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How can it be that despite being reintroduced in 2008, we only just got our hands on official stock of the Nike Air Pegasus 83? That makes this late, late UK release of a key colourway a 'Quantum Leap' style opportunity to feature a shoe that warranted coverage. It was odd to see this classic cropping up in Foot Lockers Stateside as well as the Portland Nike employee store (aka. heaven on earth if your credit card isn't already maxed), but we stocked up accordingly, perplexed as to why the retro to coincide with the fine Pegasus SE model never made it to Europe. We can't pretend the Pegasus didn't shift units in the USA, but running at a trend and performance ruled in Europe. We recall fathers in a near mid-life crisis copping a pair at a reasonable yet faintly prohibitive price tag from local sports shops to participate in a jogging boom all those years back. This was a serious piece of footwear. Tramps had to make do with the Silver Shadow.

We also recall the shoe being a work-in-progress with regards to the Air application from 1983 until 1987 when a new, more futuristic Pegasus built on the heel-countered glory of the Epic and Vector. Ever the grown-up pick, elder cousins with mild terrace affiliations seemed to be prone to wearing a pair of this '83 variant back in the day, but it never fired our youthful imaginations like the previously mentioned models or the Columbia and Destiny did. Why? We don't know, because the Pegasus is a superb shoe that carries the distilled essence of our Nike fandom.

Finally getting the red, black and white makeup in-store is a minor victory—it evokes memories of the true running shoe don, the Terra T/C, which brought us beautiful, beautiful Phylon and changed the course of the brand's performance runners. Given the current focus on the sole materials with Lunar Foam, we're surprised it hasn't had a resurrection. Do we know why those in charge of resurrecting the Pegasus opted to offer dual tones on the midsole rather than the blank brilliance of the original, but it still looks good. Very good. The black and marine blues are no slouch either. From what we've seen, if V-series is your thing (and we're not talking reptile aliens and the bloke from 'The Beastmaster' here) and if you wanted to see the VNTG line enter the Air-age, then early 2011 might bring a smile to faces weathered by years of screwfacing at weak retros. Keep the faith. In the meantime, these fill a gap nicely, and they're set to hit the Crooked Tongues store early next month. It's about time.

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