Sneaker Freaker and Puma have been at it awhile, creating insane collabs inspired by sharks. This year, SF and Puma had help from Packer Shoes and knocked it out of the park with the Blaze of Glory ‘Bloodbath’.
Inspired by the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks, the shoe featured a killer blood red premium upper of leather and mesh. Accented with an awesome shade of teal and sat atop a gum outsole, the heels got gold Puma branding and big Sneaker Freaker branded pull tabs. I am sure these will be on the top 10 lists of many this year.
An honorable mention is the ALIFE x Puma Blaze of Glory ‘High Rise’. A great collab with awesome details and execution.
I love you list. IT’s so my style. The TOKEN Shaq’s, Barcelona’s Le Coq Sportif, Puma’s ,and the Premier x New Balance 998 PRMR. Now that is a list. Good stuff by Noah.
Thanks man!! I feel like people forgot about the Token38 pack…
Nice list. I’m glad more people have things other than Nike they’re excited for. Curry 1 low, Bloodbath,the Hallowed Pack Saucony, and the Jordan 14 low are some of the ones I liked this year. Also, even tho its a woman’s shoe the Doernbecher Air Max 90 Sasquatch Unicorn idea was friggin adorable.
Ha! If I were to put JB on the list I’d have to choose a XIV they did this year. Great shoe.
Nice list, i can’t relate much to those shoes because most of the shoe I buy are Bball shoes, but I do agree with boost though, that cushion is just amazing,
That shoe at link number 6,
Talk about limited, wonder how they distribute the sizing, say 5 pairs of size 9 and 5 pairs of size10, or was it made to order,
Wonder how much it cost.
I was thinking about that too (the sizing)! I believe the shoe retailed for somewhere around $250. And I mean they obviously had to do only men’s sizing but I bet they didn’t go past a size 12 or 12.5.
Pretty awesome list since I’d expect most others to be dominated by recent ball shoes — which in all fairness, is the core nautre of WearTesters. But having a list dedicated to the broader spectrum of sneakers is nice.
Also cool to see which bball pairs Noah liked with heavier regard to aesthetic.
I judged all the basketball shoes based on everything our writers have said. I’ve read ALL and watched ALL of the WT reviews. Without playing in every single one, I can only make a partially informed decision, but I think that BB brought amazing tech in 2015. Often, it was on par and better than what most of the popular brands do.
The list was so stressful to make, it took me about a week to get it down to 10. But I’m so glad I get to discuss it with y’all!
What’s your top 5/top 10 off the dome?
Similar story to you, I really didn’t have a chance to sample much for the year. In fact most of my pick-ups this year were yesteryear stuff on discount, so I could mostly judge by others’ input (which typically happens to align with whatever firsthand experience I had/have) and inferring from “on paper”.
Of the 2015 stuff, I only picked up the Rose 6. Love it but I get why you picked the UltraBoost. The Rose is the best Boost example for basketball (arguably the best cushion for the year it seems), but I’m aware the UltraBoost runs a more “true”, full setup to really showcase the technology.
If I had to be hypothetical, the Soldier 9 probably would’ve ended up on my list. The emphasis on fit counts a lot for me, and then factor in outdoor usability, and relative affordability…it sounds like a strong package.
I would’ve had d rose 6, just because of the cushion, but thats IMO. Great list Noah!
5. Curry one low ‘friends and family’
4. Jordan 1 Chicago
3. Air Force one high wheat
2. Jordan 4 Oreo
1. Saucony x ubiq shadow master ‘Atlantic tide’
I have copped 1 and 3, got 1 for 65 bucks off of ubiq when they had a 50% off deal on collabs.
The AF1 wheat is so good imo, honestly forgot about that when I was making the list.
I get Sooo many compliments on them. They are great and surprisingly comfortable.
Great list bro! Some real gems here. Always good to see people letting others know there is WAYYYY more out there than JB and Nike. #Salute
There is so much more out there! ! Thanks for checking it out!