We all know Pacman arrived last Monday and received a Hero’s welcome, just like the last 11 previous times.  But this time, I had a mission. I haven’t used my connections to get stuff signed by Manny. My mission wasto have all 4 Manny Pacquiao PEs signed by the Man himself.

I attended the victory dinner and it was crazy! We had a guest list of 100 which ballooned to about 150.  I actually feel sorry for the champ. While having dinner, people left and right were having their photos taken and getting their own memorabilia, tees, DVDs, and other stuff signed. I don’t think he was able to enjoy the duck and lobster that was on the table. I actually didn’t want to bother him with it and just asked my coworker to do it for me (I’m sure MP would gladly sign his shoes for pretty ladies rather than big chunky dudes like me). He was able to sign the red/gold and the SLs first. I was pretty happy with that but I know I had to complete the task.

The following day had me go straight up to his room to do an interview and get soundbites for the Mosley-Mayweather fight (May 2 folks, watch it on GMA, Solar Sports and on Pay-per-View). He was pretty candid but it was a totally surreal experience. Tons of people were hanging around the hotel lobby hoping for a glance of MP, hangers, er security people were on hand to make sure the champ was heavily guarded. His room was a mess. Such a pity that he had tons of people around but no one wanted to clean up their mess. Now, I feel sorry for the chambermaids to clean up their mess (unless, they get a hold of something of MP value and sell it on ebay).

After doing our interview he gladly signed shirts, gloves and ofcourse the 2 remaining pairs- Lights Out and the SC 2010. He was obviously still tired from the trip but he did mention that it was his responsibility- he had to give in and give it up for his fans. That was actually so good to hear. He knew that his fame and fortune came with a price. At least he’s not being an A-hole about it.

So there. It’s been 6 years since I personally picked up MP from the airport after a controversial fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. He’s obviously a bigger rock star now than he was back then. But it’s good to know that after all the millions/billions and riches, he’s still the man that stays true to his roots. you know?

Oh, and mission accomplished. I brought home 4 pairs that quadrupled in value.

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.

Yep. You’re reading and seeing it right. Last Wednesday these dropped. Not exactly on display but word around is that it’s on display at other Nike stores around town. Most likely they’re on display now. Haven’t been to a Nike store since then. But yes, do you know do you know do you know? This is like the umpteenth version of the Jordan Spiz’ike. This is the Fresh since ’85-Mars cw. If you scope out the colorway and the style, they definitely have AJ3s color down, well except for the blue lace chamber or eyelet at the top. Well, they do have his Airness’ look well it also has Spike Lee’s sneaker persona Mars Blackmon’s name on it. There’s also a MARS  lacelock that’s not available on all the Spiz’ikes. There’s also the famous MB statement printed on the lining as well as on the  paper in the box. These should be out already, though some online stores have it out or should be out by the end of January.

Another shoe that made it’s debut before the 2010 ball dropped are the CP3 IIIs. Among all of Chris Paul’s kicks, these take the cake. Among the three releases so far, these are the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye. For once, they actually resemble a decent shoe. The first 2 were, well, uhmmm.. weird. Though they looked great due to Paul’s great gameplay. I’ve seen the other colorways and they’re all tight. So you better cop all the ones that land on our shores, including this one. Let the 1s and 2s die a slow death at the bargain bins.

The next two drops are for the ladies. I’m not an AF1 fan but I believe it’s my duty to post them here. First and foremost, they’re not that bad. Most of the shoe’s lined with leopard (or giraffe) or safari spots. Though I never hopped on the safari print all season long, these are  tolerable. The other shoe here is the Dunk Lo. I guess everyone’s bleeding purple by now. I know it’s the new it color so this is definitely here to complement to your wardrobe. The White/Grey/Purple cw works so you should, too.

Here are the Dunk His I mentioned on the previous post. See, they’re also available here. The Lows are also available but you’ll just have to take my word for it. I like the reds as they do remind me of the OG Jordan 1s. Neat, plain and simple. Just how kicks should be. A lot of people don’t get it though. Anyways, less Dunks for me for 2010.

Trainers. Trainers. Trainers. I’ve seen ‘em on the net and I’m sure you’ll see more of ‘em in 2010. The Trainer 1s pretty cool and here’s another colorway to add to the collection. I’m not sure if it’s a Laker colorway (esp with Pinas being an extension of LA) or the Vikings with football season still in play. But they’re gravy right? The low top Trainer 1 here is the Trainer 1 SL. The third Pacquiao Trainer were done in this mold. Flywire technology’s available on both and expect them to be on a lot pars moving forward. The last shoe below is the Lunar Kayoss.  Again, Nike Phils is harping on the Pinoys love for KB24. The Kayoss is a training shoe containing the Lunarlite foam as well as flywire, a mix we’ll definitely see in the new year alongside the Torch Technology. Another highlight of this shoe is the heel. Does it look familiar? Got that right, those rubberized heel supports were on the Huaraches of yore. Now, get yours. It’s a pretty nifty shoe to have at the gym. It’s supposed to handle the most intense of workouts. Nike PI, I’m willing to take these bad boys for a ride!

So there you have it. Those are the Nike drops I have so far. Got word from the boys that there are a bunch of Nike Basketball PEs now available. I’ll go check it out soon enough. I’ve yet to share with you guys my Macau/HK trip. Soon! Promise!

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.

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.