First of all, Eric sent these for free as a review pair, for an unbiased and completely honest review. Just wanted to make that clear beforehand.

Also, SS is supposedly the same batch as C4 because Eric bought the factory, but changes will be made over time so the SS version should have multiple batches improving over time.

SELLER, SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

After deciding to make the review, size,etc. (Got a 8.5US to match the one I got) it took between 1 and 2 days to get QC, that considering that there was the whole delay fiasco due to something going on in China which he solved pretty well. A day later it got shipped by DHL, pretty fast shipping, as always, no customs issues or anything.

Regarding packaging, it came really well protected, it was inside a DHL plastic bag, then double boxed with bubblewrap between the box itself and the shoe box. Pictures of packaging:

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Apparently the shoe box got a bit smashed in one side, the other is in great condition basically, so I blame DHL for that, not a big issue though.

THE SHOES VS RETAIL

As this post was first made on Reddit but isn’t showing, for this part I will keep the images on the imgur gallery linked below so you can see them from there. It’s not really convenient but for the next review, I will have this blog format in mind instead of the Reddit one. I’ll add a few images to help, but still recommend to open the imgur gallery.. Sorry about that.

Imgur gallery: http://imgur.com/a/cjZq1 – The ones on the left, above or the first pic if there are 2, are always the reps. I recommend to have this opened while I describe and compare the parts in this text. Also, have in mind, the retails have been worn like 2 times.

Also, remember that every pair is different, even retail pairs, I’ll point out the differences from those 2 pairs that have the same size but some stuff can be a flaw or it can be just a pair specific thing.

First, the box. Retail box is smaller. My retail pair is European so you can’t really compare the box labels since this SS batch is replicating the US label. Box isn’t 1:1 but that won’t get you called out.

Now getting to the shoe itself. At first glance you won’t notice much. The toebox pattern is pretty much perfect. The stripe on the SS curves a bit more but it’s really hard to tell.

Looking at the side, the shape is slightly different, the SS has a longer toebox and the sole curves more upwards under the toebox. Tongue height seems about right. The pulltab is placed forwards into the shoe in the retails and has a smaller gap between the shoe and the pulltab itself than the SS. On the SS, the pulltab lines up pretty well with the stripe/text having basically the same or almost the same angle. On retails, the right shoe doesn’t match that well (so if a pair isn’t perfect regarding that seems alright)

The text is not identical but it’s really close and you can’t tell unless you get up close. The red color seems like it’s exactly the same shade of red.

Not much to say about the inner side of the shoe, looks pretty accurate besides what I already said about the pulltab and the shape.

Now with the heel, the pulltab looks almost perfect, but here is the only main flaw in my opinion, the shiny sole at the heel. With a bit of wear I’m pretty sure that this will go away or you can probably easily fix it with some matte spray, light sanding paper,etc. I think it’s not easy to tell on feet but if you want to legit check it seems pretty easy to see.

Laces look basically identifal but they’re a bit stiff on the SS. Again, not a big issue. Text on the insole isn’t as clear on the SS, specially the Adidas logo. The text under the insole is wrong too (like, with basically any rep, good way to legit check). Nothing to call you out but have it in mind, again, specially to legit check.

The three stripes inside the heel feel similar but they look a bit better on the SS than even on retail, might just be because they’re worn.

The sole is more matte/darker on the SS but it’s only visible depending on the lighting.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BOOST. Alright. The texture is clearly different but retails have been really inconsistent so it’s not a great way to legit check. They feel equally soft to the touch (and squishing it). On foot they’re not as comfy as retails, but they’re close. The SS has 2 extra dots which is weird might be only my pair. Funnily enough, I had a retail pair of the red stripe V2s that had the 2 extra dots too so I don’t know what to consider that on the SS.

The tags inside the shoe are pretty weird. One is almost perfect, with the same EAN/UPC code as my retails (I guess the ones with the same size and model have the same number and only the code under that one is the one that is pair specific) but the other shoe has one that is wrong and doesn’t match the box code. Weird, won’t get you called out though. Will also make harder to sell as retail which is nice 🙂

I think that’s all. If I forgot something, feel free to ask, I’ll help as much as I can.

ON FEET

As you can see, they look basically perfect on feet, the only thing that can stick out is the shiny sole at the heel as I said previously.

Compared to retails on feet, the only difference is that you can notice the bump on the heel of the retails, besides that…slightly larger toebox and the whole angle of the shoe looks kind of weird compared to retails. But honestly, thehy retails look even worse on feet IMO.

From above, you can compare retails and reps side by side, they look perfect. They feel almost identical too and basically the same sizing as retails. Go TTS for snug fit, go half a size up for a better fit. You can always remove the insoles which makes it comfier depending on the person. I’m a TTS 9, so a 8.5 is snug without insoles, but still comfortable as long as I’m wearing thin socks.

It is hot as hell where I live so sorry if my legs aren’t the prettiest thing.

Here are some extra pics with some light editing/color correction so you can see how nice these can look, specially the last one:

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Conclusion

These are great, the only thing that sticks out a bit is the sole at the heel as I said. You’re not gonna get called out and if you are it’s because somebody would call you out even if you had retails. There is room for improvement, but these, PK, KO, all are good and none of the top tier batches are calloutable IMO. You can get PK and SS both from Eric and I think that, looking at pics, PK Breds loook superior although maybe compared to retails they show more flaws, whichever you choose he’s a great middleman and he has been the one that has sent QC and shipped shoes faster that other 2 sellers that I’ve used and won’t mention because I don’t want to be rude.

W2C