Summer is heating up and this month kicked off with a slew of highly-anticipated releases, as well as a surprise drop by Nike. June 1st got the ball rolling with the release of the Nike Air Fear of God 1 in the “Orange Pulse” and “Frosted Spruce” colorways. Unfortunately, if you look throughout all of social media it seems as if the only people who were actually able to obtain the Nike Air Fear of God 1’s were celebrities and highly touted young basketball players. Jerry Lorenzo’s F.O.G. collection always comes with its hype and this iteration was no exception.

June 1st also saw the release of the Air Jordan 7 “Ray Allen PE.” This silhouette was dressed in a black nubuck upper along with purple, green, and grey accents to pay homage to the old school Milwaukee Bucks. Should Jordan Brand keep on releasing colorways of P.E. models from their signature athletes, or should some stay in the vault forever? Another Nike Zoom Kobe 4 Protro dropped on June 1st in the “Carpe Diem” colorway. This summer could see a lot of young hoopers wearing the Kobe 4 Protros as its style and performance is still very much on par with todays standards and most of these teenagers were only 5-7 years old during the shoe’s initial run.

On June 2nd Nike surprised us with a shock drop of the Air Jordan 4 Raptors (again), but this time in a “Drake PE” form. Nike and Jordan Brand have done this in the past; almost toying with us, releasing a shoe that is 99% the same as another, but changing one slight detail on it to increase the hype. This pair was basically the same version that released back in August of 2018, also retailing for $200, with the only difference being this new “PE” version has a purple Jumpman on the tongue with Drake’s signature below it in red. There have been rumors going around that the 2018 Jordan 4 Raptors had a release run of 200,000 pairs while the “Drake PE” saw its numbers at around 15,000 pairs.

June 6th saw the release of the Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 V2 “Vanta” as well as the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Black Reflective,” with the “Non Reflective” version releasing a day later on the 7th. The 700’s display simple black and dark grey tones on the upper while sitting on top of a dark grey midsole. The 350 V2’s consist of just an all black prime knit upper with the reflective pair being completely 3M when the flash hits it. Is anyone else getting Yeezy 350 V2 fatigue, or is the demand for them still steady with each coming release? The 700’s retail for $300 and the 350 V2’s are at the expected $220 mark. To celebrate Pride Month, Nike will be releasing their new Air Max 720 model (June 8), the Zoom Pegasus Turbo (June 8), and the Air Max 90 (June 15), all dressed in a rainbow color scheme in accordance with Nike’s “Be True” campaign. The Air Max 720’s have a retail price of $190, Zoom Pegasus Turbo – $180, and Air Max 90 – $130.

This weekend Jordan Brand will release the “Reflections of a Champion” pack which includes the Air Jordan 6, 7, and 8 respectively. Each model represents an original colorway but instead of white leather or black nubuck for the materials, the pack has light grey 3M uppers on each pair. Is Jordan Brand reaching with this concept of “Reflections of a Champion” by simply releasing 3M sneakers? Are you willing to pay the hefty retail price of $225 each? At this point, the exclusivity factor on each pair may be the only thing to draw in buyers’ attention.