Before the existence of Boost and Off-White x Nike sneakers, the older generation of sneakerheads used to collect Nike SB. Nike SB, with their interesting concept and materials, had their fair share of popularity back in days, and have currently fallen into the vintage genre of sneakers. As usual, China factories are always out to get a slice of the profit cake of anything that’s trending with a high demand. This article is meant to assist sneakerheads who are looking to add older Nike SB’s from the Orange box era till the Gold box era to their collection.
Padded Tongue
This method is not entirely reliable as some China factories have fixed this flaw on their fake pairs but still worth mentioning. Nike SB Dunks have a fat, padded tongue usually, especially on the Dunk Low. Most Nike SB Dunk fakes come with a thinner tongue, meaning its not as padded as the authentic pair. If you have watched reviews of a particular Nike SB Dunk Low on Youtube, you may realize that the tongues on the authentic pair is well-padded and has a certain ‘invitation-to-squeeze’ feel to it. Fakes usually have half-stuffed tongues which are well noticeable with the naked eye.
Tongue Length
We all know that China factories usually try their best to replicate yet keep their cost low by cutting corners. You may compare a fake and real side by side, and you would realize that most fakes have a shorter tongue compared to the authentic pair. The tongues on the authentic pair are usually always above all the eyelids while the tongue on the fakes is usually hidden by the top eyelids. Check out the photos below for a better understanding. (Top is fake, bottom is authentic)
Toe Box
This is one of the easier ways to know whether a pair of Nike SB Dunk Lows is authentic. The fakes usually have a higher mudguard compared to the authentic pairs. You may refer to the photos below for a better understanding. The perforation holes on the toe box are usually equally distributed and more closely placed together rather than the perforation on replicas which are far apart. (Top photo is fake, bottom is authentic)
Size Tag
This is the best way to determine whether an old release of Nike SB Dunks are authentic. The size tags of the Orange box era till Pink Box is similar, however, the Black box era onwards have a different print of size tags. The first method to determine the authenticity of Nike SB Dunks from the Orange box era till the Pink box era is to examine whether the ‘production date’ touches the ‘barcode’ above it such as below. If it doesn’t touch, it’s a fake.
Next, you may check the product code on the size tag (every colorway has a different product code) and Google it. If the searched product code shows the shoe you are looking at in your search results, it is authentic. As an example, type in the product code in the size tag above ‘304292-281’ (the ‘dash’ is optional) in Google, and search for it. The image of the Nike SB Dunk should appear in your search results. The size tag in the pair above belongs to a pair of Nike SB ‘Hunters’, so please do try it for a better understanding.
Besides checking the product code, you can Google the colorway of the Nike SB Dunk, and check when was it released. The production date on the size tag should be before the date it was released unless there was a re-release such as the first Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Shanghai’. Another way of checking the authenticity of a pair of Nike SB Dunks is to make sure that the ‘I’ from ‘In’, from the wording ‘Made In China’ on the size tag to be right above the ‘E’ from the word ‘Fabrique’ on the size tag. You may observe the size tag above and below for a better understanding of the ‘I’ from ‘In’ being above the ‘E’ from ‘Fabrique’. As Nike changed the size tag from the Black box era onwards, this method and the production date method is preferred.
However, China factories have slowed down on replicating Nike SB Dunks from the Blue box era onwards so there isn’t much to worry if you’re buying the newer generation of Nike SB Dunks. We know that thrift shopping has picked up in Malaysia, and many sneakerheads often get tricked or blinded by ‘steal’ prices of old SB Dunks at the thrift shop which usually turns out to be fake, especially the Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Tiffany’. Stay safe and stay real, sneakerheads!
