Grey market discussion thread (Let's keep the discussion mature) Rules on pg 1 please read before yo

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right is the grey market, i only say that because the padding inside of the shoe and the tongue

other than that, i cant tell a different captain
 
I'm not sure if it's the angles or lightning but there appears to be a slight different with the area showcasing the air bubble.  Also the lace holders seem to have different hues of black, but that could be because of wear and tear. One size tag with the longer production time has like a circle indent on it but that doesn't mean ****. Additionally very difficult to decipher fam.
 
Thank you for the pics jumpmankb.

I'll start by saying its actually harder to differentiate grey market vs authentic when the shoes have been worn and that is something i've never really thought about before.

The toebox and tongue height on 4s used to be a dead giveaway but not in this case because they are both a bit misshapen because they've been worn.

My eyes initially failed me and caused me to think the left pair was the grey but after pulling out my own pair I'm definitely going with the right pair as the grey market. The netting shape and overall paint quality seems to be off(not saying that can't be the case with an authentic pair).

Either way, these are very good but I think if we had head on pics of both shoes with their tongues fully extended and both soles it would have been much easier to tell the difference.  No matter how good they are, there is always a tell. Theres always that 1 thing they don't do or think is important to replicate.
 
I can't tell the difference. You would have to be a super hardcore sneaker nerd to notice the differences in person and on feet. And even if you could tell up close, I don't know anyone who inspects other men's clothing that hard.
 
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MrDeeds said:
Thank you for the pics jumpmankb.
I'll start by saying its actually harder to differentiate grey market vs authentic when the shoes have been worn and that is something i've never really thought about before.

The toebox and tongue height on 4s used to be a dead giveaway but not in this case because they are both a bit misshapen because they've been worn.
My eyes initially failed me and caused me to think the left pair was the grey but after pulling out my own pair I'm definitely going with the right pair as the grey market. The netting shape and overall paint quality seems to be off(not saying that can't be the case with an authentic pair).

Either way, these are very good but I think if we had head on pics of both shoes with their tongues fully extended and both soles it would have been much easier to tell the difference.  No matter how good they are, there is always a tell. Theres always that 1 thing they don't do or think is important to replicate.
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This isn't always true. Sometimes you will see a minor discrepancy, but it is a quality issue that could just as easily happen on a pair ordered from Eastbay.
 
jumpmankb said:
The left pair (size 8.5) is the grey market pair. The right pair (size
glasses.gif
is the official pair from ***** sporting goods.
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Now that was great, I guess my eyes didn't fail me but when I pulled out my pair from ndc it pretty much was a match for the grey market pair.
 
Kids gonna' be runnin' home from the mall cryin' to their moms like, "Some guy in skinny jeans and some old basketball shoes with yellow soles said that my shoes were fake." Mom gonna' be mad as hell cursin' out the manager at the Footlocker where she copped 'em from.
 
this thread should be closed now :rofl:

waits for the nay sayers to come in and say oh, its just one pair of shoes. they are still fake
 
Zyzz said:
this thread should be closed now
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waits for the nay sayers to come in and say oh, its just one pair of shoes. they are still fake
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Naw, actually it should be kept open.  People need to know whats out here.

This is just 1 example, if there are more it should be posted.

Theres nothing wrong with learning something you didn't know.
 
jumpmankb said:
The left pair (size 8.5) is the grey market pair. The right pair (size
glasses.gif
is the official pair from ***** sporting goods.
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Repped.  Thanks jumpmankb, that was definitely an eye-opener.  Also, pics and info like this are helping the thread move along.  I just hope that this doesn't turn into a place  legit/checks. 

But getting back to semantics, maybe this is why ninja and some others will say stuff is legit even though it has discrepancies.  We all know that authorized pairs from eastbay, ndc, richards sporting goods, ftl, etc have flaws... if the shoes look like they are of the same material and construction- one can ASSUME they might be from the same factory.  That being said, now peopel have to determine the degree of legit.  AUTHORIZED LEGIT or GREY MARKET LEGIT (assuming the idea of blatant fakes are off the table). 

IMO, i'll stick with authorized and if i miss out, then it's not the end of the world.  peace of mind with receipt from ndc,ftl, fnl, etc.  Also, the sneaker aftermarket with resellers/consigment shop seems to only be getting more shady.  Rumors of Flightclub in cahoots with the grey market, and the fact that a shop that I frequent won't tell you up front if a sneaker falls under 1 of these categories:

1) brand new just shipped to him (from where, who knows?)

2) consigned, DS

3) consigned VNDS

Part of his process is to clean up the shoes real nice before he shrink wraps them.  If you don't ask, he doesn't tell.  But some stuff, not a lot, he'll label as "used".
 
Zyzz said:
this thread should be closed now
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This thread should of been closed a long time ago. Nothing I haven't been aware of since that thread in 2011.

So many opinions that people treat as facts in here it makes my head hurt reading.
 
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Yep, certain popular resellers push these pairs out to the public at well over retail.

Explains why some never have full size runs, only 8-12 usually and how they continually are able to restock shoes that can't be found anywhere at a retail store.
 
jumpmankb said:
The left pair (size 8.5) is the grey market pair. The right pair (size 8) is the official pair from ***** sporting goods.
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I KNEW IT!! Dude I was like are these people serious? To me it was obvious the right pair was legit. Then again I wear my IVs quite often. Some of the things that gave it away were the shape, quality of the suede on the toebox (It's wrinkling. Don't get me wrong I have a small wrinkle spot on mine and mine were bought from footaction. But I spilled a bottled water on them and it wrinkled up a bit) around the heel area there seems to be a white lining along where the midsole meets the bottom. Mine nor the right pair have that. The midsole in the second pic looks crazy straight, and the two heels pic; the left looks like as the shoe comes up to the ankle it curves in more than the right shoes
 
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mycojoan23 said:
JChambers said:
It is game over. You can never be sure unless you cop on the release date from a super official store.
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This^^^^^

Only way to get that peace of mind with that receipt/trx in person or "online confirmation email".
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receipts can be fake and be used from a legit pair of shoes being bought

its just buying in person at legit retailer or legit retailer online
 
^If you couldn't tell then you have the wrong hobby. Call me a perfectionist but the difference was WAY apparent

Edit: the more and more I look at the pictures it just seems silly people jumped at the left shoe being real. I could do side by sides and circle all the inconsistencies but I ain't got time for all that this morning. I edited my post with a bit more flaws I saw but come on, bruh. You gotta be blind
 
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Zyzz said:
receipts can be fake and be used from a legit pair of shoes being bought

its just buying in person at legit retailer or legit retailer online
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yep.  that's what i meant to say.  I didn't mean like a craig's list transaction where someone is providing you with a receipt or a consignment store transaction where the same could happen.  my fault for not clarifying.
 
These results don't surprise me at all. Alot of people had it stuck in their heads that authorized retail sneakers look a certain way. Especially the 11s. 23 placement, Jumpman placement, patent leather cut and height, sole icyness (the be all end all for NT members)...all things that vary from shoe to shoe due to quality. Initially I would look at these things to determine GM or not but after getting my hands on a pair of GM concords and comparing them to mine i could see that these signs that were being used were straight up wrong.

A couple pages back I posted pics of 4 pairs of concords I found on eBay. 2 grey market and 2 retail pairs. None of the pics were showing the soles so that classifying these shoes would be based simply on construction. And you know what? No one was able to tell the difference. As a ton of people like ninja have been saying this entire time.
 
jdfrenchbread23 said:
MrDeeds said:
I feel like for once the thread is going in the right direction and more people with worthwhile info are posting.
I still have some questions that I wish would be answered by the people that keep saying that there are "perfect" or "very good" grey market shoes out there.
So far everything grey market i've seen has always looked a little off.  No matter how close i've always been able to tell, so if you guys could post pics of some of these pairs that people claim are worth purchasing. Obviously don't link the source, just post pics like ninja just did.

Everything I see thats grey market is easy for me to differentiate and maybe some people just don't pay that much attention to details but these royals are obvious fakes.

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Those snippet things you have circled mean nothing. I have those on my concords, grapes, cement 4s and plenty of other shoes. ALL were retail store bought.
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this is exactly what i was referring too. Retailed royals never had those snippets or any of the 1s that came out this year.
 
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