How To Tell If Your Nike Air Force 1 Mid x Supreme NBA is Real Or Fake

How To Tell If Your Nike Air Force 1 Supreme NBA is a Fake, The official Sneaker Factory legit check.

 

 

Nike Air Force 1: Real or Fake?

How to Spot Fake Nike Air Force 1’s

Today we have two new pairs of the Nike Air Force 1 Mid Supreme NBA White. One pair is a real Nike 100% authentic purchased from StockX. The other pair of Supreme NBA White was recently purchased in China. The real Nike Air Force 1 Mid from StockX set us back US$343.95. The fake Nike Air Force 1 Mid Supreme NBA cost RMB $300, or about US$45. Now it’s time to see which Nike is counterfeit and which one is real.

Real vs. Fake : What to look at first?

Can I buy real shoes at fake prices? 
Simply put, NO.  If the price seems too good to be true- the shoes are fake.

What if the footwear packaging is missing?
If the sneakers do NOT have the packaging included…watch out!

What about shoe production quality? 
Real Nike shoes can have some quality issues. Look closely for small flaws.
A real Nike may have some flaws but more than one or two issues is a danger sign for fake shoes.

StockX to the rescue

The StockX sneaker marketplace saves you the worry and trouble of authenticating shoes. When you purchase shoes from StockX you receive a guarantee that their staff has carefully checked them over to confirm the shoes are real. The Stockx team are real pros, They know how to make a sneaker legit check. When your shoes arrive they will have a StockX badge and sales slip. Hang on to these! When you are ready to sell, these will be very valuable. Visit their online shop: https://stockx.com

How to spot a fake Supreme Sneaker?

We have two pairs of the Nike Air Force 1 Mid x Supreme NBA in white. Before we cut them open we are going to make a few quick observations.

 

 

How to Tell Real Shoes Like Airforce Ones From Fakes. Can you see the fake Nike Supreme?

Color Matching

Nike Supreme Air Force 1 Mid

How to Spot Fake Nike Air Force One Sneakers? Look at the colors! Right off the top, we see the fake Nike Air Force 1 Mid’s have a major problem with color matching. Check out the collar lining. The real Nike collar lining is white with a smooth, turned out seam. The fake Supreme NBA is yellowish (off white) with a lumpy seam.

Fake shoes are usually made with local market materials, meaning quality and color matching may be poor. Authentic Nike shoes will only be made with high-quality materials and the material color matching will be perfect.

 

 

Have a look at the heel view of the top collar. The real shoe has a smooth, round curve. The fake Nike is a completely different shape.

 

Counterfeit Nike Logos and Labels

Logo and labels are often a weak point in counterfeit Nike sneakers. When you make a Nike sneaker legit check you must study the logos carefully. Our pair of knock-off Nike Supremes has all the common faults. The Chicago Bulls logo on the vamp has some problems. The nostril holes on the fake are mis-shapen. Also, on the fake shoe, you can see an air vent hole has been filled in with ink.

The Supreme embroidery logo on the top strap of the fake sneaker actually looks okay, but the edge stitching around the strap is a bit rough. The Nike swoosh logo on the strap ends have very different stitching patterns. The fake has perimeter stitching, while the authentic Nike has solid cross stitching. Note the rough stitching on the strap perimeter.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.The tongue logo label on the fake is close, but not perfect. The bottom leg of the Nike ”E” is buried in the tail of the swoosh. The ”Supreme” logo is a little thin when compared to the real logo.

Look closely at the Boston Celtics logo on the lateral side mudguard. The ink color on the leprechaun’s vest is not correct and on the fake Nike, you don’t see any clovers. Now take a closer look at the basketball. The printing design on the ball is incomplete. Look above the basketball, you can see the stitching on the eyestay is rough and does not follow the pattern edge.

Construction Quality

Notice the centering mark on the tip of the toe cap. The real Nike shoe does not have the centering mark. When comparing the strap ends you will see that they are different. The fake Supreme Air Force 1 has a mismatched end cap, you can see the plastic is not fitting correctly. The real strap end has smooth, even stitching, while the fake has rough stitching.  You can see rough stitching all over the fake shoe.

The Fake Nike has thicker leather.

Fake vs real Sneakers Leather Quality 

Both the real shoes and fake shoes are made with plastic coated “Action” leather. The fake shoe actually has thicker leather. You can see the blue chrome tanned leather edge on both shoes. The edge of the fake’s leather is much darker.    

Nike Air Force 1 outsole tooling

The Nike Air Force 1 outsole is a classic design but the tooling is modern. Nike manufactures shoes in China and Vietnam. Rather than move outsoles and tooling from country to country, Nike will own several sets of tooling. The Nike Air Force 1 outsole has a distinctive star pattern. What I find interesting is the fake outsole unit has a cleaner, more organized, texture pattern. If you zoom in on the fake you can see a cleaner mold parting line and a slightly sandblasted texture. The real Nike sole unit lacks the sandblasted texture and has a uniquely chaotic star pattern. The heel logo on the counterfeit Nike is close to the original but has some problems. The fake “Air” logo is further from the parting line. The design line has a wider gap between the “R” and the end. You can also see the “I” on the fake Nike is a bit narrow compared to the real logo.

Fake Nike Footbeds

The two footbeds are interesting to compare side by side. The real Nike footbed has a size sticker. You can also see a portion of the Supreme logo’s red box which is in stark contrast with the footbed fabric. 
The footbed of the fake Nike is actually thicker, and when comparing the cut edges, the copy footbed has a cleaner, trimmed edge. Lastly, the bottom design. The last notation and size mark are clearly different. On the underside of the footbeds you can see the pattern made by the gluing machine. The real and fake footbeds have different stripe or gluing patterns. The Glue pattern is great fake “tell”.  

How do I rate this fake Nike?

Overall, this shoe is an okay fake. Not a great fake and not the worst we have seen. The material quality is okay, the outsole assembly is pretty good, and the assembly stitching quality is poor. The fake Nike shoes have visible over-gluing and paint touch-ups. The embroidery logos and woven labels are of high quality but the screen printed logo coloring and artwork are substandard.

Does this fake have a “tell”?

After a few minutes of study, we did find a tell. This is a tiny detail but if you are looking closely it’s a dead give away. Look carefully at the cut lace keeper on the PU tongue face. On the real Nike Supreme Air Force 1 you can see the lace keeper is a single layer of PU with white backing.  Look carefully at the fake Nike, in this case, you can see a layer of blue-tinted PU foam glued to the back of the lace keeper!    

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