Even though Amaju Pinnick, the Nigeria Football Federation president, has replaced Adidas with Nike as a key partner, he’d better teach his supervisees to distinguish between fake and original sketchers.
So, you need a pair of good original Adidas sneakers for daily use or sports. While you can choose to purchase them online or offline, mentally tick off ALL points on the following list. Not to skip even one, you may as well save the link or take a photo/printscreen of the page.
Find the original Adidas sneakers on Jiji
“Made in” label
For the purpose of cost saving, the production of most originally German Adidas shoes are outsourced. In 2012, official Adidas reported to operating over 1,000 overseas factories with vast majority of them located in Turkey, India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. So, don’t be caught off guard when the label indicates a location different from China.
Google it
If you already picked a model, go ahead and Google official Adidas website. Normally, you can zoom in the picture of your sneakers. Don’t just scrape the surface – take a closer look at the materials. There’s also a good app called youVerify for those iPhone owners who sell original Adidas to prove their serious intentions.
Original vs Fake
Materials.
Adidas sneakers are known for top-notch quality. Commonly spread fakes can be spotted through messy cut off threads, unfinished seams looking outside, and slack gluing on the outside. Likewise, inside part of both shoes should leave no doubts as to its quality.
Leather on non-original shoes will be overly shiny too so keep your eyes open.
Laces and lace eyelets.
The first thing that gives a new look to your well-worn shoes is laces. Therefore, to prolong life expectancy of your sneakers, Adidas adds a pair of new laces to the box depending on a model. So, if you end up buying a pair of new shoes, it would be a good idea to search for neatly packed laces that should look like on the picture below. Again, it is not a hard-boiled rule and not all the models are sold with extra pair of laces.
But what about lace eyelets? Normally, lace holes are non-metal, however, you can find metal in some older models.
No heel tag.
Tiny triangle behind speaks for itself – you are holding a 100% fake in your hands. Adidas stopped producing sneakers with heel tags back in 2004-2005.
Serial number and logo.
Look for a serial number on each sneaker. Both of them should be unique and NEVER identical. For fake makers this is rather an easy thing to remember, but for reasons yet unknown to us most non-original Adidas shoes feature similar serial numbers.
Adidas logo is never a sticker. Instead, it is embossed or stitched on a tongue or a sole.
Package.
Purchasing brand new Adidas shoes make sure all numbers on the box match digits on a tongue label. Original sneakers NEVER miss a single digit.
PS. Just in case you have a chance to hold fake and original Adidas shoes in your hands at the same time, remember: genuine footwear will normally be heavier than the fake.
Pick your original Adidas sneakers on JiJi
