Official Air Jordan 3 "White Cement" '88 Retro - Retail $200

[joeyd12]

Thickness of print has nothing to do with legit, non-legit, or grey market......

It certainly does... Okay, what's your opinion on these? Since you know you should easily define each pair... Which is which? Real, fake, early release or grey market... Go.

The top three photos are two different shoes side by side.
View media item 472288View media item 472286View media item 472282
This is obviously a single pair.
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These are a single pair.
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[s dubl]

What's your opinion on these?



Purchased from Nike.com

 

[joeyd12]

What's your opinion on these?



Purchased from Nike.com

Since you say "thickness of print has nothing to do with..." Then you should be able to tell me which is which out of the shoes I posted... Which one is authentic, replica and grey market? If there is one of each in the photo.

Sorry I'm being a **** about it, but just because you got a light print pair and mismatched prints, your gonna give everyone misinformation to justify your pair?

Like I said... Grey market pairs have fat and super dark print compared to authentic pairs. it's actually really easy to see the difference.

 

[chronicsneaker]

My left shoe looks crooked as hell and like it's doing the gangsta lean'. And they were purchased from Nike.com

That's why I don't care and I'm just rocking the hell out of it.

 

[missmymoney]

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My left shoe looks crooked as hell and like it's doing the gangsta lean'. And they were purchased from Nike.com
That's why I don't care and I'm just rocking the hell out of it.

Pretty safe to say B grades will NOT be hitting the outlets. Haha! All pairs passed QC and a full $200 was paid for each one. Nike knows they got us on these no matter what.

 

[misha]

Would have called nike and demanded a gift card for receiving that pair or a discount code

 

[woodro]

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My left shoe looks crooked as hell and like it's doing the gangsta lean'. And they were purchased from Nike.com
That's why I don't care and I'm just rocking the hell out of it.

yea thats the worst ive saw tho, i did notice a lot of pairs having that print lean pattern going from the right shoe to the left shoe
the right shoe is straighter?

 

[joeyd12]

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My left shoe looks crooked as hell and like it's doing the gangsta lean'. And they were purchased from Nike.com
That's why I don't care and I'm just rocking the hell out of it.

That's shameful... I would have been livid. I think that's worse than getting paint scratched off the NA on the back. I feel your pain bro...

 

[hazeee and sn3akers]

Here it is pictures of the paint chipping already on my pair purchased on 2/6/13. WOrn only 4 times. very dissapointed that this happens to me after only 4 wears

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[green rhino123]

^
ya, it is strange that my 2012 air flight 89's have only slight heel chipping after a full year of being full-time beaters...(mowing, painting, landscaping, etc. - heavy duty stuff)


View media item 472437(yes i know the difference in how black painted v white painted midsoles react to wear, but this example is still worth noting)


if you look closely, you can actually see the paint starting to wear off my 89's BEFORE it even starts to chip in that area!

so what's the problem with the paint on the j's nike?

 

[Bert.]

the quality of the 88s actually shows as compared to the 2011 retros which used to paint crack and chip like crazy. 

nah, two different shoes. leather on the 88's is soo much better

 

[Bert.]

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My left shoe looks crooked as hell and like it's doing the gangsta lean'. And they were purchased from Nike.com
That's why I don't care and I'm just rocking the hell out of it.

:x :x :x :x :x :x :x

 

[chronicsneaker]

The other one is 100% on point... 

 

[SteveSteve72]

^^^ ehhh they don't look that bad, just wear them and be happy you have a pair.

 

[b fresco]

nah, two different shoes. leather on the 88's is soo much better

I own BOTH the 2011's and the 88's and the leather quality is roughly the same. Does it warrant the extra $50 price tag? in my opinion, NO. Let's be honest. We're paying for the NA treatment on the back. Now if they'd given the 3's the NA/better leather treatment like they've done to the 1's this year, I wouldn't have minded shelling out the extra money. Hopefully JB takes notes and slowly brings back the NA treatment on the remaining early Sig models (#2-6), and many of us older "sneakerheads"/collectors can retire in peace.

 

[matt2126]

I own BOTH the 2011's and the 88's and the leather quality is roughly the same. Does it warrant the extra $50 price tag? in my opinion, NO. Let's be honest. We're paying for the NA treatment on the back. Now if they'd given the 3's the NA/better leather treatment like they've done to the 1's this year, I wouldn't have minded shelling out the extra money. Hopefully JB takes notes and slowly brings back the NA treatment on the remaining early Sig models (#2-6), and many of us older "sneakerheads"/collectors can retire in peace.

I happen to own both as well, and find the leather on the 88s to be better quality. I'd say the 88s are a better shoe

 

[mcking]

Having both 2011 and 88s, i also think the leather is better on the 88s. However, i've seen plenty of crappy quality B grades passing as A. Luckily, my pair has no defects.

 

[Bert.]

I own BOTH the 2011's and the 88's and the leather quality is roughly the same. Does it warrant the extra $50 price tag? in my opinion, NO. Let's be honest. We're paying for the NA treatment on the back. Now if they'd given the 3's the NA/better leather treatment like they've done to the 1's this year, I wouldn't have minded shelling out the extra money. Hopefully JB takes notes and slowly brings back the NA treatment on the remaining early Sig models (#2-6), and many of us older "sneakerheads"/collectors can retire in peace.

I happen to own both as well, and find the leather on the 88s to be better quality. I'd say the 88s are a better shoe

got 2 pairs of 88's and 2 pairs of 2011's

88's blow them out of the water easiluy

 

[mrdeeds]

I thought we put the whole leather comparison to death early in the thread.
The 88s are so much better than the 2011s in terms of leather quality.

 

[engineer]

got 2 pairs of 88's and 2 pairs of 2011's

88's blow them out of the water easiluy

I thought we put the whole leather comparison to death early in the thread.
The 88s are so much better than the 2011s in terms of leather quality.

The leather quality thing is simple.   They are different, period. It's just that some people can't see detail well enough or simply don't look hard enough to distinguish it since they are in fact very similar(both white leather).  Some people can't distinguish between black toe and chicago 1 leather and those are drastically different.  

 

[Bert.]

I thought we put the whole leather comparison to death early in the thread.
The 88s are so much better than the 2011s in terms of leather quality.

meh someone always wanted to be the odd man out or just hate on the 88's but they are def the better shoe and most can agree. is it worth paying $50 more retail wise? umm errr no? $25 sure but not $50.

 

[matt2126]

The stitching under the shoe isn't the best way to determine if you have a GM pair, it's actually a very inaccurate way, because all the stitching is different. There are 3-4 very easy ways to tell if you have a GM pair. if you have a straight $70 straight replica you should know the second u look at them. I never have to rely on anyone for legit checks because I off hand educate myself on the grey and replica markets. YouTube has great comparison videos and reviews of both authentic and replicas. There is even side by side photos floating around with the differences circled. If they are that close, that your resorting to the stitching under the midsole, I would rest easy. lol, that's a little OD. I'm sure you're fine. It's a lot easier to post a legit check than call Nike asking about thread counts and colors.
The elephant print on the GM pairs is more yellowish grey and the embossed print is much fatter and darker. The perforations on the tongue aren't as clearly punched on GM pairs. And the Nike Air on the insole the font is off and not lined up correctly. Lastly, the laces are super super white and the tumble leather and sock liner is more of a cream white on the GM, the authentic pair the laces match the leather much better.

Are most people wearing spenco insoles with theirs to prevent cracking? I've worn mine once and nothing so far...but I'm thinking about buying a pair. Do you guys wear them on top of the current insole or replace it with the spenco?

Thanks for actually being respectful and helpful. I'm sure mine are legit, the stitching underneath had me nervous because every pair is different almost. As for the insoles, yes, I used the spenco polysorb insoles, they make a world of difference. I love them

 

[160jordansdeep]

i already have two legit pairs straight from nike/.com and another from eastbay
the quality has a lot to be desired on all 3 pairs but that's to be expected


these shoes where put together quickly if you ask me

one pair had a dirty bottom out the box

never saw that in all the years i been buying shoes

so for the right price & after a close inspection (not buying on line) i would take a b grade grey market or whatever you "so called" experts call "air randy" type shoes

 

[auskicks]

i agree props

they look good on the court but i hope your wearing different insoles

No. Same insoles. Still feel fine to me. Midsole still looks good. No hairline cracks or signs of creases or paint cracking. I dont thrash them but if I have a good game in them, I use them for the next game instead of going to the end of the rotation. Notcalling anyone out but Im not as sensitive as some others may be when it comes to my shoes showing signs of wear. I still clean the soles after every game and the uppers if they get scuffed or someone steps on my shoes during the game, but their going to crease, their going to crack and when they die I will throw them in the shed with all my other old shoes and move onto the next pair. They're great, I love them but at the end of the day their just shoes. I buy way more than I can ever wear so theres allways another shoe around the corner.

 

[atxballer]

For people that have multiple authentic pairs, can the level of distress be different on the tumbled leather on your DS pairs? Meaning that the grooves on the tumbled leather can appear more defined on one pair versus the other.  Thanks!