1999-2001: The best era of Retro Jordans?

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Anyone agree? Thoughts?

Personally since those retro  black/cement  IVs dropped in April '99 with the NIKE Air on the soles it was a start of a great era for all sneaker/jordan heads whether you were a casual or die-hard fanatic. I think 2001, maybe 2003 was the start of the decline in retro and retro + supremacy. I remember when all of the retros would drop on Wednesdays and I would skip the first two periods in HS to go get em'. This was an era when sites like Shoetrends, Nikepark, OG NT, Tavis NikeWorld, and even getting that brand new Footaction ad in the newspaper or magazine edition for your release dates

1999: IVs (cements,wht/navy, blk/grey)

2000: Vs (fire reds, blk/metalics, laneys)

          XIs (concords, space jams)

          VIs (infrareds, midnight blues)

2001: XIs (blk/red, columbias)

          IIIs  (true blues, cements, mochas)

          Is: (royals, silver/gry, blk/red, wht/navy)

2002 and 2003 was cool too, but 1999-2001 will always be the mecca of JB retro IMO.

I apologize for the lack of pics but ya'll should know what these kicks look like from that era by now :lol:
 
Oh look, this thread again.
Man, give it up.
You sound like an old man telling stories about "the good old days".
It's 2014 Stop living in the 2000's!
 
Oh look, this thread again.
Man, give it up.
You sound like an old man telling stories about "the good old days".
It's 2014 Stop living in the 2000's!
I guess age 30 qualifies as an old man on NT these days now ... I will admit I am of that age , I now see what the OGs were talking about, didn't know I will be making a post like that
laugh.gif


Pretty soon a decade from now all the 2014 heads gonna be making 'another one of those threads again'  guaranteed . 

wink.gif
 
nike doesnt get much of my money anymore, i just go for the wearable favs from back in the day, thank god my favs are 11s 12s and 13s and they dont crumble
 
ONE CAN ARGUE THAT WE DIDNT GET A WHOLE LOT BACK THEN.. WHICH IS TRUE.. RETROS RELEASED ON A NORMAL (NOT EVERY WEEK OR BI WEEKLY) BASIS… BUT THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE BEST ERA FOR JORDAN RETROS. FROM QUALITY TO THE ACTUAL SHOES RELEASED TO THE SHAPE ETC… NOT TO MENTION XIII'S XIV'S AND XVI'S THAT WERE RELEASING (NON RETRO)
 
You gonna mention the greatest Retro era and forget to mention the first line of retros in 1994? Those were almost verbatim with the original counterparts.

IMO 94,99-05
 
gotta extend that era to 04... XIIs were part of that as well as XIIIs.

pretty much Pre-CDP era.

I'm going to have to disagree.

There was a serious drop off in quality in those 2004 XII's from the original. I'd probably say 2001-2 and before were the best retros created. It was also the year the best quality Jordan was ever released (Jordan XVII).

I remember being disappointed because the retro XII's in 2004 didn't have the original metal lace loops (were plastic in the retro) and the carbon fiber wasn't comparable to the original.

I also thought the Jordan III cement released in 2003 was wack (shape and materials) compared to the True Blue released in 2001.
 
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gotta extend that era to 04... XIIs were part of that as well as XIIIs.

pretty much Pre-CDP era.

I wouldn't go that far. The 06 4s were some of the most shoddy jordans made to date. I would though say up until the initial xiv retro run was solid. The 4s started the beginning of the end in terms of quality, though some were definitely better than others.
 
gotta extend that era to 04... XIIs were part of that as well as XIIIs.

pretty much Pre-CDP era.

I'm going to have to disagree.

There was a serious drop off in quality in those 2004 XII's from the original. I'd probably say 2001-2 and before were the best retros created. It was also the year the best quality Jordan was ever released (Jordan XVII).

I remember being disappointed because the retro XII's in 2004 didn't have the original metal lace loops (were plastic in the retro) and the carbon fiber wasn't comparable to the original.

I also thought the Jordan III cement released in 2003 was wack (shape and materials) compared to the True Blue released in 2001.


gotta extend that era to 04... XIIs were part of that as well as XIIIs.

pretty much Pre-CDP era.

I wouldn't go that far. The 06 4s were some of the most shoddy jordans made to date. I would though say up until the initial xiv retro run was solid. The 4s started the beginning of the end in terms of quality, though some were definitely better than others.

while i agree with both of you, I'm sticking to my statement since at least the retros resembled what they were supposed to be.
 
I wasnt involved in the retros then but, i have to put in a vote for retros since the concords. From what ive seen they are decent quality with true form.
 
For real I just miss the era when you didn't need to put a lot of work into getting nearly every Jordan retro like you have to do these days (pre 2011 concord era). You could actually just causally walk into a store Saturday morning or even Sunday and cop your sneakers. You could even try them on if you wanted to. Some releases would also sit for a week until selling out. Copping online was a lot easier too. Also resellers were a lot more reasonable and there were significantly less resellers.
 
gotta extend that era to 04... XIIs were part of that as well as XIIIs.

pretty much Pre-CDP era.

I'm going to have to disagree.

There was a serious drop off in quality in those 2004 XII's from the original. I'd probably say 2001-2 and before were the best retros created. It was also the year the best quality Jordan was ever released (Jordan XVII).

I remember being disappointed because the retro XII's in 2004 didn't have the original metal lace loops (were plastic in the retro) and the carbon fiber wasn't comparable to the original.

I also thought the Jordan III cement released in 2003 was wack (shape and materials) compared to the True Blue released in 2001.

Metal eyelets and diff carbon fiber or not, the XII's were on point in 2003 with the Flints, and 04 with the other colorways. The white cements were fine too but yea the leather declined. Plus the 1's, 8's, & 11 I.E.s had great quality that still hold up to this day. Those few minor things doesn't make a solid lineup a weak era.

Also in 2004 the 1's, 2's, 4's, 7's, & 13's were great. This is my opinion however. I just find it unjustified to say a whole year was weak cuz of lack of shape, material, or carbon fiber while the other shoes were excellent.
 
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For real I just miss the era when you didn't need to put a lot of work into getting nearly every Jordan retro like you have to do these days (pre 2011 concord era). You could actually just causally walk into a store Saturday morning or even Sunday and cop your sneakers. You could even try them on if you wanted to. Some releases would also sit for a week until selling out. Copping online was a lot easier too. Also resellers were a lot more reasonable and there were significantly less resellers.

yup... the crazy thing about a lot of the new inflated prices....

people pay services extra to purchase their shoes.... the people that buy from them pay the retail + shipping + pp fees + whats paid to the service + profit.

i just knew people would be smarter than that but i guess not :smh:
 
Metal eyelets and diff carbon fiber or not, the XII's were on point in 2003 with the Flints, and 04 with the other colorways. The white cements were fine too but yea the leather declined. Plus the 1's, 8's, & 11 I.E.s had great quality that still hold up to this day. Those few minor things doesn't make a solid lineup a weak era.

Also in 2004 the 1's, 2's, 4's, 7's, & 13's were great. This is my opinion however. I just find it unjustified to say a whole year was weak cuz of lack of shape, material, or carbon fiber while the other shoes were excellent.

I'm not trying to say it was a weak era. I had every pair of XII that came out that year (including the women's version they later released as men's). I beat them all into the ground. I loved them! I took pictures of them and posted pictures on NT back then and got roasted for having long leg hair. Fools were ruthless back then! :rofl:

I'm just saying if I had a define the best area of retros, I'd have to stop at 2002. That's subjective and my opinion. Agree to disagree.
 
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