Not so Best Footwear Designs of the Decade.

[rockdeep]

Although I highly respect ALL designers and what they can do and I understand everything ISN'T for EVERYONE... we all have a few kicks that didn't rubus the right way and we just didn't like. Some of our worst may be someone else's best of the Decade.

So to piggy back off the other Thread for the Best of the Decade... whats your Bottom Three Choices for "Not so Best of the Last Decade"?

This should have never made it past the first Look See Sample. (Sorry Bro)
The Pippen Fusion more like Fusalage

I know these did well over seas. Probably Best as I haven't been a fan of this series, but am a Fan of the designer.
The Ambassador

These are more recent and many would think plenty of Jays could get top billing... however like I have said.. many kicks start off great but end up horribledue to management.
These probably could have been a Beast.....without the hole. I guess Jordan is going with Simple is Classic. Tinker aint what he used to be I say.
Jordan 2010

Just Awful.

 

[onlyfootball]

Dub Zero! What did the all those poor Air Jordans do to deserve that?! It started the godawful trend of "fusions," a term which could previously onlybe applied to cells and Dragon Ball Z. Just stop Nike, please...please!

 

[ruxxx]

Let me see......

The Sharkalaid was horrifying!I thought it was a disgrace to the Air Raid.

This shoe is a classic,but the way it was butchered gives me no choice but to throw it and those responsible under the bus,and that is the DT Max("Deion's").

Jordan Fusions.Do you even have to ask which ones?

 

[kobe jordan]

jordan 2010 is very awful

 

[biglefty23]

Any Fusion!!!

How could you guys say Fusions are not the worst designs ever?

Oh and Rock, it's my opinion, but I love the 2010.

Maybe I look past the hole in the shoe due to the technological features. The technology for me makes it one of the best shoes ever.

 

[es el]

the whole fusion idea was a whole dump.

 

[fittednoob]

Originally Posted by bakedFresh707

the whole fusion idea was a whole dump.

 

[richyung412]

we can put about half of the stuff jordan brand came out wit on here

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/masterani3/?action=view&current=jay-z-beyonce-1.jpg

 

[kingjay718]

Pick any Jordan Fusion. Just a disgrace to the line.

 

[fenixconnexion.]

those pippens are TERRIBLE

jordan/af1 fusions are also terrible

 

[jrock78]

Originally Posted by bakedFresh707

the whole fusion idea was a whole dump.

i agree....other than the 1/2 cents...one of the best shoes of 09

 

[swingshot]

Originally Posted by RockDeep

.
Jordan 2010

Just Awful.

Hard to disagree.

Did Tinker really design these?

Wasn't the rumor that Mayden was designing them with input from Cooper and Tinker?

Tinker just looks so disinterested in these, that i think they just had him cover for Mayden,
or he's just not bothered designing decent.

Originally Posted by ElijahDukes

those pippens are TERRIBLE

The More/Much Uptempo was a terrible looking shoe to start off with,
and the More had performance to match.

 

[Sinner]

IMHO, Nike just had to #%#$ things up with this b#!!$#!t...

Why couldn't they have just released the ATC IV's? Yes, I'm bitter.

The AJ2010's (minus the porthole, of course) isn't that bad IMO...

 

[bigtimejerky]

Jordan XVIII

 

[duke4005]

Going to go a little different route here. I am thinking of supposedly "high performance" shoes (I bought all of these also) that could have beenbetter but for a lack of a design element.

Hyperflight - looked great, performed terrible. No ankle support, very little cushioning (possibly the thinnest Zoom unit ever), pressure points caused flextears in material

Ultraflight - Loved the looks and idea of these shoes, but they made a shoe for quick guards, doing lots of lateral movement, and the sole is NARROWER than theupper. Needed an outrigger, a la BB1, and these would have been perfect for me.

Hyperdunk - Lunar Foam? REALLY? Come on, give us some Zoom in these and they could not be touched.


Oh, yeah, and any Jordan/Air Foce Fusion, along with all of the Dub/60+/Spi'zike (possibly the worst name ever).

 

[rockdeep]

Originally Posted by swingshot

Originally Posted by RockDeep

.
Jordan 2010

Just Awful.

Hard to disagree.

Did Tinker really design these?

Wasn't the rumor that Mayden was designing them with input from Cooper and Tinker?

Tinker just looks so disinterested in these, that i think they just had him cover for Mayden,
or he's just not bothered designing decent.

Originally Posted by ElijahDukes

those pippens are TERRIBLE

The More/Much Uptempo was a terrible looking shoe to start off with,
and the More had performance to match.

Just FYI.... Mayden had NO hand in on these.. These are ALL Tinker and Mark.. Trust me on that my man. Tinker needed someone to cover for HIM on these.. lol

 

[TXZ]

(NOTE: Just judging the following shoes on appearance, not performance. So, for example, I'm not going to bash the Hyperflight even though it sucked on thecourt and had durability issues because it still looked damn cool.)


The Air Jordan
This has been a disappointing decade for new Air Jordan designs, especially when it had to follow the success of the 80s and 90s. In fact,top-of-the-line/signature Nike Basketball > Air Jordans as far as this decade is concerned. Here's a list of my problems with each model:

XV - Didn't look terrible (liked the unconventional tongue) but sucked on the court. OK maybe I wasn't entirely truthful when I said I was going toavoid performance issues...

XVI - Beginning of the shroud era. Kept falling off, even when worn casually. Beginning of build quality issues, especially those nasty red pillars on themidsole.

XVII - The collar was nice and so was the golf course outsole. I hate everything else though. $200 for a goddamn briefcase. The chunky silhouette of the shoe.A shroud that managed to be more useless than the one on the XVI. And even when you took it off, there were still a bunch of ugly holes in the side that hardlyserved any function whatsoever.

XVIII - Another freaking shroud and this time you can't remove it. Why couldn't you remove it? Attach some metal clips to the sides and front of theshroud and then put some fabric loops in the corresponding places on the upper. Boom, it's removable. Also, the vents were a goofy design element, butthat's a minor point because they were functional.

XIX - If this was an attempt to recapture the aura of the XI, this was a miserable failure. Hey designers, way to never use Tech-Flex again. The silhouette wasalmost as ugly as XVII's. And even though the midsole was shaped to cup the heel, it still looks bulky.

XX - I love these.

XXI - Not bad. A somewhat bulky silhouette with a fairly bland upper, but I still like it.

XXII - My favorite AJ design this decade. The large vents and wraparound tongue on the samples would have ruined the shoe IMO.

XXIII - My second-favorite AJ design this decade, although I acknowledge that the TPU structure has wrecked some people's toes.

2009 - Oh hey a design I hate more than the XVII. A defective heel. Attempting to emulate the XIV and failing. Heavy because of the use of exotic, expensivematerials. That marble-plate-that-makes-every-shoe-unique bullcrap. No wonder I saw these at outlets.

2010 - Not from this decade. But since it is Rock's thread... I like the asymmetry of it. The hole is kind of dumb, but the explanation for it is evendumber. It definitely should have been a different shape, like the silhouette of the AJ Wings logo.

So, if had to choose the three worst Air Jordan designs, they would be the 2009, the XVII and the XIX. Also would like to cosign with those that say Jordanfusions are terrible. They are far worse than any Air Jordan, yet I don't feel like elaborating on that fact. Those shoes just speak for themselves.


Nike Air Solo Flight

Design-wise, Nike Basketball had a great decade with the Ultraflight, 2K3 and Huarache 2K4 as well as Kobe's and Lebron's sigs. This shoe, however,embodies the problems of that division. A takedown version of iconic Flightposite that lacked the excellent fit or great court feel of that classic shoe. Theylooked and felt cheap because they were cheap, retailing for $85, but if you've read Prof. K's review, they're not even worth half that. Now Irealize that takedowns are for people who cannot afford a $160 shoe, but for $85, you could've gotten something from AND1 or adidas that looked good ANDcould perform on the court.

This leads me to my next point in wondering what the hell happened to Foamposites? The Foam Lite and Skyposite are the two least inspired Posite designs ever. Were they Sportswear designs, not from the Kitchen? Posite should never leave the Kitchen. The Lites were okay, but they looked too plain (I want my Posites to have iridescence, dammit) to justify the $160 price tag. The Skyposites... man I don't like them at all. The clunky, exposed midsole with flat walls that make it hard for a guard to cut and would probably make it ideal for forwards and centers if it didn't have LUNAR FOAM. The old-school lace holes that unfavorably clash with the hi-tech Foamposite. That stupid-looking silhouette. If you ask some random guy about which shoe came first, the Air Foamposite One and the Skyposite, I'd think he'd say that the Skyposite came from the early 90s because of its shape while the Foam Ones were clearly a shoe made within this decade. That's how backward-thinking I think they are. I just hope next year's Posite shoe* is an improvement. Almost anything else would be.

*I've actually been wondering if Nike could combine Foamposite and Flywire to create the lightest Posite and the best fitting Flywire shoe.But maybe the new Flywire on the ZKV and HD2010 might eventually make Posite obsolete. Hmm...


adidas KOBETWO

I rest my case.

 

[sneakerjunkie]

kobe2's lmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaao those are the ugliest things beside FUSIONS of course MJ you are killing the brand man plz stop for your sake and tinkeris old retire buddy you havent made a good j in years

 

[nikeunlimited]

here are my submissions for worst designs:

- Nike Tubular Air - Nike P-Phaze
- Any Nike or Jordan fusion (took a good idea with the One Time Only hybrids and tried to apply it to any two shoes they thought could look good together)
- Nike Signature Players (don't know how Pierce wore these) - just killed people's feet with a molded high arch that made the shoe possibly the mostuncomfortable Nike shoe ever
-

 

[jcliz]

Worst Retros:

Thought these looked ok online, saw them in person and was so salty.

The ATCs were also pretty bad ("sonic yellow" and no flaming ball FTL)

The Low Quality Award:

Almost every AM90 retro since 2005. It makes no sense that my infrared HOAs look better than these that I bought for $25 at FTL F&F 3 years later:

Most poorly executed great idea:
The Huarache 2k5. Maybe I'm the only one, but these literally make my ankles bleed when I wear them (from the strap).

 

[rockdeep]

TXZ great break down my man. I really think without the hole and a sleeker upper the 2010 could be MUCH better as well... and are prolly a BEAST comfortwise... but because of that hole and color blocking...

No Dice.

 

[bp the owner]

^colorblocking does wonders, even with that hole

 

[nomadicsole21]

Im actually a fan of the 2010, with/without the hole.

Design wise its very appealing IMO (Besides the HUGE Window)
No re-hashed qualities to it at all.

 

[devildoc76]

Fusions are always an easy target, especially the AJF 5's. But by far the Sharklaid, is the ugliest shoe to come out this decade.

 

[azabweekay]

Mine has got to be the Nike phenoms, it was such a lazy design in my opinion. All they did was take the strap off the sharkleys.

Sharkley lows

Phenoms

C'mon Nike!