Real or Fake? Lebron 8 South Beach's

A lot of people dont know the difference between real and fake shoes.  The biggest difference between real and fake is the quality but sometimes this doesnt show until a few weeks or days after wearing.  We received an email from a reader requesting to post differences between the Fake and Real South Beaches considering a lot of fake ones are starting to surface even on ebay, now that the shoe is going for $700+.  Over the last 48 hours there were two that sold for around $1100-$1200 which is similar to the pricing on the Air Yeezy.  The first detail that is a difference between the real and the fake is the price tag.  When purchasing a sought after shoe, the price tag on the box hangs off and if it fell off there should be a perforation on the right.  When it is not authentic the sticker is a straight sticker with usually rounded edges.  The next difference on the box is the drawer finger ring.  A lot of the time on a fake box there will be no metal or plastic piece which adds to the quality and attention to detail.  On the real there should be a legit ring on the hole to pull out the drawer from the box.  The next difference is in the air bubble.  The Air Unit is usually is fairly firm but has a comfortable feel when pressing it.  When it is fake, the unit either is really soft or really hard.  Specifically on the South Beach the cushioning on the inside of the air unit, the real one features a cushioning foam that is light green and similar in color to the outsole while on the fake one it is brighter green a different shade, something close to the leather on the upper.  

        Moving on to different parts of the upper, one of the things that pops out distinctly are the laces.  on the black laces on the reals, they sport pink text on black laces with black tips and the Text reads EIGHT in caps while on the fake they are teal tips and read Eight not in caps.  as we keep our eyes moving on the shoe we notice the lace locks.  On the real, the lace lock is a translucent green just like the outsole with a pink inside and you can see the pink through the green, while on the fake, the lock is teal and you can not see the pink at all.  Next the lebron signature on the heel of the real one is a dark pink that matches the laces and on the fake it is a lighter pink.  One thing that the buyer will see also is the difference in ankle padding, where on the real SB's the padding is higher and more stuffed and on the fake it is lower and quite thin.  Like we mentioned earlier the quality on the fake is easily at the bottom of the line and on the back of the fake and even on the sides or front, where the upper meets the mid-sole keep an eye out for imperfections.  On the South Beaches it is a smooth straight line with no imperfections.  

         Next when on the inside of the tongue, the tag has pink stitching on the real south Beaches but black stitching on the fake ones.  Another difference in outlining would be the swoosh on the outside of the shoe.  in the real version the border is clear, matching the lace lock and the out-sole but on the fake version the border is teal, which gives it a shine, but not a pop! The next thing we point out to you are the holes on the sides of the shoe.  On the real SB's these holes are real and crisp and black but on the fake ones they are not crisp, some are not punctured, some dont even exist.  on the outsole again we notice the color.  On the out-sole the color of the rubber is more clear on the fake and more of that filament green on the real.  it just seems off.  In addition to that, the flywire itself isnt even real.  check out the difference between the flywire on the back of the shoes, it is insane how poor quality the fake is and embarrassing how they try and mimic the real.  One of the details we mentioned before is cushioning and you dont need to be trained in order to figure this one out but it does need a more close attention to detail  considering the tongue is slightly higher and is more flimsy and has less stuffing than the real SB's.  Also on the top of the tongue, the stitching with the pink, like we mentioned earlier in reference to the tag is kind of sloppy and not done so well.   One of my favorite differences on the shoe is the lace panel.  On the real South Beaches the lace panel has an elephant like print in all black while on the fake there is no imaging or graphics.  

       One of the ways we can tell the difference between real and fake is the inside of the shoe.  on the insert Nike has been placing little size stickers and if their fake they wont have it.  Also the inside tag is farther from the heel on the fake shoes.  One thing people also dont pay attention to are the accessories.  On the lace bag, the real edition has a nike logo on the bag and on the fake there is no logo.  But back to the box, you will notice that the box has a lighter image of lebron and the lion on the fake one and dark crisp clean image on the real.  

Basically, watch out, and if you ever buy fake shoes hit us up and well help you figure it out.