Mr Dink
formerly foamposite xi
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I wanna say with the Mars IVs. I remember the hype around that shoe when they first came out, and then post-release was everyone here going, "WTF IS THIS?" What do you think?
When did the decline in JB quality start?
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airthompson
Staff member
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I think you should repharse it to retroes, because the technology and quality JB uses on newer sig, hybrid, and tea models is pretty solid.
JB began cutting corners on certain models before others, but if I had to choose I'd say the last year that JB produced solid quality retroes across the board was 2004. The those low top 1's were solid, as well as the II's, IV's, Oly VII, XII's, & XIII's. 2005 the IV's the laser IV's were cheap as well as couple of XIV's yellowing out the box. After that the flood gates opened.
JB began cutting corners on certain models before others, but if I had to choose I'd say the last year that JB produced solid quality retroes across the board was 2004. The those low top 1's were solid, as well as the II's, IV's, Oly VII, XII's, & XIII's. 2005 the IV's the laser IV's were cheap as well as couple of XIV's yellowing out the box. After that the flood gates opened.
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probably around the time that the materials for the xiv's were realized to be extremely expensive, and so went the corner cutting
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9 years ago
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Comparing the OG XIVs to the 2011 retros shows how little JB cares about retro quality. Sent mine back once I received them. Their attitude is "as long as it looks like the og, people will buy". And they're right. The only way this will change is if consumers stopped buying until quality improved
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second retro run of IV's
starting with..
da first jordans i ever had cracking problems with.
starting with..
da first jordans i ever had cracking problems with.
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I would have to say the fours yet I still buy them. I stayed out for the night for the varsity reds and I had a ticket for my size and at my turn they took the tickets back for my size and said they couldn't release them I believe because the grade yet I was able to grab a smaller size
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English, please.
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i wanna say the with the IX retroes in 2002. the paint chipping was awful
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when they decided they were going to sell out their customers in exchange for higher profits.
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Yes. Definitely 2006. I remember because the Mars IV's came out on my wedding day, July 22, 2006 and my wife woke up at 6 am to go to Finishline to grab my pair. The manager knew it was for my wedding so she woke up early to give my wife the shoes with her employee discount (7 years ago store down my way was not opening up early just to past out shoes/tickets. Yes, times have changed!). Upon wearing them, I immediately felt the difference in comfort. I thought it was just my feet. Next I bought the military 4's a few months. Same issue. My feet were hurting. I knew then it was the quality of teh shoes. No comfort and the "leather" would rub up against my toes and cause blisters. Next, I will say the Colleiozone pack. Since then.....down hill!
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However...2006 was way worse than now. The military 4s from 2006 are terrible compared to the 2012 release.
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Anywhere from '04-'06...but really there have been problems with IVs cracking long before but thats just the nature of that shoe sadly. Although everybody ******* about glue stains, creased leather, cracking, creasing, etc little things like that dont tend to bother me very much. I do wish the shoes were of better quality but im in the minority because I am rather apathetic. One quality issue that really does get under my skin is yellowing on icey soles. I seriously think their has to be a better solution to what they are currently made with, or just eliminate icey soles together, because I think yellowing kills the look on a pair of Space Jams or Concords. Im in the minority for sure when it comes to QC, but it is what it is. As I have said before JB simply will sell what sells. And people continue to buy Jordans despite the cons, many of them being uninformed hype beasts. The sneaker enthusiast crowd is dwarfed and will never affect JB sales enough to drive meaningful change. Its sad but it is what it is.
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When people started treating shoes like trophies and
Looking at every little detail under a magnifying glass.
I know JB uses cheaper material then they used too
but most of the complaints are just crazy.
Looking at every little detail under a magnifying glass.
I know JB uses cheaper material then they used too
but most of the complaints are just crazy.
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I agree totally. It's like all these hypebeast kids are afraid they won't be cool if they don't complain about the quality. I've been buying J's forever. Sold most of my older stuff. I really don't see what everyone is complaining about most of the time.
bigj505
Staff member
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year of the CDP was the start of terrible things.
molds were tragic. materials were poor. probably a product of a mass production JB had never seen before.
1st time EVER that they retrod all 23 shoes in 1 year, many in mass production to go along with their regular release schedule.
molds were tragic. materials were poor. probably a product of a mass production JB had never seen before.
1st time EVER that they retrod all 23 shoes in 1 year, many in mass production to go along with their regular release schedule.
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If you have a DS pair of Concords that didn't yellow, what are the odds of you coping the next release? The yellowing to the soles only leads to more sales.
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To be very honest,
the very first time when I was really mad at Nike was on the AJ 6 retro+ White/Midnight Navy from 2000.
While shape and leather was good, the blue paintjob was totally crap. Peeled off during first wearing!
Then the leather of the AJ 12 retro playoffs were definetly significantly inferior to the OGs.
But the biggest quality drop happened with the AJ 3 retro Fire Reds and Mars 4.
Many CDPs and some recent retros also have either strange toe cap shapes or
very bad leather (if you can say leather).
I really wish them using at least the same level of leather they have been using in the late 1990's.
I'm OK to pay 170 € for a pair of Jordan retro if the quality is on par with the OGs.
But the sad truth tells us the opposite in most occassions.
the very first time when I was really mad at Nike was on the AJ 6 retro+ White/Midnight Navy from 2000.
While shape and leather was good, the blue paintjob was totally crap. Peeled off during first wearing!
Then the leather of the AJ 12 retro playoffs were definetly significantly inferior to the OGs.
But the biggest quality drop happened with the AJ 3 retro Fire Reds and Mars 4.
Many CDPs and some recent retros also have either strange toe cap shapes or
very bad leather (if you can say leather).
I really wish them using at least the same level of leather they have been using in the late 1990's.
I'm OK to pay 170 € for a pair of Jordan retro if the quality is on par with the OGs.
But the sad truth tells us the opposite in most occassions.
Mr Dink
formerly foamposite xi
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Lettuce be honest, with all the Taobao pairs out there with absolutely no yellowing even though the shoes are a couple years old, prices for Space Jams and Concords with yellowing are starting to skyrocket at this point because of people wanting to be reassured that they have an authentic pair.
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either 04 or 06 ....
the quality on the 2001 I's still hold up 12 yrs later
the quality on the 2001 I's still hold up 12 yrs later
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it's been a slow decline; a step graph over many years
but if i had to narrow it down to when the decline started to upset me - i'd say 2004ish
but if i had to narrow it down to when the decline started to upset me - i'd say 2004ish
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I wanna say in 2005 (I think), back when the Flint XIII's were first retroed. Got mine in from Eastbay and the things were creased just from sitting in the box; the leather was so damn thin and cheap.
That was when I realized they were just screwing over their customers. I mean every company - not just shoe brands - try to cut costs and find cheap materials. But JB's was just disgraceful.
That was when I realized they were just screwing over their customers. I mean every company - not just shoe brands - try to cut costs and find cheap materials. But JB's was just disgraceful.
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'05 or '06, for sure. They quality on the retros took a huge hit. I also remember the flint XIIIs being creased and stiff. It's funny that the bred XIIIs are top quality compared to the ones they get away w/ releasing now.
The white red XIVs in '06 was when it was most noticable for me, then of course the Mars IVs as well. The CDP XIs were a disgrace to the GOAT but my VII/XVI pack was decent quality. They just cut as many corners as possible. You know they had so many black suade based CDP colorways b/c it was the cheapest material. i.e XIV, XVII, XVIII, XX, XX1, XX2,
The white red XIVs in '06 was when it was most noticable for me, then of course the Mars IVs as well. The CDP XIs were a disgrace to the GOAT but my VII/XVI pack was decent quality. They just cut as many corners as possible. You know they had so many black suade based CDP colorways b/c it was the cheapest material. i.e XIV, XVII, XVIII, XX, XX1, XX2,
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now that i think about it, da 2000 retro infrareds weren't anything to write home about either....
that midsole flaked off FAST.
that midsole flaked off FAST.
