Milestones – Lotto Zhero Gravity

Lotto Zhero Gravity was back in 2006 a truly unique boot, Lotto designed a lightweight boot with no laces. The boot is beautifully designed, as you expect it to be for a company from Italy. To create a laceless boot Lotto had to spend some serious time on research and developing different concepts, for example what if the boot is too loose and you can’t tighten the boot? In this case you can´t! But Lotto did it and it´s working.

So instead of laces Lotto uses a rubber compound on top of the foot and in the heel, so the rubber stretches just a bit to get the boots on and off the foot. I used a pair of these for a whole season back in 2006. The touch with these boots was incredible! And they were eye catching for sure. Only down side really was that after lot of usage they didn´t fit tight enough. If you buy a pair I my case I had to go half size down.

Big thanks for reading and follow for more!

Nike Tiempo 7 Project

So I just finished yet another project that included football boots. This time the project took me around 12 hours of work and some additional time for the paintjob.

The idea behind this project is influenced by the recent collaboration between Nike and fashion designer “Off-White” c/o Virgil Abloh. So Nike launched ten footwear classics reconstructed in collaboration with Off-White in late October 2017.

Once I had seen this design I really wanted to create a my version of Off-White in a football boot. I also got a cool concept design made on a computer by my friend Gunt Tansuwannarat. And so I did! Follow my steps through the project.

1. I bought a pair of Nike Tiempo 7 “Academy Pack”, as they were already coloured black.

2.  I had to get the leather for the Nike logo, it had to be high quality and very thin because if it´s too thick then you will have problem when sewing it. Also make sure you use a needle constructed for leather.

3. Next thing was to print a paper copy of the Nike logo. Then I used it as a model before cutting the actual leather. Before I even started to attach the new leather logo on the boot I marked the position of the logo with a chalk on side of the boot. This helps me to keep the position of the logo while attaching it.

4. Following step is to glue the logo on place. I used a super glue that is suitable for leather. I glued short steps at time so I got it to fit perfectly and go along the the curvy side of the boot.

5. The next step is the hardest part of it all, the sewing of the logo. As normally when these types of boots are factory made they are sewed by machine and that´s only possible before the plastic soleplate is attached. So without lying this step took me like 8 hours of work, this because I were not familiar with this type of sewing and because I had to use pliers to reach when pushing the needle out from the inside of the boot. I have to admit I were really close to give up few times, until I got the right technique.

6. Next thing was to attach the small orange leather tag to the boot, also by sewing.

7. Before bringing them for the paint job I wanted to add a chrome tongue on them. As the boot looked as good with and without tongue I decided to use velcro tape. This allowed me to remove and attach the tongue if I so want. I sew one side of the velcro underneath the original short tongue on the boot and the other I sew into the new chrome tongue.

8. The boots are ready for paint job at my local artist Maalinetti.com
Here is some pics of the boots before paint job with and without tongue.

9. The boots arrive and the project is finished! I am very happy how they turned up, and I feel like it paid off. Thank you for the positive feedback I got on InstaGram (@toffem). Here is some pics of the final boot:

More detailed pics in a slideshow:

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Thank you for reading and please leave feedback!

Kind regards Toffem.

Milestones – Puma V1.06

In 2006 Puma really got back to the fight with Nike and Adidas. Puma presented the v1.06 which was the lightest boot Puma ever made. Some great players wore them such as Samuel Eto’o, Robert Pires, Alexander Hleb and Fredrik Ljungberg. 

Puma used a so called “Scholler ConTec”
upper material which made the boot light and gave close to bare foot feel. To increase the bare foot feel puma reshaped the front of the foot and used “Puma Lace Wrap System” to ensure a optimal fit.  

To reduce even more weight Puma used carbon fibre in the soleplate, which gave more flexibility and strength. Puma v1.06 had also a stud pattern that was different from the other brands, especially the studs in the heel was designed for speed.

Thank you for reading! Will soon continue selling some boots so stay tuned!

Milestones – Adidas F50 Tunit

The Adidas F50.6 Tunit was a big hit in 2006; it felt like everyone had a pair. Unique thing about these boots were that you could customize your boots by changing: 
• Studs, there were three options: FG-studs, SG-studs and HG-studs.

• Soleplate, you could change between lightweight or comfort.
• Upper, there was countless of different uppers available. Even All the 32 nation in
the world cup 2006 had also their own signature Uppers.

The screw in studs held the different parts of the boot together. The boot was usually sold in a huge box including: Uppers, 3 sets of studs, 2 soleplates and a key to tighten the studs. The new upper of Adidas F50.6 Tunit was made of lightweight “adiHex” 3D micro-fibre upper that gave great touch and feel to the ball. Also Adidas kept the lace cover from the earlier F50 range. Only small downside was after heavy use the studs started to get loose and fall off.

The boot was worn
by some of world´s top class players like Arjen Robben, Ashley Cole, Djibril Cisse and Jermain
Defoe.

Thank you for reading and there is much more to come!

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.

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!