Beautiful shoes!! Maybe this was meant to be. This could be the last time you have a pair of original JR soles, from before the company was purchased, which do have some water resistance. And after many many miles, you get them re soled with Dainites
Superb, even handed review! As an owner of this type of shell, shouldn’t Horween market this color Marbled Green instead? I highly cherish my pair and wear them regularly.
My first and only shell I purchased last year in color 8. It was a factory first MTO Strand as well. The pair arrived with several defects, including a small puncture in the upper, and the shoe was miscasted as it seems. There was a substantial sharp bend on the side of one shoe. Finally, the sole stitching was frayed all to heck with an entire stitch loop hanging below the sole. Then the real nightmare started when I sent them back and couldn't get my refund. I ended up contesting with my credit card and got my money back. Trying to get customer service on the phone was not a fruitful ordeal either, with wait times changing between 40 and 55 minutes back and forth as I continued to wait. So after many pairs, and a fair bit of dollar investment, I had to walk away. I'm really sad as I have some excellently well built examples, but the whole experience still has a bad taste in my mouth months later.
i also got the wrong soles from the trunk shoe on my blue shell Landons, dainite instead of commando sole. they did refund me the difference in cost though. i have recently picked up their discovery moto boots in black and cognac. they have XL soles which is hard to get any info about. i was skeptical and wonder where they are manufactured. i was pleasantly surprised how soft and comfortable they are. really digging some of the experimentation with the boots and with frequent sales the prices can be pretty darn reasonable.
Looks like the pinking is sloppy on the cap of the right shoe. Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is there an issue on the edge the cap toe? Those do look great.
I'm glad that you got lovely uppers. Fair criticisms about SMU missed details and your reluctance to purchase at full price moving forward. I'm in a similar boat, but would probably bend if a grail option became available (e.g. the return of MacNeils in shell). That being said, I didn't participate in this latest trunk show as I am too fussy about mystery colorways.
I would be curious is AE reaches out to you after seeing this video. I have recently purchased 2 pairs of new AE's new and have to admit that they definitely have a quality control issue, both pairs have small issues. They were not enough to go through a exchange process but for the amount I paid it was a little disappointing. I own several pairs of AE's all of which I purchased either used or 2nd quality less the 2 new pairs I recently bought. I will probably only now purchase 2nd quality from AE due to these errors. Even in many of their shoe reviews I see a lot of people complaining of the same. If they do reach out I hope you make a vid on that experience.
I also am not turned off by AE love there shoes but if I gonna get imperfections at full price, I will would rather purchase used or 2nd quality at least I know there will be imperfections. I won't feel bad.
Nice,fair n informative video. Any idea why AE can’t get the soles right? Seems like getting the correct soles on MTO would be simple quality control issue especially since JR soles r completely different then dainite.
