Nike Kobe VII

I’m not familiar with the Kobe shoe line, but on a recent trip to a Nike outlet I had a chance to buy a pair on sale.  Besides knowing they were low-cut basketball shoes similar to soccer cleats, I had no other knowledge about the sneakers.  I still bought them because I like collecting a variety of sneaker styles, and because I’m still a Kobe fan.

The first thing I noticed about these shoes was the sizing.  I have wide feet, so I usually have to go up a size to be comfortable.  I’m used to dealing with this issue, however this time it was exaggerated.  I’m usually a size 10.5, but for some odd reason size 12.5 fit me.  I would have preferred size 11.5 or 12, but those sizes were sold out.  Anyway, I still bought the shoes even though they had some room to spare.

Once I got home, I was able to look at the shoe up close.  I then took out the insole and that’s when I noticed the sole was attached to the tongue with a strap.  For me, this all combines into extra clutter that takes up space.  I would have liked this sneaker more if the strap was removed, the sole came with interchangeable pods, and if more space were allocated on the forefoot.  Other than the price I bought them for, there’s not much I like about this sneaker, for now it seems this will be my last pair of Kobe’s until the design is fixed into something appealing and comfortable.

Brand: Nike

Name: Nike Zoom Kobe VII System

Year: 2012

Product Code: 488371 402

Additional: Also known as Kobe VII “Concord Cool Greys”

Nike:

www.nike.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpOFX7MYZK8

G.I. Joe Hazard-Viper

G.I. Joe is one of those shows that I have problems with remembering.  It started airing in the mid 80’s, yet as a kid I felt it was too confusing for me, so I never watched it.  I did own the toys though.  Those early 3 3⁄4 Joe figures were pretty fun to play with, but mine always broke in half; thanks to the rubber band drying and cracking.  Later on I believe they were made without the rubber band, and the figures became more colorful.

Now that I’m older and I like to collect 80’s toys, I knew G.I. Joe had a place in my collection (even though I don’t remember the TV show).  The first Joe figure I bought was one of Duke, which came in a vintage style.  Of course, I’m a mint on card collector, so I never opened him.  However, while in a department store one day, I noticed they had some modern Joe figures on sale, so I decided to buy one.

I bought a figure called Hazard-Viper, who is a Cobra villain and a toxin specialist.  What was most appealing about this toy was all the accessories the figure came with.  Gas canisters, guns, flame thrower, gas tubes, vest, gas mask, brief case, and even a figure stand.  I’m a sucker for toy accessories, so I was very pleased with this purchase.   Thanks to this figure I am now a renewed Joe fan, and now plan on collecting more of this toy line.

G.I. Joe:

www.GIjoe.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p-r1RTeaBo

Chicago Bears NFL Jersey

I’m very excited to finally own this jersey because it’s my first football jersey.  Although I have had the chance to buy a few in the past, I always passed on them because I didn’t like the quality of the jersey, the price, or the team.  Quality was a major factor because up until a few years ago, football jerseys were made pretty flimsy.  The numbers and names were screen printed and would rub off easily, the polyester material would rip easily, and the way they were tailored seemed awkward to me.  But then around the late 90’s the quality improved and that got me really interested.  Suddenly jerseys would use better materials, screen print was replaced by stitching, and the new tailoring made them much more comfortable to wear.

Unfortunately the price was still high, so I refused to buy one until I saw them on sale.  Well, my patience paid off because I was not only able to attain a football jersey on clearance, but also a jersey from a team I like.  Now just to give you a little background on why it was on clearance, was because it was Reebok brand.  A few years ago, Nike took over the NFL licence which led to stores putting all the Reebok brand appeal on sale and clearance.  I don’t mind buying jerseys like this because you’re getting good quality for an even better price.  Though I must confess, these new Nike football jerseys have phenomenal quality.

My jersey is of the Chicago Bears, and for some reason I have always loved the sports teams from Chicago, minus their baseball teams.  The jersey is from Reebok’s Premier line, which makes it a medium quality jersey, where you get some patches stitched on.  I actually prefer this quality because it’s quality that can handle everyday use.  The colorway is clean and simple, a solid navy blue, with orange and white highlights.  My only complaint about it would be that it uses the silky type of polyester that can scratch easy, but what can you do since football jerseys don’t use the same polyester that baseball jerseys use.  Other than that, this is a wonderful jersey that I can’t wait to wear in the summer.

Chicago Bears:

http://www.chicagobears.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YY-llIahvk

Homer Simpson Papercraft

This Homer Simpson papercraft was created by Ninjatoes.  It comes with the papercraft sheet and instruction sheet.  There’s a lot of stuff to printout, so I suggest you print the instructions in black and white ink.  I would also recommend you make two copies of the papercraft sheet because one copy will be the one you cut and build, and the other can be used as a guide sheet.  This papercraft seems easy, but after all the cutting and gluing you will realize that it’s actually challenging.

The difficult parts were the small parts such as the arms, fingers, ears and nose.  Since there were a lot of parts to glue, it also took longer to build because of how much time I had to wait for pieces to dry before connecting them together.  Needless to say, patience and tweezers were both needed in this build.  While the instructions are color photos, I was still lost on certain sections of the build and had to improvise.  The easiest parts to build were the pants, shirt, and shoes.

Once completed Homer looks pretty cute, and accurate to the cartoon.  The arms of my papercraft are a little warped, but I’m okay with that because it’s barely noticeable.  My favorite part of this papercraft is the head because of how much detail went into building it (the printout even includes Homer’s comb over hair).  In fact just building the head alone would be sufficient to have as a nice display piece.  I had a great time building Homer Simpson, and hope to do another Ninjatoes papercraft in the future.

Homer Simpson Papercraft:

http://ninjatoes.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/homer-simpson

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roWtEj5_7CA