Adidas Thread [10] - all info, pics, questions here

I was actually going to mention the fact that in most World Cups players were wearing World Cup/Copa boots, at least before 1998 when Nike pretty much bought the CBF and everyone on the team bar Rivaldo and Dunga. Nike's influence turned the football boot market into the American basketball shoe market, at even more inflated prices with more limited use and no value for the dollar spent. You can at least wear Jordans as a casual shoe too, which you can't do with a Vapor.

I agree that boots are getting worse and worse, all in the name of "improvements" which really are just planned obsolescence tactics; for what it is worth the Predator X is the worst Predator ever made if you account for the era in which they were released. That is why I said fashion vs. style....there is a saying that goes "fashion is temporary and expensive, while style is inexpensive and timeless", or something along those lines. That holds true here, all these new boots are "fashion" items, aka new designs, colors, materials and so on which are rapid fire released, and then given a full overhaul, while being touted as the "best boot we have ever made" in less than 24 months (sometimes as soon as 10 months). True classic boots are "style" items meaning they are made from quality material, they look timeless, they last beyond their retail cost (equalling value), and they never look out of place. I have never seen anyone look at a player and go "he is wearing Copas, he better be good enough to justify it". I have seen plenty of that reaction when someone shows up in orange, pink, or lime green boots.

The Copa's improvements have always been functional, and the only real "fashion" changes to them was the print on the heel tab and the tongue tab where it folds over. The modern boot market exists because of the Copa, bottom line. The Copa was the product that Adi Dassler worked on directly....and arguably it is the last really incredible product that adidas has produced from top to bottom.

And, the adiPure line has been the most disappointing series other than the Tunit in recent memory. There was so much potential there, and it went to crap, really from the first boot on, bar the III (which I can still nitpick a lot).

 

The insole is quite removable. It is glued in and not very dense so if you opt to take it out you run the risk of ripping it a bit if you don't use care, but it can easily come out.

I am not a cushion insole type of guy, so it doesn't bother me but I can see how some people have expectations above what is in there.

On the topic of insoles I think that is one area where adidas have nailed it and Nike has failed is the texture and quality of the material used. Nike insoles blister me much more than adidas and they don't allow your foot to interact correctly with the shoe through your sock (curling and flexing your toes).

 

I picked up a pair right before I tore my ACL as I was planing on using them for training on tennis courts/concrete. I like them quite a bit....they seem to be a shoe that is getting sidelined for futsal shoes that are not as stable or made of mesh. In America the short tongue version in part of the adidas Originals line, while the soccer line has the same shoe with the massive tongue in both black and white as the main color. I found the short tongue version to have softer leather out of the box, especially in the black color way. The Samba K which was the kangaroo version of the Samba is no longer around sadly and that was an incredible shoe, the short tongue Originals model is close but still not as soft.

RvP seems to rate the Samba that you like as well.

 

Yep....it was "the" indoor shoe to have when softness was valued more than anything. The Copa Indoor came out and sort of pushed the Samba K out of the limelight and adidas killed them off in the mid 2000's. Sad really, they were great shoes and a good value, they were about $70.00 retail towards end which is fantastic for a k-leather boot.

 

http://www.adidas.com/us/product/mens-originals-samba-shoes/EU031