Retros

1. Air Jordan Project – Air Jordan XII Retro Performance Review (Courtesy of Nightwing2303)

A whole bunch of new performance models came out between December-February… now that they’re out of the way. Lets get back to the Air Jordan Project.


Traction – Herringbone is featured in similar fashion to the previous Air Jordan signature – the Air Jordan XI. The phrase, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind as they haven’t changed much so it works relatively the same. I only had one issue where I slipped and that was within the first few hours at the medial ball of the foot… make sure you plant your feet and push off from the base of the shoe – if you are light on your feet – as I was at the time – then the rounded edges of the outsole will serve you no purpose and you will likely slip or lose balance. After I figured out what I was doing wrong, I never had an issue with the traction again.

Cushion – Full length Zoom Air… from heel to toe. The Zoom unit is one continuous air bag and feels amazing! They are comfortable enough wearing casually but you won’t experience what these can truly do until you play in them. I say this all the time but I really do mean it… you gain more appreciation for a shoe after you’ve played in them – when they perform well that is. I already loved the Air Jordan XII based on its looks but that fact that they can handle practically anything you can throw at them made me love them even more.
If you are looking for a hoop shoe that has low profile, responsive cushion then look no further as the Air Jordan XII will meet and possibly exceed your expectations. You will get over their initial clunky feeling after you give yourself some time to adjust but after that you will fall in love with them all over again.

Material – The originals used premium full grain leather and these newer Retro models use a split grain. It’s not as nice as they used to be but when directly comparing the leather here to a split grain that was used on say, the Air Jordan IV White/ Cement Retro… these are leaps and bounds better. Just like the midsole, you will need to break these in a bit in order to start enjoying them. It doesn’t take too long since there is practically zero ventilation so your body’s heat and moisture will speed up the process.

Fit – I felt this Retro fits true to size but the newer ones released in 2012 feel a ½ size big after being broken in. If you double sock or use an additional insole you will be able to solve the sizing issue if you choose not to go down ½ on Jordan Brand’s latest Retro run. If you are looking at something that was released prior to 2012 then I would say go with your regular size.
Midfoot and heel lockdown were great. I never once had an issue after they broke in. As expected with leather based sneakers, the leather will stretch a bit after they’ve been broken in. All you have to do to fix the additional space you’ll receive is tie them tighter – what I call adjusting the laces – and you will be good to go.

Ventilation – There really isn’t any. Some mesh was used on the tongue but it isn’t anything that provides you with air flow. The lack of ventilation will aid you in breaking the shoe in so not all is lost. If you feel that ventilation isn’t an attribute that you look for in a shoe then ignore this section, simple as that. No need to whine about it affecting a shoes score in a negative way as ALL of the shoes tested are graded in ventilation which makes things perfectly fair.

Support – Tanks… the Air Jordan XII are on-court tanks. Arch support is great while the overall fit and lockdown take care of the rest. These can – and have been – be worn by a wide variety of players and positions so the Air Jordan XII has something for everyone.

Overall – These are one of my favorite performers out of the Retro line so far… these and the Air Jordan VIII. Both of which comes as a surprise to me since they are both probably the two models I would look at and think that they aren’t too Guard friendly.
If you need a shoe with Retro style, great traction, awesome cushion, good materials, nice fit and plenty of support then the Air Jordan XII will give you what you need. It’s nice to see – and feel – evolution and the Air Jordan XII is just that. The Air Jordan line evolved quite a bit in a short amount of time… that’s pretty incredible… especially seeing as how the Air Jordan XII can outperform some of today’s performance models.

2. Air Jordan Project – Air Jordan XI (11) Retro Performance Review (Courtesy of Nightwing2303)

Traction – The overall traction was very solid with all things considered. Usually when you have a translucent outsole you lose traction when dust or debris is on the court but thankfully the Air Jordan XI have solid rubber traction pods located in the heel and forefoot.

The clear sections are nice and sticky straight out the box, which is good and bad depending on court conditions. However, I played on well-maintained courts in addition to debris ridden floors and the Air Jordan XI held up perfectly fine. Worst that happened was that I needed to wipe the outsole semi-often on dusty courts.

Cushion – With the lightweight Phylon and full length Air unit in place, cushion is solid as well. While they aren’t as soft as the original or 2000/01 Retro releases, they are still leaps and bounds better than previous Air Jordan models. Impact absorption is available and consistent throughout while still maintaining decent court feel in the forefoot.

* Disclaimer * cushion is as stated in the Silver Anniversary, Cool Grey, Concord & most likely the upcoming Black/ Red colorway which are all post 2010. Air Jordan XI’s from the 2008 CDP & 2009 Space Jams are not the same.

Material – Patent leather and ballistic nylon mesh are used along the upper… oh, and a very small piece of cheap split grain leather is located at the heel. Overall, the materials are nice. The patent leather isn’t quite as strong as it could have been if it were a bit thicker but all in all, the materials performed pretty much on par with the original and previous Retro versions.
If they made an Air Jordan 11.5 with Fuse replacing the eyelets and mid panels, open mesh in place of the ballistic nylon mesh and a Jordan Melo M8 patent leather cut with heel and forefoot embedded Zoom Air… I’m drooling just thinking about it.

Fit – They fit true to size, wide footers may want to get ½ size larger or wait for the materials to break-in a bit… which they will. The mesh wraps around your foot perfectly and the patent ads some support which is greatly needed. Lockdown is great all the way up the shoe so there isn’t much to complain about. Only thing that could pose a problem is that the materials are ‘weak’ in comparison to today’s synthetics but this is where growing up in the 90’s comes into play… we’re used to this type of shoe so it doesn’t bother us at all.

Ventilation – It isn’t great but it isn’t horrible. The material is breathable so that’s going to scores some points but its noticeably not as ventilated as something like the Air Jordan VI, which I still feel has the best ventilation out of the entire lineup.

Support – If the materials didn’t move with your foot so much I would say the support is great. The Carbon Fiber adds a lot of support along the entire base of the foot, not just the arch, and the overall fit provides you with the extra reassurance you’d want or need… materials just get a bit flimsy… its mesh… not much you can do.

Overall – The Air Jordan XI is a straight beast on-court. They look good, feel good and they play well on top of that. I hoped the quality wouldn’t obstruct my opinion on their performance and it honestly hasn’t. These are still one of my personal favorite on-court options of all time. There are better options, of course, but just knowing that you won’t lose and ankle or mess up your knees is definitely something to consider. It’s really their increased price that will cause someone to not wear these on-courts… I had someone come up to me one night after playing and they said “I’ve never seen anyone rock Concord’s to hoop… you must have two pairs.” I do… but even if I only had one… they’re worth playing in.

3. Air Jordan Project – Air Jordan X (10) Retro Performance Review (Courtesy of Nightwing2303)

Hit the jump for full written review & scores…

Traction – The overall traction has been very solid. From a visual perspective you would already assume that the traction would be more than capable of keeping up with your movements from a front to back standpoint. What is clear after you begin to trust the surface is that your jab steps, jump stops along with your crosses, quick cuts and abrupt stops are great as well. No matter the court condition, the Air Jordan X can keep up with the best of them.

Cushion – We finally have something a bit more ‘modern’ with the Phylon midsole but even then its not as soft as some of the newer renditions of the foam nor is it as responsive as the newer foams that have been introduced to us over the last few years. However, the cushion is more than capable and 100% ready to take care of you during games. While you wont receive that step-in comfort you may find in something with an Ortholite insole – an easy fix if you wanted to swap insoles – but the full length Air unit along with the Phylon midsole do their job and they do it very well. Heel to toe transition is extremely smooth and you don’t feel high off the ground so court feel isn’t compromised.

Material – I personally love everything about the materials… it brings me back to when you got what you paid for. I’m not saying that you are getting ripped off today by purchasing synthetic based sneakers – since they will last longer – but there is just something about wearing a handcrafted sneaker made with organic materials that makes you feel as if you just laced up a luxury item onto your feet.

Fit – The fit is fantastic and one of the highlights of the Air Jordan X. When you have leather based shoes, you typically have a break-in period to adjust to. That wasn’t really the case as the break-in time for these are easy and painless. I was expecting for the overall shoe to lose its shape after some time – a typical issue with leather sneakers – but that never happened. Those bungee bands place down the tongue keeps the fit snug and secure from beginning to end… a really nice feature and its also something I really enjoyed on the Air Penny III.

Ventilation – The tongue is mesh but other than that there really isn’t any ventilation. This will bring their overall score down but that should only really effect your decision to wear these on-court if that particular attribute is a high priority for your needs.

Support – The support is minimal but fairly effective. While the leather overlays didn’t provide much of any support, the midsole did which made up for it. There is a molded arch which is nice for arch support but this is the first time within the Air Jordan Project where I felt my arch over flexing. It didn’t happen often and when it happened it was only with my right foot but it does make you appreciate the shank plate no matter what material its made of.

Overall – The Air Jordan X is a great on-court option. Its no surprise why you still see them on basketball courts today… they are just that good of a shoe. They have almost everything a hooper would need.

Despite claims from consumers claiming the ‘quality’ is lacking, the Air Jordan X Retro has been one of the best releases this year in terms of materials and craftsmanship. For the few who may have bought a pair to wear with their Nike Elite socks on-court and not on the sidewalk… they’re on-court ready fresh out the box.

4. Air Jordan Project – Air Jordan IX (9) Performance Review (Courtesy of Nightwing2303)

Hit the jump for full written review.

Traction – Just like the previous Air Jordan models that feature a flat traction surface, there were no issues. The flex grooves and natural shape helped movement and flex which also allowed the foot’s strike zones to be on the ground at all times. Now that I think about it, the outsole is probably the shoes most notable feature… both design and performance wise.

Cushion – Two Air units are found – one at the heel and one at the forefoot – which are housed inside of a Polyurethane midsole. At first, cushion starts out a bit rough but once you get going things become easier. You can begin to feel a slight bounce within the heel – a nice feeling to have – upon strikes while the forefoot remains minimal to allow for greater court feel. Probably not the ‘best’ cushion you could have on-court but it’s definitely not the worst. I will say that the PU midsole is much more forgiving than what’s used on the AJ3… either that or the Air units are larger… it could be both – I’m not taking these J’s apart to find out.

Material – The material and fit were the AJ9’s worst attribute. When you have cheap split grain leather with overlays of additional split grains along with the PU coating, you get a pretty solid fitting shoe with enough support throughout. Unfortunately these only have one piece of the thinner split grain which is then attached to another thin layer of nubuck – or whatever the heck that sparkly black material is.

Every piece of a performance shoe is supposed to work in tandem with each other and in this case it doesn’t. This is the first time where I felt as if the materials weren’t going to be able to hold up… and I’m not even a big guy so I would hate to see what happens if a larger player were to rock these on-court.

Fit – They fit true to size but they pinch a bit at the sides. I’d suggest going up ½ sz… if you don’t you could end up like THIS…

The fit wasn’t too great either. Usually inner sleeves work well inside a sneaker but the inner sleeve felt as if it was staying with my foot while the rest of the leather upper wanted to go in a completely different direction. Playing in a shoe like this you begin to understand the advantages of ‘newer’ tech… mainly synthetics like TPU/ plastic – like what is used for Fuse material.

Ventilation – This was average. The sleeve allows for heat & moisture to escape but the leather isn’t breathable so a lot of moisture stays locked inside the shoe. Any ventilation issues could have easily been the culprit behind the sloppy fit.

Support – The support is pretty basic because of the material and fit inability to properly function. There is a molded arch so they get some points but for the most part… you can get more support by going barefoot.

Overall – They were fun to play in but you could easily roll an ankle in the Air Jordan IX. It’s a shame too because they offer great traction and adequate cushioning & they don’t look half bad either. If I were going to pick an early model Air Jordan to play in it would be between the AJ7 or 8… if I wanted to go way back into the vault I’d go with the AJ3 & 4… maybe even the 1 too.

I am happy that I’ve gotten this far without injury. In my eyes the hard part is over and now it’s on to the more ‘updated’ models. Not only am I going to find out which Air Jordan from 10-23 plays best but I’ll also figure out which Retro models were cheaply made… to a point in which in effects their performance.

5. Air Jordan Project – Air Jordan VIII (8) Retro Performance Review (Courtesy of Nightwing2303)

Traction – Surprised would be an understatement. These early Air Jordan’s have some of the best traction when there is literally no true pattern involved… it’s mind boggling. To be perfectly honest… the actual Air Jordan VIII offers better overall traction than the herringbone laced Air Jordan 8.0.

Cushion – The cushion wasn’t as bad as I thought it would have been. It’s definitely not the best shoe in terms of cushion but for what it is it’s adequate. If cushion is your main focus and you wish to have the Retro styling then this is where to Air Jordan 8.0 shines… the Phylon that replaced the Polyurethane makes a huge difference while the Air Units used are directly under foot instead of the original placement – inside the PU midsole.

Material – I don’t have a pair of the Countdown Pack Air Jordan VIII’s but this version has great leather… almost identical to what was used on the leather based AJ8.0’s. Break-in time is nearly nonexistent and if you were to choose a nubuck pair it shouldn’t hurt the overall performance due to the cross straps.

Fit – A true to size fit is features and when fully laced (to the top) they are snug and secure. Having the inner boot gives you a very plush feeling around your foot for a comfortable fit from heel to toe. Lockdown the cross straps and you have one of the best fitting sneakers that happen to not restrict your ankle one bit.

Ventilation – This part is pretty self-explanatory… ventilation sucks. The Air Jordan VI still has the best ventilation and air flow so far in the Air Jordan series.

Support – The overall fit provides all the support you need. With the exceptional lockdown fit, you are stable and secure the entire time on-court. Located at the heel are the paint graphics which offer minor medial and lateral support but not quite as good as the updated TPU versions found in the AJ8.0.

Overall – When I first laced these up I wasn’t too excited… after roughly five minutes of playing them they quickly became my favorite Air Jordan from a performance perspective out of those that have been tested thus far… I predict that these will be the best performing Air Jordan between the early 1-9 models… followed closely by the AJ7.

Bottom line… if you want to play in a Retro you can. Anyone that says anything otherwise probably can’t ball.