Super Punch

Original McFly sneakers from Back to the Future II on sale at eBay

Posted: 12 Jul 2008 11:31 AM CDT

This is IT. The one and only original prototype of the Nike shoes Michael J. Fox wore in the movie Back To the Future II. You are bidding on a single shoe, not a pair. The shoe was designed as a working model, not a practical shoe, although it can be worn. It was worn once to the premiere of the movie in Beaverton, Oregon, and again by Michael J. Fox in Hollywood at a test fitting.

Back in 1989 I worked in the Nike Sport Research Lab as the Electronics Technician. The original BTF2 shoes for the movie were built by hand in the Nike Sample Room, and I was the one who designed and installed the electronics for them.

The lights in the side of the midsole and the Nike logo on the ankle strap are electro-luminescent panels, and there is an array of six randomly flashing LEDs on the side of the heel that were never visible in the movie

They were originally called "Slamball Shoes," and that's what most people called them around Nike. There was supposed to have been a scene in the movie in which Marty plays Slamball, a game like 3D racquetball where the participants wear magnetic shoes which allow them to climb up the walls. That scene was never shot because the cost of building a huge room on gimbals to create the effect was too great.

The REAL name of the shoes in Marty McFly's world of 2015 was the "Nike Mag" because of their magnetic properties, and that's what is molded in the back of the heel.
The shoe is in "good" condition for what it is, but since the polyurethane midsole and fabric body of the shoe were simply spray-painted in the suggested color, some of the paint has flaked off over time. The LEDs, the E-L panel on the ankle strap, and one of the two E-L panels on the midsole still work. The other midsole panel comes on if you flex the shoe slightly. I originally thought I could get away with a rigid connection between those two panels, but it turned out that the flexing of the shoe during wear broke the connection. It might be fixable with some delicate surgery, but I never had the guts to try it.

The included power/electronics pack is hard-wired to the shoe, and requires two 9 volt batteries to operate.

I believe the shoe was built as a men's size 9, although I couldn't swear to it. It is whatever size Fox was at the time.

The shoe comes with a color photocopy of the original design drawing by Nike's Tinker Hatfield (the designer of all of the Air Jordans, among many other things).

More photos at eBay. Via.

Adidas used to make shoes for the armed forces

Posted: 12 Jul 2008 11:20 AM CDT

In the late 70s and throughout the 80s, adidas provided the armed forces with both boots such as the GSG9 and also training shoes. This is a reintroduction of one of these training shoes - the BW Army - designed for the German military. Using classy leathers and utilising laser perforations instead of overlays, this iconic silhouette is given a clean but recognisable look.

You can buy the Adidas BW Army Clean sneakers here or here. (Which isn't to say I think they look nice.)

The Russians used to wear Chinese-made Adidas sneakers in Afghanistan:

"Russia's boots defeated the Nazis 40 years before. Soviet troops were now wearing "sneakers." They held up better on the rocks and you could run in them without carrying the weight of iron on your legs. I got a pair of these myself. They were made by the Chinese and after some problems the merchants got a connection that would supply them. I remember once that some journalists from Poland were in Bagram, but one of the commanders told them to only aim their cameras from our waists to our faces, because they did not want others to know that the soldiers of the USSR were in shoes that joggers would wear."

Follow this link for more on the topic.

Inspired by this post by William Gibson.

25% off everything at Play-Asia

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 11:53 PM CDT

Head over before everything's gone.

Vintage Weightlifter and Atlantean (?) papercraft

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 11:27 PM CDT

Download these projects and more at Bigfoot Studios.

Horrifying Mr. Bibendum statue

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 11:11 PM CDT

Approximately four feet tall, and was auctioned off here. Via.

*Find vintage Bibendum collectibles at eBay.

OK, this is what the Iranian missile launch really looked like

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:54 PM CDT

More photoshoppery here, here, and here.

Gizmodo's running a photoshop contest until Tuesday:

My Hero My Legend toy auction

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:39 PM CDT

The auction is now underway.

Here are a few standouts:

A little over 8 days left for the boxer. Via.

*If you want something cheaper, 50% off toys and comic books at TFAW.

Gay Satanists for Obama (logo)

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:26 PM CDT

High-res image here. Via.

Did you know if you Google obama and regret, you get just shy of 2 million results. That's a whole lot of regret.

*Previously: McCain 1908 t-shirt.

Iron Man desktop wallpaper by Cheeks

Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:22 PM CDT