"Unseen samples"?

I would assume that if a shoe is kept under wraps, it's in an attempt to protect proprietary information such as a design, a technology, or a marketing strategy.  In most cases it would be a limited window of time between the development and release of the product.  This has been discussed before, but there are three main types of footwear samples:

look-see samples are shoes used only for visual reference when montoring the production progress - many are non-functional.  These are used to evaluate cosmetic features like colorways, tooling, and materials.

weartest samples are created for athletes to play in and record their feedback for developers.

promotional samples (including special make-ups and player exclusives) are not released to the general public and are intended to generate interest in a shoe.

In regards to Michael Jordan's personal collection, he commissions special make-ups in extremely limited production runs for promotional events, personal use, or whatever he wants.  There are a few NIKE employees that wear sample sizes 9 or 13 that have amazing collections of unreleased shoes (like Gentry Humphrey).

I think the rarest shoe I ever personally saw were Pippen's one-of-one size 16 Air Foamposite One in neon red with his P logo on the heel.  NIKE offered him the shoe before Penny, but Pippen wanted a signature shoe with his name.

The only time I ever owned a pair of "unseen samples" was when a footwear designer gave me a promo pair of Vince Carter's black/silver/lapis SHOX BB4 several months before they launched at the 2000 Olympics.  I'm pretty sure I had one of the few functional pairs in existence at the time.  I was the coolest guy in Portland, OR for a little while!  I wore them on the MAX, at The HOOP, and Pioneer Place mall.  
 
cwk1 said:
I would assume that if a shoe is kept under wraps, it's in an attempt to protect proprietary information such as a design, a technology, or a marketing strategy.  In most cases it would be a limited window of time between the development and release of the product.  This has been discussed before, but there are three main types of footwear samples:

look-see samples are shoes used only for visual reference when montoring the production progress - many are non-functional.  These are used to evaluate cosmetic features like colorways, tooling, and materials.

weartest samples are created for athletes to play in and record their feedback for developers.

promotional samples (including special make-ups and player exclusives) are not released to the general public and are intended to generate interest in a shoe.

In regards to Michael Jordan's personal collection, he commissions special make-ups in extremely limited production runs for promotional events, personal use, or whatever he wants.  There are a few NIKE employees that wear sample sizes 9 or 13 that have amazing collections of unreleased shoes (like Gentry Humphrey).

I think the rarest shoe I ever personally saw were Pippen's one-of-one size 16 Air Foamposite One in neon red with his P logo on the heel.  NIKE offered him the shoe before Penny, but Pippen wanted a signature shoe with his name.

The only time I ever owned a pair of "unseen samples" was when a footwear designer gave me a promo pair of Vince Carter's black/silver/lapis SHOX BB4 several months before they launched at the 2000 Olympics.  I'm pretty sure I had one of the few functional pairs in existence at the time.  I was the coolest guy in Portland, OR for a little while!  I wore them on the MAX, at The HOOP, and Pioneer Place mall.  
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the only question mine is how nike give that to their employee? is that only upper tier employee or randomly selected? :nerd: and sometimes someone that has connect with factory owner that produce that shoes can also have a pair (idk if it's legal or stolen)
 
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The rare shoes were generally given to employees on campus based on personal relationships.  The look-see samples were archived or destroyed.  The weartest samples were archived, dissected, or (occasionally) given back to really dependable testers as a reward.  Promo samples were distributed by Sports Marketing to athletes and celebrities, and the surplus shoes were either given as favors to coworkers/friends/family or they were sold at the Employee Store for $10.00.  Another way to get samples was at campus sample sales.  I don't even know if they still have sample sales off campus anymore - you don't hear about them as often as you used to.  

To my knowledge, there weren't any U.S. NIKE employees using factory workers as a connection.  They would risk losing their job, going to federal prison for violation of trade laws, and contributing to organized criminal activity.  
 
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I know Marcus Jordan said he has crazy samples that his father wont let him show them! Maybe they might release them one day or maybe they don't want the shoes to get bootlegged ahead of production.
nerd.gif
 
cwk1 said:
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The rare shoes were generally given to employees on campus based on personal relationships.  The look-see samples were archived or destroyed.  The weartest samples were archived, dissected, or (occasionally) given back to really dependable testers as a reward.  Promo samples were distributed by Sports Marketing to athletes and celebrities, and the surplus shoes were either given as favors to coworkers/friends/family or they were sold at the Employee Store for $10.00.  Another way to get samples was at campus sample sales.  I don't even know if they still have sample sales off campus anymore - you don't hear about them as often as you used to.  

To my knowledge, there weren't any U.S. NIKE employees using factory workers as a connection.  They would risk losing their job, going to federal prison for violation of trade laws, and contributing to organized criminal activity.  
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not factory workers but factory owner, remember how Red yeezy 2 got leak out prior last year and some of them claim got directly from someone that own factory that produced those pairs.

and one of sample promo for WTK 8
jbzt18eFgSGjNd.jpg
 
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I'm still holding on to hope that JB will release a IV similar to the Eminem pair. With the popularity of all red shoes right now, I'm hoping they switch it up to some all blue kicks soon...
 
cwk1 said:
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The rare shoes were generally given to employees on campus based on personal relationships.  The look-see samples were archived or destroyed.  The weartest samples were archived, dissected, or (occasionally) given back to really dependable testers as a reward.  Promo samples were distributed by Sports Marketing to athletes and celebrities, and the surplus shoes were either given as favors to coworkers/friends/family or they were sold at the Employee Store for $10.00.  Another way to get samples was at campus sample sales.  I don't even know if they still have sample sales off campus anymore - you don't hear about them as often as you used to.  

To my knowledge, there weren't any U.S. NIKE employees using factory workers as a connection.  They would risk losing their job, going to federal prison for violation of trade laws, and contributing to organized criminal activity.  
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interesting.

thanks for the info :smokin

repped.
 
Quick question about samples.. Does samples usually come in size 9 or do they make a full size run on samples.. Just a thought
 
Any of these guys could show them... It's just that none of them want to stop receiving stuff from nike. /thread
 
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