Galaxy Foamposites

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The Nike Air Foamposite sneakers were first introduced in 1996 and became available in 1997. Built for the basketball courts these sneakers make a statement with the boldest of personality and style. That's why they fly off the shelves when they come out and why they're the most anticipated and coveted. Foamposites have nice curvy synthetic tops and translucent bottoms. To show it to be the king of all sneakers, it has big swoosh logos on the side.

What makes the Nike Foamposites so popular? How did Nike change the game on the Basketball shoe industry? The Foamposite line single-handedly forever changed what we thought we knew about Basketball shoes and what was previously thought possible. First, the idea that you could cast an entire upper, mid, and outsole from a single mold (as opposed to individual components being sewn or bound together by adhesives) was thought to be ridiculous. Attaching a sole to this "one piece" casting was problematic for Nike, for sure, but pushing past disbelief and doubt they managed to create the Foamposite 1 (One) that sparked it all. There's a link to the book below, but Nike's book Sole Provider: Thirty Years of Nike Basketball discusses among many other things the ordeal of developing the Foamposite and how the original mold cost them $750,000 to make.

While the Foamposite 1 was met with love and adoration by most, the NBA hated the shoe because they wanted to maintain a uniform look and it violated that policy. Penny Hardaway fueled the fire when he blatantly wore his Royal Blue Foamposite 1's despite warnings that it violated league policy, and he was subsequently fined for every game in which he wore them. But Penny realized what others did, that the Foamposite design gave incredible support for the whole foot due to it's one form, poured plastic foam design which meshes the foam plastic and fabric, and for a basketball player, especially a large professional player, that kind of support is gold on the court. If it weren't for Penny who knows how far the Foamposites would have gone. It's said that Eric Avar, a Nike Rep, was meeting with Penny to look over some possible shoe lines for endorsement when Penny saw and immediately loved the Foamposite.

But the Foamposite wasn't always the darling of shoe enthusiasts, early on there was always stock on hand of virtually all of the Foamposite line. Now, with each new model release (and Nike's pumping them out at record numbers.. a dozen or so since 2010) the lines get longer and the shoes harder to come by. Of course it makes sense for Nike, but for the rest of us it gets frustrating trying to grab a pair and often times having to pay a reseller an enormous markup. But still, it's hard to complain when a shoe is as awesome as the Foamposites.

When the Foamposites were first introduced, Nike had quite a few other lines coming out. In 1997 the shoes Nike released were:

Nike Air Alonzo (Leather)
Nike Air Bakin (Leather)
Nike Air Bakins
Nike Air CB 34 '97 (Leather)
Nike Air College Force Mid
Nike Air Flight Turbulence (Leather)
Nike Air Foamposite (Synthetic)
Nike Air Garnett
Nike Air Groovin Uptempo (Leather)
Nike Air Hawk Flight (Leather)
Nike Air Jordan Team (Leather)
Nike Air Jordan Trainer
Nike Air Jordan XIII
Nike Air Jumpman Pro (Leather)
Nike Air Max Uptempo (Leather)
Nike Air MZ3 Leather
Nike Air Penny III
Nike Air Pippen (Leather)
Nike Air Total Max Uptempo
Nike Foamposite Pro
Nike Movin Uptempo (Leather)
Nike Super CB

One of the most frequent questions is how many different Foamposites were made. Because of that I thought I would make a list of All Foamposites in the One and Pro line ever released. This accounts for most of the releases outside of Light and other limited editions. If I missed any please give me a shout and I'll add it.

1997 Royal Foamposite One
1997 Pearl Foamposite Pro
1997 Voltage Foamposite Pro
1997 Black Foamposite Pro
2001 Royal Foamposite Pro
2002 Pearl Foamposite Pro
2002 Red Foamposite Pro
2003 Carolina Foamposite Pro
2003 Black Foamposite Pro
2005 Metallic Silver Foamposite Pro
2006 Dr Doom Foamposite Pro
2007 Royal Foamposite One
2007 Cactus Foamposite One
2007 Bred Foamposite One
2007 Anthracite Foamposite One
2008 Metallic Silver Foamposite Pro
2008 HOH Royal Foamposite One
2008 HOH Dark Army Foamposite One
2009 Eggplant Foamposite One
2009 HOH Pearl Foamposite Pro
2010 Copper Foamposite One
2010 Eggplant Foamposite One
2010 HOH Cough Drop Foamposite One
2010 Pearl Foamposite Pro
2010 Cough Drop Foamposite One
2011 Royal Foamposite One
2011 Electric Green Foamposite Pro
2011 Pewter Foamposite One
2011 HOH Electric Green Foamposite One
2011 Electric Blue Foamposite Pro
2011 Pine Green Foamposite Pro
2012 Foamposite One Galaxy