In football, trends come and go. Kangaroo leather almost disappeared from collections a few seasons ago. But it's back. The football touch if back. And there's nothing better than natural leather for a perfect touch with the ball. Nike Football is aware of it and launches a pach which features a perfect combination of kangaroo leather with synthetic materials like Flyknit (Mercurial, Hypervenom and Magista) and el Kangalite (Tiempo).
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It's probably the best merge work between inoovation and technology. The past years we've seen lots and lots of models which tried to combine the XXI century inoovations with classic elements... but never with such a good result. So lets review the Tech Creft pack models!
MERCURIAL SUPERFLY TECH PACK
The fastest players on the planet also miss sometimes a little bit o touch to improve their controls and strikes to make those impossible goals. These players would also like to have the Nik's latest update of the Mercurial with natural leather.
Mercurial Superfly Tech Pack
The footballers foot is split in different areas. And Nike decides to add leather to the area which is going to be in touch with the ball. The Mercurial players also want to have a good touch, and Nike achieves this matter with a very thin leather layer covering the Flyknit material in the forefoot.
Forefoot area Mercurial Superfly Tech Pack
Would introducing leather reduce the characteristics of the Mercurial? Not at all. All the details that make us love the Mercurial Superfly are still there, below the leather layer. The base line is still Flyknit, and to add support and stability, we still have the Brio Cable.
Flyknit and briocables of the Superfly
The biggest innovation we found with the Mercurial Superfly, the day of the launch event, was the Flyknit material they used to built the Dynamic Fit collar which is attached to the rest of the boot providing a sock like sensation makeing the boot an extension of your foot. And obviously, the Tech Craft pack features the Dynamic Fit collar. This technology combined with the natural leather, makes for one of the best fits you'll find.
And to finish, the outsole. An elemant which doesn't receive any modification. It's one of the big elements we find in this silo. There's no other boot in the market with such a good traction on speed actions. The stud pattern and the carbon fiber make for a lot of stability on high speed actions.
SG outsole combining bladed studs with carbon fiber.
The Mercurial Superfly is the boot we see on bota de Cristiano Ronaldo's feet, the Tech Craft pack is not supposed to be worn by the pros. But we always find some exceptions... Will the Portuguese dare to wear them?
HYPERVENOM 2 PHANTOM TECH CRAFT
Agility is the perfect word to define the Hypervenom. But even the biggest fans of this silo miss a little bit more of touch. How can you improve it? Kangaroo leather.
Hypervenom Phantom Tech Pack
The Hypervenom is a very complex boot to build. Why? Because of the goal it wants to cover. It's a boot made for high agility players who base their game on sharp cuts and turns. It's a boot for a player who is going to give the last past or take the shot. So what does he need?: traction, stability, good touch and agility.
Hypervenom Tech Pack fore foot area
When we tried out the new generation of the Hypervenom we loved the sensation of the Dynamic Fit on this model. But we can still notice that the synthetic boots don't provide the same feeling we get with the leather boots. So when we found, a few months ago, that we would see a Hypervenom which would combine kangaroo leather with NikeSkin + Flyknit in the same boot, we knew it'd be a huge deal on this model.
Dynamic fit built with flyknit
The outsole is not as specialized as what we find in the Mercurial line, but still it has some singularities. Here we find a combination of conical studs and bladed studs (rubber and aluminum) placed over a plate which forks into two longitudinal platforms in order to offer an independent stability in all aggressive actions.
Hypervenom outsole 2 Phantom Tech Craft
The flagship player of this model is Neymar. The boots we find the FC Barcelona player wearing will not feature the leather upper because he will continue with the original Phantom II model, but it wouldn't be a big suprisie to see him or Isco or even Rooney enjoying the leather version for the training sessions
MAGISTA OBRA TECH CRAFT
The Creative players already had in the Magista a boot adapted to provide a perfect touch. So they will be the ones to notice less the addition of the natural leather of the Tech pack. But they will find a step forward when it comes to fit. K- leather is still the best in this aspect.
Magista Obra Tech Craft
Complicated challenge the one Nike had with this model. How to improve the touch in the original Magista? The 3 flyknit layers with the NikeSkin finish combined, made for a extremely good sensation in contact with the ball.
Natural leather in the forefoota area of Magista Obra Tech Craft
That's the reason why they leather layer we find in the Magista Obra is a very thin later with a double function: to keep that soft sensation in touch with the ball and, over all, to recover the sensation of the fit we get with natural leather after several uses. The elasticity of the flyknit gives the boot a shape when wearing them but returns to the same shape once you take them off, but the leather "has a memory" because it will maintain the shape of our foot, and that's what makes this Magista Obra Tech Craft such a unique boot.
Leather layer above the flyknit upper.
But do not forget that below the leather layer we stil find the heart of the Magista Obra. Thre Flyknit layers made with high quality woven materials covered with the NikeSkin technology.
Dynamic Fit collar made with Flyknit.
And as we said in the past models, one of the most impressing effects we get with the implementation of the Flyknit material is the Dynamic Fit collar. An extension of the boot that covers the ankle to provide a sock like sensation.
Magista Obra Tech Craft outsole
The outsole of the Magista line was created for the gamemaker. What does he need? First of all: To be able to make turns without the boot getting in the way. That's the reason why almost the entire plate features conical studs. Second: stability. Take a closer look to the stabilizator elements in the bridge area. It's not going to be the best traction outsole of the collection but it will be the most stable.
TIEMPO LEGEND TECH CRAFT
Tiempo is the only silo to the moment which comes with kangaroo leather. So it basically receives a re-styling in color to adapt to the TechPack. For the classis player this will keep being the legendary leather boot since the 90' but with a touch of technology.
Tiempo Legend Tech Craft
For the first time, the tiempo line won't feel alone. This time it has 3 more leather partners, although the Legend model is still going to be the classic model of the collection. With no other intern structures below the kangaroo leather.
Tiempo Legend V Tech Craf kangaroo leather forefoot
Although it would be awesome the Tiempo line was produced like it was done in 1994, to be honest, a football boot must cover the needs of the player and the market has improved a lot since the '90. The speed of the game has increased, footballs are lighter, the football pitch is better... So the Tiempo had to adapt to the new football without loosing it's essence.
KangaLite detail in the Tiempo Legend V
The green area is the one which is going to feature KangaLite materia, a synthetic leather which imitates the natural leather material but maintaining the boot lighter, do it fit's in the current parameters, plus it takes the center gravity point to the front portion. Does it affect the touch and fit? not at all, because it' in an are which doesn't usually touch the ball.
Legend V Tech Craft outsole
And we finish talking about the outsole. If the Tiempo is supossed to be the classic retro boot of the 4 silos, the outsole couldn't break this line. We will find the plate covered almost entirely with conical studs so the player can move freely in all directions with no excesive traction.
Do you also miss the football touch sensation? Nike brings it back with the Tech Craft pack, available starting on August the 13th www.soloporteros.com
