sneaker reviews, part one (Nike Retros and adidas)

I decided to break the shoe reveiws up into three categories: retros, Nike Shox and New Balance. It makes the posts shorter and easier to read. Here goes:

Nike Air Force 1 Mid (white/white)

This should have been a no-brainer. I’ve liked these shoes for a long time, but couldn’t bring myself to buy them. I thought the assault of that much white on my size 13’s would be too much, plus cleaning them would be a challenge. It’s not a shoe that looks great dirty. But one day at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Greensboro, which sells exceptional shoes for a big-box store, I might add, I got the urge. Haven’t looked back since. To date I’ve only worn them a couple times, but they are sooo phat. I wonder how they played basketball in these things, though. I mean it’s a nice looking shoe, but God is it heavy. I don’t buckle the ankle strap and I keep them loose. They look real good.


Nike Air Force 1 High (white/black)

I bought these on a fluke. They were just there in Hibbett Sports in Martinsville, a place I very rarely go, because the mall it’s in kinda sucks. Anyway, they had been sold out everywhere else for months and seeing them there I had to have them. They’re not terribly comfortable despite the cushioning, but they have the coolest ankle strap (worn backwards hanging off the shoe as I’ve seen others do) and people ask me about them favorably wherever I go. That’s heaven for a shoe guy like me, not that I need validation, but still, it feels good.


Nike Delta Force ¾ (white/red)

I wanted the high top version of this shoe so bad when it was out in the ‘80s. Seemed like everybody that was cool (to me) had them at the time. I almost had it. My dad was going to get me the white/natural colorway at Cox’s Fashions in Rocky Mount, but I wanted some color (plus my elementary school “rival,” Travis Thorp had that color). So we went to Leggett department store up the street which had the white/blue colorway (which nobody I knew had) but charged more for it. My dad refused to spend the extra 10 dollars to get me what I wanted and I think I ended up getting a pair of Nike aerobic shoes, or some cheap shit like that. Not a great story.

Fast forward to 2004. Nike retroes the ¾ high, which wasn’t that popular back in the day, and didn’t sell this time, but Dick’s in Greensboro had it on sale (told you they were fly) so it gave me an opportunity to get something like what I wanted at a lower price than Nike charged in 1987. It’s a “pretty shoe” as my mom says and the “sure-grip” lining (my words) hold the feet in place very well. I love these shoes.


Nike Dunk Premium (khaki/brown/white)

These are the rarest shoes in my cache, but I almost didn’t buy them. I thought they were cool, but the color combination of the brown and khaki didn’t seem very fun. Belk SouthPark (can you believe a department store got some rare shit like that? But that’s BSP for you) finally put them on sale for next to nothing, and I bit the bullet. The materials are first rate, and the Dunk is one of Nike’s coolest basketball shoes ever. They’re hard to coordinate with my clothes, but it’s still so cool. Definitely a winter shoe. Looks silly with shorts because of the color.


adidas Superstar 1 (white/black)

This replaced an old pair of Superstars I had for a few years. It’s an aesthetic masterpiece. Something about this shoe is so right, it’s scary. There are more comfortable shoes; there are more technologically advanced shoes, but the Superstar stands on its own as the ultimate sneaker. The best adidas has made, by far.

Coming soon: Part Two (Nike Shox)