There’s nothing like it

One of the most enjoyable things about football collecting is getting a new pair of boots. There is nothing like opening a box of a new pair of boots when you’re about to buy them at a store or opening up the package after it arrives. There’s this moment when one gets filled with all the possibilities of what you can accomplish in a new pair while one is looking at them for the first time. That is, for those of us who wear every pair we collect! This is the point when most people notice most of the details of the boots. A little bit of structure here, the design of the soleplate, all the places its flexes and bends and the different parts of the boots. An old Umbro advert from several years back sums up this love well. I think this is also the reason unboxing videos are so popular.

Another thing that I and a lot of others love about getting a new pair of boots is when you lace them for the first time and start kicking a ball around in them. The first time you ping a long ball. The first time you bend or hammer a shot into the net. As long as I have been playing, that feeling never gets old for me. Going back to ads that capture these feelings, I have always loved the ads that Mizuno put out in which its just Keisuke Honda talking about the boots as he’s kicking a ball around. Mizuno and Honda have done several ads like this.

For me personally, the first time I really had this much excitement with a new pair of boots was when I got the white/silver colourway of the Vapor IIIs. They looked so clean, and felt good on feet, I remember the day I bought them I took them out with me when I went out with friends to go watch an FC Dallas match (Dallas’ local pro team). I was that damn excited. I must have looked like such a nerd!

Another instance when this excitement was really driven home to me was the first time I got a pair of Mizuno boots. I got a pair of the Wave Neogrado IIIs. When the arrived, I immediately took them outside for a test drive. Those boots ended up going to several trials with me and even when I got a new pair I was loathe to play in that new pair. Plus, the old advert that had them in it was brilliant, and yes that is a young Shinji Kagawa in that ad. Honda is in it too though he’s harder to recognize him without his bleached hair.

This is still something that happens whenever I get a new pair of boots. It’s because of this that its still easy to go overboard and buy too many boots. But I think that even if you’re only buying 1 or 2 pairs of boots a year its still easy to get this feeling. Some might argue that because someone is buying less boots, the feeling might be stronger. All the same, this is the joy we find for ourselves.

After all, its cheaper than cars!

What boots made you feel like this? Let me know in the comments and be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
じゃあね！