It's hard to preempt what's going to get Quickstrike treatment from Nike, but even with a distaste for the added off-colour to the midsoles, we think these are one of the best releases in a while. Where this distribution tier was engineered to push limited editions and more esoteric models on the reissue trail, this is a tried and tested favourite in a great makeup. It's surprisingly simple.
While we Brits were robbed of a release for the green Vintage Blazer colours, we've seen reds and blues appear twice over the last year, so a little something extra makes all the difference. We like most things in mustard yellow suede, like the Footpatrol Campus or the Bobbito Royal Flash, and we love the Blazer more than we love many family members—even if it seems very, very quaint compared to addas's 1972 court output. You get get crazy with bold suede colours that would just look Bozo the Clown in a glossier leather, and the Portland Trailblazer tribute is the ultimate ambassador for a vast piece of Nike branding, with the heavily pregnant, crude-looking swoosh acting as a fair representation of the brand's early rebel days after the breakup with Onitsuka as BRS dipped their newly-christened toes into something other than running.
If we're talking leather, we'll take the smaller swoosh late '70s looking joints, but for suede, we're all about this more basic silhouette. Untweaked, devoid of sci-fi foams on the sole unit and mad comfortable—like all the VNTG collection—these capture the essence of the reissue reference point. We want to see Franchises and Marty McFly's Bruins brought back with the same dedication. These are an unlikely carrier of QS status, but we hope it ushers in a wave of more basic pieces in the line. These are on sale in the
Crooked store for £60, and their equally pleasant grey siblings are set to drop next week...

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