Sneaker News Top 30 of 2012
December 28th, 2012 by Sneaker News | 183 comments
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27 | NIKE AIR PENNY V
There is no question to whom the most popular signature sneaker series of all time belongs. Michael and his Air Jordan line were so successful that people were looking for his heir apparent even before the first retirement. And while that whole Harold Miner thing didn’t exactly work out, Nike did indeed strike gold with another young guard playing his pro ball in Florida. The Orlando Magic swapped their 1993 number one overall draft selection in Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors for Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway, who’d been selected third in a trade that sent shockwaves through the NBA for years to come. Along with a young Shaquille O’Neal, the two rising stars created one of the league’s most formidable duos, particularly with regard to marketing potential.
After a solid two year stretch that gave the Magic their first 50-win season and NBA Finals appearance, Beaverton realized that Penny didn’t need to be the next Michael for his next-gen Magic (Johnson) approach to be plenty signature-worthy. The Nike Air Max Penny was unveiled for the following season, and the line went on to go strong from there as Hardaway posted career numbers in the Air Penny II, had a last hurrah with the Magic in the Penny’s IIIs, and saw the fourth, and what was thought to be final, Air Penny model release in support of a Phoenix Suns tenure that turned out to be the beginning of the end for the injury-plagued superstar.
Ten years after the Air Penny IV, memories of Chris Rock as Lil’ Penny proved poignant as heads had continued to cop sporadic Penny Retros. Nike Sportswear turned its modular alchemy on the series and resurrected the familiar ‘1c’ insignia with the Half Cent hybrid for 2009, then rode that wave of success into the Zoom Rookie LWP last year, and with quite a few retro releases in between, it became clear the market is still hungry for more Air Penny goodness.
All that history brings us to this fall, when NSW released the Air Penny V, setting a record for longest time between signature releases with the first totally fresh post retirement Nike drop for anyone not named ‘His Airness’. Following up on those mash-ups borrowing from Hardaway’s whole career, the Air Penny 5 found its place in the canon with familiar materials, swooping lines and colorways inspired by Anfernee’s unique basketball odyssey. Styles like the ‘Orlando’ and ‘Suns’ referenced some notable NBA stops along the way, while the ‘Red Eagles’ told a personal tale and the ‘Dolphins’ edition connected with one of today’s trendiest palettes in a nod to Hardaway’s retired life down in Florida. Great design, storytelling and personality made the Air Penny series a hit when it debuted over fifteen years ago and it proves to be a timeless combination with the success of the Penny V all these years later.
avapkicks speaks blasphemy. Questions, Answers, any of the Pump series. I know this is only your opinion but damn.
You crazy, you not a real sneaker head if you think reebok dont make good shoes@avapkicks
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@xavier987654321 its a few out there but their stock wont b that vast and the price will b super high
I also feel some sort of way that the best release of a signature shoe all year wasn't featured by itself. The KD IV! I dislike every other KD except this one, including the KD V. These were incredibly made, had GORGEOUS colorways, and are the only low top basketball shoes I will ever hoop in because the fit and feel is INCREDIBLE. I can't see how the "Aunt Pearls" or "Gold Medals" weren't on this list representing in their own right! Besides ridiculously limited quantities, and thus leading to huge hype; I don't see how these wouldn't have made a top 15 list let alone a top 30. But hey, that's just my opinion.
Honestly my #1 release of the year was the "Paranorman" Foam. I have copped every limited release and general release foam since 97, and these are the only ones I haven't retrieved; and honestly, it's the one time I didn't feel cheated by either the company (Nike) or retailers as to why I didn't get a release of a particular shoe. It seemed to be an honest and fair raffle on twitter, that gave that patron an extremely well deserved prize for sharing a picture that directly linked to the theme of the product. I submitted plenty of "weird" childhood pics, but understanding that I might not be 1 of the 800 "weirdest" children captured in the world helped settle my disappointment. I haven't even mentioned the craft and beauty of the shoe itself. Next to the galaxy and metallic red it would be my 3rd favorite foamposite. The release was genuine, the theme and idea was genuine and the shoe was simply AMAZING! My favorite sneaker was the galaxy (My favorite sneakers have been foams since they released so I'm extremely bias), but the amount of BS i had to go through and amount of money I had to pay to purchase one pair to actually rock was ridiculous, even though I was and always am willing to do all sorts of waiting, and hours of lines to purchase releases. The paranormans were all positives about a sneaker and it's release, in a world where the "sneaker game" has taken a turn for the worse. It was a huge breath of fresh air on a very recently SUPER HYPED model of sneaker that ranks #1 all time in my opinion.
Personally i think the foamposite galaxies was the best shoe of 2012 not a huge fan of the yeezys anyway
Amazing pictures that showed off of the little nuances that made each shoe special. Overall this was a good list but I would not have included the Lebron X. That shoe still hasn't found its must have colorway. I can't wait until they announce the Black Friday and Christmas Jordan retros.
For real here. Not brand new but a lil shiny to sneaker blog, release thing. Is there any place like Hanon shop. On line or in our country? Why they do all those great New Balance colorways?
Stussy shoe is diffrent. But just in case they gotta slap New York on the back. No hater here I'm a fan of Supreme but enough New York. U dont rule the shoe world. Maybe it's Orgon?
i feel the PARANORMANS was a better FOAM than the GALAXY foams. that slime green on the bottom is better than the galaxys. the green slime smoke screen on the side is dope i mean, the galaxy was dope but i feel the PARANORMANS are better
The Ewings were trash when they were release in the early 90's. hypebeast have made trash popular
@Qubayza ur so right. Slap in the face. These company's think they can re-release crap and cause a craze. They're prob right. I'm sitn in a little row home w/ 18 yrs left til I own it. Has nuthn to do wit bein a knick fan, when I was a young buck I laughed that shoe. Rember bobo's.well they're back in blue and orange
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@Qubayza Your entitled to your own opinion, but must not be from NY or if you did you must have lived under a rock back then. When the Ewings dropped EVERYONE under 25 had them back in the 90's. No internet ,no hype machine... just hard core Knickerbocker fans.
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@IgotthatFIRE @Qubayza you are correct about that! i had the ewings back in the day and they was the joints to have in NYC! and that buzz came off of seeing people with them, not like how sneaks now a days are constantly pushed by the companies themselves! but to say ewings are trash you are seriously a rookie in this game
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Think some of the things that go into being on that list are shoes that can leave a lasting impact because of material . Or that represent a trend in the shoe game. For example i wouldnt paint in that Ewing shoe but it does say somthn about todays sneaker buyer and trends.
@WZRDUPSO The Flyknits were just a marketing ploy by Nike for the Olympics. They are ridiculous and only look decent in volt.
@WZRDUPSO wait til u see the technology of that flyknit shoe inspires. Gona b a whole species of shoe w/ that technology. Like hyperfuse is in air max 90 lunar tr 1 , or the lunar bottom af 1 even cole hann shoes. See what i'm sayn. Flyknit gota b somewhere on that list.
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ok so the yeezy got number 1...If we took all the branding of it wouldnt make the list right
@npt the 11s came out when? the lebrons has BETTER technology going for it! thats why, it's a better shoe to ball in, but as for looks, i rather wear the 11s
I'm not new at shoes. I am new at being able to comment on shoes. Lets just say no iphones where i was. I dont collect. I wear. The list was big. Sneaker News didnt have to cut alot out. New Balance shoe collabs are incredible. As an oldhead where was air max 95 BB and Lunar Air Force 1. Get that Ewing shoe out there. It was a money project from the beginning. The big shoe companies weren't gona give an aging slow center a big shoe deal. Its a crap shoe. In 10 years if my nephew is paying $400 for Shaq's shoe. I'll wear sandals!
