Originally posted on Housakicks
The month of January saw the return of Lebron’s Nike Air Zoom Generation in its original colorway. They were originally introduced in 2003 as a young LJ was entering the league. He has definitely lived up to his expectations and has graced us with some of the best basketball highlights ever. I don’t recall the Zoom Generation sneakers being highly anticipated by many sneaker heads at the time ( it was 2003, and most of the old heads weren’t as hype driven as today). You could literally walk in stores and there were still sizes of the shoes available for purchase. Lebron’s sneakers took off a little after theLebron 7
dropped; but what definitely took the line the next level was the “decision”. We all remember watching a very nervous LJ making the move to take his talents to Miami. The whole process engendered the Lebron 8 Pre Heat AKA South Beach– the shoes were an instant classic. For the first time, people were actually camping out for Lebron sneakers; the Lebron 9 followed suit with one of the best silhouettes I’ve ever seen.
The white edition of the Air Zoom Generation sold out instantly because they were limited and the black one will be just as limited. The shoes were made to mimic the physical specimen LJ was coming out of high school. With a combination of a mesh and leather upper. they are equipped with a special ventilation system near the midfoot. They also come with an external heel counter, air zoom units in the midsole for superior cushioning.
Now let’s look at what the inflation tells us about the shoes. The black Nike Air Zoom Generation debuted in 2004 and was priced at $130. After 13 years, Nike brings it back and its price jumps to $175, is this fair? Well let’s look at what the actual price ought to be based on the inflation calculator. I’ll put the results in the figure below.
According to the inflation calculator, the shoes should be priced at $173.14; and they have been priced at $175 . So you are only paying about $1.86 more than you’re supposed to. That’s pretty fair considering the fact on other shoes like the Pure Money 4’s, the consumer was paying about $40 above the projected price. So the $175 is pretty much consistent with the inflation and you aren’t being taken advantage of.
RELEASE INFORMATION
Nike Air Zoom Generation
Black/White, Style#AJ4204-001, $175 December 28
I’ll provide you with a list of stockists for the shoes as we get closer to the release date.
img via flightclub.cn