As I finally go to sleep quite late out here on the West Coast, after messing with these just lounging around tonight for the past few hours: This shoe is interesting. It's cool. In some ways, it's borderline amazing. But it also kind of sucks.
PRO:
I generally like the way it looks. Generally. I'm a sucker for white/black/red Jordans, and the overall color scheme is cool. I don't mind the gold. With pants on over them, all you see is a sleek white shoe with the black panel up front, accented slightly with red hits, and I love that. Looks rad.
CON:
The heel flap is stupid. This is a 3/4-heght shoe--if it came out in the era of the Kobe 4, you could even call it a low top--which I love, and it actually looks sleek and tight in profile view (meaning, from the side). Been wearing them all night with loose-fitting sweatpants and they look dope that way. But when I pull up my pant leg to see the whole thing, I kind of cringe at the heel. It serves no purpose and is obviously nothing but a design element inspired by the goofy current trend of exaggerated addenda. It will not age well. I'd like it way more if they kept this black heel tab as is but just ended it and rounded it off about 2-3MM higher than the line/height of the ankle collar instead of making it an inch above the ankle collar. In other words, ditch that useless extension. It would flow way better with the overall shoe. Still could have put NIKE AIR on there, just smaller.
PRO:
The Fast Fit system works well for cinching the shoe down.
CON:
The "eject" function is total ****. You pull it and basically nothing happens. You have to move your foot around and/or use your fingers to manipulate the shoe/"laces" to truly loosen it. And that parachute cord is so thin, good luck getting a grip on it. It's annoying and gives the impression of--shocker, I know--another JB gimmick that we'll likely never see again and one that was rushed through the design/production process.
For me, I will just be wearing these when the mood strikes me and not playing in them, so it doesn't matter much because so far I don't really even need to pull them tight, the velcro side strap is enough to keep them on my feet comfortably just walking around. But if I was playing in these? Part of the idea seemed to me to be quick adjustment on the fly. Forget that. Say you pull the tighten tab but go a click or two or three too far. So then you pull the eject loop to start over. Because you will have to start over. With some time and experience, you might figure it out, but this is far from a quick, precise adjustment mechanism. Sort of defeats the point, at least in my view. It can and has been done far better. Which goes back to it feeling more like a gimmick than an actual advancement.
I'm keeping these because, well, I can. And because I like the way they look in many ways, and if nothing else they are a novelty. They will be remembered for sure, for better or worse, and that's a big part of what makes them a true Air Jordan. Still, it's just a whacky shoe. I dig that a lot but this shoe is also totally stupid in a few ways, honestly. I'm weird, though (and more than a little bored with new modern shoes for the most part), so that's not necessarily a bad thing. But these for sure could have been better overall, just with a few slight design changes appearance-wise and better actual engineering of the lacing system.
Have fun, everyone. I won't knock anyone for doing the opposite, but this will be the only pair of 33s I buy in this guise. Not regretting it at all, but also laughing at how silly they are. Like I said, these will be remembered in the pantheon of Air Jordans. I can't wait to see the posts on these as more and more people get them in hand and deal with them for more and more time. Should be a hoot
I am genuinely fascinated to see how these go over when it is all said and done. Or even before then.
amarano I was curious to hear about your sizing because we wear the same size and did the same thing. I really wanted to keep the 10.5 because the fit is just better but the heel is tight and has pressure with damn near no padding; I'm fake envious that the 10.5 works for you
parry the left I feel like mine is fine but I also have to pull the string to loosen them up. The yellow cord is the part that gets me.. I tried it out in store on a pair and it got "caught" on its way back like someone said. At home it went back smoothly but not like all the way if that makes sense. I was expecting more of a snap back.
