So my first sneaker review on the Lebron XI's did pretty well. A few people hit me up behind the scenes to let me know they enjoyed the post and I just wanna give a quick shout out to them!
We all know that my blog is not about sneakers but it is about my life and sneakers is actually quite a large percentage of my life. Lol. So with that said, I wanna share another review with ya because I've been inspired by another pair.
On Tuesday after a few failed attempts at owning a pair, I finally got my hands on the new Kobe IX Elites.
Little background: I saw these for the first time about 2 or 3 months ago when word surfaced that Nike would be releasing a "Prelude Pack." The pack consisted of all the Kobe signature Nike kicks from 1-8 all leading up to the new release, the Kobe 9 Elite! Now if you know me, you know I hate Kobe and I don't care who feels a way about that! Lol. However I did like a few of the sneakers releasing in the pack, the Prelude 1's above all others. But if you know the sneaker game then you know how hard it was to get your hands on any of the releases, and for $1,300.00 you can tell Flight Club to chill.
Anyway... Initially when I saw the images for the 9's I fell in love. I think, lol. I say that because I feel under any other circumstances this particular style of sneakers would not be my cup of tea... I mean look at them, they look like some hybrid of basketball sneakers and boxing boots!
But, once again, (in my opinion) Nike knocked another one out the park baby! With the help of Eric Avar (lead designer) of course. Something about these sneakers called me, could have been the allure of the colors, the height of the sneaker which reminds me of the Air Mags which I've been in love with since 1990. Or maybe it was the stories behind the colorways.
In my research I learned that he drew inspiration from various people places and things to come up with the colors. He drew inspiration from Michael Jackson all the way to the city of Los Angeles.
This blue pair in particular, the "Perspectives" which is what hey have been named was inspired by Picasso's Blue period. The 3 year period where the artist painted things in all different shades of blue and blue-green. Initially I did not care for the colorway, but after hearing what they were inspired by it made sense to me and I literally felt that I HAD to have them.
So seeing as how finding the "MasterPiece" (the ones I wanted most) or the "Inspiration" (the ones I liked and was willing to settle for) proved too difficult, I had given up hope on finding the "Perspectives" until a walk up Fordham Rd with my boy Penny changed that. We walked passed the Fordham Foot Locker and my boy Penny said to me "Look, they still have the kicks you want." I inquired about them and the guy on the floor told me that they only had sz. 10.5 and 11 left. I almost gave up hope again until Penny said "try em anyway man, you never know!" I did just that. I tried on the 10.5 and I felt like I had just put on Cinderella's glass slipper! Lol. Yes I am a 9.5, but with flat feet and Nike's new shoes being smaller or bigger or whatever, 10.5 worked best for me.
I couldn't believe how comfortable and light they felt on my feet. I'm sure that this is due to the fact that Eric Avar's design introduced flyknit to a basketball sneaker for the first time. Nike also featured their latest technology such as flywire and lunar soles making it the most comfortable sneaker I've worn since the Lebron XI's.
Then there is the colors. Like I said at first I didn't care for them, even though blue is my favorite color... After seeing it in person though.... Well you see what we're doing here. Such a dope mix that Nike has played with before on everything from Air Force 1's to Air Penny 2's, but on this particular pair it's just something that makes it better.
The Swoosh on both sides appears to be painted and then heat dried on to the sneaker which accompanies the concept of Picasso's paintings very well.
The red stripes featured on the heel of the sneaker represent the stitches on Kobe's heel from his surgery, His logo is featured prominently on the front of the tongue along with some very cool pattern stitching.
The sole once again, similar to the Lebrons is it's own sneaker all together. An inch and a half or so ithick sole with Kobe's name on the back and is very comfortable on the foot. All in all, I must say it is an amazing sneaker. I love the silhouette and the colors are in my opinion very unique and vibrant in person!
I'm very proud of my purchase even tho I'm not huge of paying more than $200 for kicks. Yes retail for these bad boys are $225.00 so dig deep in those pockets if you're trying to cop!
I of course will NOT be balling in these lol. But for those of you who will and want a more performance based review check out my homie Alex's post/review on the shoe HERE: And of course thanks to Alex and the Team over at Zaro Sports for the collaboration! Follow them!
Hope you enjoyed my review and I'm happy to hear from you. So let me know what you feel by way of comments, emails (EnoBull@gmail.com) or IG/Twitter: @EnoBull
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Peace.
Stay Up and Stay Tuned!
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