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The Nike Air MS78 is a pretty low-key but successful mix of classic Nike DNA. You know about our relentless fandom to the brace of Lunar designs -contemporary performance that feels like a definitive summary of where sneakers should be in 2010. Because Nike are kicking arse on that side of things admirably, oddball hybrids of vintage looks have been pretty acceptable, cropping up as they do in the showroom from time to time, and fooling us from long distance. The MS78 is a pretty killer homage to some of the best running shoes of the '80s. There's always a couple of "new" shoes which are destined to just appear sans marketing madness or wacky little virals. They'll just be, in their pleasantly regressive little way. The Twilight Runner did it's thing, and the forthcoming Air Max Liquid Racer works nicely too. They've all got little details that we'd iron out due to personal prejudices when it comes to branding, but the MS78 doesn't. It's a good shoe.

If the abandoned offspring of a drunken tryst between the Nike Epic and '89 Air Pegasus incarnation knocked on the door one rainy night, fully grown and wanting questions answered, this is what it would look like. There's an aura of the first Pegasus in there too, and given that retros of its footwear family tree have been easily available before, this shoe hasn't shone in the colourways we'd seen before. In fact it seemed downright mediocre. This duo does a far better job. The grey and pink looks like a muted version of the Mariah colours, but that perforated heel panel, dual tone midsole and use of mesh is solid. Bar a little excess sheen (bear in mind that these are samples, so alterations aren't out the question), the reptile effect and gum outsole of the red, black and white version is our pick of the duo. These are set to drop at Crooked Tongues around July/August at a very decent pricepoint, and hopefully these will get the audience they deserve. Check the current Nike section - it's going to be bolstered with some greats, both old and new, in the coming months...