Back in 1998, football boots where usually made of leather, heavy and equipped with a tongue. There was no clear leader in the market, and boots with a more developed framework were startig to appear. Nike was not a strong brand in Football and it never identified itself as a company that followed other brands´ style. However they wanted to strongly step into the sector and they knew they needed to launch something unique.
This is how the first Nike Mercurial was born. It was a boot with a synthetic framework that would become the first one of a legacy that continues nowadays. The current Mercurial Superfly IV is about to become 2 years old, which means it is time to take another step further and therefore, say farewell. Due to this change of generation, the American brand launches a special edition that has left us speechless again.
What the Mercurial, is the model that pays a tribute to the speed boot´s history. I am a Mercurial fan since it first came out and I understand that someone who is not a huge football boots fan may even think this design is ugly.
What the Mercurial (Cuál es la mercurial) es el modelo que rinde homenaje a la historia de la bota de velocidad. Soy seguidor de la línea Mercurial desde que salió por primera vez y entiendo que quien no conozca la historia o no esté metido en este mundillo pueda pensar que es un diseño hasta feo.
However, it is important to appreciate what Nike has done here, the 16 most significant models of the last 18 years together in one boot. Something we had never seen before. When I picked it up with my hands I have been able to identify each one of the 16 references included, which has made me remember about a certain year, championship, or player.
That is what this boot is about, so when you look at it you can remember the 1998 World Cup with the image of Ronaldo Nazario standing with his boots tied up and hanging around his neck, after losing against France in the final. The 2002 chrome boots he used to win a World Cup and the Ballon D´Or, Cristiano Ronaldo´s Safari and his carbon fibre boots, Brio Cables, and the Dynamic Fit Collar, the boots for the Euro Cup, and the boots when Spain won the 2010 World Cup… A time travel through a football boot.
Now that you know the basics about this boot, it is time for me to explain to you which Mercurial model is represented by every stripe.
-Nike Mercurial (1998): the first model of the Mercurial line, destined to revolutionize the former concept related to a football boot.
-Mercurial Alpha Project (2000): on the backside of the heel we can see the tribute to the second generation of the Mercurial line that was not as successful but showed that the American brand did not back down.
-Mercurial Vapor I Silver/Chrome/Black/Volt/ (2002): the lightest in the market, which was used by Ronaldo Nazario to win the Korea and Japan World Cup with a Chrome design that had never been seen before.
-Mercurial Vapor III Yellow/Pine Green (2006): We go back to another world Cup and the same main character, Ronaldo Nazario and his exclusive yellow Mercurial boots.
-Mercurial Vapor SL (2008): Cristiano Ronaldo is already a Worldwide star, and Nike allows him to wear an exclusive boot, the Mercurial SL (Super Light) model, made of carbon fibre.
-Mercurial Vapor Supefly II Metallic Mach Purple/Total Orange (2010): South Africa World Cup, remembered by all Spaniards. Nike launches the same decoration, on silver and orange, the presence of Brio Cables, and carbon fibre on the sole.
CR7 Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Safari (2010): Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Nike´s franchise player and receives an exclusive model that was shown on all newspapers due to its innovative design.
-CR7 Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Windchill (2011): new decoration for its star model. Nike had to do something great to stop the attention received by the competition back then.
-Mercurial Vapor Superfly III Plum/Volt/Black (2011): few changes in this next generation. Players loved the prior model and Nike just focused on small finishing touches.
-Mercurial Vapor VIII Mango (2012): remembered for being one of the best in the Mercurial´s history. The Teijin on the framework was very thin and provided us with perfect fitting. The carbon fibre is substituted by glass fibre. There was a REMAKE of this model, launched not too long ago.
-Mercurial Vapor VIII Clash (2012): new decoration by Nike for the 2012 Euro Cup combining decorations that did not go unnoticed.
-Mercurial Vapor IX Fireberry/Electric Green (2013): the American brand developed a new framework with a texture that imitates a golf ball´s surface to increase speed.
-Mercurial IX SPECIAL EDITION R9 15th anniversary (2013): the 15th anniversary of the Mercurial boot, as a tribute an adapted re-edition with the actual model was created.
-Mercurial Superfly IV Hyper punch-Gold (2014): a few weeks before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Nike launches a Mercurial with aframework made of Flyknit thread and a boot style that left everyone in the business speechless and surprised, they had changed the concept of the football boot one more time.
-Mercurial Superfly CR7 Galaxy (2014): Cristiano Ronaldo receives his first exclusive boot model, Mercurial Superfly IV. The surprising thing about this model is that the upper had a spectacular shiny finishing touch due to the glitter on it.
-Nike Mercurial Superfly IV BHM (2015): the first Nike football boot that joins the BHM collection. Part of the money from the sales is used to maximize the potential of young marginalised people through sports.
What is the final outcome? What the Mercurial / Mercurial Superfly SE. A boot for those that love the speed model, innovaton, Ronaldo Nazario or CR7, for those of us who like to go back in time and remember about 16 historic moments of the SWOOSH brand.
If you want to add it to your collection you will have to be fast because we only have a limited amount of units which will be sold out in a heartbeat, as usual, you will be able to purchase them at Soloporteros.com on May 12th starting at 09:00.
