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

[Aquamanjay_]

I said the same thing. I’ll admit, I assumed that because they were stiff, that meant cheap and synthetic.

 

[KanyIZZY]

I said the same thing. I’ll admit, I assumed that because they were stiff, that meant cheap and synthetic.

Hell yeah lmao.. I can't even believe it but it makes sense and your recount of the synthetic versus genuine materials sounds right. I copped a lot of those retros (or held them in hand if I passed) in 04-06 and it sounds right mostly.

 

[Aquamanjay_]

There’s always been people in various threads saying this; soft leather doesn’t mean genuine or quality. Seems the real leather experts on NT go on about leather the least

 

[manposite]

The tumbled portions on the BC3 are NOT synthetic.
The black strip between the upper and elephant print is synthetic. Always been that way.

 

[888sneakerst]

Just found out the 2018 BC 3 has synthetic tumbled leather, while the true blue 2016 has genuine leather, even though it’s low grade genuine leather.

It was explained that since 2015, Jordan brand has been making better softer synthetic leather to appease fans. There’s been many retro drops with soft yet still synthetic leathers. Also, genuine or good quality leather doesn’t have to be overly soft(many on here have said this repeatedly). This was said by a few in this thread, as well as a few youTubers(not any of the popular ones). I concede my dislike for the 2016 True Blue lol. The leather may be genuine but it’s still harder to break in. Found out the White cement 4, and the Alternate motorsport 4 also have full genuine leather uppers. Same goes for the pre grape 5. There are dozens of grades of genuine and synthetic leathers that jordan brand uses.

Cool info. The upper materials are always a point of complaint on a lot of the retro releases. The fact is that it is very hard to generalize genuine leather as better than synthetic. As you mentioned, it depends on the grade of the leather. You just have to know what you like and what you don't like. The problem I have is that I can't say I like or don't like the upper material on all the 2018 BC3s because I found that a lot of them had different looking materials. I have seen pairs of 2018 bc3s with really soft leather and others with harder leather. How they classify those as all the same synthetic leather is difficult to understand. Ask them my some shoes are different than others in the same release and colorway.

The white cement 4 is obviously nice material. I also noticed the the alt motorsport 4 was noticeably nicer than most retro releases. I loved the material on those, but the pair I got had wings that wouldn't sit flat on the sides. I had to return those. Some of the best materials I've seen are on the 2011 white cement 3 and the 2018 free throw line 3s. Interesting to get a little insight although none of it is very conclusive to what we are going to get in the future. The lesson I learned is to trust my own judgment instead of worrying about if it's real or not.

 

[turbospartan]

Just found out the 2018 BC 3 has synthetic tumbled leather, while the true blue 2016 has genuine leather, even though it’s low grade genuine leather.

It was explained that since 2015, Jordan brand has been making better softer synthetic leather to appease fans. There’s been many retro drops with soft yet still synthetic leathers. Also, genuine or good quality leather doesn’t have to be overly soft(many on here have said this repeatedly). This was said by a few in this thread, as well as a few youTubers(not any of the popular ones). I concede my dislike for the 2016 True Blue lol. The leather may be genuine but it’s still harder to break in. Found out the White cement 4, and the Alternate motorsport 4 also have full genuine leather uppers. Same goes for the pre grape 5. There are dozens of grades of genuine and synthetic leathers that jordan brand uses.

Where / who said this?

 

[doublemesh96]

Think I’m gonna get a bc3 and see how much ole buddy on IG wants to “og” them

 

[Aquamanjay_]

At my finish line, a few days ago, I saw a tinker 3 size 14 on display next to the triple white 3s. Leather felt really good on both. Felt better than my pair of BC3s. Idk, specifically what was on either, but it actually stressed unlike my black cement 3. I don’t think i got one of the better pairs because mine didn’t seem as soft as the Sneaker YouTubers said they would. They also didn’t look genuine compared to the motorsport 4 or 2006 Fire Red 3.

Regardless, I think it’s cool to find out that most of us that aren’t actual leather geeks have no idea what JB actually uses. The True blues had a legit mob against that retro lol

 

[Aquamanjay_]

Where / who said this?

It’s been said in the thread a few times, but today, it was one of my IG followers.
@drumatthias

Here’s a different guy. He was the only one on YouTube not trashing them, even though he acknowledges they’re not soft

 

[aquatic barefoot]

Think I’m gonna get a bc3 and see how much ole buddy on IG wants to “og” them

I hit him up a few months a ago and at the time, he said he wasn’t taking on anymore requests to customize BC3’s. May be different now, but just an fyi.

 

[turbospartan]

It’s been said in the thread a few times, but today, it was one of my IG followers.
@drumatthias

You are Duru Matthias, or that was who made the comments on your IG?

 

[Magic33]

They explained that the more hyped drops get the synthetic since it’ll sell out regardless lol. The GRs get the genuine materials to help them sell. Apparently the KAWS 4 is a high quality synthetic nubuck, not genuine nubuck. The Citrus 7 is a genuine nubuck, while the Nubuck 2009 Flu Game and varsity 6 are synthetic nubucks. The only genuine leather on the 2016 Banned 1 is the red parts, while the shadow 1 is entirely genuine leather(everyone already knows that)
This guy also put me on game to the fact that there’s more than one type of durabuck Nike uses as well as more than one type of nubuck they use. There’s a thing called “tanned durabuck” which is the synthetic material found on the 2004 Olympic 7, the 2006 Cardinal 7, and on the tongue of the 2016 WC 4. It’s on the tongue of my 06 Alpha Jordan 1 mid too. Nike’s own durabuck is just a name for synthetic materials. Its not just the black material we see on the Infrared 6, Metallic 5 or Playoff 8. I was kindve blown away .

Did you buy Jordans from 2008 to 2014?

 

[Aquamanjay_]

You are Duru Matthias, or that was who made the comments on your IG?

He told me through dm. Drumattias is his IG.

 

[Aquamanjay_]

Did you buy Jordans from 2008 to 2014?

2006-2011, break for college, then 2014- present

 

[Magic33]

2006-2011, break for college, then 2014- present

OK, because there's not many sneakers during those years that were better than the true blues.

Ones like the 2012 white cements and sport blue III's make them look buttery.

 

[888sneakerst]

I never understood the negativity around the TB3s. I thought the comfort and the insole were some of the best ever in a retro and the way the leather creased when worn was very nice. Sport blue 3s are some of the worst shoes I've ever owned. I use them for dog park.

 

[Aquamanjay_]

OK, because there's not many sneakers during those years that were better than the true blues.

Ones like the 2012 white cements and sport blue III's make them look buttery.

I had the 2011 white cement and the leather was nice. The 2009 Shadow was great too. My Orange blaze 8s literally have different materials on each individual piece of the shoe. I had a few others, but not any 3s or 4s.

 

[turbospartan]

He told me through dm. Drumattias is his IG.

Does he work for Nike or something, or just his theories?

 

[Aquamanjay_]

Does he work for Nike or something, or just his theories?

He has been in contact with people at Nike. When he mentioned things like “shagged buck” to describe the Raging bill 5, or “tanned durabuck” to describe the 2006 Cardinal, and much more great detail about materials, I figured he got this straight from the source. I’ve never heard any of the standard chatter mention things like that. People typically aren’t that specific. He’s also a leather geek and a pretty serious collector as well.

 

[SoleByThePound]

Hmm...Imagine if they went back to the slanted toe box like everyone is clamoring for; then everyone would complain it's crushing their toes. Perhaps that's why they changed the shape in the first place, as they didn't have the manufacturing technique back then to raise the box. But that wouldn't explain the OG slant on the Flight '89 retros we've been seeing. There's just no pleasing everyone these days.

The toe box on the OG’s doesn’t crush your toes. TF do you guys come up with this bs?

 

[mercysaidso]

Which reglue method did you use on the 4s?

the typical Barge infinity cement but it was my first time doing a sole swap so I don't think I did it right. I'm selling them on ebay now but I think I might keep them and try to fix them up again because I know the new ones dropping next year aren't going to have the same shape and mines are still in good condition so I don't know, I love that shoe. I sole swapped the Fire red Dub Zero's from 2006 to keep it close to OG as possible. The separation isn't too bad but I'm tired of trying to "preserve" my older Jordans. I recently got rid of OG Concords, Wheat 13's and OG Taxi's because I didn't want to deal with that headache even after reglue because the bond wasn't holding after a few wears. I wanted to pick up a pair of Black cements 3's from 2001 just because of the shape but I had the white cements not too long ago and that back heel tab is flimsy, the one on the left foot broke off smh. At least on the 4's the heel tab is more durable, mines don't feel like they'll break down anytime soon.

 

[verse001]

finally pulled trigger on stockx

 

[bestintheworld]

^nice, you can never ever go wrong with a pair of Black Cements

 

[JPS]

Where / who said this?

da SBB weeb squad

 

[riverdale road]