A Blast from The Past
Written: Nov 22 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Incredible grip, (at first), sleek looks, lightweight
Cons: Grip wears down too easily, expensive
The Bottom Line: Buy these for game day use only. If looking for an everyday glove, look elsewhere.
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| nikefreak's Full Review: Nike Magnigrip Elite Remix Black+White |
In Nike's continued quest for athletic innovation, this glove reaches into the past for an updated version of the very popular and original Magnigrip football glove. The original was made in 1999 and I reviewed that one back in 2004. Many players and teams have requested this glove because of its incredible grip and great flexibility, i.e., moving with the hands easily.
Of course, you can't just slap a name on something, say it's new, and not do anything to "remix" it. This glove re-ups the original one by a new material and a slightly different look.
The outside of the glove is made of 5% neoprene, a synthetic rubber made by Dupont, 5% nylon, and 90% silicone, and is durable. Between the multi-colored fingers are mesh inserts to allow a breath of cooling airflow for your hands, where heat tends to build up. These also create natural flex zones under your fingers for a nice custom fit and feel. This glove does feel very organic on your hand, as all good football gloves should. It's like an extension of your hand, instead of being like cumbersome piece of equipment. I did feel like the mesh could actually have been larger because although my hands felt pretty cool, there was definitely a time in hotter weather that I craved a bit more ventilation underneath the hands. The fingers are a different story however.
Built into each finger of the gloves, there are four slits cut into the leather material (three for the thumb) and this does a great job of ventilating. Also, between the fingers are the Super Magnigrip gussets which stabilizes the fit and adds a tackier surface to the fingers themselves. In case you were wondering, this is definitely a glove built for those players who touch the ball on almost every single play, aka, wide receivers and running backs with all the emphasis on super grip.
The Super Magnigrip palm that Nike utilizes is an extremely sticky material that is super shiny when brand-new and is made of silicone. The palm is two-toned with the predominant color-in this case, black-making up the pinkie, ring, and middle fingers, while grey makes up the index and thumb. For good measure, a Swoosh is built into palm as well just to show the defender you're stiff-arming that you are doing that with a Swoosh tattooed onto his face; lol. Just kidding, the Swoosh is actually integrated right into the material so there it actually is a smooth surface, no actual imprint leading off from the palm. Anyways, the glove's palm is so grippy that there is basically no way you can ever drop a pass if it's anywhere in your vicinity. I felt many times that this glove enhanced my ability to catch passes because of the way the material just holds onto a football's outer hide and sticks to your hand. If you have butterfinger hands, these are definitely the gloves for you. Many passes that were high, low, or behind me where easily snatched by my hands and that is not because of my football prowess! These gloves are really that good. Another added bonus is that the palm works equally well in wet or dry weather, with the silicone being a natural water-resistant material as moisture seems to just run off it and never accumulate.
These are gloves that have a traditional, molded pull-tab which implements a Velcro strap to tighten for a perfect fit. The asymmetrical, tapered wrist fits perfectly above the ulna bone (which is at the base of your wrist). It provides excellent comfort through the soft, padded neoprene material and is very easy to slip on. I've enjoyed that the strap is very small and doesn't really hinder anything when unstrapped, it just floats there without being noticed.
The only caveat of this glove is that I recommend it be used for game day ONLY as the Super Magnigrip palm will easily be worn down if used for practice as well. After awhile, the palm is no longer super-shiny and the grip is not as great as when you played in about the first five games. I wish that Nike could figure out a way to make this palm be more durable in that aspect especially for the retail price of $40. I could easily see a player go through six or more pairs of these gloves during a season, not exactly something a parent wants to hear for their high school football player. If used strictly for game day, these will last quite well.
I have to comment on the look because it is very classic and for sure an eye-catching look. The color of the gloves rotates between the fingers, in this case, black and white, with a silver line drawn through them and a stitched-in Swoosh at the base of the hand, near the strap. I can tell why players loved this look, it just looks very swift and sleek-looking. You know how much players are concerned with looks nowadays and these are the Gucci in a world of Payless gloves. However, I am only giving these bad boys a three rating because there is no way I can wholeheartedly recommend a glove that will wear down pretty fast if worn constantly. I know the pros and college teams can afford to get themselves new gloves every game, but what average American family can do that? If used strictly for game day, a great glove. If used everyday, it turns into an expensive and not exactly practical glove.
Recommended:
Yes
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