Milestones – Nike Mercurial Vapor III 2006

Nike Mercurial Vapor III was released in 2006, for the FIFA World Cup in Germany. And if Mania was regarded as a peak of Adidas Predator range then we could say the same thing about Nike Mercurial Vapor III. Mercurial Vapor III was the third boot in the Vapor generation and was truly a speed boot. The new feature in Vapor III was Teijin microfiber which added comfort
and a perfect shape to the upper. Also it made the boot more durable than earlier Vapors.

 Nike added also some padding to the heal area with a supportive carbon last. The boot itself weighed around 196g, which was very light back in 2006. Another new feature was the two-piece soleplate that gave extra lightweight.

Nike released 15 different colorways of the Vapor III. Most special of them is the Nike Mercurial Vapor III 10th Anniverary (black/white) they were a limited edition 1000 pairs made to celebrate 10 years of Nike Mercurial!

The boots were worn by Ronaldo, Thierry Henry & Didier Drogba and ofcourse by the rising star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Thank you for reading, more to come!

Milestones – Adidas Predator Mania 2002

After the Accelerator in 1998 Adidas released Predator Precision in 2000, but they never got the same level as previous model did. So in 2002 Adidas released Predator Mania, which made its debut alongside FIFA World Cup Japan & South Korea. Also everyone remembers Zinedine
Zidane scoring that volley goal in Champions League against Leverkusen. Other big names using Mania was Beckham, Raul, Del Piero etc.  

The boot itself was made in kangaroo leather upper and of course Predator rubber fins to give the ball an extra curve. Adidas made the Mania with far eastern style in mind, which opened new markets in for example Asia. Adidas also added a rubber strap to keep the big red tongue in
place and used a two piece soleplate that reduced the weight. This is a boot that will stay in Adidas history and won’t be forgotten.

Also there was released a big bunch of different colour options!

Thank you for reading!

Milestones – Nike Mercurial Vapor I 2002

In 2002 Nike released the Vapor I, a true speed boot made of light synthetic material. The boots were inspired by Italian sport cars design, giving fast players a perfect balance been lightweight and foot to ground feel. The boot had a slim fitting with a natural shape of the foot, adding many lace holes to get the boots tighten close to the foot. Majority of the stitching’s was replaced with glue to reduce the weight. Originally released in cinder colourway, but followed by several
colourways. 

Also there was a special edition in Chrome/Lime made for Brazilian striker Ronaldo for the World Cup final in 2002. Ronaldo scored two goals against Germany and became World
Cup Champions. The Chrome/Lime was the first numbered limited edition boot by Nike, they were limited to 4600 pairs globally.

For sure one of my favourite boots in the history.

Thank you for reading!

Milestones – Adidas Predator Accelerator

It is still regarded as one of the best boots Adidas ever produced. The Predator Accelerator was released in 1998 along with the FIFA world cup in France. The boot was advertised by some of the greatest players like Zidane and David Beckham. France won Brazil 3-0 and Zizou scored twice! 

This boot featured a re-engineered TRX outsole, asymmetrical lacing for larger striking surface, the rubber fins sewn into the leather gives a swerve when hits the ball. The boot’s weight about 300 grams and consists of several layers of high quality leather. Also in my opinion one of the few Predators that have a non-clumsy feeling when played in.

Adidas released this boot in four colours: Black/white/red, white/black/red, red/black/white and in a limited edition colourway called Electricity yellow.

My InstaGram Disabled

Find me on InstaGram as @toffem

Hi! I wanted to inform you that my account @thebootvault has been hacked/disabled… Feeling quite lost at the moment. Have been putting lot of time and effort on it and suddenly it has been taken from me.😞 I would really appriciate if you would help me some way at least to get things going again. Mentioning me in your posts for a while or give a shoutout on InstaGram? 🙏🏻 Thank you for your support and I will try my best to create a new site.

Kind regards Toffem

Milestones – Nike Mercurial 1.0 1998

There have been a football boots “battle” between Nike and Adidas since 1994. In 1998 Adidas introduced the Accelerator, so Nike released the first ever Mercurial, which became Nike’s new star! It was the Brazilian star Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, also known as R9, who debuted in the very first Nike Mercurial in World Cup 1998. 

The original colourway was black/white, it was the first time Nike used synthetic materials in a football boot. The syntethic material proved to be the succes, as they could make a boot light and durable at the same time.

A special version in sliver/blue/yellow was released for the World Cup final for Ronaldo to play in. This was the first step for Nike getting into the market of light speed boots.

Thank you for reading.

Milestones – Nike Tiempo Premier Sg 1994

Nike showed that they are also able to make football boots! The year was 1994, world cup in USA. It was the year Nike announced themselves to the world of football boots. In the world cup Nike managed to supply 10 of the players to wear Nike Tiempo in the World Cup Final between Italy-Brazil. Also 2 of the biggest stars to wear the boots, Romario and Maldini!

(Picture from my friend on InstaGram @botasclasicas, edited by The Boot Vault)

Nike wanted to keep the comfort and keep the boot strong. Nike Tiempo 1994 was a classy black leather boot with a white Nike swoosh. Already then Nike wanted to keep the boot quite simple and light compared to the other brands.

Check out for more Milestones coming!

Thank you for reading!

Milestones – Adidas Predator 1994

The original Adidas Predator released in 1994 was revolutionary in the way it managed to add power and swerve to the kick thanks to the rubber fins!

It was Craig Johnston back in 1988, footballer from Australia, who was the key man developing the first Predator. It was his idea to add the rubber fins, he compared it to table-tennis.

These boots became Adidas biggest revolution in the history of football boots!

Thank you for reading and next Milestone will be published soon.

Milestones – Puma King 1970

Puma King had a mayor influence during years 1968-1990. It all started in 1966 World Cup when the player of the tournament Eusebio wore the Puma King, the trademark of Puma formstripes are still today the same as back in 1966. Some big names wore Puma King during the years, Pele in 1970, Cruyff in 1974 and Diego Maradona from 1978-1990.

In 1994 World Cup Puma started to struggle when Nike and Adidas launched their new boots.

Puma King 1970.

(Soccerbible- Puma King Pele, Football Boots Vault, 06 April 2011).

Milestones in Football Boots History – by ToffeM

So I have been collecting football boots since 2006, and I thought I would share a list of boots that I think have been milestones in football boots history. I’m going to bring up boots that have been revolutionary or just something special that no one really have tried to create before.

As I said these are gonna be my opinions that I will share to you!

Stay tuned and remember to check out my InstaGram account: @thebootvault for even more cool pictures!

Thank you for reading!