It’s been a minute since I last posted anything. As I spent the last few weeks in Canada, updating this site become more of an after-thought. Now that I’m back in Hong Kong, the hot and humid weather may very well keep my standing behind this desk. A grip of packages awaited me, perhaps none of them were as highly anticipated as this one. Once again, my boy Tim Yu gave me a great opportunity to test out the latest subline of Nike Football boots dubbed the Elite Series. Essentially, they are somewhere along the lines of a top of the line performance boot under commercial availability. That’s not to say many of the offerings you see out there now aren’t top of the line, but the Elite Series looks to take things to the next level mainly with its re-engineered boots and price tags that have never been seen for such a widely distributed line. Lightweight is the key characteristic throughout the line. I won’t bore you with the details, many of which can be seen over at the Hypebeast article I wrote.
Colorways are probably the most dominant aspect of this shoe. None of the models are new so no surprises there. Each have enjoyed their own respective inline releases. The colorway in which the Elite Series was launched took place on the world’s second greatest footballing stage, I say second cause I think Champions League football is a bigger deal… monetarily and skill wise, but that’s up for debate. The colroway is absolutely ridiculous. The pairing of the neon orange and metallic-esque faint purple was an instant favorite for me and personally the follow-up Elite Series colors have been pretty unremarkable in my eyes. From a scientific standpoint, the colorway is allegedly created in a way so that it is instantly recognizable which is good and all, but what if a good chunk of the opposition are wearing these boots as well?
A pair of CTR360 Maestris and Mercurial Vapor Superfly II WCs were both included in my box. I’m more than familiar with the CTR360 Maestris as they’ve been my boot of choice for most of the latter half of last season. However, the last two pairs I had were probably sized too small but these will probably work out just fine with the .5 size increase. The Mercurial Vapor Superfly II is an interesting boot, especially with the dynamic front studs which can instantaneously sense the need for grip and determine the adequate stud length. Unfortunately, they fit pretty small and I can barely cram my foot in. I’ve never really worn a “speed” boot, so I guess I’ll just have to wait. I must admit, the adiZero looks real cool as well and I’ve heard good reviews.
Anyways, there’s more pictures than anything here… I’ll give the CTR360s a spin on Wednesday. I’ve previously had good things to say about my regular CTR360s, but we’ll see how the new Elite Series versions go given that the fit should in fact be better.
-Eugene
The boot bag is quite nice I must say.