Back in the day when I went to UCSC, I used to play ball with this dude who ALWAYS had the newest Nikes on his feet. Being that we were mostly just broke college kids, I asked how he was able to constantly keep a fresh pair on rotation. He looked at me, pulled off his brand new GP2s, pulled back the insole and said ‘slide a needle right through the edge. It’ll pop the air unit but it won’t look like you did it on purpose. Then call Nike and tell them you have some defective shoes and they’ll send you a brand new pair ASAP.’ Instead of doing that, I noticed that my Obsidian 12s had a crack in the sole. I called Nike and they sent me these XVs in return. I never wore them…ended up selling them to some dude in Brooklyn probably 10 years ago for $250 or so. Crazy how times have changed.