Elephant In The Room

Anyone lucky enough to experience the NBA All Star festivities in Dallas last weekend got to check out the Jordan Brand Mosaic 23/25. My boy Fred (aka T21D) went and got to do free laser etching (elephant print) on the toe cap of his AJ2010's. He said they only allowed 15 minutes per shoe and offered numerous fonts & Jordan logos. Dudes were doing iPhones, laptops and other kicks...

Word to Fred for the info & these pics (San Antonio Sneaks Up!)

Dopeness! And a closer look at the ASG Joe Johnson PE AJ2010....best colorway thus far...


So today is Ash Wednesday...what did you give up for Lent? I made sure not to give up kicks this year! If you were one of the lucky souls to be in the French Quarters to celebrate the Saints championship on Bourbon Street & managed to stay a week later thru Fat Tuesday, good luck finding a new liver. Here's a peek at some Mardi Gras-themed AJ CP3s for New Orleans' own Chris Paul.

(I hope you don't heave your breakfast)...


Nasty isn't it? I'm sure it's a performance beast, but this colorway is a no-no. This shoe reminds me of the AJ XX2...


Same lines and even outsole similarities.

For those of you feening the 25th (silver) AJ anniversary kicks, your retros are here: on FNL.com in FSR, the AJ 1 with briefcase...




...and hitting spots next week the AJ 2...


Lastly, a peek at the HyperDunk 2010 Laker colorway....

As you can see from the 2008 Laker HD below, not much has changed -- just a sleeker look.

Rejuven8ion!

Watch for the Nike Rejuven8 LunarLite Mid collection to drop soon. Basically, Nike took the midsole from last year's big hit Lunarlite Trainer...

...and the upper of the 2008 Rejuven8...


...and mashed them together. Tons of sweet colorways for these bad boys, especially for spring (pics per Sneaker News); Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" (LAF)...

...simple black/grey...

Kobe 3-esque grey/columbia...

and a tennis ball colorway? Hotness!

This past weekend Niketown Chicago got the Anniversay AJ 2010...


with a twist...



Columbia XI-esque midsole! Much better than the sample above. As of yesterday, NTC still had pairs left. I saw these on display last week, but figured they were part of the white/red collection 1-XX3/AJ2009 for display only.

SMH at myself at missing this release.

I will say, I truly am excited for the AJ2010 now. You saw the silver PE version Dwyane Wade wore in the All Star game. The GR white/red/black can be snagged most everywhere now...

...later this spring, the black/columbia blue AJ2010 (pics per Ming/MS)

...and the D Wade "W3lcome Home" PE...

Decisions, decisions.

March Madness in 2010 looks to be bonkers with a wide open NCAA field. While there is no clearcut favorite (some might say Kansas or Kentucky), there is a clearcut line-up of hoops shoes dropping that month that looks hard to beat. Inline & USC PE Kobe 5s, "Oreo" AJ 6s, Lebron 7 CTK/Akron/Dunkmans. Now you can add this Away SVSM to that list...

Pics per by dude Nick at SC. Hot damn! Might top the Akron as my fav LBJ Max VII...expected to drop at HOHs next month.

To follow-up on our Kentucky Wildcat LBJ 7 post 2/1/10, here are some pics of the LBJ 7 Low UK PE that the 'Cats were wearing 1/30/10...


^ pics from Nikelebron.net (thanks, Greg!). Boring colorway, IMO...looks like a tennis shoe.

Calipari & staff rocking them with suits (a very bad look).

In runner news, the 2010 version of the AM95 Neon Retro is starting to hit select accounts...

These should be everywhere by the end of the month. Will this be a bi-annual release from now on!?

HAGO!

Hi Ho Silver!

My goodness! Check out Dwyane Wade's NBA All Star Game shoe! Crazy! 2-pt win for the East & D-Wade is your ASG MVP...

The Air Jordan 2010 released this past weekend. As expected Brand Jordan gave their All Star endorsees PEs to rock. In addition to Wade's silver AJ2010s above, check out Joe Johnson's PEs...

Air Max Rise don't look too bad.

West squad...

East squad...

The King's locker...

Bron Bron...

Great game!

I Love GRs...

I am not a sneaker elitist...I am a sneaker lover.

It doesn't have to be rare or limited for me to like it. I don't care if I wear a shoe that only I have or everyone else has....as long as you love it, thats all that matters.

I love GRs. I really do. I love general releases, even though many of the sneaker afficionado public thrives on "quickstrikes" and "hyperstrikes".

Sometimes the best colorways are the ones you can walk up and buy at your local FootLocker. No hype, no gimmicks, just shoe. You can buy them at anytime. You don't have to wait in a line on a certain release day or pay a premium for after release day on eBay. You can't knock a good looking shoe that is readily available to purchase.

I used to be one of the biggest Air Jordan nuts ever. I used to buy most everything and would opt for the limited edition, hard-to-find models over the GRs. As my interest waned on Air Jordans, my interested turned to Kobe & Lebron's signature lines. I don't know if it's because they are two of my favorite players to watch & follow, but I always look forward to seeing what they are wearing (D Wade & K Durant just don't do it for me).

In terms of a Lebron or a Kobe shoe (or any shoe for that matter), I'll get it because I like it. Or because of sentimental reasons (if I wore it during a particular event or if Kobe/Lebron wore during a historic event). I won't buy a shoe because someone tells me to. Or because it carries a cool nickname. Or because it's rare & "will go up in value".

I recently passed on several harder-to-obtain Lebron VII shoes (Moon Cake/Chinas & All Stars) and opted to purchase a general release shoe that you can find at any FootLocker...

The white/navy GR LBJ 7. It's a simple & clean colorway. I'm not someone who has to have every colorway, nor do I have the wallet for it...so I am selective and get what I like. And these I really like.

I had to wait in line for this colorway of the same shoe...

Limited & numbered to 123 per city, it carries the premium SVSM HS colorway and a bullsh*t $40 mark-up (SMH). I love both of these pairs, but I actually love the GR white/navy better. Why? Because I think it looks better.

Now take the Kobe V "Away" shoe...

A GR that you can find at any FootLocker, House of Hoops or Niketown with ease. A simple Laker colorway. This is my favorite Kobe V so far. Not only do I like the look of these, but Kobe broke the Lakers all-time scoring record in this shoe...

Nike did this event right; they made a shoe from a historic moment accessible to the general public. Remember this Nike Zoom Kobe I "81 point edition"?

They took the player exclusive colorway of the shoe of his 81-point outburst vs. Toronto and celebrated it with a 81-pair scavenger hunt across Venice Beach. Thats all. C'mon Nike. Eff that.

So the Away holds sentimental value as well as looks good. I even like the "Away" Laker colorway more than love the "Bruce Lee" quickstrike...

This shoe has the prerequisite to be a sneaker classic: a cool nickname, a flashy colorway, only available at certain stores across the country. But in the end, it's another gimmicky colorway that lives and breathes hype.

Did you know minus the Dark Knights Kobe is winless when debuting a gimmicky V colorways? Blown out Christmas Day in the Chaos V vs the Cavs and taking an L at home vs the Nugget in the Bruce Lees. Yikes.

My message is simple: buy what you like (and wear them!). Don't buy a shoe because it's limited or someone says they are a must-have. Buy it because you like the way it looks. Get it because it invokes special memory or moment in time...

I passed on All Star Kobe Vs for this GR ^ . The all red ASG's are very hot, but I must say Kobe sitting at this weekend's All Star Game kinda dampered my feelings on the shoe...

Have a good weekend, all!

SB City

The month of February is bringing some hot models/colorways for the SB line (finally!)

Dark Army Stefan Janoski SB (saw these today - hotness)

"USA" Nike Dunk Low SB (Olympic inspired)

Deep Orange/Blue Sapphire Nike Dunk High SB

Coogi/Cliff Huxtable Dunk High SB - dumb concept, dope shoe

Blue Sapphire Nike Zoom P-Rod 3 (geez, so many all-blue kicks out this month)

"Chirping Bird" Nike Dunk Low SB (fur....really?)

Gold Leaf Nike Blazer SB

Nike Dunk Mid SB (Bacons?)

Blk/Blk Zoom P-Rod 2.5

Also, a first look at the home version of the Nike Zoom Kobe V...

Broke...

Time to watch rest of Duke/UNC. Good game!