Nike, Can We Get a Retro?

Nike, can we get a retro on the following kicks? For years we’ve seen a circular retro schedule from The Swoosh with the same shoes coming back again and again. Occasionally old fan favorites are sprinkled into the mix but for the most part many of Nike’s retros are predictable.

For instance, we’ll see an Air More Uptempo retro every other year, the ’08 Hyperdunk makes an appearance from time-to-time, and the Air Flight 96 pops up on shelves with frequency. Those were just some examples but you catch our drift… you have eyes. While we have nothing but love for these classics and others like them we can’t help but wish to see some older kicks hit the calendar.

In our eternal quest to spread sneaker knowledge we wanted to hit you, our audience, with a look back at some bangers of the past that haven’t seen a retro yet. Nike’s catalog runs deep so there’s many to choose from; do yourself a favor and research some other un-retro’ed sneakers. If you message us on IG with the names of some shoes you’d like to see retro’ed then we’ll shout you out on the Sneaker History Podcast! Peep some of our favorites below.

Nike Shox Monster (2008)

Summer of Love for Nike Shox in 2019, am I right? The Nike Shox line has always been polarizing but there’s no denying the fact that there’s a market for the early 2000’s tech. The Nike Shox Monster was one of those Shox runners that had everything fans were looking for. Leather overlays mixed with mesh, 4 Shox columns and countless cargo short-friendly colorways.

These monsters get lost in the fray amongst the Shox R4 and NZ but the Nike Shox Monster brings that “special something” for fans of springy heels across the globe (S/O to all them Europeans rocking Shox heavy).

Nike Air Uptempo Sensation (2003)

Dirk approved, what else do we need to say? By ’03 the German export was a certified bucket and he posted fools up on the daily while wearing the Uptempo Sensations (for the most part). Every Uptempo under the sun has come back, or so it seems, but the Sensations get zero love. You can’t beat that sturdy early 2000 construction. Sure, the Sensations lacked in the ventilation department but that Air Max heel and chrome accents were top notch. We’d love to see these come back in basic color blocking like the GRs seen above, but some new takes on these forgotten kicks would be awesome too.

Nike Shox Supremacy (2003)

Shox’s roots in basketball run deep. The Shox Supremacy were sleek, springy and Zoom loaded with team colorways for days. A sneaky detail we loved on the Supremacy was the tongue branding – it was so early “2000 ‘n’ early” in all the best ways.

Yao’s baby blues pictured above were absolute heaters; Nike Basketball should lean into the Yao connection if possible and retro these specific PEs (it would serve as a nice way to teach the new generation about Yao Ming). Oh, the Kobe PEs can tag along too. Aging has hit the Shox Supremacy but that hasn’t stopped Nike from releasing other outdated shoes… just look at the Air Pressures…

Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2k5 (2005)

Want to see a performance heavyweight? See above.

Open Dictionary.com, search ‘high performance basketball shoe,’ and a picture of the Nike Zoom Huarache 2k5 will appear. Serving as Kobe Bryant’s pseudo signature shoes, the 2k5s were sports, supportive and absolutely gorgeous. PEs were abundant and the slam dunks were too. Not much to say here – these are criminally overdue.

Nike Zoom Ultraflight (2004)

One of the most creative Nike Basketball silhouettes ever, period. The Zoom Ultraflight perfectly blended the present and future of design into a Zoom-laced performance beast. Gary Payton spearheaded the Ultraflight with some insane PEs, bring them back, all of them. Eric Avar created a masterpiece with these, so there’s no reason to keep us waiting over 16 years for the Zoom Ultraflight’s return.