The Official Nike LeBron 14 Thread. Retail $175

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Rarely post on NT but thought I'd contribute.

I loved the silhouette of the XII but hated the lack of Cleveland colorways. The first few were outlet bound as soon as they hit the shelves.

XIII on the other hand I absolutely loved and hated.

I loved the colorways, loved the stories they told, loved the look of the shoe. 

HATED the fit. I cannot even begin to describe how bad these hurt the entire side of my right foot until they were broken in.

The quality was questionable. Inner posite on my University Red pair chipped on the first wear. Went through all the pairs at work and 80% of them had 

chipping on the inner posite. My roommate went through three pairs from Nike before he got a pair that had perfect posite.

There were far too many colorways in my opinion. I think the good ones, i.e. the "Greatness" and "Gradient" that never made it to the shelves but instead hit the outlets, while pairs like the "Written in the Stars" which were nice, sat on shelves all year.

Strictly opinion, but at this point I wish Nike would realize that what their athletes wear on TV makes a difference in sales.

Having all of these amazing colorways, like the Media Day yellow/navy and the Cavs gradient were much cleaner than 80% of what came to retail.

I also don't understand their mindset with messing with the small details. I loved the midnight navy pair, but I didn't understand the concept.

If it's USA themed, why is there crimson , basically orange, flywire? It made no sense.

It came up as "On Court" on the SKU, and it had bright red, crimson, instead of Team Red, or Yellow on the shoe. I never understood that.

I would like to see them really focus on comfort and inspiration on the XIV.

I don't need leather, although that is a HUGE plus, but the super narrow fit with molded plastic pain all over my feet is getting old. I really love this line and have loved it since the first one in third grade, but it's extremely frustrating to have to see the prices continue to rise and the quality decline.

The price has dropped this year, so I hope they really don't just call it in.

Lastly, I'm really disappointed in the lack of effort for the Cavs championship. We saw a Champ Pack moments, or within weeks of the first two rings in Miami. This was LeBron's crowning achievement, a moment that defined his entire career, and we have seen literally zero information on a pack and it's October. There was the iD release, but it just almost feels like a letdown. Three colors of the Always Believe tee leads me to believe they had nothing prepared for the Cavs to win. I fail to see how there was absolutely nothing leaked or shown.

Same as last year, we saw the 11 SE leak and even release, but nothing with the 12 or 13. It just feels like they either have something incredible up their sleeves that will make me eat my words, or they really weren't prepared or have nothing planned. 

Sorry for the long post! Looking forward to the convo and hopefully some pics and info soon!
 
Walked into FL, no issues.

Copped 2 pairs. 1 to rock, 1 to stock.


They lightweight AF.


They remind you of the invincible woman AF1s.
 
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daltonbc said:
HATED the fit (of the XIII). I cannot even begin to describe how bad these hurt the entire side of my right foot until they were broken in.

There were far too many colorways in my opinion. I think the good ones, i.e. the "Greatness" and "Gradient" that never made it to the shelves but instead hit the outlets, while pairs like the "Written in the Stars" which were nice, sat on shelves all year.

Strictly opinion, but at this point I wish Nike would realize that what their athletes wear on TV makes a difference in sales.

Having all of these amazing colorways, like the Media Day yellow/navy and the Cavs gradient were much cleaner than 80% of what came to retail.

The price has dropped this year, so I hope they really don't just call it in.

Lastly, I'm really disappointed in the lack of effort for the Cavs championship. We saw a Champ Pack moments, or within weeks of the first two rings in Miami. This was LeBron's crowning achievement, a moment that defined his entire career, and we have seen literally zero information on a pack and it's October. There was the iD release, but it just almost feels like a letdown. Three colors of the Always Believe tee leads me to believe they had nothing prepared for the Cavs to win. I fail to see how there was absolutely nothing leaked or shown.
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Repped, and quoted the sections that I couldn't agree more on @daltonbc  

And nice to have such a major Bron collector/enthusiast on here sharing thoughts.

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I didn't think in the beginning the fit of the XIII's was that bad, a tad long and tight in weird spots, but looking back, the fit is probably the worst I've had personally on any Bron model.  Probably why I only have 2 pair. 

The price drop scares me too, but the way the last two models have hit discount so hard and quick, not sure it even matters.  Last two models should've been starting at 150-170, really, before discounts. 

While I'm somewhat disappointed in the lack of a "Champ Pack," it's really a catch 22.  When they drop a limited champ pack like they did with the 9's and X's, everyone gets pissed because they are super limited and therefore insane in the resell market.  This year Nike gives everyone the chance to get the exact same shoes Bron wore for the chip, and everyone is mad there wasn't  crazy limited pack.  While I personally don't really care for the shape of the Soldier X's, I appreciate what Nike did for the fans there. 

In comparison, I've spent 3 years and a ridiculous amount of loot chasing down the What the MVP X's and Champ Pack X Elites, due to that limited crap Nike likes to pull on significant moment sneakers.  Have basically had to chalk up the 9 pack as a "will never own" due the limitedness, and resell crap.    
 
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Appreciate the love @dwoodactennis

It's not so much the ID aspect that bothers me, I'm an ID fiend. I love that everyone had an opportunity to get the shoe, but the reason I felt let down was the effort.

The ID pair has a flat gold grain color instead of the metallic gold he wore, and came in just basic ID packaging.

It just seems less significant compared to what they've done in the past.

I'd be all for a legitimate celebration shoe hitting retail and everyone getting a pair, the quantity doesn't really matter to me. I'm on the same boat as you about the 9s, it's practically unobtainable until they Retro it all in the future (fingers crossed [emoji]128514[/emoji]), it just seems like a massive effort problem. They just signed him to a billion dollar life time deal, and he just accomplished the monumental achievement he was supposed to do, and Nike practically did nothing for it.

Hell they don't even have his next signature model ready for the season opener lol. I'd hate to see the biggest game in Cavs history where James and the gang get the rings, with LeBron wearing a TB Soldier X lol.

Same for Kyrie. It's just lack of effort. With the poor sales and numbers they had last year, I would have expected more out of them.
 
Would be cool to see Lebron debut the 14s on court on ring night. I'm sure it'll be the soldier 10s though
 
daltonbc said:
Appreciate the love @dwoodactennis

It's not so much the ID aspect that bothers me, I'm an ID fiend. I love that everyone had an opportunity to get the shoe, but the reason I felt let down was the effort.

The ID pair has a flat gold grain color instead of the metallic gold he wore, and came in just basic ID packaging.

It just seems less significant compared to what they've done in the past.

I'd be all for a legitimate celebration shoe hitting retail and everyone getting a pair, the quantity doesn't really matter to me. I'm on the same boat as you about the 9s, it's practically unobtainable until they Retro it all in the future (fingers crossed [emoji]128514[/emoji]), it just seems like a massive effort problem. They just signed him to a billion dollar life time deal, and he just accomplished the monumental achievement he was supposed to do, and Nike practically did nothing for it.

Hell they don't even have his next signature model ready for the season opener lol. I'd hate to see the biggest game in Cavs history where James and the gang get the rings, with LeBron wearing a TB Soldier X lol.

Same for Kyrie. It's just lack of effort. With the poor sales and numbers they had last year, I would have expected more out of them.
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Agreed.  How Nike isn't cramming LeBron down the world's throats right now in the form of promotion/ads/products is embarrassing.  He just won a chip for his hometown, one of the longest droughts a city has faced in the history of sports, and came back from down 3-1.  I just can't understand how he and his line are on the backburner, or at least it seems like it.  You make a good point about Kyrie too.  Hell, even the champ shirts they put out were awful quality, like they did them at the last minute in a rush.  Much different than normal dri-fit tees.  The lack of effort for him and this moment are so weak from Nike. 

I didn't know that about the differences on the Champ Soldier iD's, and I know, (like me), you don't care about "limited" vs. GR, that comment was more about the beasts that complain either way. 

I'm still praying for an opening night miracle sighting of the 14's...although I'm fully prepared for a "Ring Night" Soldier X, or a sick retro from the closet.      
 
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dwoodactennis dwoodactennis , daltonbc daltonbc

Nike's a in a transitional state right now. LBJ's sneaker line is in a tough spot as it's in its 14th iteration yet it isn't really sought after by the general public.

I blame Nike for this as they've been force feeding/riding retro for 10+ years and they have no legacy for the inline product. Hell even now, a few people on NT are asking for some of the older Lebron product to retro but how many of the regular public would purchase a LBJ retro?

It's kinda sad to see the young NBA cats wear some low quality JB retro on the media days or even on the court.

Re: the lack of Championship packs, etc... Nike must have access to marketing data and they must really feel that it doesn't make sense to produce a champ package that'll inevitably get marked down too.
 
vood99 said:
dwoodactennis dwoodactennis , daltonbc daltonbc

Nike's a in a transitional state right now. LBJ's sneaker line is in a tough spot as it's in its 14th iteration yet it isn't really sought after by the general public.

I blame Nike for this as they've been force feeding/riding retro for 10+ years and they have no legacy for the inline product. Hell even now, a few people on NT are asking for some of the older Lebron product to retro but how many of the regular public would purchase a LBJ retro?

It's kinda sad to see the young NBA cats wear some low quality JB retro on the media days or even on the court.

Re: the lack of Championship packs, etc... Nike must have access to marketing data and they must really feel that it doesn't make sense to produce a champ package that'll inevitably get marked down too.
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Didn't performance basketball across the board flatline in sales while only retro products actually showed significant growth? UA is probably a big part of this as they can offer quality (in terms of performance) products at a lower pricepoint than Nike AND they have Steph to help push these products. On top of that Nike has so many Lebron releases/cws that they inevitably go on sale due to supply substantially overtaking demand. What I find funny is that Jordan Brand has marketed it's flagship line very well and leveraged the brands identity into the release of the XXX1 (through popular, old retro cws). I'm not sure why Nike Basketball doesn't also follow this same model with the Lebron, especially given that Lebron is arguably the most relevant player in the league. Nike Basketball previously did this with the Kobe line (Prelude Pack) and it brought a ton of attention back to the line.
 
vood99 said:
@dwoodactennis, @daltonbc

Nike's a in a transitional state right now. LBJ's sneaker line is in a tough spot as it's in its 14th iteration yet it isn't really sought after by the general public.

I blame Nike for this as they've been force feeding/riding retro for 10+ years and they have no legacy for the inline product. Hell even now, a few people on NT are asking for some of the older Lebron product to retro but how many of the regular public would purchase a LBJ retro?

It's kinda sad to see the young NBA cats wear some low quality JB retro on the media days or even on the court.

Re: the lack of Championship packs, etc... Nike must have access to marketing data and they must really feel that it doesn't make sense to produce a champ package that'll inevitably get marked down too.
Click to expand...
No sir. A champ pack would sell out right away given the historical significance of the win. No way would a champ pack sit.
 
Same with the retro argument, James has gone on and on years ago about how he wanted the focus to be on the current product, I believe he said that around the 11 or 12. I don't oppose retro releases, but I wrote an entire article about this on ApartmentFivea.com below - 

Lack of Champ Pack - http://apartmentfivea.com/so-about-that-champ-pack/

My main argument - http://apartmentfivea.com/retroing-tomorrow-nikes-dilemma-market-future-now/

Nike HAS to put a memorable model on the feet of James. 

Jordans and retro models sell to an older audience because they remember when their favorite player wore that shoe. They sell to a new generation because they want that vintage feel. The strongest selling point for Jordan Brand is nostalgia. 

What about LeBron?

Sure, there's the select few of us that would collect every single LeBron retro that dropped, but would a retro 13 have the same hype ten years from now that a Jordan 13 does?

I completely understand Nike is pushing for on court performance, but they have to think about the future. Style, materials, and design matter. 

MEMORIES matter.

Nike has dropped the ball with this championship celebration period. They don't even have a XIV ready to go with three weeks until opening night.

I don't see how they capture the longevity of banking on LeBron sig models when they continue to push uninspired designs made with plastic and rubber with color ways he never wears on court.

Hopefully, since they reportedly scrapped what they had in the spring, this is a sign that they are putting a legitimate effort into this model. I have absolutely ZERO issues waiting as long as it takes for a high quality, high inspiration, and highly memorable model.

Balls in your hands Nike.
 
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