“Hey, guys, if I send you to *insert city* to try out so-and-so shoe and put you in a nice hotel and give you a steak dinner, can you maybe be nicer in the review, since we know the shoe needs work and is really not very good? Please be nice?” Would you go?
This has been a heavy and real subject on our minds here at WearTesters for a long, long while: the idea that we, as WearTesters, are less than honest with you, the viewing public, because we are sometimes “gifted” product by brands and companies for review. Maybe it’s a trip to an event, or an open gym at All-Star Weekend, or a media party, or just a trip to HQ when we are able. Some commenters, and even some review sites, have felt the need to bash us as dishonest and biased because of these perks. Let’s discuss.
WE GET FREE PRODUCT
The first pair of shoes I reviewed for a different site, I bought. The second pair, I bought. The third, fourth, fifth, I bought. After about nine or ten reviews, I was contacted by the editor of that site to see if I wanted to try the newest Under Armour basketball shoe, the Black Ice. What? Free shoes? Hell yeah! I am a sneakerhead, so free shoes were better than money. The shoes performed great, as anyone who wore them will tell you, and I gave them a glowing review. Was it a better review because they were free? Nope, they were just really good.
Then I got a pair from adidas, the Rose 1. Again, a really good shoe that got a good review. Then, I got a shoe from Hops, an Australian “basketball” company. It was trash and I said so. Said it so strong that the owner of the company emailed me, asking me to change the negative parts to not seem so harsh. I refused, and Hops never contacted me again, for shoes or otherwise.
Image via
Image via
After a year or so of writing reviews of shoes I was given and shoes I bought, it came to the point that every company (except Nike) was sending me anything I wanted for free and in multiple colorways. Some sucked, some didn’t, but I was always honest. I had designers from the biggest brands texting and emailing me about designs, technology, what worked, what didn’t. This isn’t to brag — well, maybe a humble brag — but to show that honesty gets you noticed. If you talk up a shoe that is terrible, your readers and watchers will buy the shoe and feel duped, destroying your credibility. And let’s face it, credibility is really all we have as reviewers.
A big push has been made lately that we at WearTesters should be honest with our followers and let it be known when we receive free merchandise. First of all, why? What difference does it make? If you believe we are honest, does it matter if we bought it or received it? What if we trash a shoe we got for free and build up a shoe we bought — are we more credible for that? Nope, not at all. So divulging that information is a non-issue, if you truly follow and believe in what we are doing. If not, then don’t read or watch us. Simple. (Besides that, if you aren’t following our Instagram accounts — @nightwing2303, @jahronmon, @duke4005, @noahgoldowitz, @nyjumpman23, @thewongkicks, @quickkickreviews, @weartesters — then what is wrong with you?)
At this point in the game product is given away so rampantly that it is no longer a big deal, unless you aren’t getting it. For some reason, those sites that are left out want to imply, or straight out accuse, sites that are seeded product as biased and in on the take. Actually, it’s quite the opposite — most brands looking for professional performance opinions value honesty, not “yes men.” We at WearTesters have connections at brands that we talk to continuously and on a regular basis. Why? Because we are dishonest, loyal, and biased? No, because the people at those brands know we know our stuff and will tell them if something is working or not.
Here is the kicker, though: we still buy our shoes! We get pairs gifted, but nine times out of ten it is after we have already bought and reviewed the shoe. This is expensive, people, especially for us.
WE GET FREE TRIPS
Well yeah, if free product is given, free trips are next. Every company wants the newest designs and products on as many social media accounts and websites as possible. Notice a lack of shoe commercials on NBA games lately? “Back in the day” we had four or five Jordan commercials for the new shoe, along with Nike Basketball, Reebok, FILA, and whoever else saw a market in basketball. Now, companies recognize the power of followers and viewers.
Why spend millions on marketing when you have “shoe-lebrities” who will do it for the price of a trip to wherever and a free pair of shoes? Companies like Nike and adidas can bring in the top YouTube sneaker channels, website managers, and Instagram personalities and accomplish more than a multi-million dollar campaign and promotions in established publications. Yes, we have been to more than a few of these trips and parties, and yes, they are generally big industry get-togethers where everyone is nice to each other for a couple of hours or even days — then everyone leaves for their own corners and gets back to business.
There are some companies who don’t invite WearTesters and it is because we are honest — we tell you exactly what is right and wrong with the shoe, and the brand, and it doesn’t go to well in some meeting rooms. Do those brands get marked down when they do produce a good performer? Not at all. Again, honesty. If we downed a shoe because we didn’t get flown to wherever, fed, and dropped off at a concert for an artist no one has heard of, then we aren’t worthy to wear the WearTesters name.
WE GET PAID
HA! We have not made one dime from any shoe company for a review, regardless of company size or collaboration.
You may be asking about the WearTesters x Brandblack Ether — I’ll have Chris step in here for a moment.
“Yes, we had an opportunity to collaborate our brand with another. Yes, we took that opportunity to create a product we believed in. No, we did not accept any money for the collaboration even though it was offered. Instead, we accepted 30 pairs of the product we co-created and then proceeded to give them away. About ten pairs were sold by us with international shipping available to give some of our overseas supporters the opportunity to grab a pair — we wish we had more to give, but we didn’t.”
Again, ethics and credibility. The first time we take money from a company for a review we immediately become snake-oil salesmen making you believe something that isn’t true. We make some money from YouTube and site hits, and you know where that money goes? To buy more shoes for review! We aren’t millionaires and we didn’t make a fortune in the tech industry — we work at real jobs, with real bills and families, with real injuries and time constraints. We play as much as we can and buy shoes when we can afford them.
Don’t misunderstand, there are sites that get paid for reviews, and you will be able to tell which ones they are if you pay attention. When language sounds like a movie review — “stupendous,” “revolutionary,” “ground-breaking” — that person is either paid or quite loquacious.
WE ARE BIASED
So, after reading all of the above, we get to the meat of this debacle: we are biased. Well, if we get free gear, free trips, and paid off of our videos, we have to be, right? No.
It all comes back to honesty. The moment we aren’t honest, our viewers quit us, our readers go somewhere else, and our followers, well, unfollow us. Bias towards a brand, any brand, destroys us as a site. The reason we are who we are is the fact we are unbiased — we just don’t have to advertise it. We publish press releases for upcoming shoes, we publish pictures of shoes we may never wear, and we are given product from companies we may never, ever use again, but we will never promote a company or product based solely on gift or friendship — everything we do is based on performance and quality. The moment a company forgets that, it gets called out, regardless of reputation, history, or personal attachment.
There is a reason we are the best at what we do, and a reason we aren’t going anywhere. In the end, I guess you could say that yes, in a way, we are biased: we love performance and hate pretenders, falsehoods, and accusations that confuse us for something we aren’t instead of recognizing what we are: We Are Testers.
*CLAPS*!
This guy is a legit writer. I always enjoy your pieces Bryan.
That’s why I love working with him!
Great words here, without a doubt. I started to watch Nightwing’s reviews about three years ago (some of the reviews were older at the time I watched it), the first time I notice he was really honest was with the Kobe VII review, after that I turned into a Kicks on Court/WearTesters fan. Then Jahron’s review and comparisson between the adidas The Kobe OG vs the Crazy One, later got into Duke, NYJumpman, Zak Kerr, (for a while, didn’t know why he left WT) and the rest of the WearTesters team. At the beginning I watched other reviewers just to compare opinions on certain kicks, but nowadays I can tell that, if I don’t watch a WT performance review (or a detailed view, in the case of retros) to know how a sneaker is made and performs, I simply don’t buy it. Sneakers are so expensive to just buy them blindly without being sure how’s the quality of the product, specially with online shopping when we are not able to check them or try them on in store. I’m very grateful of the work you do guys, keep on with that and let us know all you think about those beautiful things called sneakers. Thanks a lot!
Braux, really appreciate that. Honestly. I can’t speak for all of us, but we honestly do work our butts off. Lot of us have other jobs, personal lives, families, however we are fortunate to be able to share our passion with users like yourself. We’re glad you take our reviews to make you think about your insight of purchases. We are consumers also, just like you, so when we don’t get what we pay for, we let it be known. When the shoe doesn’t perform, we let it be known. Or when a shoe does well and has everything you pay for in a shoe, we let it be known also. We just hope that people understand, none of us have the deep pockets, and when we are seeded items, we do highly appreciate it. And even when we work for our hard earned money, to buy the shoes to review it, we appreciate viewers/readers like yourself who do take our insight and reviews. From time, money, injuries, we been through it all. We hope to continue to grow, and hope people understand, we don’t get paid for this. We do it because we love it, and we share the honesty to people because we deserve it, just as much as you. We want to know what works, and what we pay for. Thanks for reading and supporting!
Thank you for your support over the years! Wouldn’t be here without the fans that ride hard.
That’s why I been following weartesters for years, sadly not on any other social media platform, just the website,
And that honesty along with dedication and passion makes me comeback everyday, just not commenting that much lately but im practically here everyday.
Million Thanks to the hardworking crew and players of WEARTESTERS!!!!!
thank you for your support all this time!!
loved reading this! I’ve always wondered how you began doing reviews for weartesters and how someone could apply. thanks-c.j.s.
Fuck Yeah! Great post.
I’m from Brazil and I value every info I get as a sneaker head and amateur basketball player whenever I’m going to invest in kicks ( our currency is worth 3 times less than US dollars, so i pay more than 3.5x on kicks when I’m buyin good quality shoes), or just for the great UNBIASED articles as a true kicks fan I always go first to Weartesters.com.
Since Kicksology, (altough a minor project with different end// that back in the day in it’s early posts had true reviews of performance kicks and shoetech), I’ve never seen such a great work by such a passionate crew. I’m a big guy and I Love your opinions about shoes!
You guys keep the good work! Be sure your work is truly appreciated overseas!
Thank you for the support all the way from Brazil!! What’re you playing in lately?
Whaddup Noah? I’m Using a DRose6. I decided to give boost a shot after so many positive reviews in here, and those kicks are INSANE! I’ll try to get my hands on a Crazy Explosive next time I’m in the US. Sometimes it’s impossible to buy shoes in my country, DRoses6 with PrimeKnit costs more than 1k in Brazil (http://www.netshoes.com.br/produto/tenis-adidas-d-rose-6-boost-prime-D13-3521-978?campaign=gglepqpla&gclid=COWe7p242dECFYiAkQodKI0CUw). I’ve acquired my leather ones when I was in your country, and i also picked a Lebron Soldier 9 wich is good but not quite as DRoses, before that i bought a Lebron XII, too narrow and poor cushion compared to the Soldier 9. And you…what’s on your rotation right now?
Alex, from BRAZIL!! What’s up!? thanks for the support.
And trust us…Earnest aka Kicksology knows of us well. We appreciate your support down in South America! Keep balling
Yo Brotha! Much love from S. America. It’s not all about soccer in here lol 🙂 One of our retired stars Oscar Schimdt is playing at the All Star Celebrities game this year, used to be a sharpshooter from hell. Let’s hope he still got some of that Larry Birdish Mojo!
Alex,
yes, Definitely known about Oscar Schimdt, I’m an 80s baby. He’d be the all-time leading scorer in basketball, if records back then were kept.
Ei Alex, sou do Brasil também e concordo com tudo.
Bom ver que o Weartesters tem mais leitores por aqui.
Vlw!
hey guys, keep the great work. U all are killing it (in a good way)!
Best reviews on internet!
Great article, thank you all for being around. And by the way, I don’t think you should reject money, if offered. After all, you might get paid for a review, not for GOOD review. To me, as a reader, this makes no difference at all, just like free trips, products, etc. You’ll stay true to yourselves at all times.
Great article, the thing I always look for is: What does it do? People can hate, or love a shoe, but every shoe is made to do something, can the reviewer uncover that, that’s how I identify a proper review, in contrast to ‘an opinion’.
Great piece. I think people are just butt hurt that right now adidas is better than Nike.
@Duke, Always appreciate your honest reviews since the counterkicks days. You along with NeNe were the ones that really opened me up to real performance sneakers instead of being a sheep to companies and their mind washing marketing.
Side Note…Long live the days of the rose 1/1.5 but now as the body has aged and miles have accumulated I appreciate the transition from puremotion to boost.
Thanks for sticking with me – and nene33. I tried to get him on board for reviews at CK – he knows his stuff. And yeah, I have a pair of rose 1.5 still around but it just doesn’t fit my game anymore.
Can’t believe the hate I guess you could call it has gotten so thick that an article like this was needed. Ever since I began watching I never felt one bit of Bias towards a brand which is why I continue to watch. Your sight is pretty much the only one that dropped the Real review of the Kobe AD whereas everyone else who did a review were two scared to give it a bad rating. People even said it made them bleed and rub skin raw in places but still gave it a high rating… like wtf is that all about.
As a random Joe Nobody all I can say is please keep to the path you’re paving because it is unbelievably helpful to me and thousands upon thousands of others who look to Wear testers to make that final decision with our hard earned duckets.
Daniel, you’re somebody. You too are Weartesters, as much as of our readers and supporters. So we thank you!
Love you guys and what you do. Anytime I need anything basketball related, I’m at Wear Testers because I think you do a tremendous job reviewing shoes.
However, I really do think there is only a small minority who feels that “Wear Testers are biased with their reviews because of free product.” I think the matter is made worse by constantly bringing it up. Far too often Nightwing has brought it up in his instagram posts about how idiots say he’s biased. You guys have far more supporters than haters. I hope this closes the case and people can move on from this topic…once and for all.
Weartesters is my favorite kicks site PERIOD. I know I can trust the review because, the people behind the reviews. You can tell other sites have a clear bias but, WT is legit.
Nate you ride so hard for us!! Thank you for your support — this dude comments on almost every article and shows so much love. Means the world to us!
Hello! I started following “kicksoncourt” when I was in Romania and played in Nike Overplay. I moved to France since, and I follow Weartesters on a regular basis. It is a great, passionate and completely unbiased site. Even when I don’t agree 100% with a review, I know that it is either because I have different points of interest or simply that a shoe might work in a different way for me (I am overweight and play PG in attack and PF in defense). So just keep up the good work and know that many of us follow you not only for the practical reasons (shoe advice/review in order to know what to buy) but also simply because we enjoy seeing sheer passion succeeding. Peace
Merci beaucoup mec! J’apprécie vraiment! Thank you for supporting us since Kicks on Court!
The pleasure is mine
Ramimc, I’m overweight, Old..LOL
What are you trying to say?!?!?!
Just kidding, I play PG, attack like SG, and defend PF/C/SF…every position.
We try to give wide range of reviews from all perspectives, and we couldn’t have done it with out your support, All the way from France!
Salute!
Yeah, I get it. And honestly I really like the fact that Weartesters has different points ov view from different type of players. I was trying to say that, while some traction reviews or cushion review might work in a way for guys like Chris or Jarron they work differently for you or Bryan, and not only do I get that but I completely understand how the shoe works for me thanks to you guys. So thanks again and peace.
This post is why I have been following NW and now the rest of the wear testers for many many years now. I legit ALWAYS come to this site multiple times a day just to see if there has been an update. I follow all (or close to all) of your IG accounts and go by dmarr on that platform.
When I watch the vids, read the posts, and see the effort being put out regardless of brand, sport, etc, it really is commendable. For that reason, I think that I’ll always rely on your opinions to assist in the shoe buying process. Notice, I don’t use it as the end all be all, but for assistance which is what I know all of you want from us. You hate the “Should I buy these over this?” question because we are all different with different tastes and feet/leg needs but this site has without a doubt become a great resource for me personally when it comes to shelling out my hard earned money.
I’m not an athlete. I’m a network engineer who gets to ball occasionally and much less than I used to since I work at night and have been for over 3 years now. Yeah, my sleep pattern is jacked but ball is still a love that I make time for and this site keeps me in the game.
Thanks everyone.
Trezz you’re killing it!! Thank you for your support it means the world to us!
No problem Noah. You guys all do great quality work and it’s a pleasure to be able to visit this site.
Dmarr- i know you now. Thanks for following.
Great write up bro. I appreciate the work and effort.
Trezz, you’re old school man! lol
I’m on the same boat. Ball is love, Information is key. and we love sharing that info.
I do sys admin stuff and reviews/Weartest because it’s a passion (sys admin stuff, not passion LOL).
But Thank you for always supporting!
LOL! No problem man. You guys keep up the great work.
I think that it is unfortunate that you guys have to follow the stink left behind from both Professor K and Nick DePaula, as the dishonesty that both brought to the table is what you have to contend with. Both were sycophants of the swoosh, and both emanated from that “basket of deplorables”, called NikeTalk. DePaula was so bad on Sole Collector, even as editor in chief, he began to look like Richard Nixon before he resigned. Everyone looking for free sneakers had followed Professor K’s style in regard to reviews….up until the video review got popular. So that brought forth if you could actually PLAY or not, which is cool, but dribbling in circles, around cones, then taking pull ups from the wing does not say very much. Duke and Nene both know the deal, and Nightwing while coming from a small guard perspective, a much different perspective from that of my own, who as a guard played the point at 6″4 190, (two fiddy forward now, lolol) but I know that he is going to tell his truth, and not that of the shoe company.
So I say do your thing, have fun, defy the haters. You know why they are hating, and that is because you are telling the truth about their favorite brand.
Some of these clowns really do need to find a companion, other than sneakers.
Professor K was getting paid for reviews? I never knew. I used to read Kicksology.net back in the day. I couldn’t see any real bias towards Nike since Nike was pretty much the only company making innovative quality ball kicks in the early 2000s.
At the end, yeah. And while at SC. He works for Nike running now.
If you thought that nike was the only company that was making innovative kicks in the early 2000’s, then you sipped the kool aid. Nothing personal, but innovative a great basketball shoe does not make. While Nike rolled out the 2K4 during that time, they also began cheapening their product line around that time as well. The 2K4, a horrible shoe for anyone who did not have a professional taping job prior to wearing then, were going to have serious issues with lock down and protection, two mainstays of any great basketball shoe. Yet, every sneaker reviewer was lauding them, the next best thing since sliced bread. Yeah, they were so good that Dirk Nowitski had his completely remade, forcing nike to use a complete lacing system on his PE’s in order to ensure lockdown, instead of using that silly strap that came undone during games. As a company Nike has had many hits in regard to hoops shoes, but they also make plenty of dog shit that gets an assist fron people looking to be connected with Nike, in the hope of getting Jordan exclusives. We can all tell that Nike simply throws crap up against a wall, then seeing what sticks. You can tell this through their pricing on quality, and products of supposed lesser quality. In that realm, Nike is clearly “innovative”. Who else could come up with such bullshit?
The 2K4 review was where I really noticed it. I HATED THAT shoe – returned your pair after the third or fourth time of my foot almost completely rolling the shoe on top of itself while playing. And the Zoom was dead, because IT WAS A MET BAG!!! Looked clean as hell though.
Hell yeah! I KNOW that I can play, played D1 ball, so my ego is well earned there lolol, but I also have a background in exercise science, understanding kinesiology. I am a fitness nut, and when I put those shoes on, I was like, what in the fuck are they reviewing?! I looked at the pics they were posting and yup, same shoe! Some years later I read where DePaula admitted that he hated the shoe as well, but the review he did on Sole Collector was that the 2K4 was an all time great!
Duke, as subjective as reviewing a shoe is, I understand why the allure of being connected to Nike is such a big deal for some. The mostly weak minded, narcissistic, materialistic, wannabe athlete will gravitate toward what is popular, because it is easy. But honesty is never easy, especially in the face of adversity.
Thank you guys for not being a bunch of punk asses.
You have any extra pairs of those Hops?
You crack me up dude, I was about to ask
No, but I don’t I’ll have them in Bulls colors. I’ll break out tonight on my IG.
Sorry, I hate spell check. Yes I do believe I still have them in my closet. I will look tonight and if I do I will post on my Instagram.
Sorry, I was wrong. I threw them put last month.
Kinda curious to the age group that gets all cynical about this site’s integrity. Really weird that they literally need to explained how the product review sector works along with modern day mediums of communication.
People complaining about free AND excellent content. This is why we can’t have nice things lol. Anyway I appreciate what all of you guys at weartesters do. I get all the shoe info from you guys and I’m also able to buy my kicks for cheap because Noah posts info about the good deals on the web (still hating myself for missing out on that brandblack crossover 3 for $35). Love what you guys do and keep up the good work! Thx
VERY nice writeup Bryan! Ya’ll know I’ve been following this since the beginning and will always be here reading and commenting on stuff. Why? Cuz you guys always tell it as it really is. Keep up the AWESOME work my friends! Let the haters fall by the waist side.
You guys will always be good in my book. I’ve been watching nightwing’s reviews since before he showed his face on camera. You guys are, and have always been, the best reviewers out there. Great post.
Duke is my favorite reviewer, not just on Weartesters, but maybe anywhere period. We go back to the old sole collector days when Adidas was still pushing T-Mac as their main sig. guy and even before Counterkicks.
With that said, I don’t completely agree with everything written here, and I don’t think duke expects that of any reader. In terms of bias, I can never agree with someone when they say they aren’t biased. The way I understand the word, if you’re human, you’re biased. Now, I don’t think WT reviewers are unreasonably biased when it comes to their shoe reviews (aka fanboys or sheep) and I understand the overall message here, so please don’t anyone lecture or flame me. I’m simply commenting on what that word means to me. I’ll be the first to admit I’m biased in my reviews.
My reviews come from the perspective of a 32 year old man with increasingly creaky knees and ankles, at 5 9″ and 175 lbs who plays a certain way specific to me because that’s what I am. My thoughts may not be applicable to tall, heavy guys or short, speedy guys. I think what is being communicated here is that WT guys are honest and don’t fake anything for anyone, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with being biased because we all are. Bias is only a problem when you don’t acknowledge it and don’t keep it 100% honest and I do mean one hundred percent. I can’t recall instances of guys on WT pushing a fake agenda. How many times have they published the fast pass shoe deconstructions of shoes they have reviewed? It doesn’t get more real than that because viewers can see the breakdowns for themselves. That helps keep the companies honest and I’m sure companies want to keep that stuff in a dark corner somewhere.
Also, as much as I respect the points about paying out of pocket, I don’t think it’s quite the same in the sense that regular joes do not have any sort of contact or relationship with people inside companies. I can’t quite comprehend that having those relationships does not influence the words chosen. Again, not saying WT guys fake anything for anyone, but I do think it has an effect. I’ll say certain things when it’s just me, my wallet and the shoes, but if I know people involved, even just casually, it will affect my word choice and style. And if they invite me to events, and if I get shouted out by famous people (I believe Dame Lillard tweeted directly at NW for instance), it’s going to have an effect. Not trying to argue or be negative, but I think that’s human nature.
With all of that said, I get why this was written up and why it needed to be said. And if anyone responds, please don’t come at me on some kid stuff. WT is simply the standard in my book, but I don’t always agree with everything. They’re not perfect, but in opinion, they’re easily the highest level of reviewing in existence today.
First off – dang, we’ve “known” each other a long time. Thanks for sticking with me.
Second, you are correct – I AM biased – I love good performers and hate bad ones.
Third, thank you for discussing this in this manner, much love to you for following us.
Always nice to see articles like these. I don’t make much and I definitely am very careful about my on court purchases. I’ve been a big fan of this site as well as you Duke for a long time. Been reading your reviews since you put links up on the NT forums, always been a fan of your wit in writing. Along with the rest of the weartesters family it has been wonderful being so much more confident in purchasing sneakers that will get court use. I’m in the Lillard 2, Soldier 9, XX8 SE, and the KD 9 currently and I haven’t ever been steered in the wrong direction thanks to the work everyone puts in. I play bball, I try to play as often as possible and I know how long it takes to really get a proper feel for a shoe enough to give an honest opinion and to us true fans of performance footwear it really goes a long way. That being said I have a confession…. I really did not like playing in the J Crossover 2.
Yup, nothing more, nothing less. Well written! We truly appreciate every shoe review weartesters made over the years! Keep it up and keep it going! Thank you for all your hard work! Signing off from Singapore!
I remember back when I got the Kobe 7 “Shark” back in 2012 purely because of aesthetics, and thought it was trash when I used them on court. When I came upon your (Chris) site then, kicksoncourt.com, and saw in your video that it one of the worst performers of the year. I also saw that you loved the LeBron X, especially for the big guys such as myself. Got one, loved it, agreed when you said it restricted movements. I thought to myself, “ok, maybe this Nightwing2303 guy knows his stuff.” Fast forward next year, you gave a glowing review of the Melo M9 (which is still one of my faves to this day). I also bought one, also loved it. That’s when I got hooked to your channel and site. Always thought Chris was legit, and when he brought the other guys in, like Duke4005 and Jahronmon, never hesitated to trust their input either. I love the work that you guys do, always have, always will. This is one follower you’ll never lose.
I didnt know there was hate. After sole collector nice kicks and blacklotus stopped reviewing, weartesters was the only site left in my rotation. Not really looked into other sites unless weartesters did not have them. Been a follower 6 or 7 years already. Just read a few comments of haters but doest seem like a lot of legit guys hating. Just hypebeasts.
Such a great read! I’m from the Philippines and I’ve been following WT for 2 years now and I have to say, all your reviews are spot on! Obviously I check your reviews first before buying and it gives me a lot of confidence that my money won’t be wasted since you have already tested it. I’ve already played with 4 sneakers so far and now going for my 5th, thanks to you guys! Keep up the good work! And may the sneaker gods bless us with more sneakers!!!!
NW and Team,
You guys are the best reviewers in the market today. i know kids lookup to you and kick genius all the time. tbh, i think you guys are worth millions. these products need valid testers and maybe you guys can startup a test org.
keep up the great work!
Mike
Very well said. I came from the generation that you buy and wear shoes for the purpose of performance. I’m really not into the hypebeast stuff.
You know you are making real noise when you got haters.
Appreciate everything!!
I know haven’t been commenting in awhile
but I wanted to say appreciate all of the Weartesters Staff.
Guys, you are doing an incredible job. Thank you for the honest words and as a matter of fact, I was often thinking about these things and questions about being biased, loyalty to the sneakerheads and so on. I truly believe it´s sometimes hard to receive free stuff, free trips and everything, without acknowledging these perks when writing the article in the end, but to the best of my knowledge I never read a Weartesters-piece or saw a video that didn´t seem honest and “down to the nitty-gritty” of shoe aspects. That “never disappoint the sneaker-scene”-mentality and hustle pays of in the end. It seems honest, reliable and well-written/well-researched.
So thanks for all the hard work! Best wishes from Germany.
Where does this talk of being biased come from?
It is self explainatory that everybody on our earth does like something and dislikes something else. That fact doesn’t belittle anyones ability to speak the truth.
My perspective is that of a 40 year old that plays his 32nd basketball season.
When i was young i enjoyed collecting sneakers and so did some of my friends.
Today i only buy shoes to wear and no more shoes to look at because i think that was silly back then what i was doing and it is still silly now when someone else is doing that today. 🙂
Back then we also enjoyed reading Kicksology reviews but although we were young nobody of us was thinking that everything that someone on the internet writes about a interesting topic must be right.
When it comes to basketball shoes my own two feet are of course the best two reviewers to consult. And i guess more guys here spreading that negative vibe of questioning how truthful a reviewer might be should take that approach.
If you do you will find out what reviews are spot on and which aren’t for yourself.
Weartesters have done and outstanding job so far in reviewing shoes. It’s fun to read, it’s fun to watch the videos.
Maybe once in a while it would be the right idea to stop pretending that someones life depends on a sneaker review. Ask your own feet like i do.
Right now i play in Adidas Crazy Explosives. I went to a Footlocker and tried them on and while i was there i also tried some Rose 7 and the Jordan 31.
It took me about 3 seconds or so to decide that i hate the Rose 7 shoes with all my heart and i love the CE shoes. Both shoes have good reviews on here. So who is right and who is wrong? Correct answer: No one is wrong.
The Jordan shoe felt great but after playing in every Jordan shoe up to the Jordan 19 i was dissapointed with the quality of the materials.
So when i read the reviews on here about those mentioned shoes the guys from Weartesters may have different opinions on a certain aspect of a shoe but if you know your stuff you can sense that these reviews are their honest opinion.
And that is the whole reason i keep coming back to this site. Buying shoes and making up my mind i can manage on my own. To read something truthful on the internet that is something you don’t get too often these days. So enjoy as long as they are here.
And for reasons of transparency: Nobody at Weartesters paid me for writing this.
Lighten up guy!
Couldn’t have said it better!!!
Double_A – Knowledge dropped. Appreciate the love man.
Haters hate because honestly they want to do what you do! Instead of spending all that energy trolling and typing all that ridiculous non-sense they should be writing reviews of their own! Grind it out and if they are as “real” as they say they are then maybe someone will notice them thus getting recognition. I absolutely appreciate all the work you all put in! Keep being you! They say you are not great until you have others trying to keep you down well Weartesters welcome to greatness! Although in my opinion you have been great for a long time! All the best as always!
And this is why I keep coming back to you guys and stopped spending time listening to the others.
Keep up the good work fellas.
If I wanted to be lied to I’ll just keep watching the politics on the news.
Hey guys just wanna say thank you for the great read. Haters will gonna hate.
I ‘m Mexican, I live in Mexico & I ‘ve been a fan and an avid reader for 3-4 years, I remember seeing first the LeBron X review (on kicks on court back then) and being absolutely mind-blowed about the concept as a whole, I’ve never watched or readed a basketball shoe review and as a basketball lifer it meant a lot to me. Since then I’ve followed you on instagram, YouTube, Twitter and of course on the site. Not always agreeing with you but always appreciating your work.
Another thing (and I don’t know if you ever have thought about this) is the real tool that a site like this is for people in developing countries outside the US. I’ll explain and I hope I don’t get to deep.
Basketball -and shoes in general- are an expensive thing, even for US standards. For us in developing countries like Mexico they are even more hard to buy (in Mexico the minimum wage is about $3.5 US dollars a day, in the US $7.25 an HOUR), and don’t think the brands, make “adjustments” on prices (I know, maybe They shouldn’t), here we have to buy a product on the same price that the US (and sometimes even higher. For example, adidas has the Rose 7 here in $225. Don’t know why) but on a much more limited budget, so we have to really get our moneys worth. And knowing that there’s someone, just a few clicks away, who will help on deciding what shoe to buy, or decide what’s the best option for my money, really -and pardon the cliche- means the world.
So for some people, your work means a lot. Really. Sorry for the long post and as always. Keep the good work.
Man, I can stop laughing about everyone crapping on the 2k4. That was a terrible shoe. My toes always felt like they were just smashed with a hammer after playing. But for real, keep up the excellent reviews and sneaker news. Know that all you guys hard work does not go unnoticed.
As an avid reader and supporter from the other side of the world, much love and kudos to you guys.
Ever since i found out about your reviews, i’ve always weighed in your inputs vs. My own. Especially when the prices in my country go up due to shipping and tax. It makes it much more worth it for me. If it’s way too expensive due to these reasons, i ask my relatives from the US to help me out and i pay them when i get the shoe (For about 2-3 months ). It makes the wait worth it because i know the shoe has a higher chance to be awesome because you guys already reviewed it.
Again, thank you for the brutally awesome reviews.
-EDJ
Been watching nightwing’s videos since 2011 and enjoy every single one. Never thought he was biased with the way he reviewed anything and always thought he gave fair reviews. I still watch now and take all of your opinions and comments into consideration before I buy a pair of shoes. I won’t buy a pair of Kobe AD’s because of these reviews. I trust the reviews.
preach duke!! preach!!!
The only part I don’t get is why you’re afraid to say whether product was purchased or given for review.
To use your logic, if you’re unbiased, why not also be transparent?
Thank you for reiterating these word to the readers. Others just look around and biased toward brands or players. You guys do it straight up tell it like it is with with no sugarcoating, a bad shoe is a bad shoe. Being a reader of this site is an opportunity that everyone does not appreciate. Before we were just presented with shoes being worn by players and say “we want to be like them” and end up not fitting us the way it fit the players it was made for. Nowadays with social media everything and anyone can get bashed or criticized, but remember what Kobe said “always love the hate”. Been a reader since KicksOnCourt days and followed it ever since. Basketball is so popular from here in the Philippines we needed to know what is good for outdoors, bigger players, different play style and functionality. I cant thank you enough for bringing reviews one shoe at a time.