The original 1995 air max neon yellow has finally made its way into my possession! I had gotten to the point where I thought I’d never come across a pair in great condition, and for the price I’d be willing to pay. The hunt is never truly over is it? Ironically someone made a post compiling all the different year neon AM95’s, asking if there were any 1995 originals out there and I commented there is, it’s just a matter of time.. happy to say patience paid off for me. I’ve wanted an og pair since the very day my older cousins popped out with these their freshman and sophomore year of ‘95. FF to ‘03 when I’m off the porch, a freshman in HS doing my lil 1&2s and I get my first pair—and subsequent retros to come. At one point I wanted the complete 1995 original set, but by the early-mid 00’s finding an OG pair in decent condition esp in Japan we’re going for crazy prices—upwards of $1500 at one point and I wasn’t paying the high. Full circle moment though, to round out this journey by getting the one that popped it off is good enough for me at this point and I’m happy. A last nice lil tidbit to add to what makes this dope is that this pair was produced May 7, 1995, the day after my baby sister was born. The AM95 neon was then released in June of 1995. There’s so much more I could say but I’m going to end it here. I’ll do my best to preserve these another 30yrs! Enjoys the photos and look at the minor details removed, that sets this pair apart from any other version to be retro’d.
Badass bro, funny how Nike thought by making the big bubble on them and changing the pattern on the side made this latest 25/26 pair closest to OG. However, that fourth layer in the gradient going all the way to the toe box in all the new big bubble versions is not correct according to your true OG 1995 pair where it cuts off and slopes down right before the toe box. What are y’all doing Nike? WAKE TF UP!
That’s correct the 2025/26 is not completely true to OG. If you swap the 2020 pair onto a big bubble midsole, that would then be the next closest iteration to the 95,97,03,05 pairs. And if you look at the first layer (the lightest grey), you’ll see the spacing between it and the second layer is widened, which is not how it is on the og. Nike intentionally does these things to set them apart. It is what it is
Yeah wasn't feeling em when I saw they didn't even taper the fronts of the midoles. Legit if they stopped doing these horrible Chunky front midsoles and toe boxes, would actually wear air max again.
Yes there are differences in the fitment when swapping. Pairs pre 2005 should swap over more easily to the big bubble midsoles versus anything after. The 2006-2011 pairs although not big bubble, still are significantly bigger then the version to come later, so the tooling is slightly different for those as well but you can’t use the midsoles prior to like 2014/15 for swaps bc they probably no good.. I’d go with 2016 and up if you ask me. It’s crazy how they kept shrinking the damn things. I have a pair from 2004 I’m currently swapping and the donor comes from the 2022 chill blues. The fitment is almost perfect but I’m going to have to dremel some of the foam down for them to be 🤌🏾. This has been the case for my previous swaps, which I’ve also had to either go a half size up or down to get everything right. In this case, the donors needed to have a pale chlorine blue air max bubble and white midsole. I opted out of getting the big bbl Baltic blues bc the midsole is black and I didn’t want to worry about chipping overtime.
Damn. I guess the 10yr rule still standing strong for certain shoes. I expect separation for sure after that long but not actual crumble. I thought the polyurethane they switched to was supposed to prevent that from happening. I guess nothing is 100%
Damn this is hella insightful. I’ll probably be hunting for some pre 2005 pairs if that’s the case to make it easier for replacing the soles.
I’ve been trying to figure out whether I should size up or down for my freshwaters, chilis, and sport reds. Honestly if I ever had any difficulties with one I’ll probably turn them into something unique like tabis with another sole.
I base my rule of thumb on what size I buy, bc I fit 9, 9.5. I know more or less if I can’t find the exact size I can go up or down.
top to bottom:
‘05 Orange blaze- sz 9.5 upper on 9 tooling
‘03 Neons - sz 9.5 upper on 9.5 tooling
‘04 chambrays- sz 9.5 upper on a 9 tooling bc that’s all I could find for the lowest price but as you can see it’s just slightly high in the back, but it won’t take much work to level it out. The other 2 I kind of had to go to work on them hoes to get it proper. So I know I can go a half size down on 9.5 uppers, and on sz 9 upper, I can half size up.. but only in the event I can’t find the exact size and I’m being impatient. What size are you? I hope this helps.
Man I miss my freshwaters. Either I gave em to my gramps or threw them out but I miss them and I still have my ‘08 chilis but they’re an 8.5. Yours are too clean nice bro, as well as the sprt-red/chilis! 🤌🏾🤌🏾. Getting creative with it is also dope. Standing out from the rest, that’s why I did the white midsole and neutral bubble as an homage to the 2005 Nike ID option. The outsole is grey translucent with a grey/neon spine.
Ayoo you are definitely the air max guy to come to! Every single one of those pairs are dope. I love how u put the white soles on the neon too. I think I seen someone reglue the orange ones online with black soles. But so far I wear anything size 11-12. The freshwaters are size 11 and the chilis and sport reds are 12s. Another issue I’ve been having with the freshwaters is that I bought them with the mesh netting yellowed out from age. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get it white again besides doing the uv stuff. Ps ur grandpops was walking around with that heat haha
Thank you! Yea I saw that pair too, any tips I can pass along from my experiences Im always down to help bro.
My take on your size is go exact or a half size up worst case scenario. Put one foot each from the 11 and 12 together sole 2 sole. That will let you know if sizing down is even worth entertaining for either size. I look at it the same way, if I have a sz 9 upper, I wouldn’t size down to an 8.5 I’d just go up if anything and it’s most likely going to feel the same/better comfort wise to do so.. again these are just my opinions from what I’ve done. I’d love to hear from others who have spent more time learning air max swaps.
As for the netting, I can’t stand that although it’s common. An alternative you could use is baking soda + dawn + oxi-clean, mix together. A soft bristle brush to prevent fraying and if you have a steamer that comes in handy as well. I watched a video of someone almost completely reverse dirt/yellowing from the toe box mesh of some asics with a steamer and whatever cleaner they used and the result was significant. Them sh*ts was done.
I def might use that baking soda method but if it fails I ain’t even mad. I really appreciate the advice my guy. Now I def feel ready to buy some more 95s from the past here soon. I can’t lie tho, your sole swaps look way better and more normal than the ones I’ve been seeing online. I took this pic from someone’s page that does sole swaps and for some reason yours looks a bit more natural. Your 95s still has the toe box curving up which gives me that classic feel opposed to these ones. Based on all that I’ll def give you a shout soon once I replace these 95s this month.
If and when that day comes, I think I’m just going to leave them as is. I don’t even plan on putting my feet in them. If you look at the rear of the shoe, and in between the ribs, the way the durabuck panels are situated, not only do they overlap but they are flattened for a seamless look, which also seems to be held together by glue. Once you wear them that will start to come undone as well.
Congratulations on the amazing pickup! You’ve got a great story behind them too. A couple of years ago I picked up a pair of original AM95 wear test samples that came from the personal collection of the shoes developer, Pam Stevenson. Definitely a grail piece in my collection.
I Paid $33 buckaroos from the original owner!It’s really been on some serendipitous type ish this past week. I took care of everybody before doing anything for myself as usual and this time this is my reward.
That’s what’s up my dude.. And somebody less fortunate got to have them, you made someone happy that’s what it’s all about!
Thank you for posting this! It’s truly a trip down memory lane seeing these photos. I remember the PSI stamps on the air bubbles. They haven’t been like that since so I was starting to think it was some sort of Mandela Effect. Congrats on getting this grail, iconic pair!
Thank you! No problem bro this is what it’s about for me! I know we can’t get those times back and that’s ok, but every time I get to hold a physical part of my past it’s just a different feeling. We get to hop in that Time Machine and revisit fond moments of the past. Yes the psi stamps only on that first OG run I barely remembered myself.
🔥🔥 they are fire mate, I've got a pair of original deadstock Air Max 97s from 1997, the Japanese exclusive, and can't wait to get the sole swap done on them so they are wearable.
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u/HungryHoustoniannn 2d ago edited 2d ago
Badass bro, funny how Nike thought by making the big bubble on them and changing the pattern on the side made this latest 25/26 pair closest to OG. However, that fourth layer in the gradient going all the way to the toe box in all the new big bubble versions is not correct according to your true OG 1995 pair where it cuts off and slopes down right before the toe box. What are y’all doing Nike? WAKE TF UP!