Yay or Nay

Like most people, I was getting stuffed on Thanksgiving.  In this pic, DeMar DeRozan is seen getting stuffed here too.  And as I chose not to brave the masses for Black Friday shopping, I also chose not to line up for the black/red AJ IVs that DeRozan is rocking. 

Since I didn't do a blog post this week, I decided to do a "yay/nay" post, something I haven't done since February...

A Yay to my man Mache on these "Big Bang" Lebron X customs.  Fire!  (I met Mache this summer; one of the nicest and most humblest dudes you will ever meet in the sneaker game).

A big Nay to the Nike Air Force 1 Foamposite "Black Friday".  Throw out a theme and the Swoosh will make a shoe.  Sheesh...
 

 
A big Yay to the adidas Derrick Rose 3 Low "Lake Shore Drive". #perfectsummershoe

A big Nay goes to the Kobe VIII "Christmas" edition, which emulates an ugly sweater concept ("ugly" being the key word here)...

And last but not least...

A Yay and Nay to the Doernbecher edition Nike SB Dunk High.  The Nay goes to the lousy design and colorblocking, but a humongous Yay goes to Finnigan Mooney, the 10-year old who designed these.  Mooney has survived 13 heart surgeries and his design shows his success.  Good for you, little man!  These drop next week.

Lemonade, anyone?

In 2005, one of the most coveted "packs" dropped at a select few stores worldwide: the Nike Air Max Powerwall celebrating 3 decades of cushioning.

The pack consisted of seven colorways of the some Nike's most iconic Air Max models: 1, 90, 93, 95, 97, 180, 2003 and 360. 

Each model came in various color palettes and materials and featuring different graphic applications, seen here.  But all share one similar detail -- paying homage to the designers of the original Air Max models.  The insole of each shoe shows a "history of air" timeline...

One of the most elusive (for me) was the "Lemonade" Air Max 1. 

 The shoes feature 3M material with an "AIR" monogram pattern.

I finally landed a sz 10 in pristine condition. Score!

Did They Really...

30 years ago the movie Porky's hit theaters, starting decades of teen party films...

Next week the movie inspires the Black Friday release of a Nike SB projects with Concepts in Boston.  Here's the teaser...

Spizzy #2

As discussed last month, the Spizike holds a special piece in my heart.  I finally snagged a pair of the Gym Reds...and they land on #2 on my Spizzy list!  
 

Busted these out for volleyball last night. Matches our red uniforms perfectly!

Pigeon-Holed

With hype brewing for this Saturday's Staple Design "Black Pigeon" New Balance 577 collabo with size?, I couldn't help but bust these out of the box to see the original one that started them all...

For those of you who don't know who Jeff Ng is, he goes by "jeffstaple", the founder of Staple Design.  Originally agraphic designer, he discovered his passion for fashion at the Parsons School of Design.  An internship with a streetwear clothing company quickly turned into his own business by silk-screening t-shirts in his spare time.

After he walked into Triple Five Soul in SoHo in 1997 wearing one of his tees, the owner fell in love with the design and placed an order for a dozen of Ng's tees.  From there, Ng launched his Staple Design mens collection and then his own store (Reed Space) in 2002.  Staple Design describes itself as "a positive social contagion".

The shoe that started the Staple sneaker craze were the Nike SB Dunk Low "Pigeons", which caused riots on release day in 2005 (roughly 200 pairs were released).  

Released in 2008, the New Balance 575 "Pigeon" x STAPLE (pictured in this CNI blog post) dropped in a grey/red colorway, the first of the three Staple "Pigeon" NBs.

The second NB, a white version of the 575, released in 2009, with 1077 pairs being rumored as the total distribution.  The third one drops this Saturday.....but this original grey/red colorway remains one of my favorite sneakers of all time!

A Staple To The Game

New Balance, Jeff Staple and size? (UK-based sneaker shop) announced this week that another installment of the Pigeon-based NB retro runner will be dropping on November 17.  This is the third edition: white, grey and now black.

Air Obama?

Why not cash in on today, right?

The Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro High "Election Day".

 
I'm not gonna lie...the insoles are a nice touch!
 

KnitPicking

So, if you didn't hear, adidas and Nike have been duking it out in the court system, debating patent infringement over their "knit" running shoes: the adidas Prime knit vs. Nike Flyknit.

I have yet to try on the Primeknit shoe, but the Flyknit Racers and Flyknit Trainers are my favorite Nike shoes to drop this year.

These shoes scream quality: the one-piece Flyknit upper is lightweight and breathable, providing high support and stretch where you need it most.  Combined with a Phylon midsole, these suckers are light.

The Flywire threads wrap around the midfoot for an adaptive fit and provide enhanced support.

And the Flyknit Trainer has my favorite cushioning: Nike Zoom!  This model boasts Zoom Air units in the forefoot & heel for low-profile and responsive cushioning.

Shoe of the year, folks...

Simeon Says

Say hello to the "South Side" Derrick Rose 3...

If you're wondering the colorway, its a play off his high school colors (Simeon).

Dropping November 9th...