We are in the heart of fall at the moment, and with winter coming around the corner, Nike are now releasing the boots we are going to see dotting the pitches for the rest of 2012. The ‘Black Pack’ could be considered as unsuccessful by Nike, but we think that they could be pushing the right buttons with their new Retro/Total Orange/Challenge Red Mercurial Vapor VIII.
We have already seen a lot of stars who are accepting their delivery of the new boot, and in comparison to the number of stars in the seaweed colour way, it looks like we are going to be seeing flashes of retro in every professional European game! In an interesting move by Nike, they have made a return to the suede upper from the original bright mango release colour way, a confident move from the American company.
The low-profile, thin structure, synthetic leather Teijin Microfiber upper has a suede-like finish and is super-soft and features no Flywire technology. The toe-box reinforcer has a sleeker, closer feel aiding control and touch. Nike’s new Anatomic Last takes the fit of the boot to a new level of support and stability. This effect is enhanced by a more minimalist and softer heel counter, maximizing both comfort and fit.
The Mercurial range has focused on traction in recent times but Nike have left off the Sense Stud for the Vapor VIII. Instead Nike have given the boot direct inject TPU twin studs at the back of the boot which allow for a quick release from the turf and the asymmetric design of the stud configuration delivers an explosive start. Sharper blades have been introduced to the Nike Vapor VIII allowing for game changing acceleration.
Lightweight perforated sockliner with textile top clothe mirrors the natural foot shape and creates low-profile cushioning for extreme comfort. The full-length Tepex glass fibre soleplate is designed to offer the perfect level of lightweight structure and stability. Another big drawcard of the new Vapor VIII is the inclusion of All Conditions Control (ACC) technology. We first saw ACC on the CTR360 III, and it is an upper material and surface texture (more or less a layer of texture) that provides the wearer the same level of control in wet or dry conditions.
The boots go on pre-sale on the 27th of September, with a full retail launch for the 1st of October. What do you think of the new Vapor VIII? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
About Jordon English
very interesting that they’re going back to the original suede finish.. what do you think about this soccer reviews? You guys made a huge deal about not buying the mango colour way cause of the suede finish and now nike has officially gone back on it!
Hey BiH,
On the contrary, we have only had one article where we mentioned the durability issues of the boot (it was in our comparison article of the seaweed Vapor and the bright mango colour way). Other websites were criticising the bright mango colour way more than us, and many websites regarded the bright mango Vapor VIII as a dud boot even though it is genuinely a very good boot performance wise. We have seen people who did not use the boot say this, but those who did use the bright mango Vapor VIII will say it was a very good boot. Nike will never live down the return rate it had on the bright mango Vapor VIII (we cannot disclose the figure, but it is very high), but if they have made an attempt to make this boot’s durability better, then I would say Nike have made the right choice here
On the contrary, on many other websites I have seen very high ratings of these boots only on this website did I see the F50 being rated higher than the Vapors.
Haha on the return rate, I think you guys actually disclosed a percentage in your podcast, so it’s already out there
When will the cristiano ronaldo colourways be released? Haven’t heard anything about it recently… And will there be a boot review when it is?
Hi Soccerreviews team, i have pictures of most of the unreleased boots on your boot calendar, plus a few that you missed. If you’re interested reply to this comment.
Can you link them
So if you had to choose this or one of the leather finish boots based on performance not on color which would you choose. I have felt the mangos and clash and I liked the finish on the clash ones.
Hey Riley,
I reviewed the Leather finish ones and absolutely love them. I’ll probably be getting these new ones and so will put an update about them on the site by then.
These look like Miami in the 80′s. Why?
i hope the back studs don’t break easily like the mango mercurial’s did.:(