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NIKE AIR BASE II
“WHAAAT??!! NO WAY!!” was our reaction when news first broke, late last year, that NIKE were bringing back one of our favourite runners for 2013, the NIKE AIR BASE II. A simple, yet very effective early 90s runner, that had been on a slow journey to the back of our minds, as its grew older and even more elusive to find.
More than likely a mystery to most of the newer, and younger trainer buying crowd (and who can blame you, when almost every other release of late seems to be a Jordan, Blazer or Air Max), but no doubt an ever present on the wanted lists of many a keen ‘collector’, especially those based in Europe. Tracking down an original pair is tough, especially with the current reselling values of deadstock originals, but with the reissue of the Air Base II, in a strong selection of colourways already, it is a shoe that will elude us no more.
NIKE have pulled a seriously good shoe out of the archives, and long overdue in our opinion, but better late than never. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come, and that we get to see some of the other lesser known models again, such as the Air Span (minus the air unit as per the recent Air Max Span) and Air Craft getting a revival in the near future, too.
For this reissue, NIKE have done an excellent job. As per many of their recent reissues, the Air Base II feels a tad sturdier on the foot, and the overall shape, especially of the toebox is slightly bulkier than that of the original. Also, gone is the ‘Air Base II’ branding on the heel panel, for what reason we’re still not sure, however, from then on it’s all looking good. So far, of the five colourways we’ve seen, three are based on originals, including the Black/ Light Wild Mango – Varsity Maize – Imperial, which we give you a closer look at below.
Materials have been kept fairly true, with synthetic suede and nylon uppers, and just the difference of a slightly vintage treated midsole on the original colourways, swapped with white on the new ones. At a very competitive pricepoint, compared to that of the Air Max 1, what better reason do you have for not trying out something a bit different to the norm, and repping some real running shoe history, with change in your pocket from a oner, for a solid night out in your new pick ups.
We have a selection of the NIKE AIR BASE II colourways for SS13 up on our RELEASES page now, and you can see who’s stocking the Black / Light Wild Mangos by simply clicking on any of the images below.
By @gooey
