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Friday, July 31, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: The Converse All Star Team Legend

It's about that time of year when all of the Team basketball shoes start showing up on the internets. So I thought I'd take a look back at a team shoe from Converse. The Converse Legend was a team shoe in the late 90's...it's either in 97 or 98, I'm leaning more towards 98. I know someone out there knows for sure, right RJ?

You should notice a resemblance to the classic Converse Weapon with the modified Y bar support. These shoes also featured extra padding around the ankle similar to the All Star 2000...which now makes me lean more towards a 97 release for these. One of the more interesting details about the A/S Legend is that it was the last Converse shoe that Larry Bird was attached to. There was a special white/green/black colorway of the Legend that featured Larry Bird's signature instead of Chuck Taylor's signature on the logo. I'd really love to find a good picture of that shoe, anyone?

In the days since the departure of "him who we do not speak of" I've heard different people say that they would like to see Converse reach out to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and bring them back in the fold on some level. I've been wishing this would happen since the first time they brought the Weapon back a few years ago. Who knows, maybe someday they'll actually be able to advertise the Weapon with Bird and Magic again. I've got my fingers crossed.











These shoes also featured React, which I'm a huge fan of. These were actual one of the last team shoes that featured React as it wasn't long until React II was released. Well that's it for today, don't forget to follow along on Twitter @TheConverseBlog

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Converse CX Professional Vulc Ox

Hello world. I first showed you the Converse CX Professional Vulc Ox back in January of this year. At the time it was a shoe that was up at Converse China's website. And I wondered out loud if these shoes would be making it to America. I am glad to let you know that they have. Currently you can find them on Converse.com or Shoes.com which where I got the following pictures from. As I mentioned back in January, I really love the use of the Chevron Logo and the printed Converse. However, my favorite feature on this shoe is the outsole. I love the rich history that it displays with not only with the Converse logo but with the traction pattern as well.




Well that's it for today, check back tomorrow for a Friday Flashback here at The Converse Blog. Don't forget you can always follow along on Twitter too. @TheConverseBlog

Monday, July 27, 2009

Converse Basketball during the Off Season

Welcome to a Monday evening post here at the Converse Blog. It's been kind of crazy this summer for Converse, but I wanted to show you some of what the Converse guys have been doing.

Kyle Korver has been in Vegas recently for the Team USA Mini Camp. He's shown here playing defense wearing the Converse Team Assist. In the second picture he's shown taking a picture with some fans wearing a pair of Converse Slides.









Below you will see Alando Tucker wearing the Converse Weapon EVO during the Vegas summer league for the Suns.





Well that's it for today, ya'll will have to hang in there with me as school is starting soon. Just like today, my post times might be a little off than what you're used to but they will be there. Follow along on Twitter @TheConverseBlog.

Friday, July 24, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: Converse Hoodie

Hello world, welcome to the Converse Blog's Friday Flashback. Today we're going to take a look at a Converse hoodie. I know what you're thinking, a hoodie post in July? Why not? I love hoodies and so should you. So lets just get to it.









This hoodie features one of my all time favorite Converse logos. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for checking out the blog, have a great weekend and we'll see ya'll Monday...unless any news breaks on any rookies that Converse sings.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Weapon Wednesday: The Converse Blog X Converse...sorta.

Welcome to Weapon Wednesday here at The Converse Blog. Today's. I want to give thanks to the fine people at Converse for hooking me up with my very own pair of Converse Weapon 86 shoes. Alright, so it's not an official collaboration, although I've still got my fingers crossed that one is on the way.  These beauties came straight from ConverseOne where you can now customize both Hi and Ox versions of the classic Weapon 86.  




 







I went with a mostly Brown colorway because I wanted to get something that I could wear this year while I am teaching, hopefully I can pull it off.  Anyway, that's it for today, go check out Converse.com to order your very own pair today.  Don't forget to follow along on Twitter @TheConverseBlog.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Converse Coolidge Mid hits ConverseOne.

Welcome to The Converse Blog.  Today's post is really exciting to me on a couple different levels.  The Converse Coolidge Mid has hit ConverseOne.  I'm fired up about this because for the first time a shoe designed after 1986 has hit ConverseOne.  This gives me hope that someday a modern performance basketball shoe will hit ConverseOne, you know like the Weapon EVO...hint hint.  I also take it to mean that original Converse coolidge has performed well enough to warrant a ConverseOne release.  This also marks the Converse skate shoe from Converse to hit ConverseOne.  So there is a lot of exciting aspects of this shoe being on ConverseOne.  Here are some colorways that I mocked up below, I make the ID SK8 but you can make it your own.
















Before we go I want to point out a new link on the right of the page, Throwback Guy.  You want Jerseys?  He's got Jerseys check him out.  Thanks for checking out the blog, I am still processing the departure of Dwyane Wade and I think I have more to say about that so stay tuned this week. 

Friday, July 17, 2009

Converse A.D. (After Dwyane)

I was about to turn off my computer and go to bed last night when I though I’d check Google news for news on Converse.  I do this a couple of times a day just to check and see if there is any interesting news about my favorite brand.  I found out from Darren Rovell, that there were rumors that Dwyane Wade would be leaving Converse to sign with Jordan

Naturally, I couldn’t sleep, if you saw on Twitter, I kind of freaked out.  Then official word came down this morning that Wade was in fact moving to Jordan.  The move comes with 3 years left on his Converse contract.  I am dealing with a range of emotions that goes from anger to excitement and everything in between.


If you know me, I tend to be a really positive person.  Life is too short to let stuff drag you down.  So while I could write this post as a bitter fan that wishes nothing but bad things for Wade, I’ll take the high road.  But I do have my concerns and issues which I will discuss.


Which is why I’ve titled this post Converse A.D. (After Dwyane).  The big question isn’t why, because it’s already happened and nothing is going to change.  The real question is what’s next.

 
First, we’ll deal with some logistics; three of the upcoming Basketball products have been scratched, for now anyway.  The Wade Team Clutch 2, Wade Team Undeniable, and Wade 5 are no more.  This brings the total number of team shoes to 2.  But more importantly it takes away two shoes featuring the brand new Converse Balls technology.  For the Fall of 09 that only leaves the Weapon EVO with the new technology.  No word yet on the holiday 09 lineup, but hopefully there will be at least one more shoe with the tech.

Secondly, if Dwyane was unhappy at Converse, then he needed to leave.  What good would it be to have an athlete with a signature shoe if he doesn’t wear his own shoe?  This was the case with the Wade 4 last year, who knows if he was going to wear the Wade 5.


Thirdly, this is where we can start to look forward.  Converse now has a boat load of money freed up from the Wade contract.  This is only a positive if they actually use it to increase the number of players they have in the NBA or the number of teams they have in college basketball.  As it stands right now they will have fewer players this year then they did last year, which was less then the year before that.  I’ve always been told if you’re not growing your dying.  With this freed up money they can go out and sign a hand full of players that no one else seems to have money to spend on…Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry, Johnny Flynn …etc.

Those are my early thoughts from the Converse end of things.  However, from the Nike end this just doesn’t make any sense.  Jordan and Nike already hold an unbelievable market share of the basketball market and it only makes sense that a strong Converse would help the whole portfolio.  I’ve never been a huge fan of the Nike purchase and now my fears are starting to come true.  Nike doesn’t care about Converse and if they do I’d really enjoy an email or a phone call from someone in Beaverton to try and convince me otherwise.  Jack Boys, before Converse was purchased by Nike, expressed interest in branching out into the running and training performance categories.  This would’ve helped to strengthen the brand and might have led to re-entrance into Tennis, Football, and Baseball.  I feel this way because the people now running Pony were in charge of Converse before they sold to Nike.  This was right after Converse had signed Wade, Bosh, Hinrich and others.  Who knows where Converse would be without Nike, in some ways I think they would be better off.  That being said, the potential for Nike to take Converse higher is there, they just don’t seem to care. 

I’m very frustrated, but I’ve been a Converse fan for a long time.  I’ve been through leaner times than this, like when Andre Miller was the only NBA player Converse had.  The truth is Converse still has Elton Brand, Jameer Nelson, and Kirk Hinrich to name a few.  It could actually be a lot worse, which is usually always the case.  I’ll end with this, Johnny Cash once sang in A Boy Named Sue, “I knew you’d have to get tough or die.”  This is the challenge for the people at Converse, Get Tough or Die!



You can roll over and give up or you can fight for brand…I’ve been fighting since 1996 and unlike Dwyane Wade, I’m not going anywhere.

 

So that happened, Dwyane Wade leaves Converse for Jordan...Official Converse statement

I'll post my thoughts on this later, but here is the official Converse statement.

Converse has enjoyed being a part of Dwyane's meteoric rise to the top of the basketball world. We have had an amazing professional and personal relationship with him and we thank Dwyane for his commitment to our brand. As he joins Jordan Brand, we know his Chicago roots and his on-and off-court style will be a great fit.

Converse is focused on creating quality basketball footwear in the mid-level price point range. In past years, we celebrated Dwyane's success by creating a higher priced signature shoes and saw great success with our Wade business. With Dwyane joining the Jordan Brand, we are continuing to meet our long-standing objective of offering high performing, functional basketball shoes at a mid-level price point.



Wednesday, July 15, 2009

'S Weapon Wednesday: Converse Weapon S Mid Black Flag.

Welcome the the Converse Blog's Weapon Wednesday! Today we have the Weapon S Black Flag edition.  This is a sample pair of the shoe that is available now.  The only difference that I've seen between the sample and released version is that the out sole is green on the released version.  Since I don't have any good pictures of the actual release we'll have to make it work with the sample pair picture below. 





 







Some of the Weapon skate shoes that have released have had some pretty loud colorways, but I really like the amount of neon green used on these.  It's just enough to add some spice without blinding people looking at it.  Head over the www.converseskateboarding.com to search for dealers of the CONS skate and Black Flag lines of shoes. 

Monday, July 13, 2009

CONS ERX 300 Skate Blue/Blue/Blue/Red Colorway.

This past week I was fortunate enough to visit Las Vegas for a week long vacation.  I returned home with a good deal less of money than I left with.  I didn't really lose a lot of money in the casino's, I spent most of my money in the three area Converse stores.  I wanted to go ahead and show you one of the purchases I made, the Converse ERX 300.  One of the headlining shoes from the CONS Skateboarding.  I was really looking forward to picking up some shoes I haven't seen or been able to purchase yet and I personally think that I struck gold with these. 

I've shown you pictures of the CONS ERX 300 before, but this is a very interesting colorway that I had not seen available in America before.  The upper is completely washed in different shades of blue with red accents on the tongue, heel, and outsole.







But just seeing pictures of the ERX 300 doesn't do it justice and anyone whose worn them or at least tried them on should agree.  The memory foam in the ankle and tongue make this an extremely comfortable high top selection.  More to come in the next few days from the trip.  Don't forget to vote in the poll as there are only a few days left.  Also follow us on twitter @TheConverseBlog.

Converse ERX

I am having some trouble getting photos to load up on blogger today. Hopefully I can get the post up later on tonight, but it might be tomorrow before I can figure it out.

Friday, July 10, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: Citadel Basketball T-Shirt.

Back in the day when Converse was more of a player in College athletics one of the schools they supplied shoes for was the Citadel.  Actually, if I remember correctly the Citadel was one of the last schools to wear Converse back in the late 90's.  However, given the logo used on this shirt it most certainly came from the 80's.  Go Bulldogs!










Thanks for checking out the blog!  Check back for any breaking news on any additions to team Converse.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

'S Weapon Wednesday: Weapresent Sydney Shirt.

Hello world, Wealcome to a Weapresent Weapon Weadnesday. Today we've got a Weapresent Sydney shirt that if you live the Australia you could pick up at a Foot Locker near you.

That's it for today, thanks for checking out the blog.  Don't forget to vote in our poll and check us out on twitter @TheConverseBlog.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Converse Coastal Carnage July 24-26, 2009

Converse is bringing some Carnage to the Coast. It was recently announced that Converse will be hosting an invitation only event in Huntington Beach, CA.  As you can see from the information below the event will take place from July 24-26.  The combined purse will be 50,000 bucks.  If you're in the area come on out to experience the Carnage first hand. 





SPoTlight Skateboarding has a run down on all of the invites so you can see who will be participating in the Carnage. (Every time I type Carnage I want to say it three times out loud like a monster truck commercial, Carnage, CARnage, CARNAGE!!!!).   Big thanks to Transworld Skateboarding the images above.

Hopefully I can get some more information about this to pass on to all of you.  Hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July Holiday.  Depending on how you look at things the 2nd of July could have been the actually holiday to celebrate our Independence. Still others may hold out to November 19, shout out to all of the Matthew Thornton fans out there, or sometime in January for all of you Thomas McKean-amaniacs. 

Friday, July 3, 2009

'S Friday Flashback: Converse x Disney's Mickey Mouse Sneakers Pin

You already know that I am a huge Converse fan, but what you may not know is that I am also a huge Disney fan. The truth is, I've been to Disney world more times than I care to mention on here. Needless to say we pretty much go to Orlando every year for vacation. I found this item on eBay a few weeks ago and needless to say I completely forgot to bid on it.  Seeing as how I had never heard about the Converse x Disney project I was really geeked to find this pin. 

I haven't been able to locate the actually shoes that this pin is promoting so if you have any pictures or information on them that would be great, thank you in advance. 












I'll be out of town next week, I am going out to the Vegas Summer League...well at least one day of it.  But I've got some posts that I can write out in advance, if I get to it.  So stay tuned next week to see what's up. Converse Outlet stores in Vegas here I come, it's time to stimulate the economy!