I’ve featured a lot of basketball, running and special issues on the site. For this post, let me focus on another popular shoe that was all the rage way back in the late 80′s/early 90′s. These are the trainers. Cross-trainers, XTrainers, Trainers, whatever. The Trainer was popularized back in the day when it was being endorsed by multi-sport star Bo Jackson. That was also the time when Nike pushed the campaign “Bo Knows”.  Well, that was that. Bo used thr Trainer 1s and immediately after the SC Trainers. 20 years after, Nike has produced a revamped version of the shoe, now on sale at Nike stores nationwide. At first, they looked horrible to me. It felt like it was a stretch to use flywire (again) and place a visible air window by the heel. But the more I look at it, the more I’m gravitating towards it.

There are currently two colorways available for the Trainer SC 2010s, with a third one on the way, coming out on Wednesday. Now, the March 10 release is a special one, as it is Manny’s 4th exclusive shoe. Unlike the previous releases, the SC 2010 MPs should be out at other stores- Parks, Stadiums, and the like. Just make sure to pick ‘em up when they’re out. But don’t sleep on these two CWs as well. I actually like the Whte/Orange/Purple ones as they are reminiscent of the shoe that came out way back when. The white/blue version is for all you square safe dudes that don’t want to push the envelope with your sneaker look.I’m just sayin’, but both CWs are dope as hell. If you’re not down with it, it’s cool. You’re entitled to your opinion. All I’m saying was that I thought they were fugly. But once I saw them up close, it’s a whole different ball game.

Now, if you’re not feelin’ the SC 2010, here’s another Trainer 1 SL low that might be to your liking. Colors are safe, the blazin’ orange is not out there and should work well with any gym get up. Once again, the Flywire, Max Air and Diamond FLX come together on this shoe to give you superior comfort and flexibility while workin’ out. There are a couple of colorways for the Trainer 1 SLs but this is one of my favorites. I can’t seem to find the other photo I took, but I should have it up one of these days.

So there, Trainers from Nike are as cool as you can get. If you are workin’ out with the sweltering heat, might as well look good while you’re at it.

Most of us got our paycheck yesterday. Now here’s my question- how long will that paycheck last with all the sic drops we’re having? From Hideout’s drops to 5-0 and WeLegendary’s SBs, and now the rest of the Nikes for the month? I dropped by the Nike store by Greenbelt 5 and saw these performance pairs  worth your hard earned dineros.

AJ12 “Flu Game”. I was never a fan of the Jordan 12s. Even with the Rising Suns dropping a few weeks back, they never really grew on me. Now, these AJ12s, are dubbed as the Flu Game Jordans. Way back in ’97, MJ made a mistake of eating some bad pizza before game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Jazz. It could’ve been some die hard Jazz fans’ version of Celtic Pride for all we know. MJ wasn’t in any shape to play but he had to what he had to do. Jordan pulled through and had one of the best games ever in Finals History. 38 points. Game winner. Nuff said. This version of the shoe he wore has the 97-sick face-38 on the heel as well as on the tongue. Pretty nice touch.

Cradle Rock Low Steve Nash PE Away. A few posts back we featured the Cradle Rock Low Home PEs for Steve Nash. Here’s the Road/Away version. Not bad right? Now when will the Philippine version drop?

Nike Hyperize Decades Pack “Infrared”. A few months back, right around the same time the White Men Can’t Jump Pack came out that they were going to release the Decades Pack for the Hyperize. This, I believe, is the first of the pack. This is inspired by the AM 90 Infrareds. The others of the pack are the Safaris, AM95 and the Foamposite, all classics of the Nike family. I’m still waiting on my Infrareds (wherever they may be), but for now, this will do.

and the rest. Nice releases but didn’t strike me all that much from the get go. A new colorway for the Trainer 1s, another Kobe IV colorway, a St.Vincent/St.Mary’s colorway for the LBJ Ambassador IIs, Zoom BB3s, and Jordan Phat Lows. These pairs should be available all around the metro and possibly some Nike stores in the province. So yes, choose wisely. and enjoy your cops.

Hey y’all. I’m at the AdCongress so I’ll go direct to the point on this one. Camp out? You’ve got 3 venues to choose from.

Nike Philippines announces today the launch of a limited quantity of the Limited Edition MP Nike Trainer 1 Low on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 12:00nn in Nike Park The Fort, Glorietta 4 and Trinoma. The shoe comes in a simple colorway of white, red, and blue that echoes the colors of the Philippine flag. Its upper comes in blue and white, with blue shoelaces and toe box. An added detail and bonus is a tiny graphic inclusion of Lil Pacman on the tongue top.

Keeping Nike’s footwear mission of “make better athletes” in mind the Nike Trainer 1 Low is designed for versatility, allowing users to run, lift, and play with ease and comfort. It is equipped with technologies like the Flywire upper for strength and light-weightness, the Nike Diamond Flex outsole for multi-directional traction, and Max Air for superior cushioning.

“As part of Nike’s commitment to Manny, we designed the Nike Trainer 1 Low with an original and authentic color palette that links back to the Philippines – something that Manny is truly passionate about” says Mae Dichupa, Country Marketing Manager, Nike Philippines.

The Nike Trainer 1 Low will retail at P5995.

After Pacman annihilated Cotto and gave all the Filipinos around the world something to be happy about, I decided to drop by the Fort to get a massage at the Spa. But before heading there, I decided to stop by Nike BHS to see if they were sold out of the MP shirts. I was right. The last 4 pieces were bought right around 3pm and I was surprised to see some heads parked right there, waiting for some surprise drop to happen.

Well, there weren’t any up until the van stopped by the store to drop off the auction items.Along with the auction items was the shoe you see here. Yes, another colorway for the Trainer 1 PE. Pacquiao wore these during the weigh in (which he passed on to the crowd when he took them off) and sometime before the fight. These are cut lower than the first two releases of the Trainer 1, which is to my personal liking. Now, these aren’t on sale yet. I really don’t know when, but it’s definitely soon. As seen here beside the Lights Out Trainer 1s, the Trainer 1 Low’s colors are inspired by the Philippines’ colors. Flywire’s also on this shoe along with laser etching by the side and the heel area.

Camp out? Again? Only MP can bring ‘em out. More on these til we get word from the source.

Thanks to monase for the photos

As I struggle to catch up with all the drops this month, I try to figure out what else is in store for us this holiday ’09? Yes, we’ve seen a lot of sneak peeks online the past few months. A lot of them have surfaced– HideOut has the DOD Pack, the AF1 Savage Beast, Nitro Microphone AF1s, AM1s and Maxims while Nike Parks and Stadiums have had their share of QK and ultra clean releases.

I also passed by Nike over at Greenbelt 5 last week and saw the pairs you see here. The AF25 above is apt, especially with More Than a Game out in theaters. Ofcourse, these follow Bron’s High School colors- Green, Gold, White. I was never a fan of this pair, but the iced outsole gives the shoe extra cred. Another ‘Bron release is the LBJ Zoom Ambassador II. There’s another colorway (majority white) that plays with the same colors. They’re alright, as they aren’t as clunky as the Six or LeBron’s other pairs (well, except for the LBJ7).

Most of the fresh kicks are really for performance. Another pair worth mentioning are the Trainer 1s. This is actually the fourth colorway released here (Lights Out, Volt/Silver. Grey/White/Red and this). If you’re digging on Jigga’s Empire State of Mind, this definitely resembles NYC to the fullest… well, not so much the Yankees, but the Knicks and Mets represent!

Kobe cannot be outdone so they released 2 more pairs of the Dream Season X. The image below is the white/grey/purple with the black/yellow also available at my gallery. This definitely echoes the color of the Lake show, and one of the current Kobe IVs. They’re good as gold, especially if you like your high tops high. I’d rather go for the IVs though.

Last but certainly not the least are the NSW drops. With the speckle look invading NSW, here’s a Dunk that comes correct. Wouldn’t it be cooler if the speckle resembled blood blotches? Aside from the speckle, the pair’s pretty tame. I’d change the laces to white for an opposite pattern to come out or black to get with the low key look goin. The AF1 low here is pretty fresh. As we all know that purple/violet is the now color, this doesn’t disappoint. It’s just an awesome silhouette.

Well, more drops on the way. Just give me some time to load everything and get my act together. I wasn’t able to take a pic, but lil’ fans of LeBron and Kobe have their respective AF1 colorways. Also, kids get the jumpoff with the LBJ7. Their version dropped a few days before the real thing.

for other views of the shoes above, you can check out the gallery section of this site under the Nike album.

With the next big MP fight happening in 8 days, I’m sure everyone’s getting their Manny on. From the Jimmy Kimmel guesting, to the Time Magazine Cover, to the countless posters/streamers/tv ads for the fight, you’d be living under a rock to not even notice the hoopla around the Pacman.

With that being said, our friends at Nike’s got something cooked for us. Again. Nike’s inviting 150 lucky people to a special screening of Manny’s match on November 15. To be on the list, all you have to do is to sum up in 7 words Manny Pacquiao’s story as he competes for a record-breaking 7th world title in 7 different weight classes.

Top entries get passes to the event at Whitespace, Pasong Tamo extension on the 15th. Best entry will win a pair of the Nike MP Trainer 1.

On top of this exciting promotion, Nike has released two special edition Tees for this fight. The Nike MP Team Pacquiao Eagle Tee and the Nike MP Tee, celebrating Manny’s quest for his 7th world title. Both shirts bear the Nike Pacquiao identity crest, an iconic symbol which has come to be associated with Manny’s many victories over the past few years. This special logo also reflects Nike’s unwavering commitment towards supporting one of, if not the greatest, boxer of all time.

“We are very proud to support Manny Pacquiao in all his battles and feats. As he once again steps into the ring for what could be a historic first, Nike and the entire Philippines will be supporting him,” said Mae Dichupa , Nike Philippine Country Marketing Manager.  “Manny embodies the good sportsmanship and athleticism that Nike athletes possess. We are committed to being a part of his battle from his rigid training to the actual fight in the ring. “

The Nike MP Team Pacquiao Eagle Tee comes in bold red, showcasing a gold foil outline of the Philippine Eagle head in the center front, with a screen print of an outlined eagle wing in the background. The back carries the Team Pacquiao statement in bold letters , with the Nike MP logo below it.

The Nike MP Tee comes in white and blue, with the iconic logo on the front, along with the MP logo in red and blue with the sun on the lower right, reminiscent of the Philippine flag. The back bears Nike’s Just Do It with the MP crest below it. A special version of the tee differs in the writing on the reverse side. Instead of Just Do It, the slogan “Lamang Gawin Ito”. This Tee will be sold exclusively to the local market (though I was at the Fort and did not see this shirt on sale).

The Special Edition MP Tees are available at select Nike stores nationwide, including Nike Park The Fort (BHS), Trinoma, and Glorietta 4 for 1,095 PHP. Get yours and get with the MP Fever!

photos of the shirts to follow. current photos courtesy of nike.com.ph

As this week is mostly a run through of the sneaker shops over at Trinoma, today’s article is all about the swoosh. As Nike’s been riding high on so many great releases over the Summer (US, that is), this 2 week hiatus since Ondoy/Pepeng has brought about a flooding on their Nike stores. Take the shoe on top, the Trainer 1, for example. Yes, this is the same exact shoe as the Light Out MPs, obviously in a different colorway. This is quite similar (but not the exact one) to the original Air Trainer 1 worn by Bo Jackson. Yes, kids. If you’re wonderin’ where the PacMan Knows design came from, it came from this man’s campaign with Nike some 20 years ago. Bo Jackson’s a multi-sport athlete, wherein he did play a lot of football and baseball in his heyday. So when Bo was all over the place, Nike had a brilliant campaign of stating that Bo Knows. The ads went on something like Bo Knows baseball.  Bo Knows football. Bo Knows (fill in sport). It was pretty cool and like Mike, everybody wanted to be as awesome as Bo Jackson. There’s another colorway of the Trainer 1s available here- the Red/Grey/White/Blue (i think). They’re also priced cheaper than the MP Trainers.

This Nike Dunk Low is for the ladies. There are 2 in this pack, one with a red colorway. The midsection of the upper has that glitter-y fabric that if you do look closely, are separated in flower-like sections. I just had to put these on here for the lady readers of the blog (so that I’m not too biased when it comes to the updates). And besides, they look good!  The Dunk, over the past 2-3 years has really blown up in terms of the mainstream crowd. The hardcore sneakerheads have been harping on the Dunks as early as ’01 if I’m not mistaken. You can always find someone rocking a pair of Dunks at the mall or at the club. In the Dunk’s defense, they are quite comfortable and they reall look great. You can find the Red ones over at the Nike section of the gallery.

Here’s another one for the ladies. Dudes, you’ll get yours in a bit. This Air Max 1 is also part of the 3-part pack for the ladies. The other one (no picture though) is white and cream if I’m not mistaken. They (along with a black version which I haven’t seen in store) are part of the Speckled Pack. If you look at the midsole, you can obviously see, well, the speckles. The suede/mesh upper’s pretty straightforward but poses a simple yet classic look, perfect with any get up. This is obviously part of their Holiday releases. In the coming weeks, we’ll surely see a lot of the nice colorways pop out of the woodworks from the Swoosh.

As mentioned on my Shoe Salon post, Nike’s also got this East vs. West campaign going on (if I’m not mistaken this is part of their Fall collection- just in time for school in the US and other parts of the globe not named Philippines). Initially, we showed you the AM1 for the West. Here’s an AM90 reppin’ the East (to be honest, I’m not sure if I read the tag right). For all I care, it’s reppin’ the south or the north or even the west. Bottomline, they look good. Part of the whole pack also carry Dunks, AM1s and AM90s. I’m sure there are more, so stay tuned and check out the real from the Movement on this Pack.

With Vans hogging the limelight a bit from the big boys, Nike had to come out with something that can kick Vans’ butt. The Talache Mid ACs, in brown and black suede, come with the vulcanized sole as well. They’re pretty clean cut and straightforward. What’s great about this is the stitching around the upper and the red-orange eyelets creating a nice accent to the shoe. The black one can be partially seen at the gallery as well under the Nike section.

For the performance/basketball junkies out there, I have something for you guys too. With the ZKIVs being such a huge hit, they really had to bring out another one! This has got to be the umpteenth release of the neo-classic Kobe shoe. Can we all agree that this is the best Kobe signature out there? Nothing against adidas and nike’s earlier works, but for a shoe to have a year’s worth of drops, in various moments of kobe’s career, wow. That’s all I got to say. This version is the White/Grey-Varsity Purple version. The shoe has a white base with purple flywires and a speckled mudguard. About the speckled look, is this Nike’s new trend? Earlier this year, it was the whole safari look that came out in a lot of AM1s. Now it’s the speckled effect. I’m not complaining, I actually like it. This is actually a clean one. I’d buy this over the Gold Medals or even the Black-Reds.

There’s also a new Hyperize colorway, and the some Jordan 1 Phat Lows in attendance. The Jordan 1 Phat Low 60+ pack is also available in the Atlanta Hawks colorway.

To add to the speckled effect, we’ve got a pair of Dunks- a low and a high, in the mix. I’m not quite sure if they glow in the dark, but my instincts say that they will look good in proper lighting. The low reminds me of their Dunk Low Notebooks they released last year. The color blocking on them as well are reminiscent of the Japan Dunk Pandas- well, minus the faux panda fur ofcourse. The Dunk Highs look a lot like the AM 90s I featured earlier. These Dunks can be purchased at other Nike stores as well. I’ve seen them at the Fort or at Glorietta too.

And last but certainly not the least, the Footscapes. Actually, the other two came out months before and I believe I was able to feature them already. The one listed right  below is the third one to the puzzle. The black/grey/yellow version also carries the flywire technology making this re-release more than a retro. The Footscapes are actually popular in Japan. So guys, don’t sleep on these! These are actually cool! The sideways laces may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but at least it’s different, right?

There you have it folks. A whole slew of  drops from the Swoosh. Look to find them all over town at various Nike Parks/Stadiums. Though if you want the fresher ones, do try to find them over at BHS or Trinoma. They seem to have the better ones in stock.