Here’s a surprise release. I didn’t expect these Quickstrikes reach our shores, especially with ACG kicks not really making an impact on the street scene. The LunarWood+ QS and the Lunarpath ETW QS are now available in store. I personally like the Lunar Wood+, it seems like a shoe that can withstand the urban terrain as well as the outdoors. Nike’s been milking the black/volt colorway dry and I don’t blame them for doing so. The colorway’s legit and let’s face it- it works wherever and however you use it.

As for the Lunarpath ETW QS, well, I was never a bootie. I’m very particular with the boots I cop and these are still on the fence for me. But with quality materials and tech to match, why not?

Why now? What’s up with the timing with these sneaker stores? This is not the best time to be a sneakerhead. From the Pacman Trainers to the Cassette Playas to the Pattas to the DQMs to this. Parra. I mentioned at my other blog (communemnl.com/blogs) that Nike dropped the Cassette Playa and Parra Tees to go with the sneakers. The Cassette Playa Dunks came out about a month ago, and just yesterday, Hideout dropped the Lovely Loners Maxim 1s of Parra. For the less informed, Parra’s a Dutch artist that has collaborated with Nike numerous times before.

I’m still on the fence if I should get ‘em. But as early as the store opened, friends mentioned that they were much better than the photos online. That got me curious. How better can they be? Every other hour after, friends have been texting that they copped their pairs! Was it that nice? Was it that crazy? It sucks that my car was coding and could only leave the office at 7. Once I got to the store, there they were. Staring at me. Glaring at me. Tempting me to try them on.

And try them on I did. And they looked good for sure. The shoe’s got various textures and materials to it. Suede and nylon/neoprene make up most of the sneaker with the flywire technology by the middle panel (similar to the inital air maxims that came out a few months back). The all black colorway’s got blue and red stitching throughout the shoe and the same colors speckled at the midsole. The outsole’s middle section also has the speckle to break the all black look.  The collab also carries a different tag by the tongue, depicting the Lovely Loners L on there.  With extra laces in tow and a nice graphic footbed, what’s not to like?

The pair goes for 6995 Php, a little too steep for me. But money aside, these are must cops. Collabs with artists or sneaker stores are hard to come by in the RP. Crate’s got the Adidas City Series and that’s a rare breed. So go out, cop it. Give yourself an early xmas gift (thing is, I’ve given that excuse the past month!). Much love to Hideout and their quickstrike account. For now, I leave the shoe, along with the DQM Bacons to fate. If they’re there by the 13th month, then good for me. If not, then so be it.

for more photos of the Nike x Parra Air Maxim 1+, click on the hideout gallery at gallery section

As I mentioned earlier last week, I was at the 21st Philippine Advertising Congress over at Subic. And during my free time, I decided to drop by the sneaker outlet stores. I failed to check out the adidas outlet store (I might’ve seen something worth something there but I didn’t). But the other 2 old ones didn’t really have anything, quite disappointing. Well, up until I dropped by the Nike Factory Store by the Petron Station.

They had some quickstrikes (AM1 Microstripe/Seersucker, Air Trainer 1 Microstripe), Lunar Packs and a ton of Jordans. There were a couple more of interest but this was the one that caught my attention. This quickstrike collab between Nike and SneakersBr Air Max 1 “Lanceiro” was available. I don’t recall seeing this pair at ANY store here in Manila. How could that be? Why wouldn’t they sell such a cool shoe?

Inspired by a Brazilian festival, the AM1 features Blue heel and side panels, White toe area, light Blue Swoosh (holographic one at that), Red inner liner, and the country’s popular colors in dots on the ankle area. Finally, here’s the twist, on the back panel of the heel has a reflectorized phrase written in Brazil’s native tongue on each shoe. The phrase translated goes like this- “one step ahead and you are no longer in the same place”. Also check out the detail on the footbed and extra laces. I’ve also attached the inspiration for the bead-like print below- a vest farmers wear over in Brazil.

I was contemplating on getting them at first as it was 30% and still about 4k. I saw a fellow sneakerhead wearin’ em Wednesday night (whatup Caloy!) and ended up convincing me to get it. The shoe ended up being 40% off once I hit the counter. Awesome, right? Well, there are a couple of pairs left so do drop by and check them out.

It’s been a crazy week. Aside from the Janoskis, I chanced upon these over at Hideout. This was a sleeper release. No one expected them to come out. I’m sure some knew, but I honestly didn’t. Extremely with the AM1 OG Sport Reds, I definitely needed to have these Nike x Patta joints.

Yes, the QS you see here is a collab between Nike and the Amsterdam-based sneaker botique Patta. I’m sure most of us know how popular green stuff is over at Amsterdam, this colorway makes perfect sense. The shoe is made of different materials not found on the OGs. The most noticeable material here would be the green denim mudguard. There’s also a swoosh stitched on the side. Patta’s blocked logo is also on the tongue and a special footbed completes this collaboration.

The fit and shape is actually different from the OG, but it being a great shoe and colorway negates that. The shoe also comes with an extra green lace with white tips. The white laces, on the other hand, have green tips to match the chlorophyll/white/grey shoe. Do try to check them out over at Hideout. They should have some more. It’s been 9 days since they came out, but they should have some more stacked.

Clearly, I’m a week late…again. I’ve been pretty busy, especially with the launch of the NBA season. A couple of posts ago, I featured the AF1 Savage Beast, which was part of  Nike’s Halloween ’09 collection. Ofcourse, the Swoosh had to come up with a couple more kicks to make this year’s Halloween a little cooler. The Day of the Dead Pack  has been there for Nike the past few years and this year, they came up with three pairs.

All three pairs carry the same colorway- black, white, purple, green, and orange. For Dunk fans, you should be happy with the release. I personally like the Dunk High better than the Low. The black base just makes sense, especially for the occasion. The Air Max 90 on the other hand, is a distant cousin of the earlier DOD packs released. It’s alright, but it doesn’t get me all amped up. If the shoe carried the same cobweb/skull pattern as the Dunks, it would’ve looked way better. This pack btw, is a quickstrike. So think about it. Is it worth it? Maybe. Will you lose sleep if you don’t cop it? Not so sure ’bout that.

Aside from the DOD Pack, Hideout came correct with Nike x Cassette Playa’s third sneaker collab. They had the Dunk High before as well as the Blazer. This time around, they come with a nylonized Dunk High. It’s pretty cool, but they’re pretty colorful. Most of the shoe is black, but the outsole’s a really bright orange. There’s also a mouth by the toe box (though it can’t bee seen with the photos here). To complete the look, Nike BHS (and I’m sure other stores around town) carry the Nike x Cassette Playa Tees (shirt shots to follow). The Cassette Playa sneaker is not really a Halloween shoe but with the colors just exuding Hallow’s Eve, why not rock it, right?

For all 4 pairs, you’d be surprised with the price. All these QK don’t even go over 6k. So what’re you waiting for?