I'm with you on that.

The problem I have is that we still haven't seen a sample of white/black/chartreuse. From what I'd gathered, they were from the "lifestyle" collection alongside such monstrosities as the linen x and the white/navy/'orange flash' xiii lows. Assuming they were set to release in september, it would seem to follow that the charcoal grey pair has usurped their position on the release calendar. To have TWO shoes containing various proportions of black/gray/chartreuse designated as "urban releases" would seem redundant enough, but then we have to factor in the shoe's similarity to the GR white/forest green XIV and the prospect of seeing all three of these shoes release within a 2 month timeframe. Then there's the fact that, until the grey suedes came along, EVERY single XIV retro had ribs. There's far too much redundancy when white/black/chartreuse is included in the fall/holiday window.

In spite of this, I truly hope I'm proven wrong and the shoe releases.
Personally, I like white/black/grey/chartreuse infinitely better than the grey suede. To me, it's everything the original white/black/oxidized green/"water" All Star colorway should've been.

As for the delicate question of whom to maim... might I suggest the first person you come across to refer to the charcoal XIVs as "squirrels?"

You're right. Initially the black/red VIIs had slipped my mind (as they're just as much purple as black) and my mind occluded them to recall black/red XI-XIV. When I remembered to include the VII in my list, I forgot to change fourth to fifth. Nice catch.

Yeah, it would seem that the sample included is more recent than the one we saw earlier. I can't say for certain, though.

If you look, you can see that the midsole SHAPE is the same. By coloring it black, it would seem that they're downplaying the distended proportions of the midsole, (because clearly everyone loved it so much on the nu retro 2) but aside from the addition of "flames," (which you can make out on the catalog sketches) it would seem that the midsole itself is otherwise unchanged from the earlier sample.

I agree that it's an improvement... but then again just about any change would've been for the better in my humble opinion.

I'm not much of an insider, so I couldn't tell you. I'd love to see it happen. If anything, hopefully they'll at least slow down. It's sad to see Jordan brand release MORE XIIIs in '04-'05 than in '97-'98. Meanwhile, we're only seeing fewer iterations of the NEW flagship Air Jordan and more tacky spinoffs. Far too many Air jordan XXs look like they're assembled with spare parts ("QS") or designed using paint by number (regionals) as opposed to the well crafted set of 5 mids (home/away, playoff home/away, and wildcard AS game) to which longtime Jordan fans are accustomed. In the "old days," dedicated sneaker fans held the Team line in high esteem. Today, it's been devalued. I'd like to care about the Team line again, and the only way to reemphasize NEW products is to relieve the stranglehold that retro products have on the release calendar. (That, and stop skimping on cushioning etc. for team products. It's embarassing to have new products outperformed by Nikes costing 20% less and Jordan team shoes from 4 years ago.)

One thing I've learned over the years: you can't take Jordan brand at its word. They're going to do whatever they think puts them in the best position as a business, and that can include reversing directions and, occasionally, going back on your word. If we were to believe everything that someone at JB said over the years, we'd have to believe that the Air Jordan II retros are IDENTICAL to the Italian made originals... because Jordan brand doesn't want to deliver an inferior quality retro product, one that pales in comparison to the original. Erm.... yeah.. Don't make me list counterexamples to that infamous promise.

So when someone says, "Read my lips: no more retros," you can understand my skepticism.



I feel I should note that I try to only include VERIFIED information in these news posts. Unsubstantiated rumors etc. will not make the cut here. The point here is to make sure that we're all well informed about future releases, so that we can make the best decisions possible in the coming months. The point isn't to sensationalize and discuss products that may or may not actually come out.

METH[color=#BOBOFF]OD[color=#COCOFF] M[color=#DODOFF]AN[color=#EOEOFF] [color=#FOFOFF] [/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]

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