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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

the fall of titans.

nike sb is making some pretty questionable moves:
1)no longer utilizing fat tongue (it seems like a really odd move)
2)the introduction of the zoom veloce and what seems to be the induction of the bruin into the sb realm
3)the upcoming introduction of a second pro model: the janoski
4)the installation of the third prod
5)the plans on an omar salazar pro sneaker

lets start with the removal of fat tongues: lets face it- fat tongues do not improve performance, if anything it's fully aesthetic. there is a theory that the fat tongues protect the top of the foot and personally, i believe that at times. unfortunately the fat tongue created the idea that a skate shoe must utilize a fat tongue. however there has been a shift in the skate sneaker realm in where these shoes do not have fat tongues and have gone to the good old days of vulcanized soles (hint when vans was the top dog of skateboarding). i dont like what nike sb is doing by removing fat tongues- the barf had tongues that were not fat. it sold quite a few pairs because it was thought that it was a gaffe. what im trying to say is DONT DO IT.

via sneakerfreaker



the bruin and the zoom veloce is really an exhibition of nike's lack of imagination and unsureness. the bruin is to replace the blazer low (which shouldnt have entered the sb realm because it conflicts with the sb classic). the bruin has been in the nike catalog for a very very long time much like the tennis classic (sb classic) and the blazer. however after some thought the bruin is basically the rear of a tennis classic, the tongue and sole of the blazer low, and the toebox and the sides of the cortez. hmmmm. then theres the pitiful excuse for a shoe, the zoom veloce. first off the name is sketch: veloce. its italian. it has velo in it. is it a cycling shoe? i personally think that the veloce is poorly thought out. it has the sole of the zoom tre ad/tre, and it was made from nike sb designer james arizumi. im sure it is light. but im also sure after a few throw downs all that will be left would be the tre sole...

via hypebeast

then we get to the prod and the janoski. i like the janoski. however i believe that the janoski is taking cues fromt he vans sk8hi as well as the lesser known nike air sabaku/air toki. the janoski though really reminds me of the of the vans zapato del barco- im sure these will sell really well, and i actually think that nike sb has created a great all around sneaker with this one. but then it goes down hill with the prod. the prod is aging too much. the prod I was a pinnacle of skateboarding. the prod II, great shoe- stylish, functional, comfy as f*ck. the prod III, im not excited about. there's not enough progression in this sneaker. the fact that james arizumi designed the veloce, janoski, AND the prod III brings up quesionable design similarities... the veloce and the prod share the 3 eyelet feature (veloce's is non functional), the  janoski and the veloce share the heel strap idea. in addition to all this mess, the prod III has a flat tongue- the first in the prod signature series to do so, and prods are known for their fat tongues being the only ones to be internally sewn like many skate shoes out there. the sole doesnt see much change from the II to the III also....

now then there's talk about omar salazar's shoe from the interver of james arizumi (see sneaker freaker link). im excited and bummed at the same time. salazar is from the sacramento area but his dunk from the recent skater series shows that he's a sharks fan- and i can support that sh*t. however, there are many tenured skaters on the nike sb team that do not have a shoe. sure hes been on the taem for a while, but what about supa? what about forbes? what about shimizu? what about iannucci?  hell, janoski came onto the team not that long ago and hes getting a pro shoe? hmmmm..

nike sb be making hella bad moves. now lets see: prod has a shoe, janoski has a shoe, salazar has a shoe-
i predict prod fading out of the spotlight. and i also predict the team
falling apart. the zoom veloce will fade with the ranks of the delta force sb, regime, abbington, fc (which was an amazing shoe....), angus, ecue (predecessor to the zoom tre), url (another great shoe), and team edition.  the prod III wont sell.  nike sb be making hella bad moves...


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