Let us be honest. You are not buying these shoes for playing basketball. Perhaps 15 years ago, but not today. Sure, you could, but then you could do many things. If you want to use them for basketball and are looking for a review about that…look for a SLAM magazine from 1991.
These shoes are back as fashion. And what better way to be back as fashion than with some very interesting color combinations, even material combinations.
Let us talk about that first. I bought these particular shoes not because I am a huge fan of the color “green bean” as they are affectionately known, but for the 3M reflective material that covers the vast majority of the upper of the shoe. When under normal light, they appear gray, usually dull. Gray and green, not a bad combination, but it can prove hard to match with your wardrobe, if you are into that sort of thing. Ah, but have someone whip out a camera with a flash, or have the right artificial light hit the shoes, and that is when the reflective material does its magic. It is hard to describe what it is like…but sufficed to say that in a picture, you see a giant ball of bright light. Very cool. On the original version of these shoes, just the tongue had this material (and not in every available colorway) and that was enough to brighten certain occasions. This is great for casual wear and then just saying “hey, look at this!”
The craftsmanship and durability of my pair has been good. I do not wear them every day, but have had no issues. The 3M material creases, but that is to be expected, and until you wear them quite a bit, it does not detract from the shoes. You can try to meticulously care for them to prevent severe creasing, and that does help if you care, but it will happen sooner or later.
Either I have changed, the shoes have changed, or shoes have gotten much better in the past fifteen years, but the cushioning in these shoes leaves one wanting more. They are not uncomfortable, but not something I would want to wear all day (unlike the retro IV, X or VIII for example).
Support is fine for casual use, although I have noticed that if I am trying to work a little or do anything other than try to stand still to look good, I would prefer another shoe. Again, I do not remember that being an issue in the originals, I am not sure if this is something related to the 3M material used for the upper, a change in the construction overall, or me. The outsoles are not the grippiest I have worn of late, but not the worst either. Flat bottomed, old school, with the new Jordan logo on the heel and the outsole, not as attractive as the original, but due to changes with Nike and Jordan, likely to be all we will see for the foreseeable future.
Overall, these are great shoes to fondly remember, wear when you want to look good, or odd depending on taste, and for interesting lighting conditions. If you care nothing for the Jordan line or its history, you can look elsewhere for something surely that would be cheaper (retail was $135 after all) and still meet your criteria of being different or a fashion statement. Of course, if you like eBay, you can skip the expensive part and pick up a used pair for much less.
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