NIKE Kobe VIII PROTRO - 2023

[ballyeaz]

customizing shoes is not my cup of tea but I low key wanna cop and tie dye these

that mesh upper is perfect for tie dying too.

 

[little mac]

That is the aspect of this that pis_es me off the most. Nike refusing to put these on iD is the ultimate middle finger to the Kobe sneaker fans that have been loyal since the switch to Nike. iD does not infringe on their precious 'hype.'

From making mock-ups on the building tool, to waiting in anticipation for your pairs to arrive. Then posting pics of your pairs on here for others to appreciate (and copy).

The entire process was something that is no longer part of the Kobe line....FUN.

 

[little mac]

Nike has had Internationalists on the ID platform for eons. Yet they can't put one Kobe model up for limited time.

If they would have put one model on iD on 8/24, for only 24hrs...giving Kobe fans a way to honor and celebrate him...they would have been heros.

 

[spiderjericho]

They're anti consumer. They hardly put any Nike basketball on Nike By You.

 

[nice jahb]

At the end of the it’s business. While we enjoyed the luxuries of every shoe on NikeID back in the day, it doesn’t change the fact that their biggest money earners are Jordan’s 1-14, Air Forces, and Dunks.

Why even give the limited few the option of Nike By you, when you can just release all white air forces and black and white dunks and sellout every month? For as technologically advanced this next generation, they lack artistic creativity and expression. Everyone wants to wear the same and look the same.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, there were so many shoe options and styles that people would put together. Now it’s pretty much the 3 I mentioned, crocs/bubble slippers, or Yeezys for the kids. Sprinkle in a little vans, a little chucks, but that’s it.

Old heads like us only ones rocking ultra boosts, Under Armour, Hokas, and Brooks.

 

[Kobekobe]

Nike has performed poorly in the past few years so their decisions clearly aren't working and fans/investors are getting fed up. I seriously don't know who they hired to run their marketing and sales department.

They are shooting themselves in the foot by trying to be a luxury brand (out of all of them).
In some ways it may work in theory but it's clearly not going well for them. Sorry, I'm not paying $50 for a 100% cotton tee that's going to get ruined in 1 wash when I can pay $20 at underarmour and the shirt lasts me a few years in wash AND dryer no problem.

The craziest thing about this all is that Nike has all this patented GOOD tech that they just refuse to use correctly, so they insist on creating new tech (WHO ASKED FOR FORMULA 23 OR CUSHLON 3.0??). They have 10+ different foam compounds and arguably the best cushion tech (zoom) and when you buy a $200 sneaker you don't know what the **** you're even getting. Could you get cushlon 1.0? maybe it's 2.0? is it gonna be react? Nah it's prob just phylon. Oh the product description says the product has zoom, that's amazing.. then the shoe gets ripped open by the foot doctor and it's a zoom bag the size of a penny FOH. Then you have idiots online saying something stupid like "nike made the zoom bag that size to reduce weight and give you MORE performance" as if making the bag a tiny bit bigger would have some huge affect on your agility.. give me a break

The point of my post is, in the past couple of years Nike has stopped giving people what they want and instead are telling people what they want. It's like they're forgetting why they're even this successful in the first place.. they gave people WHAT they wanted. The shoes on jordan's feet were all available in the 90's without having to deal with any of the b.s. today. the same with the 2000's and the 2010's.. we mostly got what we wanted but now players don't even wear anything that's available in stores and we get some stupid colourways that cater to the tiktokers

 

[little mac]

They're anti consumer. They hardly put any Nike basketball on Nike By You.

In my area...if you asked someone who they thought was the worst company, you could always count on hearing Comcast about 75% of the time. Now it's often Nike. When I hear things like SNKRS improves the customer experience...I think they've drank too much of their own kool-aid.

Last week, I read that Nike shares are running toward the longest losing streak in company history.

I think the stock fell for 10 consecutive days. I think it was the worst it performed since its IPO in the 80s. I'm sure they have a bunch of reasons why when it comes to explaining things to share holders.

I would like to think it's KARMA.

 

[little mac]

And I'm convinced they don't care at all regarding quality. Glue stains, sole seperation...for what they ask, it's unacceptable. I had a pair tailwinds that separated on the first wear. Bravo to Nordstroms. They agreed it was a disgrace and took care of it.

When flyknit was introduced, I think I remember an article or interview with someone from Nike (I think) and they spoke of how the future may be sooner than we think. That we'll be able buy files from Nike instead of physical sneakers, and make the sneakers ourselves, or take them to a retail store to have them made. Maybe I imagined it.....LOL.

I really think that's what they would consider the ideal selling model. Then Nike could focus on manufacturing that they manufacture best...'fake hype' via exclusivity (IMO).

 

[bobj885]

In my area...if you asked someone who they thought was the worst company, you could always count on hearing Comcast about 75% of the time. Now it's often Nike. When I hear things like SNKRS improves the customer experience...I think they've drank too much of their own kool-aid.

Last week, I read that Nike shares are running toward the longest losing streak in company history.

I think the stock fell for 10 consecutive days. I think it was the worst it performed since its IPO in the 80s. I'm sure they have a bunch of reasons why when it comes to explaining things to share holders.

I would like to think it's KARMA.

it makes sense when you think about it. At least for me, the products i like to buy are all worse now than they were in 2016-2019.
- Kds are worse, last one i liked was the 12. 9, 10, 11 were all nice too.

- Lebrons are worse, last one i liked was 15 and 16. on the 9 retros, they chose to release a random pubic hair cw instead of the 10 other grails they could have chose

- can’t buy a single kobe but even if we could, let’s be real. 4s had the zoom fiasco and lack of classic cws like MLK and Finals MVPs. On 5 and 6 they really messed up the toebox fit.

- Tech fleece used to be beautiful but is garbage now, they fixed something that was never broken.

- NBA City edition jersey designs are getting worse as designers run out of ideas. And like the poster above said, they’re using the “make things lighter” excuse to use rubber patches instead of actual embroidery, as a result nike nba jerseys in general are trash quality compared to adidas rev30 (nike d-riders in the NBA apparel thread can argue otherwise all they want but that‘s another topic lol)

- on t-shirts, especially the NBA player ones, they changed it from the nice and smooth dri-fit material to a rough 100% cotton one for no reason AND they increased the price from an already overpriced $35 to $40.

- Can’t find s*** at the outlets now, even on hash walls. Even outlet shorts and t-shirt designs aren’t as nice as they used to be, like the “Basketball never stops” shirts.

- applies to other brands too: UA didn't even give Steph any championship shoes for 2022 and Adidas ultraboosts are worse than the old ones

moral of the story is you don’t know what you had, or how good you had it, until it’s gone

 

[bonde111]

Anyone that managed to get the Halo Hoodie get theirs yet? Got a label created notification on the 24th, but UPS hasn’t received it from Nike yet I’m worried

 

[brucefan74]

Mail call. Initial thoughts when trying them on is the react foam feels super thick and doesn't seem you are close to the ground like the OG's were. I have wide feet and I stayed tts with ample space for my toes to move around. These are snug I guess because of the react cushioning and I would prob prefer to half size up. Also doesn't help that the tongue is padded tho it is a nice upgrade. Another thought, these laces are mad short. The laces on the OGs were flopping everywhere.

 

[kilroythedon]

I got my t shirt yesterday.. it’s fire..

 

[jaynev]

Mail call. Initial thoughts when trying them on is the react foam feels super thick and doesn't seem you are close to the ground like the OG's were. I have wide feet and I stayed tts with ample space for my toes to move around. These are snug I guess because of the react cushioning and I would prob prefer to half size up. Also doesn't help that the tongue is padded tho it is a nice upgrade. Another thought, these laces are mad short. The laces on the OGs were flopping everywhere.

Damn, nice. Not salty at all

 

[brucefan74]

Wore these most of the day and my pinky toes were screaming at me they were so snug because of the react insole and padded tongue. I switched them out for the OG lunarlon insoles and they are a million times better. Now I have to deal with the squeeking of the insoles like the OG Kobe 8s but I'd rather have that than angry pinky toes. The length is good but if I ever want to get another protro 8 model I will def need to half size up.

 

[Talonmarko]

Anyone who still have LeBron 11s with full length Zoom drop-in midsole? Since the resell is not so awful on these, I'm kinda interested but want to know before purchase whether or not that LeBron midsole would fit in these

 

[tigo0240]

They really don't fit. It would likely involve a LOT of trimming/alteration, and you'd probably need a different size Kobe to start with to end up with a proper fit.

 

[nikekid6]

Wore these most of the day and my pinky toes were screaming at me they were so snug because of the react insole and padded tongue. I switched them out for the OG lunarlon insoles and they are a million times better. Now I have to deal with the squeeking of the insoles like the OG Kobe 8s but I'd rather have that than angry pinky toes. The length is good but if I ever want to get another protro 8 model I will def need to half size up.

sprinkle in some baby powder

 

[omar23109]

sprinkle in some baby powder

Hand lotion works wonders on 8 insoles as well.

 

[bonde111]

Hand lotion works wonders on 8 insoles as well.

 

[little mac]

Just noticing....resale for the Halo is lower than I expected. Definitely lower than the recent 6 and 4 Protros that were released.

Maybe common sense is at least starting to take hold.

 

[urn0tlike]

Just noticing....resale for the Halo is lower than I expected. Definitely lower than the recent 6 and 4 Protros that were released.

Maybe common sense is at least starting to take hold.

It’s cause it’s a solid white shoe. Not many nurses wear Kobe’s to work

 

[laced navajo]

Anybody going to customize their pair? Where is the NTer that was doing the Lebron XXs?

 

[Talonmarko]

Anyone with OG 8's in sz 12 that know their weight?

I'm kinda low key disappointed in Protro 8's weight since the OG's were noticiably lighter than these, but it might be just me and my mind playing tricks on me..

These Protro 8's in sz 12 weigh like 400 grams where I remember that OG 8's were like 50 grams lighter.

 

[g-time]

I mean if that’s the case that really isn’t that noticeable. 50 grams is only a little more than 1.5 ounces or a tenth of a pound.

 

[Talonmarko]

I mean if that’s the case that really isn’t that noticeable. 50 grams is only a little more than 1.5 ounces or a tenth of a pound.

Well you are kinda right about that. I loved Kobe 8 OG's because they were superlight and they played good. But comparing them to something like LeBron 20, those Bron's ain't really that much heavier than Protro 8's.