Sure bout that? The elephant print iD option is nice but its nowhere near premium material. The $100+ up-charge is just giving you the option to place the colors where you want. VERY nice feature, but better quality? Negative. Same cheap leather you find on the $88 pairs on the shelves at every store across the country. I hate to compare them to Bespokes but on my Bespoke pair the toe box shape, weight, and even down to the laces look and feel different. For that price, quality is not up to my expectations (and I have 2 pairs of AF1 iD).
i can't really speak to the quality of the leather... i only have 1 pair of ID's in my possession, and it only has leather on the swoosh and eyestay - not enough to judge the quality, in my opinion. however, i can attest to the quality of the nubuck, which is very nice. i guess i haven't picked up a premium af1 in a long time, probably because they've all been ugly as sin (both shape and colorways) - so i'll take your word for it. i guess my main point is that i'm perfectly satisfied with the quality of my ID's, and if i'm making ID's, i'm probably choosing nubuck over leather just about every time, unless there's a color of leather that i absolutely need to have. i have 2 pairs coming this month - only leather, again, is on the swoosh - the rest elephant print, so i still won't be able to judge the quality.
