You Ain't Getting Corks. 5 Shoes You Can Cop Instead

Let's cut the bullshit. If you have a life and not well connected, your only real shot at copping the LeBron X Corks are a bunch of random lotteries and Nikestore. Face it, you aren't getting them shits. and that's okay. You'll live. You can still enjoy your weekend and, most importantly, you can still cop some great shoes for a fraction of what you'll have to spend to cop the Corks.

Here are five great shoes that you can pick up right now without having to pay more than retail.

5. Nike Air Max 90 Engineered Mesh

The engineered mesh Air Max collection is being slept on. Y'all better wake the fuck up. I love these two colorways and you can find them both in most sizes on nikestore.com. Retail is $120 and shipping is free if you have a nikestore account. You can also pick these up in the classic Infrared colorway at your local Footlocker or Champs. Treat yourself.

4. New Balance 574 "Year of The Snake"

MANNNNN LISTEN! I have these joints and they look just as dope in person, better even. You can cop most sizes here and use code GET4YOU at checkout to get them for about $90 shipped depending on your state's sales tax. Quit fucking around and cop these. Fuck you need Corks for anyway?

3. Nike Zoom Jet Turf 97 Retro

This is Brett Favre in his prime.

This is the shoe that Favre was rocking back in the day before he could text dick picks. This is the shoe he wore when he had to take his dick pics with a polaroid camera and send them shits to broads via the US Postal Service.

This shoe is a classic. You can cop them right now at Eastbay. Use code IPEB3246 at checkout to get 20% off and get them for around $120 shipped.

2. Nike Roshe Run QS "Split" Pack

If you follow this blog, you know I fucks with the Roshe Run heavy. I love this shoe, but I thought they have started to go stale with some of the newer colorways, but these are amazing. I know some overseas sites are already selling them, but these will pop up at your local boutiques, Niketowns, and Nikestore.com for the usual Roshe box price of $70. Make some calls, do some research and these should be an easy cop while everyone is beasting for the Corks.

1. Nike Flyknit Lunar 1

The Flyknit was one of my three favorite releases from last year and these are even better. The lunarlon platform is incredibly comfortable and these are an easy cop everywhere. Eastbay, Nikestore, Finishline, Footlocker, and all of those sites physical shops are carrying these for $160. Price point is a bit high, but you jabronies pay that for Jordan retros made out of synthetic foreskin leather. 

You can also wait on these to see if they go on sale, or wait until you can use discount codes online if the $160 is too high for you.

Cop a pair. You won't be sorry.

There are plenty of dope, drama free options other than these that you can cop this weekend. I know you all want Corks and I wish you all the best of luck in copping them. But let's be real, you ain't copping those shits.

When Limited Actually Means Infinite

So yesterday I did a post on my experience with New Balance's custom program,  I copped two pairs, so as you would imagine, I spent a good amount of time experimenting with the colors and materials that are available.

As of late, I've noticed a lot of boutiques have been doing NB collabs using the 574, which is dope to me because I love 574s. However, I didn't think it was very dope when I realized that every single one of these collabs can be made on New Balance's website. These stores have all passed these off as "Very Limited" usually to 50 pairs, which is unfortunate because I've already seen some of these pairs going for double retail on forums, eBay, etc. I'm not that mad at the stores because they're all charging about what it costs to make your own pair on NewBalance.com. 

My beef is how there will surely be someone who overpays for a pair on the secondary market. Fuck that. I know some will argue that if someone overpays it's their own fault for not being informed, which is somewhat true, but that doesn't make this whole thing any less shitty. So that's why I'm writing this post, so if any of you were thinking about copping any of these, you can just build your own through New Balance. 

Walters x DJ Mars "Holiday Pack"

I fucks with these. Love getting into the holiday spirit. I like supporting local shops, but fuck these dudes out here trying to sell these joints for $200+

and this fuckyberg too (shouts to @Dallas_Penn )...

I encourage all of you to go troll these two if you wish to do so. Here's a screen cap of how you can make them both on NewBalance.com :

Fuck that limited bullshit. If you copped at Walter's in ATL to support local shops, salute. If you copped to flip...

Other stores that have done the same shit recently include Ubiq in Philly:

Concepts in Boston with their "Home Vs Away" Pack:

And Kith with their Grand Opening 574s as well as their USA pack:

All of these are dope shoes in their own right and props to whoever designed each pair. I just with these shops would be upfront about the origins of these shoes and not pass them off as collabs, because that only fuels the hype machine that these resellers try to turn a profit off of. 

That's all I got on the topic, just doing my part so that we all stay informed and don't get caught out here overpaying for kicks.

Peace.

The New Balance Custom 574 Review

I recently ordered two pairs of custom New Balance 574s from newbalance.com and I could not be happier with the results. For those of you who aren't familiar, New Balance offers a custom program (just like Nike iD) on their website for two classic models, the 574 and 993.

New Balance's customs have a great selection of colors and are priced very well. The 574s are $114.95 and the 993s are $174.95. You can almost always find a 10% off + free shipping discount code to get these down to about $110 shipped including tax.

I ordered two pairs on Tuesday, Nov. 20th and both pairs arrived by Tuesday Dec. 4th. This is an incredibly quick turnaround when you consider that I live in California (They're made in Massachusetts), and that NB and UPS are both obviously closed for Thanksgiving. 

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the quality. The suede and mesh are on par with the materials you see on many New Balance collabs. The leather was also high quality, worlds better than what we're used to seeing on Jordan retros. The craftsmanship is also great. The stitching is all on point, no glue stains, and the shape is perfect. Overall, the quality is much greater than what anyone in the sneaker community expects to get for $110 these days, which is refreshing. 

I'm a huge fan of Nike iD, but this is a better product. I've never had any real quality issues with Nike iDs, but the price point + 6 weeks wait are too much to deal with when a competitor is offering a similar experience with better quality and shorter wait time. I must reiterate that the quality on all of my Nike iDs has been very nice and I'm always very pleased, I'm just trying to state how New Balance goes above and beyond on these customs.

Enough about the experience, let's get to the kicks and what inspired them:

The New Balance 574 Custom "Weekend @ Bernie's"

These were inspired by the movie "Weekend At Bernie's". I wanted to make a shoe based on Bernie's outfit because I felt like I could use another summer-type sneaker that's more toned down than all the bright ass Nike Basketball stuff I like to rock in the summer. For those of you that are unfamiliar with "Weekend At Bernie's", cheek it out. Shit is hilarious. I loved it as a kid. Here's a pic of Bernie and the fit that inspired the colors on this shoe:

New Balance 574 Custom "Ultra Travolta"

"So yeah, at the Grammys I went Ultra Travolta. Yeah that tuxedo might have been a little guido."- Kanye West on "The Glory"

That lyric set up my frame of mind when designing this pair. I just wanted to show out with these and give them a colorway and feel you don't typically get with New Balances. As far as the colorblocking goes, I was inspired by the "Red Devil" 670:

I didn't want my shoe to be a total ripoff of the "Red Devils" so I thought to go with the black midsole and add some more colors to the mix. Every sneakerhead has a ton of black/red shoes just off Js alone, so I chose to add some green and a touch of yellow to give them that Gucci colorway. I went with Green and yellow because I'm a big fan of the 24 Kilates Asics Gel Saga:

I love that shoe, but it's one of those pairs that I don't love enough to pay the silly resell prices for.

So far, I've rocked the Ultra Travoltas and they're incredibly comfy. I really love both pairs and I highly recommend customizing your own pair. You won't be disappointed.

Juicemanji's Top 15 Releases of 2012 So Far

So now that 2012 is halfway over and many of the year's major sneaker releases have come and gone, I thought I'd share with you what I believe to be the 15 best shoes of the year so far. This post is based strictly on my opinion. I personally think a great shoe combines style, quality, comfort, good pricing, and attainability.

15. Nike Lunar Flow Woven QS

This shoe was the first shoe featured on my weekly "Quality Cop" post. The woven upper on this shoe makes it very wearable, but far from plain. The classic Air Flow upper sits on a lunarlon platform, making this shoe exceptionally comfortable. Despite being a quickstrike, these can still be copped in several boutiques as well as some Nike stores. With a price tag of $135 retail, this shoe is a pretty solid value given the quality of the materials. This is just an all around dope shoe.

14. Ronnie Fieg x New Balance 999 "Steel Blue"

I've never been crazy about Ronnie Fieg's work because I've always thought that plenty of sneakerheads could come up with equally dope designs if given a dope silhouette and premium materials. However, most 'heads don't have the hustle to even be in the position to collab with Asics, New Balance, Sebago, etc. But I do love this shoe. The 999 is one of my favorite NB models and I like how Fieg was able to capture the spirit of the 1300 and recreate it with premium materials on the 999. While the colorway is very simple, less is more in this case. So with that said, salute to Mr. Fieg. 

13. Air Jordan 2012 Deluxe "Jordan Brand Classic East"

The Air Jordan 2012 has been slept on by most sneakerheads. Whether it's the high price point ($180-$223), or the unconventional look, most sneaker lovers have found an excuse to not cop this shoe and I'm okay with that. I love this shoe and was able to cop for half price. The quality on these puts Jordan retros to shame. It's upsetting that JB puts so much quality and innovation into the Jordan signature line, but they cut every corner possible with the retro line. In any case, I'm happy with the way these came out. Incredibly comfy, loud, different, and easily copped. I fucks with it.

12. LeBron 9 Elite "Miami Vice"

I'm a big fan of the LeBron 9 Elite. The silhouette is my favorite of the three LeBron 9 styles. This colorway was destined to cause a shit show in the sneaker world. Since the success of the "South Beach" LeBron 8, pink and teal have found their way onto other shoes, custom sneakers, and anything even remotely related to kicks. Hats off to Nike Basketball for designing a worthy sequel to the "South Beach" 8 despite the fact that the colorway has been played out for months. I personally like the shoe very much, but I didn't feel like it was worth the $250 price tag and the trouble. Luckily, I was able to cop at a House of Hoops restock a couple weeks after the initial release. Patience and networking go a long way towards getting the tough releases on a consistent basis.

11. Nike SB Dunk Low Premium "Premier/Petoskey"

This Nike SB collab with Premier Skateshop in Michigan is my favorite SB of the year. I really enjoyed seeing university blue and an icy blue sole, two features usually reserved for Jordans, on an SB dunk low. The upper features a stone-like pebbled leather meant to resemble the petoskey stone found in Lake Michigan. In my opinion, Quickstrike SBs will always be one of the best values when it comes to sneakers due to their dope concepts, quality materials, and reasonable price points. This shoe can still be had for a decent price. I highly recommend copping a pair.

10. Air Jordan IV White/Cement

When one of the greatest Jordans ever retros for the first time since 1999, you don't whine about the quality. Just cop and be happy, or pass and shut the entire fuck up so those who copped their first pair can enjoy without your trollin' ass bringing down the vibe, brother.

9. New Balance MT 580 x Burn Rubber "White Collar"

The Burn Rubber "Workforce Pack" featured two MT 580s, one of which was this "White Collar" colorway. High quality, black suede and light grey mesh make up the upper. The sock liner is made of the same material as a white dress shirt to maintain the theme, while khaki highlights set off the white collar look. I look for any excuse to cop from independent shops and boutiques like Burn Rubber and they make it very easy when they're putting out collabs of this quality.

8. Nike Air Foamposite One "Galaxy"

I've been a huge fan of the Foamposite since the OG released in 1997. I loved that Nike abandoned the lazy blue and red theme of past All Star weekends and went big with the Galaxy pack. I also can't be mad at Nike taking the opportunity to pay tribute to one of their most successful signature athletes ever, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway. This shoe manages to apply design innovation to an all time classic. You can't ask for much more than that. 

While I did not attempt to cop the shoe during All Star Weekend, I managed to win a pair in a raffle with a group of sneakerhead friends and I couldn't be happier about it. I was beside myself for winning the raffle, but even more honored to be associated with such a dope group of sneakerheads. While this isn't my favorite shoe of 2012, this was my favorite pickup due to the sentimental value. Shouts to the Kicks-RX fam.

7. Nike Air More Uptempo "Olympic"

The Nike Air More Uptempo was an instant classic when it released in 1995 and the Olympic colorway, which debuted in 1996, is easily the most coveted colorway of this shoe. Scottie Pippen wore these in the Olympics while playing for Team USA's second Dream Team. The full length air unit along with the dope ass "AIR" design make this shoe unforgettable to lovers and haters alike. I hope Pippen gets some royalties off this shoe to help with his financial struggles. Broke ass Scottie.

6. Nike Air Safari NRG

The Nike Air Safari is back on the 25th anniversary of it's 1987 release. This is one of the most intriguing shoes ever. A runner with premium leather and a never before seen "safari" print. The shoe's boldness was fitting and ahead of its time all at once. As a longtime Safari admirer who has never owned a pair, I'm fucking ecstatic over this release. I can't wait to cop mine, so I can be on my "God's Must Be Crazy" flow. Shouts to 23Penny.

5. Nike Air Yeezy 2 NRG

If the disgusting hype for this shoe wasn't so overwhelming, the Yeezy 2 would absolutely be in my top 3. I think this shoe is awesome. I actually like it as much, if not more than I like the original Yeezy. I just can't get over the pain in the ass it was to get a pair, the bullshit ass prices, and the way this release was the nail in the coffin to many OG sneakerheads. I really wish Nike would have made these more available, but whatever. On to the next one. I'm sure I'll make a trade for them once the value drops a bit in a year or so. In any case, great shoe, bad energy surrounding it.

4. New Balance MT 580 x Burn Rubber "Blue Collar"

The other half of Burn Rubber's "Workforce Pack", the Blue Collar MT 580 is my favorite New Balance drop of the year. Gum sole, premium navy blue suede, and plenty of 3M make this shoe UNFUCKWITABLE. Not to mention the sock liner that is made of a fabric similar to a mechanic's shirt. Burn Rubber really got their creative flex on with this pack. I can't say enough about their efforts on this collab. Salute.

3. Air Jordan XII "Playoffs"

This is my favorite shoe of all time. I wore this shoe to my 6th grade graduation. While these are not as well crafted as the 2004 retro, I ain't complaining. I'm just glad I was able to cop my all time favorite shoe. However, if these still had the metal lace eyelets on top, they might be number one on my list. The chromed out plastic was a huge disappointment for me. Despite that, I still love this shoe.

2. Nike Roshe Run

Simple, stylish, affordable, and incredibly comfortable. The Roshe Run is everything a great shoe should be. These are the most comfortable shoe I own. I can't say enough about this shoe. Nike Sportswear killed it with this shoe. Instant classic. #TeamRoshe.

1. Nike Zoom Kobe 7 "Invisibility Cloak"

While the Kobe 7 is far from my favorite silhouette of the year, this colorway is undeniable. We've seen  shoes that were slightly iridescent before (Eggplant Foams, Pine Foams, etc) but never quite like this. Photos don't do this shoe justice. If you ask most 'heads who failed to cop these, they'll let you know how much they regret passing. This will be remembered as the greatest Kobe 7 colorway and one of the better Kobe releases ever. I also must mention how comfortable the Kobe 7 is. It's form fitting without being too tight. It was a tough call, but I had to pick the Invisibility Cloaks as my favorite shoe of 2012 so far.