Customized - Kobe 8 SS

Today won't be a shoe review but a Do-It-Yourslef session on one of my pair. The Kobe 8 SS.

Two Decembers ago Nike released their annual Christmas Day themed Kobe 8. Because Kobe was sidelined with his Achilles and Knee injuries the Kobe 9 release was delayed for a few months so Nike decided to do a Christmas Day version of the same shoe. There was the Kobe 8 Christmas Lights in 2012 and the Kobe 8 SS (Shedding Skin) for 2013

The Kobe 8 SS was everything the other colorways provide. It was light as it measured only 9.8 oz on a US size 9. It has that low to the ground feel with Nike's Lunarlon cushioning technology. It has the usual heel clip and medial outrigger for support. And the multi directional herringbone pattern for traction. What the Kobe SS showcased that other Kobe 8 variants did not have is the outer skin. It was a molded snake skin exterior which was laid over the entire upper of the show. It somehow looked like a punk's shoe instead of a basketball shoe.

I used it a couple of times and nothing was surprising with the performance. However, I noticed that after games I had a small pain on my pinkie toe. I initially thought that I needed to break in these pair so I used it again the following weekend. To my surprise I still feel the same pinkie toe pain. I suspected the molded snake skin as the culprit as it prevents the foot from extending when making those stops and cuts. The silicone material restricted the Engineered Mesh from providing that elastic support to my forefoot particularly the medial part of it.

So a couple of months ago I decided to try something crazy and cut out the outer skin of the Kobe 8 SS. I will literally shed the skin of this pair. I got my self a  regular box cutter and a lot of guts. After all this is an eight thousand peso shoe and destroying will be such a waste.

So I started cutting away on the stitches on the collar. Once that was done, I moved on to cutting the silicone molded snake skin. I made sure that I was cutting the edges (nearest the mid sole) to avoid any left over materials that will show. After cutting a couple of centimeters (and not destroying the EM upper) it was easy going around the shoe and cutting the rest of the skin. When I finished with both shoe the result was pretty amazing. The Engineered Mesh (EM) had a black and gray snake patter design which I thought was a lot better looking than the original one. There were some gaps on the mid sole and upper though and I had to bring it to The Lab for that quick glue to ensure that sole separation doesn't happen.

After a couple of weeks with The Lab I finally used it in a pick up game and lo and behold it was a lot more comfortable to use and the pain on my pinkie tow was gone. The silicone mold was really the culprit in preventing my foot from extending on those stops. And instead pressed against it which caused the pain.

Shortly after, the Kobe 9 was released and my edited version of the Kobe 8 SS was placed back in the box and will stay there for months. But at the back of my mind there was something missing with those shoes. A member of Kobe Section PH on Facebook suggested that I paint a swoosh on the side to fill the negative space. And I was seriously considering it but I had to have the right paint (an Angelus Gold paint to be exact). Tried looking for it in Sulit, Ayos Dito and even eBay but no one was selling.

Finally a few weeks ago (during that long Christmas and New Year holiday) I caught a break and saw someone post a Gold Angelus paint for sale. I contacted the seller and met with him. Bought a couple of paint brushes in National Book Store and continued my Kobe 8 customization.

I had to make a trace of the swoosh to ensure that I have the right pattern and the size would be proportionate to my shoe. So I got one of my other Kobe 8 and traced the swoosh. Then I used my box cutter to cut out that swoosh pattern. I pasted the trace over a thin cardboard to ensure that the paint wont seep int to the shoe. Lastly I had to make sure that it is securely fastened on the Kobe 8 SS as I paint it and a regular masking tape did the trick. After letting the first coating dry I removed the pattern and this is what I got

It was no where near a pro would have done it -- as expected (and that was not what I was going for so this worked for me) but it gave my customized Kobe 8 SS the missing piece..."the swoosh' and a little bit of "out of the norm" compared to the other Kobe 8 Christmas SS out there.