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:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thank you for reading and please leave feedback!

Kind regards Toffem.

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 – 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).

Adidas Predator 1994 Fg

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 history of football boots!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned I will soon write about the “Milestones in football boot history”.

Nike Tiempo VII “Platinum Black”

Nike officially introduced on 26th of June the all new Nike Tiempo VII (7)! They will be sale today 10th of July. Lucky enough I was given this Limited Edition Nike Tiempo VII “Platinum Black” before the official launch, there is only 100 pairs made worldwide and only given to football boot influencers around the world! A big bonus is the fact that they are individually numbere, my pair is numbered 30/100. 

This time Nike really has added some cool new features to the Tiempo VII: 

• Heel area and the tongue is made of Flyknit, reduces the weight by 22%.
• Middlefoot is constructed of flywire cables for better strech and stability.
• On top of the flywire cage Nike added a soft K-leather upper to give a better touch to the ball.
• NikeGrip is also added to the new Tiempo to prevent the foot from sliding inside of the boot.

Nike has also made a whole new soleplate, Hyperstability, and it’s lighter than the previous soleplate. Such a comfortable boot and when you add the good look on this boot then for me this is the best Tiempo ever!

Thank you for reading!

Adidas GLITCH

The all new style of football boots released by Adidas in late 2016, the Adidas Glitch. So we seen the laceless technology in the Adidas Ace16+ PureControls, but now we got something on a whole new level. The boots are built with an inner shoe and an outer skin. So the player can actually choose different colours for both inner shoe and outer skins, also you can choose between FG-plate or SG-plate. 

So basically we all connect these boots with the old Adidas F50 Tunit, which haf some similiar features. 

The interesting part about this boot is the way Adidas launched it. It started with a group of young footballers from London was selected by Adidas to unveil the new GLITCH. Soon after the boot was tested and revealed to the world Adidas decided to make things still a bit more interesting, by announching the Adidas GLITCH App. This ment that in order to purchase a pair you had to:

1. Be based in the United Kingdom
2. And recieved a secret purchase code from an early tester
3. Then you are able to buy the boots.

Once the App was announced, Adidas brought more information about the boots:

• Purchasing the starter kit (meaning: inner shoe and two outer skins) will unlock new codes
• Buyers will have a two week test period, if they don’t like them they can be returned
• Same day delivery in London

Adidas Predator Accelerator Sg “Made in Germany”!

My newest addition to the collection. Definitely one of the rarest Adidas Predator boots ever made, measured to meet the players foot size with high quality leather. The boots are made in Germany, public ones are made in Indonesia. 

Compared to the public releases these boots got a softer and thinner leather with more stiching, making them slightly lighter and stronger. Adidas also added a rubber strap to keep the tongue on place. Also the tongue is longer than normally and can be folded lower.

Most special thing about these are ofcourse the soleplate with 8 screw in studs, providing a better grip. 

Such a beautiful boot and really thankful for owning this pair in excellent condition!

Nike Mercurial Superfly

One of Nike’s most succesfull boot range, the Mercurial Superfly! The first ever Superfly was introduced to the world in 2009, but we had a boot before that which had a carbon soleplate. In 2008 Nike released an elite level boot of the normal Nike Mercurial Vapor IV, the Nike Mercurial Vapor IV SL. SL stand for “Super Light”. In the first actual Superfly Nike used a carbon fiber soleplate and a new technology called flywire in the upper. 

The following two Superfly models were quite similiar to the Superfly I, but many did prefer the Superfly I over the new models. In the years 2012-2013 Nike did not manufacture any Superflys. Then in 2014 we got to see Nike’s first knitted boot with a carbon soleplate, the Nike Mercurial Superfly IV.

The latest boot in the Superfly range was the Superfly V in late 2016! 

Adidas Adizero 5-Star 6.0 Uncaged

Few weeks ago I was scrolling on the internet and I suddenly found these on adidas.com. What can I say, I fell in love with the animalistic design! 

The boots are called: Adidas Adizero 5-Star 6.0 Uncaged. And there was 6 different animals printed on the boots, I chose the shark theme. So the boots are actually American football cleats, but the design and feel is pretty close to the Adizero we are used to know. These boots have some extra padding in the heel area and slightly different stud-pattern.

Only issue was that they were only available for people in US, but I was lucky enough to have a friend in the US who actually orderd them for me. 

A nice addition to the other animalistic boots in my collection as the Adidas Tunit Y3 collections!