{"id":532260,"date":"2017-04-06T23:48:20","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T03:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=532260"},"modified":"2020-07-18T07:31:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T11:31:10","slug":"tumbled-toes-break-air-jordan-1-royal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/tumbled-toes-break-air-jordan-1-royal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tumbled Toes? A Break Down of the Air Jordan 1 “Royal”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Saturday, the Air Jordan 1 “Royal”<\/strong> returned to much fanfare selling out<\/a> at stores nationwide to Jordan heads who have patiently waited four years for a return and a remastered version of the OG colorway. \u00a0By mid-day,\u00a0there was some conversation on twitter about the differences in leathers used on the toe boxes\u00a0of the remastered retro Royals.<\/p>\n

Some pairs had a tumbled toe on the left side with smooth leather on the right. Others had smooth leather on the left while the right toe was tumbled leather. \u00a0And then, of course, some pairs have smooth on both left and right. \u00a0Slight variances are to be expected when there are literally hundreds of thousands of pair produced of the shoe, especially when dealing with a natural material like leather, but when we received two pairs in the mail today, we observed differences that extended beyond just the grain or grade of leather.<\/p>\n

Two pairs were\u00a0obtained, and surely enough, we quickly spotted differences between not only the two sides of the pair, but the two pairs were noticeably different. \u00a0Before we get deep into the comparisons of each side of each pair, let’s first establish what we already do know about each – where they were produced and when they were assembled.<\/p>\n

On the tag inside a pair of shoes from Nike there is not only the size listed in several different regional measurements, but also lots of other information including the product number, SKU, factory where the shoes were produced, and the production dates.<\/p>\n

Both pairs we obtained were the same size, the same model, and were assembled in the same factory, but what made them uniquely different was their production date.<\/p>\n

For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to each shoe by their production date – 12\/13 and 12\/29.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\"\"\u00a0<\/center>The first pair that I opened was the 12\/13 pair and quickly noticed the tumbled toe box on the right shoe. The leather had a gorgeous grain that reminded me immediately of the leather quality of the “Shattered Backboard” Air Jordan 1s from 2015. The left side of the 12\/13 pair didn’t impress me though. Before I even turned the pair over to see them side by side, I could feel a smoother texture and stiffer property to the leather.<\/p>\n
\"Air
Air Jordan 1 “Royal” – 12\/13 pair – right foot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Air
Air Jordan 1 “Royal” – 12\/13 pair – left foot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But what shocked me more than the clear differences between the grains, texture, and softness was something beyond the variable of natural materials – it was the manufactured process of perforations. As you can clearly see below the perforations not only have a slightly different offset and pattern, but also the shape and size of the holes.<\/p>\n

\"Air
Air Jordan 1 “Royal” – 12\/13 pair<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time that I opened the second box of Royals, I had no knowledge of there being a different production date. I had heard of discrepancies online, but no one had ever brought up the production dates before when comparing their different pairs. Sure enough, when I opened the second pair there were some differences between the left and right foot, but not nearly as noticeable as the first. This pair, what I will refer to as the 12\/29 pair, is shown below.<\/p>\n

\"Air
Air Jordan 1 \u201cRoyal\u201d \u2013 12\/29 pair \u2013 right foot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Air
Air Jordan 1 \u201cRoyal\u201d \u2013 12\/29 pair \u2013 left foot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see, the grains of the leather are closer to one another, but still with some slight variance. Lastly, to illustrate another difference, look below at a photo of showing the two sides of the 12\/29 pair side by side where you can see once again a difference in the pattern and shape of the perforations of the toe box.<\/p>\n

\"Air
Air Jordan 1 \u201cRoyal\u201d \u2013 12\/29 pair<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the past couple of days, many customers have displayed inconsistencies with their shoes as well. Many pairs that were ordered online on Nike’s SNKRS app started arriving at customer’s doorsteps on Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n

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I think it’s important for both sellers & buyers to understand that the Jordan 1 “Royal” features both tumbled and smooth leather, randomly<\/p>\n

\u2014 Stringer Bell (@xblaze23) April 4, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n