Footy Boots has received a whole load of feed back since we ran our article highlighting that on 3 separate occasions, players had experienced problems with the new Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly football boots.
Didier Drogba’s boot was badly damaged when he played in a blacked out Superfly for the Ivory Coast against Turkey in February then this month Andrey Arshavin suffered a foot injury after a tackle from Blackburn’s Andre Ooijer which also ripped the Russian’s £225 Superfly.
Forget Janet Jackson - now that’s what you call a wardrobe malfunction
And only last weekend, a similar fate befell Luis Fabiano after a double tackle on the forward in the Spanish League game between Seville and Valladolid.
Luis Fabiano’s damaged Superfly football boot
After publishing the article, Footy Boots approached Nike for a response. Rather than rushing out a quick rebuttal, Nike have spent the last few days speaking to various members of their organisation and to a number of players before formulating a response. And this is what a spokesman told us today:
Nike is committed to delivering the best possible performance product to our athletes and consumers throughout the world.
Over 1300 hours of wear-testing and extensive athlete feedback and familiarisation have been undertaken in the development of the Mercurial Vapor Superfly football boot. This includes feedback from some of the best players in the world.
Our product development team recently received feedback from the players mentioned in the Footy Boots article and we are making slight modifications to the upper of the boots as a result.
We look forward to seeing some of the world’s best players continuing to score goals and outpace opponents in the Superfly.
Nike say the boot is still being retailed but that deliveries, as a result of this issue, will now be slightly delayed.
Update: The Superfly was launched in August and is now in our shop, order below.
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March 27th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Wow, check out footy-boots kicking up dust in the industry!
Goes to show 1300 hours in a lab can’r compare to 90 minutes in a competetive match.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Its good to see Nike responding to this. I feel better about getting the boot now. and thanks footyboots.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Have to agree with both of you.
Congrats to Footy Boots for flagging this up and well done to Nike for fronting up and updating the design.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Quote from the article.. “Although the boot is still available on pre-order, it now looks as if this updated design will be the one that will hit the shelves on April 1st.”
I can’t see how Nike is going to bring out an “updated version” in just a little over 4 days!! That’s physically and fundamentally impossible.. the re-desgning, re-testing, the whole manufacturing process, packaging, inventory and shipping..hmmm
March 27th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
I can’t see how Nike is going to bring out an “updated version” in just a little over 4 days!! That’s physically and fundamentally impossible.. the re-desgning, re-testing, the whole manufacturing process, packaging, inventory and shipping..hmmm
March 27th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
For 225 pounds.. The most expensive boots available. You must be mad to wear them.
I bet the likes of Drogba, Fabiano and Arshavin would never wear these, and only do cos of the millions of pounds they get to do so.
The material is like plastic, only ever buy leather boots they will last you longer than 90 minutes of competitive football. and at half the price
March 27th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Nike isn’t releasing any version of the Superfly on April 1st, not the old one, not the revamped/improved/modified one. If you read the last line from the post it says…”This football boot has now been withdrawn from retail sale, more news as we get it.”
Let’s see what they can come up with to improve them…
March 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Looks like they’re withdrawing it Jigga-man! Talk about extreme measures!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Footy-boots: WELL DONE! Companies should be accountable to the consumer, since the consumer dollar is what drives the football boot industry. If a consumer shells out $350 for one pair of boots, durability should be a given. Nike obviously overlooked this point in favor of gimmicky technology and flashy colorways.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
well as soon as Drogba ripped his blackouts while playing internationals you just knew there would be a problem.
thankfully nike are doing something about it. well done footy boots for getting this issue dealt with.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Wow! Lol! “Forget Janet Jackson - now that’s what you call a wardrobe malfunction” Omg too funny
March 27th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Gimmicky technology? The flywire in these has been proven to make the shoes Nike makes with it lighter than without it. Yes, they have ripped on 3 occassions, but what about all the other players wearing them where they haven’t ripped? Plus, anyone who plays knows that all shoes rip or break, it happens. I have had more problems with leather cleats and them coming away from the sole of the shoe than I have had with Vapors breaking and I have owned at least one pair of vapor 1-4 and not nearly 1/2 as many leather pairs.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I am a boot designer for another company. (won’t say which one)It takes 3 months to land the shoes after an order is placed. This doesn’t count the R&D time to fix the problem. They’ll be lucky to have orders of the revised samples in the store for the Fall season.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
They are a gimmick. You sound bitter, maybe you are bitter because you spent almost $400 on a pair of lemons. But don’t blame anyone else for you being stupid. You probably thought the fractions of an ounce(yes, Vapor III were 7.1 oz, Vapor IV SL were 7.4 oz) would make a dramatic difference in your game. Sucker.
March 28th, 2009 at 2:58 am
there is a new boot more expensive than the superfly, the puma ferrari limited edition, i read they are lighter than the superfly :O
March 28th, 2009 at 4:08 am
you guys are all saying they only have four days but its not like they just realized there ripping they have probably been working on the problem for awhile and if youve ever wore vapors the material isnt like plastic and my opinion has a way better feel then leather
March 28th, 2009 at 9:20 am
MisterBroom12, do you work for nike or something? Way too touchy!
Fact is, nike messed this up, and are now going to pay the price. I know boots rip, but I’m sure when the f50’s came out, 3 pairs in Pro football alone hadn’t ripped in the space of about 3 weeks. Nike needs to get their priorities right, lightweight above everything, or safety of the players? I wonder which one they originally chose…..
March 28th, 2009 at 11:40 am
i think these shoes are great but wht do u guies think f50.9 or these
March 29th, 2009 at 2:03 am
I hope these get released soon and in this color way I had preorder them so was counting down the days till I was going to get them so I hope NIKE fix the problem quick.
March 29th, 2009 at 4:23 am
still… the shoes will be selling soon and i am just not sure if those will be already improved? Seems like too short a time to make an impact on the boots for sale.
Better to try a little bit later… that’s what I’ve found with new fangled electronics toys as well.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Um you might want to know that they won’t be released on the normal date as they mention in the article. So you have to wait anyway until the updated one comes out.
March 30th, 2009 at 5:23 am
I think the Nike has been a little careless in making the boots too fragile but I still want to get the boot ASAP!!!
March 31st, 2009 at 6:54 am
I think this superfly boots will be better, but get the superfly after nike has modified them. Adidas F50.9 is nice & everything but I find the ability to customise your boots a tad 2 troublesome. I my opinion I think the F50.9 weighs alittle heavier than the superfly due to the ability to customise your boots. So in my opinion I’ll definatly get these superfly instead of the F50
March 31st, 2009 at 6:58 am
get superfly. After Nike modify them. I believe this are lighter as compared to the F50
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 pm
not being funny where are nike going with the vapour they should just keep it simple like the vapour 3 which every one loved and the lace cover is rubbish on the vapours not to mention how rubbish this superfly idea has turned out to be
April 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am
the f-50s have way to much
material they mess up your touch a little the vapors feel like your not even wearing them
June 1st, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Correct the vapor is a great boot but that lace cover on the vapors really suck. but now the new f50.i is out i think these might be the go….the look pretty awesome. Still no convinced on the whole mix and match studs idea. Maybe they should look at the f30.i design with the sole studs like a predator with an f50.i upper like messi prefers…
June 17th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The vapor is much better than f50s i have owned both so if u r comparing get vapors i don’t know if I’m willing to spend 350$ for the superflys though o ya the f50s also weigh 11.2 ounces and the adipures are 2 ounces lighter then them
September 19th, 2009 at 4:42 am
How much of a difference can 3 ounces make. Please people, your kinding yourselves. Your legs probably weigh 50 pounds or more. For all you mathmaticians that’s 800 ounces. I own the F50.9’s and they have the best touch of any boot I’ve ever owned. And they cost $100 less than the superfly’s. Quite a deal. The superfly’s are all gimmicks. If you
want to be good practice practice practice. You can’t buy skill with expenisive boots.