Even 30 years after the brand’s inception, Pokémon cards are still a major market and point of interest for kids and adults alike. Over the past few years, especially, Pokémon has been a hot topic with a new mobile game and high-value cards to find in booster sets. Packs are flying off the shelves with buyers hoping to get their hands on a card with crazy value. In other words, Pokémon has still got it. To celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary, Pokémon is partnering with Adidas to bring some brand new Pokémon kicks inspired by the characters. From Pikachu (obviously) to Gengar, one of your favorites is bound to be represented.
The collection features a variety of Pokémon. Of course, Pikachu steals the spotlight with three pairs of Adidas Superstars. However, Charmander, Charizard, Gengar, and Mewtwo, among a handful of others, also make an appearance. And this is just the 12 pairs the company has revealed thus far.
The collection spans various styles of Adidas shoes, from Superstars to Megaride F50s. Some of the shoes have graphics of the creatures, but others are more subtle, simply following a character’s color scheme. For modern streetwear and casual Adidas fans, the Mewtwo Sambas in a light lilac are perfect. The only hint of the collaboration appears on the sneaker tongue.
Quite a bit more “out there” are the Pikachu Superstar IIs, which are bright yellow, fluffy, and adorned with the character’s yellow and black ears on the sneaker tongue. The high-top Pikachu Superstar IIs are also fuzzy but with what appears to be a coarser fur, and have a silicone graphic of the Pokémon on the side.
These fun textures continue across most of the line, with the Charizard and Charmeleon Superstars both bringing in something exciting. The Charmeleon shoe has dinosaur-looking stripes replacing the uniform straight Adidas stripes along the side, and a lizard-y texture. The Charizard pair has a wing on each shoe and a slightly different but still reptilian texture to it.
The outliers to the texture game focus mostly on color scheme and graphics. The third Pikachu option, another Superstar II, features an all-over graphic of the character. The Charmander shoe replaces the classic stripes with flames. Both of the Mewtwo shoes are color-scheme-driven, though the ZX 9000 includes a raised silicone detail near the heel, mimicking the character’s ears. The Gastly shoe draws from the character’s color, an Adistar Control 5, black with purple and white accents. The Haunter shoe is an Adistar too, with a purple body and darker purple accents. The tongue is designed to look like the character’s outline.
With 12 pairs to choose from, thus far, the collection has something for everyone. The Pokémon x Adidas collaboration is expected to drop sometime this September.