Mercurial Vapor VIII Receive Premature Debut

March 1, 2012 by 13 Comments

The hotly anticipated Mercurial Vapor VIII was given its debut on the feet of an unlikely source, French Ligue 2 player, Odair Fortes.

Fortes, who plays for Ligue 2 side, Stade Reims, showed up with the release colourway of the new Vapor VIII on his feet as his side took on Sedan. It’s interesting to note that this is the second time in recent memory that a big Nike release has been given its full debut thanks to a player not backed by Nike. If you remember, Fahad al-Ibrahim gave boot spotters a shock when he turned out in the yet to be released Zebra CR7 Superfly IIIs. We believe that al-Ibrahim had bought his pair of Superflys from a retailer that had them for sale a bit early, but in Fortes’ case, could it be that Nike have already supplied clubs and players with the new Vapors?

Nike are touting the Vapor VIII as the best Vapor ever. It is going to be 9 grams lighter than the Superfly III and have a super soft synthetic upper that essentially molds to your foot, the idea being that it’ll offer a fit similar to that on a k-leather boot. The soleplate is also going to be a big deal on the new Vapors. These new Mercurial’s will also feature a new stud layout and stud design. Nike say that people constantly complained about the under foot feel of the sense studs on the Superfly’s. The real reason is really more along the lines of providing better traction on wet fields (which the Superfly’s did better than Vapor’s) and adding some durability when playing on harder ground. The colourway that Fortes is wearing will be available for purchase from early April onwards, although we do expect a March unveiling. It’ll be released alongside a white/blue colourway as one of the two release models available.

We’ll surely be seeing more of these Vapors as we grow closer to their release (we’re hearing March 19). How do you reckon Fortes got his hands on these boots? Did he go out and buy them, or was it a case of Nike delivering them to the club and him not following their instructions? Leave your answers in the section below.

About Isaac Abraham

Isaac joined what was then Soccer Equipment Reviews in 2010 in need of a new pair of boots after losing his trusty adiPure III in a taxi - he has been writing for the site ever since. Based in Hong Kong, he is always on the lookout for unreleased boot spots, as well as new releases and generally interesting stories to cover.

Comments

  1. Duy
    March 1, 2012 at 6:31 pm

    does anyone know when will the black/volt color way released?

    Reply
  2. Mike
    March 1, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    I stick with what I said. Design-wise they’re kinda boring.

    Reply
  3. Khôi
    March 1, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    Not a fan of vapor but I like the design of those vintages.

    Reply
  4. Van Gol
    March 1, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Hey guys, it seems like what Fortes is wearing is not the new Vapor VIII new colorway. If you look in more details, you’ll see the Nike swoosh is in black, not the white one that Borriello wore last week. Here’s the link: http://soccerreviews.com/news/boot-spotting-27th-january-2012/

    Reply
  5. Mohd Hazman
    March 1, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    They’ll be released on 19th March. I got this information from Nike itself

    Reply
  6. Afonso Andrade Jr.
    March 2, 2012 at 4:03 am

    nice

    Reply
  7. Sunny
    March 2, 2012 at 4:26 am

    Wonder how the ICs will bem, the ICs were really stiff in previous releases…

    Reply
  8. Nick
    March 2, 2012 at 9:13 am

    9 grams is nothing but weight isn’t important sub-200

    Reply
  9. Nick Hernandez
    March 3, 2012 at 11:46 pm

    Who knows if they’re the real deal. They could be replicas. I Have already seen sites with Vapor VII replicas.

    Reply
  10. Nick Hernandez
    March 3, 2012 at 11:47 pm

    Actually, i’ll take that back. I just saw the mixed sole plate

    Reply
  11. ronnie
    March 6, 2012 at 10:32 pm

    look soo siiiiiiik!!!!!

    Reply

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