BIRTHDAY PICKUPS

NIKE AIR VORTEX "OBSIDIAN/TEAM ORANGE"

Today I'm sporting a VNTG'd retro colorway of the Nike Air Vortex.  Of course, I immediately scrubbed the midsole to try and clean it up a little, and it came out pretty good on this pair!  When it comes to simplicity and comfort, shoes like the Vortex and Epic are among the best, and I'm glad Nike finally has gotten around to retro'ing these.
YEAR OF RELEASE:  2012
STYLE CODE:  429773 484
MATERIALS:  Suede, nylon and mesh with a leather swoosh
COMES WITH:   White and navy laces
RETAIL:  $85

NIKE PRE MONTREAL RACER "TREASURE BLUE"

Here we have a pre-vintaged pair of runners that I have cleaned up somewhat for their first wear.  Overall this is a dope retro of a shoe that was originally designed for track star Steve Prefontaine for the1976 Olympics in Montreal.  This pair is named after the colorway.
YEAR OF RELEASE:  2012
STYLE CODE:  476717 400
MATERIALS:  Suede and nylon
COMES WITH:  Blue and white laces
RETAIL:  $85

BLAZER HIGH VNTG "SIZE? EXCLUSIVE"

click photo to enlarge

Here we have an exclusive colorway for Size?, a UK-based shop.  The colorway is reminiscent of an older Stussy-Nike collaboration and is said to be based off of it, with minor changes including the pre-vintaged tongue and midsole.
YEAR OF RELEASE:  2012
STYLE CODE:  375722 201
MATERIALS:  Leather
COMES WITH:  White flat laces
STREET VALUE:  Retail

SNEAKER REVIEW - DUNK LOW VNTG "REVERSE MICHIGAN"

Here we have another "vintaged" dunk that I cleaned up. This particular pair stands up well to a scrubdown and I was able to get these looking almost new!  The colorway is a retro of an old co.jp dunk sporting the classic University of Michigan "Wolverines" colorway.

A LOOK BACK - DUNK LOW VNTG "RED/NAVY"

Thunderstorms en route.  I'm guessing any rain hitting these will probably make them look better and hopefully wash more of the "vintage" treatment off.  Don't get me wrong, these are still dope and really comfortable.  So much so that when I broke them out today it got me back online and checking out some of the new dunk releases on nikestore.com, which I almost never look for anymore.  Check out some new pictures below (click to enlarge) as well as my original review here.

SNEAKER REVIEW - DUNK LOW VNTG "RED/NAVY"

Co.jp is a designation typically reserved for a pair of Nikes only released in Asia.  There are several such dunk low and high releases (such as the reverse Ultramans) from over 10 years ago that now fetch relatively high dollar amounts among collectors.  This year, Nike went ahead and retro'd four such dunk lows; here we have a red, white, and blue colorway.  Much like the recent AJKO retros, the newer versions have the vintage treatment added to them, which means pre-yellowed midsoles and dirt painted onto the shoe.  Some collectors may not mind the worn effect, but I gave my pair a thorough scrubbing.  While I was not able to remove all the pre-vintage, I at least got them relatively new looking.  In my opinion, slight amounts of this effect are ok, but the default amount Nike used is overbearing.