Dark Neon Royal

When I was asked to guest write on Jake's blog about the Foam One, there was a variety of perspective and retrospect I wanted to share about Penny signature pair. 16 years after it's initial release, in all honesty I still have more memories attached to Mike Bibby and Miles Simon at Arizona winning the National Championship over than Penny rocking them on the hardwood. This is coming from a long standing Penny fan. Although the 1 cent logo adorned the back heel, it was initially difficult for me to accept the Foamposite One as part of Penny's signature line because a) it was not called the Air Penny III and b) I thought the aesthetic of the shoe was just too much for me to handle in 1997. In addition, the Foam One was not as readily available at my local malls, who probably were reluctant to get pairs allocated to them because of the hefty price tag. Even when retro versions of the Pros first popped up in 2002, I can't recall them exactly flying off shelves. It wasn't until the perfect combination of the retro era and sneaker forums (like Niketalk and ISS) in the mid 2000s when I can truly remember Nike Basketball heads desiring for the Foamposite model to make return. Sure it was considered way ahead of it's time, but after the retro of the Royal Foam One in 2007 it's stamp as timeless classic in sneaker lore was secured. Even regional areas of DMV and NYC often arbitrarily e-argue about which is the Foam capital of the world. Fast forward to the countless colorways that have released and the only pair that needs to be in my closet is a pair of Dark Neon Royals.

Written by Aaron Castillo @ucasta
Pictures by Justin "Mayhemgatz" Telfer @dirtys0les and Shabby @teamdecade