Air Jordan III OG Black Cement returns Feb 2018 - Nike Air on the back

[barrebaby]

by the time they make them close to the OG... some of us will be dead and most won't even give two ****s about shoes let alone Jordans

50 year anniversary mark me, the next generation will be on yeezy retros and LeBron retros or something entirely different.

 

[rainking]

That's why they wont get them perfect, its business. If they got them identical to the OG's how many of us would just retire, or slow down buying Jordan's considerably? I sure would...

I never understand this line of thinking, that by not making the retros as authentic as possible ... this somehow leads to MORE sales? Honestly, it makes no sense. I'm pretty sure people keep buying the different retro releases of the same shoes because there are years between releases and a lot of people actually, you know, wear the shoes and even wear them out. Or at least beat them up enough to warrant/want a new pair.
No way do I buy the idea that, say, if Nike releases a spot-on III retro once every six or seven years (the general time cycle they are on for years now), that no one would buy the second go-around because what, they already bought those shoes in identical, perfect form six years prior? It's ludicrous.

 

[tatayniDarna]

by the time they make them close to the OG... some of us will be dead and most won't even give two ****s about shoes let alone Jordans

or worse. we could be like in a wheelchair or in a cane by the time they release a proper one.

where we're so old we can't even appreciate the shoe anymore. and be like, "these shoes are so unconfortable, aarrghh my arthrtitis is killng me, martha, grab me my medicine damn it"

 

[barrebaby]

I never understand this line of thinking, that by not making the retros as authentic as possible ... this somehow leads to MORE sales? Honestly, it makes no sense. I'm pretty sure people keep buying the different retro releases of the same shoes because there are years between releases and a lot of people actually, you know, wear the shoes and even wear them out. Or at least beat them up enough to warrant/want a new pair.
No way do I buy the idea that, say, if Nike releases a spot-on III retro once every six or seven years (the general time cycle they are on for years now), that no one would buy the second go-around because what, they already bought those shoes in identical, perfect form six years prior? It's ludicrous.

I see your point, but dont tou think some guys would tap out if they got a perfect retro? (The ones that ice them eapecially) I'd still buy occasionally, but not as consistently as I do know.

Edit: and yes I own no DS shoes i wear all mine.

 

[rainking]

I see your point, but dont tou think some guys would tap out if they got a perfect retro? (The ones that ice them eapecially) I'd still buy occasionally, but not as consistently as I do know.

Edit: and yes I own no DS shoes i wear all mine.

It's just my opinion but no, I don't think that would happen. Why doesn't it happen now, then? The reality is that even now Nike just releases the same shoes over and over again with hardly big differences between them. If they release the BC IIIs again in seven years in the EXACT form they just dropped them in, they'll sell out again. In fact, if I knew that every six or seven years I'd get a chance to rebuy the same quality retro, I wouldn't feel the need to keep stuff on ice as much as I do now. I'd be more inclined to wear shoes more often, which would lead to me needing new pairs every few years.
Besides, how many of these guys exist who just buy a retro and keep it on ice anymore? The ones who do aren't the people driving Nikes volume sales. Shoes don't sell out across the country because all the people on NT and other places like it are the entire target market. This is a small corner of the market, and "collectors" who buy stuff just once and lock it in the closet aren't going to make a dent in Nike/Jordan's bottom line either way.

EDIT: And let me get this straight: You'd buy less if the quality was BETTER? I will never understand that logic. It sound a lot like, I keep buying all these retros because none of them are perfect, but if I got a perfect shoe, I would buy fewer pairs? Personally, the better the quality, the more I would be inclined to buy. Instead, I skip loads of Jordan retro releases every year because I think they are shells of what they should be.

 

[barrebaby]

It's just my opinion but no, I don't think that would happen. Why doesn't it happen now, then? The reality is that even now Nike just releases the same shoes over and over again with hardly big differences between them. If they release the BC IIIs again in seven years in the EXACT form they just dropped them in, they'll sell out again. In fact, if I knew that every six or seven years I'd get a chance to rebuy the same quality retro, I wouldn't feel the need to keep stuff on ice as much as I do now. I'd be more inclined to wear shoes more often, which would lead to me needing new pairs every few years.
Besides, how many of these guys exist who just buy a retro and keep it on ice anymore? The ones who do aren't the people driving Nikes volume sales. Shoes don't sell out across the country because all the people on NT and other places like it are the entire target market. This is a small corner of the market, and "collectors" who buy stuff just once and lock it in the closet aren't going to make a dent in Nike/Jordan's bottom line either way.

EDIT: And let me get this straight: You'd buy less if the quality was BETTER? I will never understand that logic. It sound a lot like, I keep buying all these retros because none of them are perfect, but if I got a perfect shoe, I would buy fewer pairs? Personally, the better the quality, the more I would be inclined to buy. Instead, I skip loads of Jordan retro releases every year because I think they are shells of what they should be.

So you dont think the retro faze will eventually die out? I mean JB already took a big hit from adidas, I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm about to be 33 and I seriously doubt I'll be buying shoes like I do when I'm in my 50's, and I just dont see the youngsters buying Jordan's like my demo. It wont be as bad, but it could turn out like the Converse Weapons noone really cares about them, or you could be totally right and they end up like Chuck Taylor's and still sell well. I guess time will tell...

 

[Deleted member 107398]

Don’t forget the fact the shoes have an average life of 15 years or so before they fall apart (outside of the 1’s, 11’s etc)

Restorations are becoming more accesible nowadays also, time will tell

 

[tatayniDarna]

So you dont think the retro faze will eventually die out?

it will. everything has a window that will eventually close.

learned that from our communication course discussing generation gaps

 

[walkingBred]

So you dont think the retro faze will eventually die out? I mean JB already took a big hit from adidas, I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm about to be 33 and I seriously doubt I'll be buying shoes like I do when I'm in my 50's, and I just dont see the youngsters buying Jordan's like my demo. It wont be as bad, but it could turn out like the Converse Weapons noone really cares about them, or you could be totally right and they end up like Chuck Taylor's and still sell well. I guess time will tell...

Nike beat out addidas in the 4th qtr on wallstreet a few weeks ago & shares are @ its highest in history. Theres always been highs & lows but they always bounce back.

But your right, everything eventually comes to an end. And since everyones wondering when & if they will ever retro jordans like bc3's or infrared 6's etc back to its true form og, I suspect this is when it will inly happen. It's their last ditch card, an Ace they can always play when they're on their last breath to try to revive the company. Bring out the true og's everyone wants when they're dying. Kind of like the cards they played this year by pumping out hits everyweek in the 4th qtr. Now that the qtr's over, things are slowing down.

Kind of like McDonalds putting out all day breakfast when they took a big hit. Something ppl wanted since the begining of time, but they held on to it untill they needed it to help revive the company.

 

[walkingBred]

Made a mistake & double posted, dont know how to delete this post.

 

[alchemist]

Theres no doubt in my mind that JB systematically gives us what we want but also makes changes we dont want at the same time in effort to keep us coming back but I also think that were just the minority on this issue.

From what Ive seen most people are loving this release, they dont mind the mold or the excessive elephant print and Im not even mad at em. Pairs also vary, Ive seen a few shots of pairs that got a great EP cut.

I sold these but kept my True Blues, a release that got a lot of slack. I got lucky on my pair and got a good EP cut and I like the fit so Im gonna keep them.

Theres a lot of us that share the same opinion about this model but if they are selling out and the majority enjoys them, then why would JB care?

 

[JRepp23]

For example,, The White infrared 6 is one of my favorites of all. The white Varsity red drops in 09-10 I buy, because its the closest/first retro of that colorway. Then.. the infrared pack comes out. I buy because the shade of red is closer to the original, almost. 2014, the infrared comes out again. I buy because I think that shade is closer to the original. Still no Nike Air. Infrared is exaggerated on the 2014. But I like it the best. Next, the white infrared comes again with Nike Air, perfect infrared shade, but glossy type midsole.. I would buy. That's potentially 4 pairs of white infrareds to satisfy my fix. If they came out with a 100% perfect retro, Id only buy one and make it last. Nike don't want that. That's why they do what they do. Its not about accepting low quality. We buy to obtain a perfect retro. It just happens to be spread out to 4 diff pairs.

 

[Lucky13s]

All things considered - I'm wearing my pair right now and enjoying the hell out of them.

Nike isn't going to retro these true-to-OG form anytime soon, if ever, so I'm not going to waste my time/energy on it. I can either buy and enjoy the shoes, or don't buy and move on. I'm glad I bought these.

 

[pwguy]

I'm honestly not sure that Nike is that strategic about this topic. It may be as simple as the product manager not knowing the silhouette like us hardcore fans. Even though a minute or two look between retros should be obvious to anyone with mild attention to detail, they simply may not take the time or notice the obvious. Or perhaps the product manager changes too regularly to keep the needed changes in mind, and keeps lousy notes. They may simply focus on one major thing and move on. Maybe it's materials, maybe it's NA branding, or the eyelet shape (for the 4s for example), and just ignore the rest b/c it's too much time and effort. A fundamental change in shape would be a large project, and may require re-tooling or re-training in the production line, and the ROI simply isn't there currently. They change the infrared color (on the 6s), and forget about the toe box shape, or add the 3M underlay, but don't notice the infrared is off again.

They have to have knowledge AND motivation, let alone a business model to justify any incremental cost to the project. Getting all three in play is much harder in a large org than people think. OR...maybe....perhaps....they're strategically taking this approach, which would be pure evil/genius....heh!

I knit pick on all my pairs when I first see them and first get them. Then I wear them, and while I can have shoes that I wear regularly, they still look DS after several years, but I stop caring about these details and just enjoy them. For example, my WC4 look DS despite having worn them a LOT. They did a great job on them, however, the leather really isn't very good, and I can't figure out why a lot of us felt it was so great at launch. If they retro with a similar or better quality/shape, I may or may not get them...Anyway....way too long of a post...

 

[rainking]

So you dont think the retro faze will eventually die out? I mean JB already took a big hit from adidas, I'm not sure how old you are, but I'm about to be 33 and I seriously doubt I'll be buying shoes like I do when I'm in my 50's, and I just dont see the youngsters buying Jordan's like my demo. It wont be as bad, but it could turn out like the Converse Weapons noone really cares about them, or you could be totally right and they end up like Chuck Taylor's and still sell well. I guess time will tell...

I'm older than you by a good chunk of years, not quite a full decade. But I think that is irrelevant to what we were discussing. The Jordan and retro phase might die one day (though it certainly doesn't appear to be on the near-term horizon), anything is possible. But it's not going to die or be saved by Nike/Jordan fudging around with different little details each time any given shoe retros every six or seven or whatever years. That's all I was talking about in the first place. There's a common refrain on NT from some folks that says Nike makes these little changes here and there to keep us coming back. That's the point I take issue with. There's no logic to it. I don't believe there are enough people sitting on DS pairs of shoes and sitting on them long enough that they'll just start passing on the next release--again, YEARS later--as such a commonplace occurrence as to impact Nike's/Jordan's revenue.

Plus there is the issue of, as @Lakers said, these shoes don't last forever if you just leave them DS in the closet. Point is, I happen to believe that Nike would sell just as many pairs of a given popular model retro every time it releases them, if it keeps those releases spread out by more than half a decade. Of course, I could be totally wrong. I don't have any data on the habits of the majority of Nike/Jordan buyers. But put it this way: does anyone think that if the 2011 Concords were done well--say, identically to the ones we are getting this December--that this year's release, seven years later, wouldn't sellout, and wouldn't sell hundreds of thousands of pairs to people who bought the 2011 release? I think not. MOST people who buy these things aren't stockpiling $200 shoes like some of us in here do. I have more than 100 pairs of Nikes/Jordans. I/we are most certainly not the average purchaser of these shoes. Most people who get this year's Concords will wear them and won't be sitting on pristine pairs by the next time they drop. To me that's what drives future purchases of the same shoe, not minor detail changes between releases.

 

[rainking]

Nike beat out addidas in the 4th qtr on wallstreet a few weeks ago & shares are @ its highest in history. Theres always been highs & lows but they always bounce back.

But your right, everything eventually comes to an end. And since everyones wondering when & if they will ever retro jordans like bc3's or infrared 6's etc back to its true form og, I suspect this is when it will inly happen. It's their last ditch card, an Ace they can always play when they're on their last breath to try to revive the company. Bring out the true og's everyone wants when they're dying. Kind of like the cards they played this year by pumping out hits everyweek in the 4th qtr. Now that the qtr's over, things are slowing down.

Kind of like McDonalds putting out all day breakfast when they took a big hit. Something ppl wanted since the begining of time, but they held on to it untill they needed it to help revive the company.

That's a dangerous game to play and far from being a sound business strategy for a multi-billion-dollar company. If you wait until your business is in the gutter before you go to your supposed ace in the hole, you will find it several times more difficult to crawl out of that hole than if you never put yourself in it in the first place.

 

[rainking]

For example,, The White infrared 6 is one of my favorites of all. The white Varsity red drops in 09-10 I buy, because its the closest/first retro of that colorway. Then.. the infrared pack comes out. I buy because the shade of red is closer to the original, almost. 2014, the infrared comes out again. I buy because I think that shade is closer to the original. Still no Nike Air. Infrared is exaggerated on the 2014. But I like it the best. Next, the white infrared comes again with Nike Air, perfect infrared shade, but glossy type midsole.. I would buy. That's potentially 4 pairs of white infrareds to satisfy my fix. If they came out with a 100% perfect retro, Id only buy one and make it last. Nike don't want that. That's why they do what they do. Its not about accepting low quality. We buy to obtain a perfect retro. It just happens to be spread out to 4 diff pairs.

I hear you J but I suspect you are in the large minority. I don't buy for the reasons you cited. I will buy every retro release of certain models every six or so years as long as that retro is done right. I want to wear my shoes, and if I could know that every few years I will be able to buy them again in a satisfactory form, I will be even happier. Because I can wear the pairs I get each release and not sweat that I might never see them again, or see them again in a form I like.

 

[Quiggles706]

JB will eventually give us proper retros, I've taken the stance that it's not gonna happen any time soon but it will one day (yes, they'll charge $300+ for it ).

They can't keep issuing the same shoe 9 or 10 times. Sure, we buy the OG colors up now still, but the numbers are bound to fall off years from now. What does JB then do to ratchet this up again? Reissuing the shoes as literal proper OGs, with a $300-400 price tag, a whole campaign around it and maybe MJ doing advertisement for it (I can see it now, "You want what I wore? You got it"). And then madness starts right back up. It's inevitable that JB's gonna have to do this, there's no way they are selling out the same crap quality shoe till the end of time at the numbers that they want and expect. We'll all probably be old at this point but hey we can dream...

I think everyone is lost in translation sorta speak. The shape in Nike’s eyes is a improvement. Has anyone complaining about shape ever put a pair of OG 3 on? It’s not the natural shape of your foot. They have made improvements on technology, materials and all. So you guys see them as going backwards because they don’t look the same are not looking at them correctly. Now 6s for example, I remember the duranuck used to flake off. People hated that, why would Nike go back to that instead of using a improved material. For a business standpoint, every decision wasn’t made to save a $1.

 

[Lucky13s]

It's very possible that these shoes, which were first made as basketball shoes, are made a bit differently now to improve on comfort. Most people don't use these to ball in, we use them for casual all-day wear. So maybe these changes reflect that.

 

[tonytobacco]

I never understand this line of thinking, that by not making the retros as authentic as possible ... this somehow leads to MORE sales? Honestly, it makes no sense. I'm pretty sure people keep buying the different retro releases of the same shoes because there are years between releases and a lot of people actually, you know, wear the shoes and even wear them out. Or at least beat them up enough to warrant/want a new pair.
No way do I buy the idea that, say, if Nike releases a spot-on III retro once every six or seven years (the general time cycle they are on for years now), that no one would buy the second go-around because what, they already bought those shoes in identical, perfect form six years prior? It's ludicrous.

yes, let the hate flow through you. more will join us. together we will change the world.

 

[tonytobacco]

It's very possible that these shoes, which were first made as basketball shoes, are made a bit differently now to improve on comfort. Most people don't use these to ball in, we use them for casual all-day wear. So maybe these changes reflect that.

No one was complaining about OGs hurting before they butchered them. Theyre made a bit differently now to improve on profit.

What makes you think a basketball shoe would be more uncomfortable off court? Theyre not cleats

 

[tonytobacco]

I've been thinking that's they're and game, they'll slowly improve one thing at a time, until retros just dont profit anymore then they'll finally get it right. I'd say around the 50th anniversary. Moat of us wont care about shoes much anymore, and the youngsters wont even really know how impactful Jordan was, they'll probably be on the Yeezy retros like we do Jordans.

Bro theyre all going to be too dead to care by then. Jordans like 60 as it is. Tinker is 70

 

[Aquamanjay_]

They want the OGs to be OGs. There’s no debate on whether they can make retros OG, they just won’t. They have no obligation to. They’ll still sell anyway, and they’ll be happy. 3s have looked the same since 2003 basically. Customers just want soft, buttery tumbled leather, for them not to be too available, price that isn’t too high, and they’re happy. Those who want the OG everything are a minority of the customers.

 

[JRepp23]

I hear you J but I suspect you are in the large minority. I don't buy for the reasons you cited. I will buy every retro release of certain models every six or so years as long as that retro is done right. I want to wear my shoes, and if I could know that every few years I will be able to buy them again in a satisfactory form, I will be even happier. Because I can wear the pairs I get each release and not sweat that I might never see them again, or see them again in a form I like.

If they would always release a quality true to form retro every six or seven years, yeah I'd buy and wear with no issue at all. But history has told us jb don't work like that. They have admitted to changing details intentionally to preserve original collectors. I'd don't agree with it. But they/ Gentry made that clear years ago. As far as wearing the shoe goes, I wait for the next drop and when I get them I start wearing the previous. I truly believe what they are doing is all by design. Pic any retro that's a big money maker and compare all of them. Something is always different. Always. I don't believe that happens because they just don't know any better.

 

[Captain Slappy]

Shape really matters. When i look at an og air stab it practically brings tears to my eyes. Then i look at a retro and feel no nostalgia whatsoever. It's something im over complaining about tho. The horse has decayed to the point that there is nothing left to kick