New Balance M577 ‘Farmer Market’ Pack - Fall 2012

It's good to know that there are still QUALITY hand-made sneakers being made by New Balance amidst all the crazy, hyped up & overpriced marketing that is Nike & their South Beach theme LeBron sneakers and the recently released Nike Air Yeezy 2. Being the giant that they are, Nike's current marketing strategy is simple. Create overpriced, cheaply made sneakers for the most hated NBA player in LeBron James and the world's biggest jackass in Kanye West; market them in LIMITED fashion with bright colors equals mad cheddar as they say. On the opposite spectrum, there is New Balance, the maker of some of the finest quality sneakers, a brand that is big enough to get heads turned without the inflated ego. Their marketing gimmick is also a simple one, bring back QUALITY product that are locally made. Sounds familiar? Well that's the whole inspiration behind this 'Farmer Market' pack. Quality product that are locally produced within the U.S.A or U.K. The offering will also be made in limited fashion since they still hand made and thus will cost more, but like shopping at the Farmer market, you know that the product is made to last and good for the SOLE, get it har har.....look for this FARMER MARKET pack from New Balance around the end of September or early October.

PUMA Disc Blaze LTWT Sportys

Never had a pair of these growing up, was to busy with basketball, Reebok Pumps and Air Jordan. My brother had a pair of Puma Disc, thought it was the coolest thing next to the Reebok pump. The technology eventually kinda phased out, PUMA as a brand focused on different things. They splash into the basketball market by signing Vince Carter and that didn't worked out too well, VC15 eventually left and PUMA was back to pushing their old school bball kicks again. The Clyde. Then a Jamaican sprinter came into the scene, beating everybody at the 2008 Beijing Olympic. Broke records, winning events after events and resurrected the once defunct performance unit at PUMA back into the saddle. Retro craze starting to go out of control thanks to the swooshies, then upstart Chinese companies starting to gain grounds into lifestyle footwear as well as performance. Then it hit them like a ton of brick. Why not bring back the DISC lacing system? If folks weren't ready for them back in the early 90s, they should be ready for them now, I mean it is 2012, flying cars are supposed to follow in the next decade, so sneakers shouldn't depend on laces anymore right? Look for these PUMA Fass Disc Blaze soon at your local PUMA retailers.

Nike Air Yeezy TWO - RELEASING TOMORROW

There is nothing bigger right now than the release of the Nike Air Yeezy 2. Everyone and their moms wants them, a select few already got 'em (Nike folks & celebs) and of course Mr. Jackass, Ye, himself and his super friend, Mr HOV, Jay-Z got theirs months ago. At $245, this is not the most expensive shoes that just came out recently, but this will be the MOST sought after since the Nike MAG last year. At least those were for a good cause, these I am sure is to feed an EGO that was already inflated in Kanye's and Nike's and WILL cause greater chaos than last week's LeBron Elite 9.

I love that brand, the swoosh will always be embedded in me, although my love has never been reciprocated, I will always held the swoosh to a higher standard than other brands mainly because they always seem to come up with crazy products, over the top commercials and all the best athletes are with the swoosh. But now they seem to forget who the sneaker heads that made them who they are. Nike folks, I should re-phrase that, the people that works at Nike, are mostly well, NON-sneaker heads. I understand that Nike is a business first and foremost and you need folks that knows the business to run things, but I also know personally that folks there loves MONEY more than the brand. But then again, Nike is always about innovation and this is a new way to do retail. Minimizing their store presence to select big markets, making the product available via factory stores in smaller circuits and creating hard to get - limited edition offerings to create curiosity and increase demands.
Can the sneaker-heads come up with that brilliant game changing business model? I don't think so. Sneakerheads wants the shoes to be LIMITED but at the same time obtainable to them and only them. That's bad business. The unfortunate part of this new-age retail practice is what drives the resellers business. It's like Nike, as a giant in their industry, is helping small business owners to make ends meet in this slumping OBAMA-nomy. But is it worth it when you hear of kids getting beat up, shot at? Some would steal, cheat, fight & maybe even kill to obtain their SUPER LIMITED SNEAKERS. Is it worth all that?

My answer is NO.

Nike Zoom Kobe Venomenon III - Evolution of the takedown

As the Nike Zoom Kobe signature shoe evolves into the Nike Kobe System this year, it's also time for the takedown version to evolve as well. The Nike Zoom Kobe Venomenon is a takedown or a lower priced model of the Kobe signature shoe with Nike. For the past couple of years now, it's been available only in the China region with no plan of bringing them to the U.S. I am not really sure how it is selling over in China, but it must be doing well for Nike to keep making them. But then again, one way for an industry giant to flood the market of 2 billion people is to make sure that their brand presence is strong. Keep introducing products with their logo to develop brand loyalty and then start introducing higher priced/premium offerings. So check out these Nike Zoom Kobe Venomenon 3, supposedly due out sometimes next year. Images via Aaron Knows.

Nike Roshe Run - Digi-Camo colorways

More and more colorways of this popular offering is starting to come out. This time in the Digi-camo mesh upper. I've heard that both of the Camo offering are Womens colorways, but I could be mistaken. From the look of it, the Blue-DigiCamo will definitely be for the ladies, but as far as the Olives-DigiCamo, I am not so sure whether its for dudes or babes. So stay tuned as always and as soon I hear anything it will be posted up. Images Via Atmos.

Nike Roshe Run - upcoming 'premium' colorways

Nike might have found a niche for this little known shoe, the Nike Roshe Run. Introduced as a running silhouette from Nike Sportswear, it is clearly NOT for running. It is however is a hit among  sneakerheads that runs. Now, you can't keep these in stores. Some folks are 'collecting' these, every single colorways. I mean why not right? at a mere $70 a pair, it is a decent offering for the summer with mesh toebox, simple design on top of a Lunar Foam and Lunar foam insoles. Many of the initial colorways are long gone from stores and with the new season coming, Nike is set to revamped the mostly mesh Roshe Run into a Autumn/Fall shoe with nubuck covering half of the shoe. Take a peek below at the mens colorways due in a few weeks. Images via Atmos.

Asics Gel Lyte III “Koi Klub” Reworked by Afew – Official Images

This shoe brought back everything that made me fell in love with sneakers. Simple design, quality material, great inspiration, and the BEST part, beautiful hand-made craftsmanship. Afew "reworked" a Koi Klub collaboration with Asics and made it even more special. In times when big shoe companies are looking to "innovate" and make their shoes the "Lightest", it's a breath of fresh air to see a special collaboration such as this. Of course they will be available in LIMITED QUANTITY and only available at Afew in German starting June 2, 2012.