tips.

In a kick style that almost duplicates the Space Jam XI's from a generation before (except not), these are sure to make for the next addition in many Jordan XI enthusiasts closets. At the paltry price of $220 nonetheless, you won't have to sell the house to get your hands on a pair. Until the resellers get their hands on all of them that is.

Bots be gone!!

72 and 10 is a great year for sure. En route to the 4th championship in the Jordan era to boot. Tell us, are you buying all the Jordan releases that are attempted adaptations at recalling Jordan's finest moments, or does it seem too "cash grabbish" to support?

The Jordan Alternate Collection destined for shelves next year

What does this picture above mean to you? Does it mean hours of pining for certain releases of numbered Jordans never before seen, until you ultimately shell out some figure at or near $200 to get your cold sweating palms on them finally? Yeah... that's what it means for most of us as well. So you aren't alone.

First things first. Check the numbers. I count 8 individual kicks in this grid. 2-pairs of Twos. 1-pair of Twelves. 2-pairs of Fours and (low-top) Fives, respectively. And 1-pair of Ones completes the pic.

While many (if not all) of these kicks have not seen the light of day before, you can see where many of their inspirations lie. Whether just being the blacked out versions of kicks we're accustomed to seeing, or subtle differences included to some of our favorite silhouettes, many of these will be heavily desired well well before they hit the streets.

If we're asking opinions here, the nearly all black twelves call to me. But don't sleep on those candy cane Fours. Tell us which are your favorites in the comments, and let us know which you've got to have.

Weekend Release Reminder

Our friends over at Nike/JB are unveiling a whole gang of releases this weekend, designed to leave you staring at your checking account Monday like, "What happened?". Stand by for the lineup. 

In no particular order, you have a Jordan 1, some KD7's, a new iteration on Foamposites, a low top Jordan XI, as well as a pack of "Championship" 7's to round out just what goes on sale Saturday morning. 

First to highlight, the Jordan Pinnacle 1's. Dressed up in white, with more white, with accents of shiny white, and then gold Jordan wings, eyelets, and nike plating. Luxury. Retailing for a commanding $400, they better be luxurious. 

Next up to bat, the newest rendition on the "What the ... " Family, this time with the KD7 imprint. Mashing together multiple renditions of KD's we have seen before, there is a certain Wow factor with these. It may very well be those hits of neon glow-in-the-dark green, all I know is, you won't have to look very hard to find somebody in a crowd rocking these... They'll find your eyes.

Foams are back in a big big way for the Summer. With a glossy exterior of dark emerald, clear icy soles, black accents, and classy hits of hypnotizing red. 3M effect on the paneling, with an underlying "fish scale" type look, and dead fish skeleton (who could do without?) on the ankle. Gone Fishin' tends to mean that somebody has gone on an extended break of some sort... Exactly the opposite of what every person sitting at their comp on NDC will do come release time. 

A small feet release of some juicy Citrus XI's in the mix. How many of y'all can cram your foot into a child's size? If you can, more power to you, and enjoy these kicks. Glossy whites meet a near tangerine orange sole, jumpman, and band across the tongue. Crisp, clean and refreshing. Just like a summer drink. 

Home stretch now.. The Championship pack 7's. Designed in order to commemorate MJ's first successive championships back in 1991 & 1992, both of these pairs take on their own individual cues reminiscent of last year's Cigar/Champagne pack 6's. This year's Cigar is caught rocking a burgundy coat, white accoutrements throughout, and a lovely gum sole. The Champagne of the pack takes on a distinctive white upper, black and metallic gold make appearances on the shoe as well. Plus, isn't everything better when you can use rings as lace locks?? 

There you have it. All of the SATURDAY releases slotted for this weekend. We didn't even touch what comes out before the weekend. Let us know in the comments down there what made your list for this weekend, and what you'll leave at the store. 

Nike back at it again

Bots. Raffles. In-store pick-ups. All pieces of the puzzle that came together in Nikes effort to level playing fields for all those who happen to purchase highly anticipated kicks from the sneaker Overlord. 

In case you missed it, Nike has revised their way they plan to unveil Heat in the future. For those of us who may not have familiarized ourselves with said policy just yet, feel free to check it out here 

While just about any which way Nike can slice the conundrum of release protocol will be viewed unfavorably by some, Bots are truly a thing of evil that needed to be done anyway with. 

In the opinion of  someone who wakes up early on Saturdays to almost exclusively secure a pair of new releases off of NDC, having entire runs disappear in nanoseconds is absolutely disheartening. At least with these new means, everyone has a puncher's chance. 

While I can see pitfalls built into how Nike wishes to unleash their products (Involving Twitter, multiple steps to register, on top of time investment of the consumer to physically pick up their new shoe), it leaves me wondering how this will play out in the public's eye. 

Is this gonna be enough of a counter-strike to crooked consumers that Joe Every-Kick will feel he has an actual shot to score the kicks he wants from Nike? Or will the small victory for us by-the-books buyers be negligible when the likes of Footlocker and Finish Line still have no ability to block bot purchases? 

It's a multi-layered onion that only time will help us un-peel. But here's hoping that this change will result in more kicks for actual Heads...not just dreaded Resellers. 

Let us know all your thoughts in the comments and just what you plan to change (if anything) about how you go about your weekend cops

Forgive us for the hiatus, but.....

Like a fresh pair of retros, we're back and ready to rock. Not only are we going to be keeping you up to date with the newest and freshest drops, but a whole slew of new and exciting content coming as well real real soon.

Just the tip of the iceberg, a brand new series of in-depth tutorials delving into sneaker maintenance and preservation. Covering topics ranging from; cleaning & rejuvenating, de-creasing, re-painting, customizing, and even restoring some of our favorite kicks. Keep your eyes opened wide for giveaways as well, those may come too.

Just stay tuned. Plenty more in the works. And thanks you for hanging with us through our growth. You won't be disappointed.