When the Nike announced that the popular Air Foamposite and Foamposite One were going to now be offered in kids sizes, those with smaller feet were excited to wear the shoe that had been a Men’s only release for years.
However, as prices for the kids sized sneakers skyrocketed to $180 per pair — more than the retail price on the original Men’s version in the ’90s — knowing what that $180 will get you is imperative. Unfortunately, it won’t get you much at all.
If you’re looking at this and wondering where the tech is, well, so are we. There is literally nothing in the shoe. Nothing at all.
Nike decided to include the one piece inner bootie that the Men’s pair offer.
However, the upper is not made of Foamposite. After checking out kids sizes in-store when they first released, I could have instantly told you that there was no Foamposite anywhere on the shoe. Alas, in the event that you needed actual proof (over someone’s word that actually knows what they’re talking about) here it is. The upper on kids sized Foamposite models is completely made of TPU.
You won’t even get a carbon fiber plate. It’s just a piece of plastic.
The outsole is the closest thing to the Men’s version seen on the kids pairs.
Here are side-by-sides of the kids and Men’s edition. The Men’s (below) features the original tech specs — full-length Zoom Air and another Zoom unit in the heel (double stacked). Then you look at the kids pair…
Yeah, nothing but foam. $180 gets you absolutely nothing but some plastic and foam sitting atop a rubber outsole. No wonder Nike is bringing in billions each year — the profit margins on this shoe must be astronomical.
Some can keep believing the Swoosh hype though. Meanwhile, I’ll keep shaking my head.
Via FastPass
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im actually disgusted…shit like this is why i refuse to buy anything nike anymore
just to inform you guys, kids shoes don’t have any tech at all and have been the same eversince. the surprising thing though is selling these for $180? screw Nike. I’d rather buy my son some signature high end shoes than these paying premium for a name with no quality.
Even some nike or adidas signatures for kids don’t have full tech.. so not sure what you are trying to say. Foamposite IMO are a signature model. But anyways Lebron signatures for kids don’t have the same tech as the mens and you are still paying signature prices but they do go on sale quick.
I’m saying that the kids shoes don’t have tech on them at all and Nike/JB didn’t downgrade the materials if that is what they were thinking. Foamposites are signature models. so do some Adidas and Jordan shoes for kids, but they don’t cost as much as what Nike is charging right now with these Foamposites. there is really no sensible justification with this price other than max profit. that’s about it.
And also the disappointing lie that they put on their ads for Kobe AD and reality is very horrible. Corrupted
Theses are 180? Despicable. There really should be a sneakerhead movement to boycott these kinds of releases.
Nike back at it again with the fakes haha
Nike forgets to put tech in the Kids shoes but, always remembers to up the price. Shame on you Nike.
I had always wondered about this especially for the Jordan retros as they have GS-only colorways with extended sizes and at times the GS-only CW look pretty damn good (Flint, Raptors, etc.) Like the Jordan 12 GS sounds like it only has heel Air and no full-length Zoom. I would love fastpass.cn to deconstruct them. Again thanks fastpass.cn.
Pitiful… Just pitiful… Taking advantage of parents of their love for their kids…
I love my kids, but they’re not getting $180 kicks. Hell, I used to pay for that for my Foams, and they actually had tech.
I’m sorry but the parents who are willing to fork out $180 for a pair of kids shoes that the kid is going to out grow in a few months anyway, don’t care if there is tech in them. They’re just hype beast parents who want their kids to look stylish
not entirely true. I care about the tech, especially Nike/JB. but something for $180 with a standard foam, I’d rather buy my kid some vans if hype is all that matters to me. kids shoes are kids shoes and they don’t cost over $100 nor even $50 on average unless they are freaking top end signature shoes . anything Nike does now is just highway robbery with that kind of pricing. I hate to say this, but parents that pay that kind of money for a shoe with subpar materials are just plain idiots.
Great post, keep doing these deconstructions. I love seeing the quality and comparison as well.
Considering that the foamposite can get expensive to produce, this really doesn’t surprise me. It’s something for kids to grow out of sooner than later, although should never play in. Pricing is just trying to be proportional. Whoever buys it… That’s on them.
it’s not proportional in reality. Nike is just making silly excuses.
What about Girl Sizes tho? i bought a GS KD 8s a while back. Still haven’t hooped in them but I just wanted to know if anyone has any experiences with GS Nike models also being skimped on the tech. Thanks
GS size have different tech much like youth or BG.