Nike SB Dunk Newcastle

The Nike SB Newcastle dunks are inspired by the beer Newcastle Brown Ale.  Even though beer inspired sneakers are usually very popular, these took a while to sellout.  Not many people were feeling them, and some even said the goldbox era was dead.  Thankfully their unpopularity allowed me to buy them because they didn’t sell them in my location.

The moment I received them, I was amazed by their quality.  They have the softest suede I have ever felt; almost like butter or lotion.  They also came with a lace bag still attached, one of the nice things about the goldbox era that I miss the most (I also miss the price of retail dunks too, $90 wow).

Newcastle Brown Ale: www.newcastlebrownale.co.uk

YouTube: https://youtu.be/G0z0jlnlc6g

Nike SB Money Cat Lows

The Money Cat lows were part of a three pair release which included a pair in high, mid, and low.  I only wanted the lows because they were the nicest pair in my opinion.  The Money Cat lows come in a gold colorway and has a mix of suede and metallic leather.  They were a pretty flashy sneaker at the time, but compared to today’s colorful sneakers are pretty subtle.  The sneaker is inspired by the Maneki-neko (beckoning cat) which is a porcelain statue cat that moves its paw up and down and that is supposed to bring good fortune or money to a person.  When these released, Nike also sent out some limited edition money cat statues to skate shops, but unfortunately most of them broke during shipping.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FePIDnbNoow

Michael Jordan Mitchell & Ness Chicago Bulls Jersey 1997-98

As a kid, I never owned a Michael Jordan jersey.  But because my birthday was coming up I decided to treat myself (very cliché) to a Jordan jersey.  And even though I have been writing this blog for years I never I thought I owned a Jordan jersey before.  And then I decided to do a quick video review of my jersey and as I was looking through my blog, I noticed that, yes I have owned Jordan jersey’s before, lol.  Getting older and being a collector makes you forget many things, lol.

Anyway I'm not much of a jersey collector anymore because of the cheap quality of jerseys today; they focus on light performance materials and not on tough and strong materials that will last you for years.  Thankfully, Mitchell & Ness still focuses on tough quality materials (to a point) and I was able to get this Jordan jersey from the 97’-98’ era.  While the price is ridiculously expensive, the quality is nice enough to ignore it and just enjoy the fact that I own the jersey of the greatest of all-time.

Mitchell & Ness: https://www.mitchellandness.com/authentic-jersey-chicago-bulls-road-1997-98-michael-jordan-ajy4gs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4l3rZiVARg

Adidas Stan Smith End of Leather?

Over the weekend I went to the Adidas store and an employee told me that the Stan Smith leather model will soon be discontinued and replaced by a vegan leather model.  I actually yelled, NO WAY, That’s BS!  He started laughing and agreed with me because he didn’t want leather sneakers to go away either.  While I haven’t even tried vegan leather sneakers, I’m sad that we won’t even have an option to choose anymore.  And since that day, I have talked to a few people who have worn vegan leather Stan Smiths and they seem disappointed by the quality. 

 

Thankfully I was able to get this last pair of leather Stan Smiths that day.  And hopefully this vegan leather phase only lasts a few years.  (Yes, I’m aware of the damage leather causes to this world from cattle ranches, so in a way I hope the quality of vegan leather improves over time so that it becomes the best material to use on sneakers).

Adidas: https://www.adidas.com/stan_smith

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkQt9PiQJmg