it's norm from Tested I'm here at the RPF showcase in LA it's a gathering of
members of the replica platform for bringing their projects there up the
props to show off or chat with a few of them including Brad Fife here Brad of
the RPF organized this event yesterday and one of your specialties is making
replicas of Nike mags from Back to the Future Part 2 yeah well one of my
favorite shoes of all time and it's kind of been your obsession for a long time
to a point where well let's get into the story because if someone wants a pair of
mags what can they do there are two ways of getting them they can either well let
me factor there's three ways to gain them you can get the licensed version
from Universal which are not accurate you can get the Chinese knockoffs which
are not accurate or even buy the Nike released versions for five to seven
thousand dollars those are those auction ones for charity that they did a couple
years ago right and Nike ones and I know people if you look on that Universal
does have their own like party version you know for Halloween but remember the
RPF that's not gonna be good enough not good enough so we go half way you go for
those China verses as a foundation to accurate to make a more accurate pair
correct in exam a lot of people when they first when they return to do the
replicas they put him out gosh premia 2013 or so and they were
pretty good and seem like the universal took that and then kind of ran with it
but didn't do it as accurate as rpm numbers would like so what do you got
here so this is the how the Chinese knockoff or replica version would come
they did have the Nike swoosh which the universals don't okay and even Nike
branding but that only goes so far because you know people could just put
the swoosh on there or they can make the Nike branding
themselves kind of like I did the problem is these come with very faulty
and cheap electronics I mean they light up but the parts will they light up
you'll just your LEDs here which you can actually see some of that control board
right and also these lines like that's not to fuse properly exact spots why in
the originals were had actually had fel sheets or select human essence yes yep
even back in the 1980s which is pretty rare and the LEDs just recently became
cheaper easy easier to find you can find the correct versions so what I did as a
lover of the shoe not necessarily just you know I liked the prop I mean we all
knew that it didn't self lace we all knew that it was it was kind of a
futuristic version of it but I I took it and kind of ran with it and
the things that I stood out to me initially were the toe box where vert it
was very bulbous and I needed to slim that because it has a very slimming
profile yeah things like it's mostly a sports shoe exactly yeah I supposed to
be something to be this futuristic and very sporty like I did swap out the e L
and the LEDs now I can turn these on and you can see with the EO it's like that's
how it is in the movie it's like he's pad exactly and when we knew it's darker
it really reflects really well off the ground you really need along with the
LEDs being much more diffused than the way they come on under on the Chinese
versions I also notice the Nike lights up yes and it's a different it's
actually recessed in and flat there yeah so and and when you kind of unstrap it
it's just kind of like this magical strap you know it lights up but you know
it's really kind of a defeat deceives the eye of how it is and as a kid in
1989 you saw this and you're like wow that's just cool obviously they don't
have the cell space simply start working on that no you're not they're working on
it we'll see what happens yeah no this is good enough that you actually wear it
like you can actually wear lot as a shoe over hot so I met you at WonderCon yeah
your awareness and it cut people's eye but you're also proud of how Accra this
is because you have also but the Nike was yes don't you yeah I was very
fortunate to come by the 2011 release version I didn't get it at the auction
although Nike actually bought or sorry rented some of my back to the Future
props for that events and I was there at the event and saw the first auction I
did not buy a pair there I was fortunate even though to get a pair of a local
someone who's local selling them local mm-hm and I bought a pair let's take a
look at though okay so this is the box it comes in yes
Wow so we've even replicated the box yeah so the the Chinese knockoffs do
come in a yellow box it's just a lid version you can see in here I'm actually
working on a pair these are kind of like how like the mid line between those and
my finished versions right of what I take apart but the real ones come in
this very nice case and it's actually magnetically sealed and here they are oh
my goodness so this is as accurate as you're going to get it gets released by
Nike correct they were released for auction and that's two pair what those
are because you don't know where those the ones you actually do wear now you
got that accurate Nike in the ends it's paper on the front really important
that is accurate here and these also do light up yeah so they even have this
switch in the same spot as where I put them
right so you relocated to switch from the Chinese naka abstract the top they
light up and then you have that same padding Wow
it's it's it's there it's almost now like that's new out of the box and
that's something you've worn yeah I'm worn and they have UV and these two have
you more of a UV protection on that on the rubber that they did but I mean over
time these will yellow I've seen pairs that have been yellow so you know
Unser's who wear them I can't believe it I know but yeah I mean there are you
know very difficult my new difference is I've just the materials that they were
they had available these are much more spongy version is a very rigid I did
paint this mid soles a little bit lighter you can see this cracking over
time but that's just kind of to to my own personal preference right got a
splatter of faggots yeah so what's the next step because you told me these are
a work in progress though yeah so that well the next step would be to change
out the rubber soles okay to a clearer UV stabilized sole there are people on
the RPF there's a member he goes bike Avex see AVX
he does a really good version and so far he's he's replicated the best Soul Swap
outs today so I sculpted those and then he's more than casted correct yeah yeah
yeah right rubber material exactly in any it's a still a bit of a work in
progress but he's doing he's getting better and better every time he says
look at that so yeah so he has these which compared to the Chinese knockoff
versions a much better patterning much better it should be clear this is this
is UV resistant correct he's actually put these outside in the Australian Sun
for like three months and they have not changed color on the bottom oh I say
yeah so the originals have a pyramid shape
whereas the knockoffs have a grid shape so you can see their money towards
clothes yeah that's fantastic yeah so he's getting better and better
and it really has come down to now what they call the shore hardness which is
the almost like the durometer of like how how things will will wear over time
this has ripped and it's still a bit it's still a little bit uh they need
ever find that yeah yeah it's just enough and durable now so you can wear
it right which is kind of like what everyone is always striving for it's
that next level right now I love you about this whole storyline that you have
not only the Chinese knockoffs in the modified ones but the accurate ones the
real ones as a foundation to base off it's for your replicas yeah thank you so
much Brad this if you want to build their own shoes they can find you on the
RPF nations please and I also have youtube tutorials on kind of how to do a
lot of the modding this is so nice I want a pair of these you gotta get
better build boogie we'll get you a pair of norm awesome thanks a lot thanks