A few days ago, Soccer Reviews created a storm of curiosity after we revealed Nike had plans to introduce something that will change the football boot market. We will exclusively reveal today what Nike has got in mind, and we think you’ll be as perplexed as we were when we first found out.
For effectively the past 2-3 years or so, it’s fair to say Adidas has held the throne as the king of the football boot market. But it’s arrived at long last, Nike has finally (finally!) shown some guts and determination to come to arena and actually do battle with Adidas. How are Nike going to do this? Soccer Reviews has exclusive information on the new Nike boot line up, and it’s fair to say that it’s rather exciting.
First up, Nike have ditched the ridiculous Superfly range and will release the new and improved Vapor VIII. Let’s clear some things up about the Vapor VIII first. The Vapor VIII will weigh in at 6.5 oz (185 g). It will still feature a Teijin synthetic upper, but it will be a good deal lighter and thinner than the VII’s. These new Mercurial’s will also feature a new stud layout and stud design (as you’ve already seen). Nike say that people constantly complained about the under foot feel of the sense studs on the Superfly’s. The real reason is really more along the lines of providing better traction on wet fields (which the Superfly’s did better than Vapor’s) and adding some durability when playing on harder ground. There has been concern that these new studs won’t hold up, but in truth, (as far as our expert eyes can tell), the studs will be the least of the wearer’s worries. In another change of heart from Nike, Flywire won’t have a part in the new Vapor VIII.
Mercurial Vapor VIII.
Vapor VIII’s will retail at $220 (US), not much news there as Nike can’t make up their mind as to the value of their flagship boot. They dropped the pricing on the VII’s in an effort to do battle with the adiZero, and it worked to an extent. But this price hike is (according to Nike) due to the fact that natural materials and productions costs have gone up (Adidas hasn’t touched their pricing on synthetic adiZero’s). Again, the truth is closer to the fact that Nike feels their product can get a better rate than the adiZero should be able to get, which is wishful thinking at best.
There will be no Superflys in this period, and we’re told they’ll be shelved until Brazil ’14, but no official confirmation on that. We’ve heard talk of a premier boot from Nike that isn’t a Superfly, but Nike has given us no indication that that’s the case. Quite to the contrary, they have stated that the entire Elite Pack will be phased out over the course of ’12.Another new development is the dropping of the synthetic Laser IV from the line in Summer. We’re told this will be long-lasting and not just a one-off on the part of Nike’s marketing department. There are no smoke and mirrors here (that’s just for their pricing). Nike isn’t just using this as a way to boost sales when they reintroduce it, they do not plan on making a synthetic Laser IV going forward.
Nothing to report when it comes to Tiempo’s except for the fact that the entire silo will now be leather. The Tiempo Natural’s will also feature a low-grade calfskin leather, making them the last boot in the line to cross over.
Here’s the big news that Soccer Reviews can now exclusively reveal. Nike will rebrand all of their boot silos, straying away from the traditional boot silos. “Speed” becomes “Supernatural”. The “Touch” range will now be called the “Natural” range. “Accuracy” becomes an as yet unnamed new title. “Control” becomes something else entirely as well (also no new nickname yet). These changes will be brought out just before Euro 2012.
All the shucking and jiving associated with Nike’s marketing says one thing loud and clear, they are ready to do battle now, even if they are a year late to the competition.
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