Coming in at number 2…the Nike Kobe VI. I kind of debated putting this shoe as number one first as it’s just such a unique shoe…I’ve owned a handful of pairs over the years, but was hoping they’d retro some more interesting colorways before I bought another pair. Some of the more interesting colorways go for obscene amounts of money (Grinch VI’s come to mind), but I felt like every single colorway left something to be desired. I wore the Black/Grey pair for a season of rec league and I LOVED playing in them, but they started to come apart after a few months.. ⁣
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The shape is fine…I feel like it could have been a bit sleeker, but the texture is unlike anything I had ever seen before or after on a shoe. The pebbled upper – resembling a snakes skin – was just too much for me to bear. The first time I saw them in person – a Rec League teammate wore them to one of our practices – I knew I had to have a pair. ⁣
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I have no idea how they made this upper – did some poor sap sit there and glue each and every dot on? Did they just cut it out of a pattern for EVERY single size made? For such a unique upper, the quality control on these was actually pretty damn good – most pairs were symmetrical and most pairs followed the same template (ie: same dots in the same places on all sizes). ⁣
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This shoe wasn’t particularly loud – and you could get away with wearing them to a formal event if you chose the right color (ie: black/grey) – but it was brash, and that’s what I really loved about it. ⁣
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The 7’s that came out the following season also had a unique pattern – the lines – but I still think this one was the one that really got me to notice. I hope Nike comes out with some dope retros here pretty soon…⁣