The New Balance 1300 appears to be unlike the 996 in following up on a trip to the warm side of the color wheel with a variety of vibrant releases. Instead, we’ve seen new 1300s on the other side of the orange spring 2013 release head back in the more traditional direction, though these do offer a bit of novelty. Placing a steely blue atop a dark navy mesh base is roughly the opposite of how we’ve come to expect a more muted mesh relative the nubuck sections in recent years. This also happens to be a relationship successfully implemented by one of last year’s 996s, so there are plenty of things to think about as you examine the images below. The most important is, of course, availability, and these are up for pre-order now in advance of a mid-April ship date from Up There.