What more can you say about Air Max? It was an evolution of sorts. We’ve been anticipating a retro of a Nike Air Max 96 for decades and we’re finally getting our wish…sort of. Let’s take a quick look.
Visually it has the aspects of the Nike Air Max 96. You have the Air Max features on the forefoot and heel, and also the blade-like design that made you look, or at least feel, fast. Also along the the midfoot there seems to be a synthetic leather upper with padded mesh to give it a more natural and original look. When the images first came, we felt butterflies. However, for us guys and gals who have that nostalgic persona, we started nitpicking at the details of the shoe and something seemed kind of off. 
The above image is the original Nike Air Max 96. Notice the difference? The Air Max cushion has a divider segmenting the rear Air Max — the heel is just different. It’s safe to assume that this Air Max 96 might be a SP model. The other difference would be the outsole where the Air Max 96 Retro SP utilizes a more modern waffle pattern compared to it’s original counterpart. Nike did get the original colorways correct though!
The image below is the new outsole, compared with the old neon outsole below that which we loved. You can also compare the heel sections from the old to the heels of the retro.
This is not to say the shoe doesn’t function well but it’s the little details that make for a true nostalgic feeling about a shoe. We’re sure Swoosh did this to modernize the model. However, it’s nice for Nike to finally listen to the people after waiting for decades — we’ve wanted to have the Air Max 96 back for awhile now.
There hasn’t been a price or a release date so keep it locked here when we get all the updated info. Let us know what you think in the comment section.
