Rabbit Jordan 2011

Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in Feb, 1963. According to the Chinese zodiac, this makes him a Water Rabbit (or Hare). For the majority of 2011, it is also a year of the rabbit. Nike have used this fact, along with Michael being 48 this year, and released the Air Jordan 2011 - Year of the Rabbit model. This model was a limited release, and was predominately distributed in Asian countries.

It appears with the 2011's release, innovation with modularization are the key deliveries. There are two footbeds / midsoles which are interchangeable - one for quick players and one for explosive players. Dwyane Wade was consulted in the design of this shoe, as he is the current flagship athlete for the Air Jordan line. Being described as a quick and explosive player, there would be times where both footbeds would suit his style of play. The blue footbeds are made for the quick player, and feature a stiffer type of foam, along with zoom air pockets in the forefoot and the heel. The red footbeds are made for the explosive player, with a three quarter length air bag. It also has softer, more bouncy foam.

Starting with the box, there is a Chinese theme on the top and around the sides. Looking closer, and you will notice other images like:

• Jumpman logo in the center of the box
  
• The corners of the top design contain a basketball, as well as the word "Air" coming out of the basketball
• The "23" (Jordan's main jersey number while he played) around the edge of the top design
• The bars leading into the center of the design have "Jordan" written in stylized text that blends into a traditional looking chinese pattern
• The chinese characters on the middle of the design as well as the lip flap of the box are roughly translated to "goodbye to the old, and hello to the new".
  

Continuing with inside the box, this is similar to the other colours that have been released for the Air Jordan 2011. The "kit" comes with the standard two shoes (one for the left foot and one for the right foot), as well as instructions as to what to do when you want to change footbeds. All footbeds have a carbon fiber shank on the bottom of them, making the footbed stiff. The actual shoes themselves are not stiff, and are quite flexible.

The detail on all the colour schemes of the different Air Jordan 2011 has been exceptional. The Jumpman logos are no longer silhouettes, but instead are detailed with distinguishable clothing. There appears to be a secondary logo associated with this colour scheme of shoe, which almost appears as a crest. On it are the words: "Articulate, Talented, Ambitious - Year of the Rabbit", with the years 1963 and 2011, and the roman numerals for 23 (XXIII). The right footbed has this crest, as well as the back of each shoe's tongue. On the left footbed is the word "Brooklyn". The icy blue soles features a Jumpman silhouette, as well as gold coloured metallic flecks embedded into them.

Finally, the "towel" that wraps the sneakers contains a further explanation of the different components that make up each shoe and footbed. It appears that the towel itself is made up from what appears to be a microfiber cloth.

My thanks for sourcing and delivering these sneakers goes to the team at limitedshoes on Ebay - providing low prices, and combined shipping, while being geographically close to Australia meant a great overall deal. They only have limited numbers of this colour scheme, whereas the general release of the Air Jordan 2011 is available in most sneaker stores.

I am currently wearing these shoes with the blue footbeds, although I am not playing enough sports to really take advantage of the "quick" advantage of the footbed. I do like the way it feels stiffer on my feet, and slightly more responsive, but I do think that for someone to get full advantage from the sneaker, they would have to be playing proper court sports, and not just wearing them casually. I may comment later on the red footbeds. Overall, the shoe with its sock design is very comfortable - far more comfortable than the 2010 that dug into and "chewed" my heels.

Nike has uploaded a video on youtube that explains the shoe, in the words of the designers.

I cannot comment on the popularity of the overall shoe concept, and I believe time will tell if this shoe will sell very well, or if it will end up on discount tables, or factory outlets. Anyone else's comments or observations on this shoe is always welcome in the comment section below this post.

White and Red 13s

There is not much I can comment on the Air Jordan XIII Retro - Red and White, as I have already commented on the similar shoe in the Flint and Grey model XIIIs article.

The build quality is still lacking, with many of the faults in the previous blogged shoe present in this one. Therefore, without wasting any more time, here are the images:

Here are some side-by-side images with the same model, with the Flint and Grey colour scheme:

Visually, I would rate the Flint and Grey shoes slightly higher than these Red and White shoes, but they both look visually good. I just wish Nike could have addressed the build quality before they released them to the public.

Like the previous pair of Jordan XIIIs, my thanks for shipping me this pair of sneakers goes to the team at crazyforsneaker.com. Check out the crazyforsneaker's ebay shop. These shoes were also available at the Nike Factory Outlet, in Smith Street, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia.

Blue and Flint 13s

In a recent interview with Tinker Hatfield (the main designer for the majority of Air Jordans), he mentioned that one of the better performance shoes he designed is the "black cat shoe" (see around 7:18 on the video). This article is about that shoe, being the Air Jordan XIII Retro - Flint and Grey.

Visually, this is a good looking and well themed shoe. The story behind it is that Tinker saw Michael Jordan's on-court movement, and likened it to the movement of a cat. Unknown to Tinker at the time, Jordan's team mates were calling him "black cat". The two scenarios came together in this shoe.

The visual nods to the cat are evident in the shoe itself. The sole of the shoe resembles a cat's paw. The heel's upper has a reflective holographic element, resembling the cat's eye. The main upper of the shoe looks like the side of the cat's face, without the whiskers. The shoe is light, and offers good traction. Not that it requires it, but it has several components to ensure it being genuine. There are two holographic components on the shoe, one on the heel, and one on the sole. On top of that, this retro model also has the word Jordan written in grey on the underside of the tab on top of the toebox.

Unfortunately, this is where the build quality of the shoe lets it down. The right shoe is not built as stable as the left shoe. It is not something isolated to just the shoes I have, but to most of this round of retro XIIIs. Nightwing2303 even mentions the "wobble fault" in his video - around the 1:04 mark - when discussing the red and white model. The other minor faults I saw with this shoe is the glue is visible in a few places, as well as one of the shoe laces is slightly longer than the other one. While this is minor, I think it does heavily reflect on the bad quality control that seems to plague some of the retro XIIIs that are being released. I hope Nike reads this comment, as well as the wave of other comments on the web, and does something about it.

My thanks for shipping me this pair of sneakers goes to the team at crazyforsneaker.com. Their site is still going through maintenance, but crazyforsneaker's ebay shop is up and running.