I don't consider $250 a bargain consider all the modifications required to make them look like the real Nike Mags and the fact that they are unauthorized replicas. They might be worth the $250 (to me) if out of the box they were a 1:1 Nike Mag replica with the correct lights, shape, and materials.
And of course, when discussing the price, I'm referring to the AliExpress sellers, NOT the buyer/collector who is willing to pay for something he really wants.
I just feel like NONE of us should have to pay $250 for replicas. If it were up to me we would all have authentic Nike Mags on our feet. =)
The thing with these particular shoes is that the original 2011 nike release is extremely limited. Even now, on average, you are looking at $4000 upwards for a pair, or maybe a bit less if you are lucky to find one.
In the context of the original 2011 release and its value, $250 can be considered a bargain for some as it is definitely more reasonable compared to $4000, but you still have to modify a few things to get it more accurate, but thats the challenge for most of us. $250 + add in another $200 for parts and all equipment and your own time/labour, then compared with the price of the originals, you can get a very close wearable version without worrying about damaging them.
Of course, we'd all love a cheaper 1:1 version, but like I said previously, none of these factories have been able to get their hands on an original 2011 shoe to desconstruct (presumably because Nike guarded them very well and they haven't bothered to buy a pair just to deconstruct). Instead, the factory has taken a Mark Poon replica, made a V1 generation replica which was pretty bad, then made a V2 which is more accurate but still not 1:1. Its now resulted in an identical V2 without branding bought by HC. All these fakes, and the licensed version have originated from a fan made shoe by Mark Poon! That's the funny part. They haven't bothered to make a proper 1:1 version from scratch which is well within their means.
They have used a fan made shoe and we've ended up where we are.
In some aspects, the home DIY method of modifying the knockoffs seems to have given a longer lasting result in terms of lighting output, with a 9v battery lasting more than 16 hours.
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I don't consider $250 a bargain consider all the modifications required to make them look like the real Nike Mags and the fact that they are unauthorized replicas. They might be worth the $250 (to me) if out of the box they were a 1:1 Nike Mag replica with the correct lights, shape, and materials.
And of course, when discussing the price, I'm referring to the AliExpress sellers, NOT the buyer/collector who is willing to pay for something he really wants.
I just feel like NONE of us should have to pay $250 for replicas. If it were up to me we would all have authentic Nike Mags on our feet. =)
I don't think even Nike would ever release a 1:1 version with full electronics for $250. Its a specialised shoe with fragile electronics and its not really a general wearable shoe, its supposed to be a prop. For a profitable release, Nike would most likely charge a $600 or more, probably a $1000 to justify a shoe with electronics and for profitabiity.
A normal Yeezy shoe costs $250 retail, so expecting a Nike Mag with full electronics and complex wiring for the same price is impossible.
Thats the way of the world unfortunately, so looks like DIY is the best option at the moment.
