If you need more ‘posite’ in your life, you can be ‘posite-ively’ excited about the Nike Air Max Flyposite – a hybrid of the U.S. football-specific Zoom Flyposite and the 360-degree Max Air unit. Sneaker News first broke the news of the Air Max Flyposite when NSW head Gentry Humphrey presented it to the Twitter world, but it’s apparent that the Air Max Flyposite isn’t just a employee-only hybrid mash-up, but an actual release later this year. It features the sporty Flyposite upper with all-sports-ready Max Air, so in addition to looking good, these should feel as good as any other 360 Max Air model. An extra shot of the tongue awaits you below, so take a look and stick with Sneaker News for more updates. Photos: kumastock
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It’s a great week for Foamposites, isn’t it? First, a teaser of the upcoming Gold Medal Foamposite Ones. Next, a full re-stock of Galaxy Foams at 21 Mercer. Next up, here’s a solid look at the upcoming September release of the Nike Air Foamposite Pro in the Metallic Silver/Crimson-Black colorway; it was first previewed during the Niketown Las Vegas x Air Penny event a few months back, but this close-up viewing gives us a good grasp of what to expect. In a nutshell? The 05 Metallic Silver Foamposite Pro with a slightly more lustrious upper and Crimson Red detailing on the outsole and upper. More shots below, so take a look and let us know what you think. Photos: BunBTrillOG
Nike Air Foamposite Pro
Metallic Silver/Crimson-Black
624041-016
09/01/12
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It’s not very often a single product has such a game-changing effect on an industry, so once ‘Foamsanity’ went down in the early hours of February 24th, 2012, the Air Foamposite One ‘Galaxy’ would forever be enshrined as one of the most notorious sneaker releases of all-time, if not the single most notorious in history. Retailers were forced to pull the product from the shelves to ensure the safety of all parties involved (consumers, store employees, and local authorities), and since then, Nike has taken drastic measures in regards to their product releases in order to preserve order in the future. A few retailers ended up putting the shoes back on the shelves at random, undisclosed dates, and the Foams landed in the hands of store regulars and frequent shoppers without as much of a peep. It was a throwback to the days when a consumer could just walk into a store without knowing what he would find inside and leave happy with a fresh new pair or two; essentially, that experience is what Nike is trying to recapture, and although Nike sets its own firm releases dates and makes that info public, what we saw over at 21 Mercer today was a callback to the days when it was all about being in the right place at the right time.
Earlier this morning, at 21 Mercer, Nike’s premier NSW consumer experience located in the SoHo district of Manhattan, Nike quietly pulled off its own clandestine restock of the Galaxy Foams. If you remember, 21 Mercer was the best prepared for the initial All-Star releases back in February, holding separate ‘wrist-band’ line-ups during separate days of the week and ensuring a quick and easy purchase for those who were keen on following the store’s Twitter account (@21Mercer if it’s not on your list yet). This morning’s ‘restock’ was handled much more subtly, and those who were lucky enough to be around the store at its 11:00 AM opening were pleasantly surprised to find the Galaxy Foams readily available with ample time to try on the shoes, chat with fellow customers, and of course, let their web-based circle of friends in on the secret. Once news hit the e-world, the traffic at 21 Mercer quickly grew and the entire stock of Galaxy Foams were eventually wiped out in about an hour. Those who were there to cop a pair can testify first-hand that it was a reminder of the old days when shoes just showed up without notice and making a sneaker purchase was as much ‘luck’ as it was a planned event. Your thoughts on this random restock? Will we see more Galaxy Foams pop up in the future and will Nike be dropping more high-profile releases in this hushed manner?
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Has the Nike Air Foamposite One slyly been building up to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games over the past couple of years? The ‘Dirty Copper’ was the first to really break ground on the metallic look a couple of years back with its bronze sheen, the ‘Pewters’ were second in line bearing a silvery look, and now the trio is apparently set to culminate some time this summer (a rumored August release date is floating around) with this pair grabbing the gold. Does this gaudy Foam top its predecessors or do you not see yourself going for the Gold come summer? Let us know in the comments and stick with Sneaker News for more pics and info on the Nike Air Foamposite One ‘Gold Medal’. via Osneaker
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Get ready for a solid history lesson y’all, because this week’s Sneaker News Blogs: Best of WDYWT covers an era of sneakers often praised, but infrequently seen. While we show love to all the hottest releases, SN Blog regulars have been coming through with sick originals and gems from the 90′s, and a quick glance through this week’s best 20 sends one message – step your game up! We’ve got Scottie Pippen’s All-Star Maestros, some sick Air Force 1s from the 2000′s, a pair of Filas that some of you might not even remember, and an OG pair of one of the most anticipated Retro releases. Make your way through this week’s Sneaker News Blogs: WDYWT and vote for your favorite at the very end!
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The Foamposite might be one of the quirkiest sneakers ever created by Nike, and that’s a heady statement in itself considering all the wacky designs and concepts that have been attempted and/or completed in the past. What makes the Foamposite stand out is that the shoe actually starts off as a liquid, and the development process is one of the most painstaking endeavors ever attempted in sneaker design, spearheaded by John Tawney and Toren Orzeck of Nike APE (now under the Innovation Kitchen umbrella). The shoe also cost a ton to manufacture, which forced Nike to price the shoe at $170, which was quite a chunk of moolah above some of Nike’s priciest sneakers at the time.
Just last week, Sneaker News placed a spotlight on the original Nike Air Foamposite One for our Classics Revisited: Air Foamposite One Week, but today, we’re getting a look at some of earliest stages of Foamposite livelihood – the original patent drawings filed on August 21, 1996; here you get a step by step detailing of the ‘Method of making footwear with a pourable foam’, starting with the basic silhouette build of the shoe to the actual mold of the shoe (reported to have cost three-quarters of a million dollars). Check it out below and let us know if you think the Foamposite is the craziest Nike design ever! via Gary Warnett
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AIR FOAMPOSITE ONE WEEK
Only a few sneakers in history have caused a whirlwind of discord and mayhem, reaching national media outlets and becoming the focus of scrutiny and criticism in response to the mass ‘must-have’ effect that an item can have on a consumer. In fact, we can count by hand the number of kicks that are likely remembered more for the chaotic aftermath rather than the shoe itself, and you can bet one of those is February’s release of the Air Foamposite One ‘Galaxy’. How did Foamposite mania reach this point of being one of the most coveted sneakers on the planet, when just a few years ago it was just a regional cult hit and considered too abstract upon its original release fifteen years ago? There are plenty of factors that have contributed to the rising fame of the Foamposite, but let’s take a look back to the original model and the underlying story that started it all – the original Nike Air Foamposite One in Dark Neon Royal/White-Black of 1997.
One of Nike’s rock-solid pillars has always been the strive for Innovation, and with each new breakthrough in design and engineering, Nike would essentially set the new boundaries and present itself a challenge for the next task. The Foamposite, on paper, seemed impossible; the idea was to attach a liquid cast-mold onto a solid rubber sole and be strong enough to withstand the movements of a top-flight athlete. Even so, the shoe wasn’t event built for Penny, but during a meeting between Penny and Foamposite One designer Eric Avar, Penny was mesmerized by the audacious design and insisted that the Foamposite be his next sneaker. However, the Air Foamposite One might’ve been too ahead of its time, bringing the foreign material front-and-center and opting for a unique build that, in simplest terms, can be described as a seamless upper shell wrapped around a dynamic-fit boot – something completely distinct from what Nike had released up until that point.
The Foamposite One was modern marvel of architecture and engineering, but like any iconic piece of work – a Van Gogh painting or a Kafka-penned story – it wasn’t exactly appreciated in its time. There were the Nike fanatics who reveled in the innovative concept, but perhaps the design was too avant-garde or the price of $180 too high (the original mold for the Foam One cost $750,000). The Foamposite One original appeared to be shelved for good as the original mold was consequently destroyed and the the Foam One would not return for another ten years, but in that time, Nike had its focus on other projects like cultivating the Vince Carter signature line around Shox and developing the Alpha Project while featuring Foamposite in other models like the Air Flightposite series, the Air Signature Player, etc.. The Foamposite One was just a fleeting idea, only to be revisited on occasion. A cult hit by definition.
The original Dark Neon Royal colorway has been re-issued several times – once in 2007, again in 2008 as a limited House of Hoops releases, and again in 2011 – but the Blue/Black has become the baseline colorway of anything Air Penny and continues to be the top dog among the growing Foamposite farm. It’s opened up another category of ‘collectible sneaker model’, joining the likes of the SB Dunk and the Air Max 1 as prized gems (with the only incendiary side effect being on one’s savings account). Foamposite popularity is at an all-time high (both the model and the material), so while Nike has developed materials that are positively lighter and stronger (and cheaper), Foam is still a keynote feature on a number of new designs like the Air Bakin’ Posite Boot and even the Supreme x Nike SB ’94. It’s time to give the OG its props, so let us know if you were around for the original release and see what Royal Foams – OG or Retro – are available now on eBay.
Nike Air Foamposite One
Dark Neon Royal/White-Black
830017-511
1997
$180
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The ‘Memphis Blues’ tune is slowly beginning to play out, because after we showed you a detailed set of images earlier this week, we’re getting hit with some more images of this purported ’1-of-1′, which clearly is far from being the one-of. Royal Blue is to Penny as Varsity Red is the MJ, and this colorway definitely pulls no punches as it goes ‘Raging Blue’ with the tonal colorway on hte upper, with the translucent outsole and 1-Cent logo offering the only contrast. No word on a release of these Memphis Blues just yet, but we’ll keep you updated because it certainly appears that these are beginning to pop up with reason. Your thoughts on this colorway? Better than the tonal-red Memphis Express? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more updates! Photos: kicks-lab
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