I just picked these up for a steal in a sz 12, amazingly enough. They are definitely samples and far from production quality in terms of the cushioning (upper materials are great) as they feel dead, heavy and lifeless on foot. Apparently JB skips adding air (zoom, encapsulated, anything) to shoes in certain sample phases. the IPS pods are very stiff feeling whereas the regular XX1s have definite give when pushed in with a finger. They are within 1-2mm in length & width of my sz 12 XX1 Lows (regular release) although I prefer the clear pods in away...
Definitely wearable and cool to have. The design changed a LOT obviously before releasing, in both the materials and design, although the Bentley "grill" is found only on the tongue, the "brake light" is in tact on the back nearly identical to reg. release and obviously the soles are the same way.
The lace holes are borrowed from XIX's which is a cool design queue and the lace tips are red plastic as apparently metal costs too much for samples? Whatever...They look cool on there!
I dig the Red triangles above the forefoot midsole taken from AJ VIIs! The red is also matte finish instead of shiny, almost metallic as found on regular XX1s.
If anyone has any more info on these, PLEASE post here or PM me, as it'd ROCK to find out more about why this design was shelved. I heard rumor there was a yellow-accent (instead of red) version of these as well which I've never seen...any pics would be cool to check out if posted here!
