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- Mar 24, 2014
just came back from the gym and read this and decide to compare the toe box on my Xiis (ones i still have. two flints are gone. OG blk/red wht/red are gone. 04 blk/red are gone. and 04 taxi low gone)My theory is once JB started using synthetics more and more, they began raising up the toe box give the foot more space. Having a foot confined into a space of soft material, the shoe is forgiving. Having your toes confined into a tight space with nonforgiving synthetic leather would cause disconfort. So they raised the toe cap.
Just my thoughts.
starting from the oldest by pressing down on the toe box to see what happens. definitely feels the change in material over the years by JB.
04 blk/wht (shoes worn maybe 6 times in the past 10 years. no sole separation. never played in them. the pair i played in already abused and sold) press down the toe you feel the leather cave in and gradually comes back up. The OGs did this slower.
09 wht/red (played in these for about 12 times over 3 months. the leather are broken in nicely. felt the leather quality is similar to the 04 at least on my pair) press down the toe and it comes back up slower than the 04.
09 nubuck (wore about 5 times casually. press down the toe box and it feel like i'm pressing cardboard.
12 obsidian (wore these a lot. my go to beater XIIs. suppose to break in, but it doesn't. leather are stiff as hell.) press down the toe and it pops right back up and you can feel the pop. it feels like it has a plastic layer underneath.
13 Taxi (played in these twice. wore casually 5-6 times. STIFF) press down the toe...same cardboard feel as the nubuck.
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