When Jordan Brand initially introduced the Jumpman in replacement of Nike Air, it was to differentiate between OG colorways and Retro + colorways. It was brilliant in its inception because you knew what colorways Money actually played in and the new take on classic models they wanted to get creative with. It was a simple formula that was working perfectly fine until Gentry decided to slap a Jumpman on the heel of the WC3 in 2003. This marked the beginning of the end for the Nike Air branding. There are stories that Jordan Brand made this change in branding to establish themselves apart from Nike. It was only the enthusiast and connoisseurs that took issue with it.
Our complaints fell on deaf ears for over a decade and it wasn’t until Gentry left JB to go to Nike Sportswear that we saw a return to Nike Air branding on the correct models and colorways. With Gentry back now you can see his fingerprints all over the branding gaffes. Nike Air has been placed on colorways that are technically Retro + and the remastered program that started when he left hasn’t lived up to its potential.
While the VI & XI saw improvements, the III & IV (OG colorways) have been disappointing. Interesting enough though we saw an improvement with the Fire Red V in comparison to the Black Metalic’s. It’s a shame they still can’t get the tongue right though. They made an improvement in the recent What the IV with fixing the banana toe shape, but the height of the shoe still remains wrong. JB corrected the shape to the III with the Unite and UNC release and finally got the tongue and elephant print ratio right. With these fixes made in between releases it shows that they know they can give us better shoes.
I disagree with the notion that we can’t and won’t see a 1:1 retro release. Unfortunately that won’t happen with who’s currently running things. All it takes is someone to be put in charge that is just as passionate and meticulous as some of us are. In the meantime we will continue to pick and choose with what we deem an acceptable release, while the masses consume everything like mindless drones.
most of you wont believe me, but what I tell you is the truth. some of you have been given proof in the past that I'm telling you the truth. I have spoke with Tinker about this before and he has stated that we will never see an exact replica of a shoe because Nike does not want the value of the OGs to decrease. As stated by Tinker if we make more shoes that are exact replicas of the OGs it will ruin the collector market for OG shoes which drives the market for new shoes.