New Boot Packs for the New Football Season

MIZUNO "Runbird DNA" Pack

Ah, Mizuno, the Japanese kings of the understated football boot. Mizuno is like the Aston Martin to the Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and Porsche's. It's the more nuanced player's boot. A player who really values high-quality leather and is a massive fan of the saying " Old is Gold".

We kick-off with the Morelia Neo III Beta. Now, this boot is not for the Beta players. The Japanese just thought Beta was cool as the Neo III represents the latest iteration of the  Morelia brand. It's the lighter more hunkered down version. Think of it as the AMR version of a standard Aston Martin

Source: SoccerBible

The other boot in this pack is the O.G. Mizuno Morelia Zero. Basically the great-granddaddy of the Neo III Beta. Featuring a handcrafted K-Leather upper, never has Black/White/Red looked this good, even if you count in Adidas's Predator series.

Source: SoccerBible

(2018 packs)

ADIDAS "Exhibit Pack"

Another follow up of the look-it's-Orange bonanza ( at least for the top of the line X range), the Exhibit pack seems to look at home in a museum as well as it does on the pitch. A beautiful pop of highlighter-esque colours the Exhibit pack mainly helps you to exhibit yourself on the field..provide you have the talent of course. The new Copa follows a beautiful colour shade from midnight black to hyper highlighter yellow to the heel while the Nemeziz adopts the hyper yellow on its entire bodice with only the 3 Stripes logo offset with metallic blue and the studs covered with a beautiful lipstick red. The Predator..like always..deviates a little from the standard colour combo vulgarities, instead of going with a traditional oceanic blue upper with a smidgen of silver on the heel and the ribbed regions in the toe region given a rosy outlook. The X looks the most badass..like always..with a more subdued red colour beautifully concocted with ribbons of silver as well as giving the logo a metallic outlook. 

 

NEW BALANCE "Emerald Green/Black Pack"

Surprisingly it's not orange, but then again New Balance always likes to play the odd. Launching the Tekela and the new Furon 5.0 required some serious..um..colour 'balance' and they seem to have got it to spot on in terms of design and on-field looks. Watch out for Sadio Mane.

PUMA " Power Up Pack"

As swathes of orange enter, the playing field of today's world Puma has spruced up the package and given us vibrant Power Up pack to introduce the new Future. Covered almost entirely in orange, the Future reinvents the concept of Puma's lace-up-as-you-like footwear by encapsulating a much more "one-piece" upper. To provide additional contrast, the Future is accented with a metallic blue 'jumping cat' for the branding. The soleplate is where the Future takes the cake, emphasising ocean-esque swirls with a combination of seemingly random blue interspersed with black. The One takes up a more colourful mantle by utilising a black and ocean blue upper accented by the popping orange PUMA logo. A case of beauty, the PUMA Power Up Pack is must-have for PUMA fans...at least those who prefer to showcase their immense field presence.

PUMA " Glory Pack"

Not to be outdone by its fellow competitors, PUMA renaissance's continues to take the football boot world by storm. By poaching players from other companies PUMA is aiming to enjoy the big bucks of Adidas and Nike and no other pack signifies its recent successes as that of the latest Glory Pack. The boots ( Future and One), in all their glory, feature a resplendent amalgamation of night black and rose gold. The Future opts for the more understated effect, having a predominantly black upper elegantly marred with rose gold detailing at the heel and the soleplate. The One is a stark contrast to the Future as its upper is fully Rose Gold with only the PUMA logo and the lace areas featuring a dash of black. If you thought Rose Gold wasn't manly enough to wear, then this a sign that the Gods are not with you. If there is one thing I know from being an avid admirer, when PUMA get the colourway right, they get it really really right.

NIKE "Black Lux Pack"

A smart edition to begin the new year, the Nike Black Lux pack basically oozes class. The..um..predominantly black booties are a stark contrast to the NIKE's boldly colourful Always Forward Pack. Keeping things as luxurious as the name suggests, the Swooshes and Nike Logos have been embellished in Gold with leopard esque black spots, a great edition to highlight the alpha macho Nike Superfly 360 yadda yadda yadda. A clean start to a year we might see Nike potentially replacing the relatively aged Tiempo silhouette and give the Hypervenoms a look over ( which are surprisingly absent from the Black Lux edition), the sleek colourway combination is must-have for any Nike boot lover.

NIKE X EA Sports Phantom VSN 

Nike and EA have been having something of a collab on football boots these past few years with the American Marquee designing football boots with the powerhouse behind the FIFA franchise. In 2016 they gave us the Special Mercurial Superfly, in 2017 they gave us the Special but very badly coloured Hypervenom and in 2018 they have released the Special edition VSN with a decent pixelated upper. Set to be worn by Kevin De Bruyne (among a few others), there is no news on whether there will be a wider release for this Limited Edition, but looking at past history we're sure that in 2019 the next Nike X EA collab will be definitely sported by current Tiempo players.

NIKE "Golden Touch"

Made to honour the Ballon D'Or and the Kopa trophy for Luka Modric and Kylian Mbappe respectively, the new 'Golden touch' boots are ironically finished with an iridescent silver upper and a traditional black Swoosh. In fact, the only gold visible on the upper are the highlights on the Swoosh logo. Personally, I prefer the Superfly because it just sounds cooler at your traditional cocktail parties and the bigger Swoosh really fits the bootie in comparison with the tiny Swooshes placed on the forefoot of the traditional Superfly 360s. A stellar design for 2 stellar men in football. Perhaps the naming should have been better. If you want either, just 1500 pairs were expected to drop on Dec 4, and they are no doubt already sold out. 

NIKE "GS 360" 

The GS 360 stands for Green Speed 360, a boot first released for Neymar in 2012 and other GS players. Being the lightest boot in Nike's arsenal ( at least at the time), the GS was low-cut Vapor boots made from 100 % recycled materials and packaging. Nike has now revisited the collection, donning the new Mercurial Superfly 360's in the  OG Volt/black colourway as well as two alternate White/Black and Blue/Volt collections. I have always been a fan of Nike's heritage-esque collections and while the GS is only 6 years old, it is considered a generation or more behind in terms of today's bootie construction technologies. All the colourways of the GS feature shiny lines, especially across the lace/heel area, almost as if it were duct tape. Although a limited edition, they are cheaper than a pair of normal Superfly's and in my opinion, have smarter colourways. What's not to like when you wear a bootie that is technically saving the environment?

MIZUNO "White/Blue Wave Cup"

Perhaps Mizuno should have thought of a less complicated name, yet the white/ blue wave cup collection is a clean sign towards Mizuno's heritage and quite a smart and understated addition to anyone's boot collection. Any football lover worth his salt will tell you that leather boots are the best on the ball and no one does leather like Mizuno. The Japanese brand has adopted their colourway on Rebula 2, Morelia Neo II and Morelia II. While the Rebula adopts a darker shade of blue, the Morelia and its Neo edition both use a crystal blue shade. Yellow is also present, yet in the right light, it starts changing to gold. All of this has been done to honour Rivaldo's boots at the 2002 World Cup.

ADIDAS "Initiator Pack"

An apt name for the equally apt beginning of a new cycle in Adidas technology, the Initiator pack combines classics predator vibes to give a clean aesthetic feel to tits entire boot range. The X looks closest to the Predator in terms of design and it shows as it has adopted the wonderful black/white and popping red display quite magnificently. The white, present predominantly in the heel, provides a sleek contrast to the black upper. The Predator is the most eye-catching of the lot, sporting a similar popping red vibe with orange Three Stripes branding. The standard Nemeziz is the opposite of X, with an emphasis on the white, which fades to black towards the toe region. Unsurprisingly the soleplate is entirely red. The Messi Nemeziz sports are bluer than any other colour with a nice sunset-ish fade towards red towards the laces. Silver  Messi branding comes as standard along with a contrasting yellow fade towards the instep of the heel region. However, the entire reason this was called the Initiator pack is that there is a new Copa in town. The 19 + is a new evolution from the German labs of Adidas and they have created a beautiful, entirely laceless leather boot. There are zero compromises for the Copa as it harnesses the softness of K-leather along with the amazing technologies of Adidas called FusionSkin. I haven't even felt the boots on my feet but for me, this already wins the best boot of the year award.

ADIDAS "Cold Mode"

I don't care if the boots are of shoddy quality or if they are unnaturally expensive, this by far the best colourway in the world. Yes, this definitely biased because the crystal dark blue/ green-gold/burgundy red is my 3 favourite colours, but one has to admit that this a defining improvement over their despicable Spectral Mode pack. Of all the three the X is the looker with a colour of Raw Green/Night Cargo/Clear Mint, which I would just call dark blue with green and a beautiful gold-like inner lining. The Predator also adopts a similar colourway however the blue is much darker and there is white infused instead. The Nemeziz stands out with its lustrous purple-burgundy red colourway but then again I just prefer blue. Smart addition by Adidas.

PUMA "Attack Pack" Special Edition

Adopting a cleaner camo infused silhouette, the Puma Attack Pack is an understated gem. Draped with white and infused with olive green and dark blue colourways, it is a smart addition to the already beautiful Puma season boots. Personally prefer the Future as it is more colourful...as much as olive green can be.

NIKE "Always Forward Pack"

What a dumb name. That's the first thing that comes to mind when Nike called this the 'Always Forward' pack. What about defenders, do they always play in the final third? What about Nike sponsored goalkeepers? I doubt many of them have been in the opponents D-box, barring the half-time change of course. But if you forget about the unremarkably dumb name, Nike does have a colourful assortment on their hands. Okay, they are not exactly that diverse in colour with all boots barring the Superfly's and the Vapor's getting a distinctly blue colourway, but still, there is colour. Many might say too much colour with all the boots getting a slight (hahaha) highlighter vibe. The Superfly and the Vapor suspiciously follow the Adidas's Team Mode speed boot equivalent ( the X18 +) in having a fluorescent yellow with black accents, while the rest have dark blue with black. The Phantom VSN Elite also incorporate silver, and I have to say they are the best-looking bootie in this foursome. But then again if you're a very flashy person, the Mercurials are the way to go.

PUMA "Stun Pack"

Calling the Stun pack stunning is probably the most of German humour you will ever see, but it remains the aptest description for the new release. While the Future adopts a slight chrome-based upper with dark blue lining, the real star of the show is none other than the One. Dipped in dark blue and crystal hues of the same blue (obviously... which are coincidentally my favourite colours) the One looks effortlessly gorgeous. Adidas and Nike have no chance of bettering this cuz when Puma get their colourway right they remain the king of the game,

PUMA "LDN City Pack"

We know London was grey but not this grey. While its rivals release a wider homologation of colours, Puma has gone with the tried and tested black and/or grey silhouette. A result of 4 way collab between Puma ( obviously), Pro: Direct, Poet and Yinka the City pack adorns both the Future and the One. The One has a mostly black upper with grey tones present near the Puma logo. The Future, however, goes with all grey look with a rebellious 'No Ball Games' printed on its heels. 

Both boots have orange name branding in case you were wondering what they were called, however, the party piece has to be the colourful insoles based on the artiste's childhood like tickets, phones, menu cards the lot. A very cold pack, but its what's inside that matters.

NEW BALANCE "Horizon Pack"

New Balance is another brand who have recently upped their ante on the footballing scene and their Tekela and the Furon are a testament to it. One of the most underrated boot makers New Balance has done the opposite of UA and gone with a more colourful yellow/black upper. While the Tekela goes with the highlighter yellow and black upper, the Furon uses a more yellowish-green and of course black upper. The yellow 'N' is a definite standout on the Furon as its colours are darker, whereas the maze of yellow lines on the Tekela's upper makes the N less visible. Still, these are 'popping' boots with an eye-catching design you could probably see from a mile away. Very impressive.

UNDER ARMOUR "Blue Circuit"

Under Armour have (finally) updated their boot packs for the 2018 season with a stunning blue/white colourway dominating their Magentico and Spotlight booties. The Magnetico can claim to have to the most colour with a gradual blue to white fade across the 'control' focused upper. The spotlight, however, uses a clean white upper with grey camo near the heel area accentuated greatly by the bright blue contrast 'UA' logo. Under Armour has adopted a clean look but the understated look on their pack. Blue fans would love this.

NIKE "Vapor PE"

Many of us indeed hate P.E. But this ain't physical education bruv. This is what you call 'Design education'. This what Adidas' 'Spectral Mode' pack should have looked like. Beautiful, crystalline design donning a famous silhouette, Nike has struck all the right chords with this one. 

It just looks so dazzling, and my-oh-my the soleplate is like a flexible effigy of a very dark rainbow ( more towards the green) lathered with gold and silver or like the kind of exhaust colours you see on expensive tailpipes, setting the landscape for the triangular studs to jut out like majestic mountains in a twinkling paradise. It's perfect.

 Of course, the all-white upper(  at least near the laces as much of the boot and the swooshes have a heavy helping of silver) will get dirty fairly easily but its something we won't have to worry about as A: It's only for Modric and B: If Nike does a public sell it will be in extremely limited quantities and sky-high prices and will get sold out faster than a hungry man wolfing a packet of Twinkies. While yes, this is not a mass-produced boot or even a pack you have to admit that this is sheer designing brilliance by Nike. The CR7 'Natural Diamond' looks like its made out of lethargically painted cardboard in comparison. Ronaldo lost the award and the bragging rights for the sexiest boots in town. As much as I am a Messi fan, this is Modric's year. Adidas is nowhere close to this one.

NIKE " CR7-Chapter 7" 

The final chapter of a 7 ( obviously) number boot pack made by Nike celebrating Cristiano Ronaldo's ridiculous achievements in the 'beautiful game' is a stunning piece of red/silver and a characteristic black swoosh. We reckon it looks better than any given Superfly on the market right now and that makes the boot even more of a bangin' buy. We did get to see CR7 himself wear it on the pitch in Juventus' Champions League clash with Valencia but sadly ( and slightly surprisingly..emphasis on slightly), Ronaldo's red card at a paltry 29 mins gave precious little viewership to the footie world. Still, a Superfly remains one of the best looking and perhaps aggressive boots on the market. One with a CR7 logo won't instantly make you into the hulking Portuguese but at the end of the day, it somehow does give you additional confidence. And did I mention its looks?

ADIDAS "Spectral Mode" - Messi

When you are one of the greatest players of all time it makes sense that your sponsors decide to make you feel all the more special. And that's exactly what Adidas has done with their Nemeziz Messi edition. Continuing their storied collaboration with the best ( if not one of the best) players in the world, Adidas have used a blue ( again) hue to highlight Messi's tailored boots. We think it looks a lot better than the normal pale grey version of the Spectral mode pack. Plus blue would look less dirty than a grey, but at the end of the day, both are a light shade. Loads of Messi branding and containing an 18.1 upper with the collar of the 17.1 Messi surely have made them fit him comfortably. Cause one of the bloody GOAT's can do whatever they want.

ADIDAS 'Spectral Mode'

Jumping from their colourful hullabaloo bandwagon of the 'Team Mode' pack, the 'Spectral Mode' characterises Adidas's more classy side. A much more cleaner and low-key colour pack, Adidas has shown again, that white boots are not exactly the worst. White is the founding colour of this pack with the X and the Nemeziz having all white bodies, although there is faint ( very faint) greyish like colour implemented on the Nemeziz. While the grey remains almost invisible if the lighting is correct, the strawberry-esque pink ( with a slight peach tone..almost like the 'Naked' lipsticks) is easily defined on the Predator ( no doubt done to accentuate Man Untied's third kit). The Copa version is perhaps the most colourful, opting a full turquoise paint job with more colour infused in the ankle area. We can't fathom why this pack is 'Spectral'; if Adidas had implemented crystal-like stripes instead of traditional white ( or pinkish in the Preds), then at least there would be some sense. But if clean is the way you want to go, there are very few other boots in the market like the 'Spectral Mode'. Hopefully, there is like a 'Ninja Mode' around the corner.

ADIDAS 'Team Mode'

Adidas's new Team Mode pack is a flurry of colours, with neon highlighter X models could be used if you want the defender to see you speeding from 2 miles away. The Nemeziz is a beautiful sea blue and if the light shines right, it is probably the most aesthetically good looking boot out of the 4. The Predator has a classic black/white/red scheme which should cater to Predator fans, old and new alike. The Copa has a subdued white/black colour scheme with swirling shades of blue accentuating the 'collar' as well as the soleplate.

NIKE 'Raised On Concrete'

Nike's 'Raised On concrete' pack is self-explanatory, with 3 out of 4 boots following the red and grey colour scheme, whereas the Tiempo is a classic leather black. The red tone pops well on the Hypervenom, Vapors and the Tiempos but is more subdued for the new Phantom VSN Elite, which in my opinion is the most aesthetic out of the 4 booties. People with a good memory will spot that the Hypervenoms, when first released early last year had the same grey/red colour scheme for the woman's edition, but the grey here is lighter and the red is almost lipstick-like.

NIKE 'Rising Fire'

An obviously predictable burgundy/orange/black colour scheme dominates Nikes new pack for the new season. Surprisingly this pack only covers 2 of Nike's silos, with the Mercurial yadda-yadda-yadda and the VSN Elite receiving this gorgeous treatment. However, Nike maybe updates the other 2 booties from its collection, as we have no doubt the Tiempo and the Hypervenoms would look at home in this 'racy ' colour scheme. Just wish they had done it burgundy and gold tho. Would have looked nicer.

PUMA 'Uprising Pack'

Puma only sells two boots compared to Adidas (4) and Nike(4). So to make them stand out Puma has given them a succinctly popping colour scheme. The new Future 2.1 look stellar in another highlighter like orange, black and burgundy edition scheme. However, the most eye-catching of the duo is obviously the Puma One 19.1 with a shiny chrome silver accented with the highlighter orange collar and a colour fading (from orange to black) soleplate.

PUMA 'Eclipse Pack'

If you want to blackout out a boot and still make it look sexy, Puma is the way to go. The Eclipse pack is just black..black..and uh..more black(there is a slight silvery glow somewhere). The Puma One's as well as the Future absolute kill this look and are by far the only black boots I'll want to buy in this current market. Sleek, sharp, and hopelessly underrated, blackouts are the way to go.

NEW BALANCE "Black and White Pack" (Limited Edition)

An uninspiring pack name but nevertheless doing its job, New Balance's new pack is sleek, clean and minimalist, just the way I like it. A black boot is always a good looking boot and brighty whiteys are a good way to announce yourself on the pitch no matter the fact that you are the league's leading top own goal scorer. New Balance has been having something of a renaissance lately and from its running shoes to its clothing gear, has been providing top dog wear for a cheaper than the big '3' price. With Sadio Mane now on their roster, New Balance finally has a proper star in their scarce ranks, which is no doubt helped by the fact that the Senegal international has 3 goals in 2 games. A clean start to the league business is a good start, with the Tekela and the Furon equally getting doped in this paint job, and though it is a limited edition, it represents a statement of clear intent to its other rivals.

MIZUNO 'Black/Gold' Pack

Mizuno has as always been a name in classic leather football boots and it shows with its wonderful crafting of black and gold colourways on 2 of their leather boots. The Morelia is for the more flashy player and with its full-on gold colourway and black accents, your feet are bound to be glowing when the sun shines just right. The Rebula opts for the opposite understated look with a classic black leather upper with gold accents. Mizuno has always been a less popular brand, relative to the heavyweights like Adidas, Nike or Puma, but no football player worth his salt will deny that having a pair of Mizuno's gives you the kind of confidence and comfort only great leather boots of yore could combine in one ( if not 2) seamless packages. The most underrated boots? Probably. One of the best? Most definitely.

'list will be updated as soon as other shoe companies release their packs'