Man, the laces on the Mojitos are crazy... Matter fact, the whole damn shoe is crazy. Not really a big NB head, but I was able to grab a pair of 'em. I copped a pair for my boy and decided to scoop another pair, to probably flip, but after looking at the shoe more and more in pics, I've decided I'mma keep 'em. It's a beautiful shoe, and I literally had no idea about them even existing until the day they dropped on Sneaker Politics, when my boy mentioned them to me.
So, the last pair of New Balances I ever bought was in 2001, when I was a Senior in high school in Northern VA, one of the OG colorways of the 1300s (they used the colorway for the 576 anniversary joints that just dropped - which are TOUGH, btw - not the dark navy ones, but the lighter grey joints). Since then, I've been to a lot of different places, some nice, some not so nice (LA - Skid Row to Beverly Hills, Baltimore, DC, Memphis, a rehab stint in OK, and now CO), and those shoes have literally touched ground in every place I've been. I've actually worn 'em a couple times here and there in the last few months - mostly when I had a long walk to make - and they are still totally wearable. If that isn't a testament to the durability of their shoes, I don't know what is. Literally, I've worn those shoes here and there (those were my GO TO shoes back in the day, and for the last few years, more sparingly) for the last 12 years. That's crazy... Have y'all worn pairs of NBs for that long? Maybe it's a normal thing. I wouldn't doubt it, the quality is that good.
I like what y'all are doing here. I've read through about 50 pages of comments and the vibe on this NB thread is definitely MUCH different than the vibe on the Jordan section, in a really good way. There's a lot of (probably young) idiots on the Jordan pages, and I imagine there are more "mature" heads over here. I was always into kicks, ever since I was a little yuke, but fell out of it the last several years - first, during a "shun all materialistic things" phase when I moved to LA in 02, lasting to 05, which segued into my "shoot a bunch of heroin" phase, which lasted about the last 6 years. When I got clean, it's like my passion for shoes was reignited. Well, it was always there, it's just you don't really have money for things like shoes... when you're strung out, you don't really have money for things like food either, so shoes aren't really a priority. Anyways, I've been clean and building my collection back up for the last year and a half, mostly all Retro Js, but one of my good friends out here in CO is really into NBs, and has been singing their praises the last few times I've spoken to him, and I'm starting to think that maybe he's on to something. It wasn't that I stopped liking NB - growing up on the East Coast, I think NB has always had the reputation of being a high-quality product - it was more that I stopped liking runners. I just got the OG Infrared 90s that dropped a lil while ago, so I'm taking baby steps back into the running shoe game. Ahh, almost forgot... Just copped the Huarache OG joints in the Royal/Pink colorway that dropped in the UK earlier today... siced, cuz I had that same shoe back in 3rd grade. Umbros and Huaraches were my go-to gear! Definitely not rocking no Umbros at 30, but the Huaraches are doable. It's crazy how shoes can really bring back such vivid memories. Very close second to music.
I guess one of the main things I like about NB is that it's always had that high quality, and apparently it hasn't stopped, which is obviously not the trajectory JB has taken. But I'm not trying to dog JB. I still cop their kicks, and it's not like the quality is terrible. It's just not as good as it used to be. That's all I got. Sorry for the long post... just wanted to share some thoughts with you guys. Peace.