when did JB "change"?

[souljaman22]

I always see members say JB died in 2005. is that the year that the face boxes stopped?I own a couple retros from 2000-2003 and thee is a big difference in the quality of the leather. what was the first shoe to come in the black silver boxes we get now? what was the first bad quality release?

 

[cicero avenue dopeman]

when gentry left

 

[penalize]

simple enough...

 

[duplessis5o4]

this is all in personal opinion, some may feel after Air Jordan 14 JB started to slipping with all the futuristic shoe designs. JB was a fasion statement now its more of a style of shoe

 

[futuredhughes]

Originally Posted by duplessis5o4

this is all in personal opinion, some may feel after Air Jordan 14 JB started to slipping with all the futuristic shoe designs. JB was a fasion statement now its more of a style of shoe

Exactly, but most agree after 2005.
I believe the cost started to get to high to produce so JB started cutting corners.

 

[j2legend]

Started to slip for me past 2007. the CDPs, in retrospect, weren't very good. And the quality 

 

[bence23]

after 05 is correct. My 05 french blue retro 12s were the last time i remember them using real leather. the quality on most of the 06 were horrible. 


the grapes were made of damn near plastic.

Quality has been much improved the last year and a half.

 

[jonathan79936]

I hope JB would go back to how they made the shoes, especially since the price keep going up.

 

[grey]

i think the ix's of 2002 is when the ball started to roll due to the cracking

 

[flood401]

The grapes are really weak but there is no denying that they are great!

 

[patent2305]

i would say after the Dmp's in jan 06.

 

[yelloo]

I'm late to the game so I don't know the texture and quality everybody misses

 

[captaindreamcast]

Originally Posted by FutureDHughes

Originally Posted by duplessis5o4

this is all in personal opinion, some may feel after Air Jordan 14 JB started to slipping with all the futuristic shoe designs. JB was a fasion statement now its more of a style of shoe

Exactly, but most agree after 2005.
I believe the cost started to get to high to produce so JB started cutting corners.

it's not like it cost JB/Nike a fortune to make the shoes quality. I'm sure most of us would cop retros with OG/2000-2001 quality for $200 if JB ever decided on that.

 

[sdot73]

it all started with the black/carolina 12 pack that was released as an online exclusive in december of 03. It was a complete hype shoe, the damn site crashed multiple multiple times but in the end i'd say 70% of the people who wanted them got them without having to pay crazy reseller prices, oh and if I remember correctly the pack was 200+shipping for the hoodie, fitted & sneakers. now we get crappy leather on the 12s and have to pay 160.

The shoe that the poor quality showed on was the altitude 13s in like jan/feb of 05. Once again limited info on what stores did and did not get them, really crappy leather on the toe and started a cycle of jordan releasing whatever the hell they wanted as long as it was labeled LS or Limited. It continued with the 4s from 06, the black/carolina 5s from august 06 and the grapes in september 06

 

[3thaman]

I'm doing a lil drinking tonight so someone might end up changing my mind but this is the last release that I bought were I really thought I got my moneys worth.

 

[sickickz23]

2006...mars and military 4s

 

[eltouha]

all in know is the 2000 vi's, 2002 vii's and 2003 viii's were all excellent, so it was some time after that.

 

[DB Cooper]

Me personally, I think it's pretty obvious. They cut corners due to rising costs, yet people are still buying them no matter the ongoing quality issues that they keep having. I see no reason that would make them change their standards otherwise. 

 

[dadecounty11]

I think JB went to hell with the team Jordans and all these other Jordans that people buy and wear. I remember Jordan had ONE shoe per year. Now, there are all these wack shoes that they just slap a jumpman on, and people buy them. So as long as little Billy wants a pair of Jordans, and Mom is not willing to pay $150 for a pair or retros, he will get some random $115 team Jordan.

I remember when the first retros started coming out in 2000, I was very excited. Now, it seems like they are flooding the market, and the shoes have subpar in quality and performance, while the prices go up. (Thanks to greed)

But at the same time, it's kind of both ways. I think the 23s were classics. But that may have just been an exception.

 

[eltouha]

^ two things

1: i agree, when there was one release per year and no hype kids were clinging on was great;
2: you're wrong, the retros started in 94.

 

[el bro]

JB changed for the worse in 2004 with the introduction of the newly garbage shaped IV's. Thats when they started to fail in the quality department.

Nike started towards the mid of 2005, but not fully until 2009 when they released the new garbage shape of the AM1.

 

[vood99]

Originally Posted by sickickz23

2006...mars and military 4s

Agreed 100%. The '05 Retro may not have been the best quality but they were still using full grain leather. It was in '06 that they started slapping garbage plastic leather (pleather) on retro product like the IVs and Vs.

The Mars IV and Military IVs were utter garbarge in terms of quality however the 'Pure $' and 'Black Cat' IVs were actually quite decent and had full grain leather and nubuck respectively.

Green Bean Vs had 3M uppers but were super uncomfortable to wear due to the stiffness of the uppers. The Stealth/Blue V actually had tumbled full grain leather but the Grape Vs had garbage pleather.

It almost seemed as though JB were putting lower quality materials on the 'OG' colourways and putting 'better' materials on the Retro+ colourways. I think they continued this trend into 2007 and once 2008 rolled out - all their retro product had lower quality. The CDPs are perfect examples of the declining quality - every single one of those shoes was terrible.  

 

[el bro]

Vood99- That makes sense. JB cuts quality on the OG Colorways because they know they will sell out. They put a little more emphasis on the Retro+ because they want the public to embrace them as well. My thinking was, why not make quality better, make more, raise the price a little and we all win.

Well, JB and the Jerks they are took that theory, but just took out making quality better. They raised the prices by 30%, made more and cheapened out the shoes even more. I mean padding in the shoes alone became less and less as the years went by. Look at the shoes now, and compare them to the crap back in 06-08 and they did it again.  

JB's business strategy is backwards, and solely lives off hype.   You increase prices to maintain the quality products you produce. Or your prices stay the same, but quality decreases a little.  These jerk offs increase prices, to make more, so they can produce a product that gets worse and worse every year( with exception of a few shoes ).  The only reason they do that is because of the hype that backs their product.

 

[vood99]

Originally Posted by El Bro

Vood99- That makes sense. JB cuts quality on the OG Colorways because they know they will sell out. They put a little more emphasis on the Retro+ because they want the public to embrace them as well. My thinking was, why not make quality better, make more, raise the price a little and we all win.

Well, JB and the Jerks they are took that theory, but just took out making quality better. They raised the prices by 30%, made more and cheapened out the shoes even more. I mean padding in the shoes alone became less and less as the years went by. Look at the shoes now, and compare them to the crap back in 06-08 and they did it again.  

JB's business strategy is backwards, and solely lives off hype.   You increase prices to maintain the quality products you produce. Or your prices stay the same, but quality decreases a little.  These jerk offs increase prices, to make more, so they can produce a product that gets worse and worse every year( with exception of a few shoes ).  The only reason they do that is because of the hype that backs their product.

El bro, thanks for concurring but don't stress out over JB's shortcomings. If you've been buying JB product since '04-'05 then you're definitely an older head like myself. There are far bigger things to worry about and  just put your saved money to good use. 
  

 

[onemandeep]

My brother was working at Footlocker during the OG days, i became one in highschool. we compare the originals to the retro garbage that came in my time, and its mindblowing. for example he grabbed the flue game og, when they came out when i working there the difference made them seem like a payless release. changed my whole view on JB