Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
It was relegated to a single quote from Nike Football Footwear VP Max Blau in the release of the Spark Brilliance pack and it read;
The upper of the Hypervenom II takes a bit longer to break-in than the Hypervenom I. We provide new boots to our professional players so frequently that we shifted to the Hypervenom I material to ease the break-in period. We want all players to have what the best players in the world are wearing, so we are bringing the Hypervenom I upper back.
That’s right, it’s taken some time, but our friends over at Nike have seen the forest for the trees and given the people what they want (and what we here at SC101 towers have been clamoring for); the original Hypervenom NikeSkin upper. While evolution is an important part of football and the building of new boots, sometimes it’s best not to mess with a recipe that works fantastically. And work fantastically is what the original Hypervenom upper did; and here’s why?
The original Hypervenom was released in 2013 on the back of 2 and a half years of research. It was also a boot which was designed with a remit, the boot world was moving away from pure power and agility was coming to the fore. The NikeSkin upper offered a barefoot feel on the ball, was a decent option for players who had a wider foot, and most importantly had a very small breaking in time. When teamed with the soleplate which featured low profile conical studs you had a boot which was perfectly primed to suit the agile player, and with Neymar on board as the title player there was no mistake that the Hypervenom was designed for a different style of player. It was also a boot which somewhat quickly became a cult favourite; I even put aside my heritage preferences and picked up a pair (in Neymar’s World Cup gold, no less!) and think they’re fantastic.
This is why it was a surprise that the Hypervenom II eschewed the party piece from the original boots and completely changed about the upper, going for more of a Superfly-esque appeal with Flywire elements and a different upper which was more of a mesh than the original NikeSkin, and led to a longer break in period. It’s also a release which has seen its title wearer Neymar move away from the boot this season. He’s been wearing a camouflaged version of the Mercurial Vapor X since about the time of the release of his own customized “Ousadia Alegria” range back in January.
For me that was always the death knell for the current incarnation of the Hypervenom, when its title player moved out of it, it was obvious that action had to be taken. While it took Nike a little time to get there, it’s a great story that they’re able to step back and go “you know, the old upper works better, let’s bring it back.”; because when you have something which works well you don’t need to go reinventing the wheel and I’m super stoked to see the old upper teamed with the new bits Nike has kept from the current incarnation of the Hypervenom.
Are you happy to see the old Hypervenom upper officially back? Did you like the updated upper? Let us know your thoughts. You can find the entire Hypervenom collection over at soccer.com.
Neymar has not been wearing a camouflaged vapor x but indeed has been wearing the hypervenom phinish with a customized upper and soleplate.
No.
Any insight on the durability of these and the Jordans? Inhave wide feet and I currently wear 12 in adidas, so also wondering if 12 in Nike would fit. I've had good luck with adidas and bad luck with Nike in terms of durability in the past. But the Nikes are just so f'ing cool.
I haven't experienced them in person, unfortunately. Any of the top tier boots are going to lack durability, brands focus more on immediate performance with the use of thin, lightweight materials. Consider boots like the Nike Hypervenom Phatal if you want a more durable option.