First off, the price. This is a biggie, right? Like, if you’re seeing NMD R2s going for, like, dirt cheap, that’s a major red flag. Seriously, if it seems too good to be true, it probably IS. Real NMDs ain’t gonna be on sale for, like, 50 bucks. Unless it’s some super random clearance thing, which, let’s be real, rarely happens with hyped sneakers.
Then, you gotta look at the Boost. Now, the Boost is that comfy, white, foamy stuff on the sole. On real Adidas, it’s got this kinda pebble-y texture. Like, individual beads fused together. Fakes? They often have smoother Boost, or the “beads” look way too uniform. It’s hard to describe, but once you’ve seen real Boost, you kinda know what to look for. And sometimes the boost color is just wrong, not the right shade of white or cream, ugh, hate that.
Lemme tell you a story, once I saw these NMD R2’s, and the boost looked like someone just slapped some white paint on it. Seriously. So obvious!
Another thing, check the product code! Like the article said, and, I’m not sure about you, but I sometimes just skim through these articles. Anyway, real Adidas shoes have a specific product code printed on the box and usually inside the shoe itself (often on the tag on the tongue or somewhere inside). Google that product code. If it doesn’t match the shoe you’re looking at, HUGE red flag. And, sometimes, the fakes just make up codes that don’t even exist. So google it. Seriously.
Now, here’s where it gets a little trickier. The details. Stitching, glue marks, the overall quality… these things can be subtle. Real Adidas usually has pretty clean stitching. Fakes often have sloppy stitching, loose threads, and just generally look kinda… cheap. Also, check for glue marks. A little bit of glue is normal, but if there’s globs of glue all over the place, that’s a bad sign.
Oh, and the smell! Seriously! Real Adidas shoes usually have a certain smell. It’s hard to describe, but it’s not a strong, chemical-y smell. Fakes often smell like, well, chemicals. Like they just came out of a factory where they were hosing down everything with industrial solvents.
Also, packaging. The box is a giveaway sometimes. Does the box look beat up? Is the printing blurry? Does it even HAVE a box? (If it doesn’t have a box, run away! Unless you’re getting it for like, ten bucks, and you’re just gonna beat it up anyway.) The box should have the correct labeling, product code, and all that jazz.
Look, at the end of the day, the best way to avoid getting faked is to buy from reputable sellers. Adidas themselves, authorized retailers, places you know you can trust. Buying from some random dude on the internet with no reviews? Risky business, my friend.
