The First Nike Hockey Catalog

[DarkStar50 679]

This is the first Nike Hockey catalog. It featue skates, ice and roller, shafts, blades, gloves, and pants that were never shipped. The catalog is over-sized and had to be scanned in half. Some pages are not perfect but then ......

Enter DarkStar50's time machine.............

The cover

Missing a few roller models but here are some...

The Troika shaft

The Catamount shaft on top

[Gongshow11 1]

umm sickest tuuks ever? I had the orange rollerblades, brutal purchase

[Keith 0]

The white were just stickers. Those skates sucked hard. The kids who talk them up now have no idea what they were like.

[Patrick67 1]

Two of the players on my old junior rollerteam skated in The All-White version of the Nike Inliners.... Pure and brutal tortur for ones feet, they constantly had blisters but still loved them' to death... Brainwashed marketing victims...

[kosydar 0]

Man that takes me back. That catalog is the very reason I became a gear whore.

[TheBert 0]

I remember seeing those wheels in the store. I tried them on, and even thought I was young, my Spider sense told me to stay away from them. Went with a pair of Rollerblade brand skates instead. Those somehow held my heel down better.

[mack 44]

I never knew its name, but the Catamount was a nice little shaft with the copper tip.

[jbgordon 0]

I've still got the Troika shaft and the next model year's replacement model. Those things were tanks. I stopped using them about 2 years ago, at which point they both had a solid 8+ years on them.

[the iceman 132]

[interpathway 9]

Brainwashed marketing victims...

it is amazing what a swoosh and a full page ad in USA hockey will do to the average 12 year old player...

[the iceman 132]

[jeffw 1]

I had a pair of the copper colored Pursuit inline skates. Bought 'em at the Nike outlet store here with the $$$ I won from a scratch off ticket. :lol: Heavy mothers, those.

[tommym96 0]

I will admit that I was absolutely suckered in strictly for the reason that they were Nike's. This skate was really bizarre; I had to reteach myself how to skate using them; I couldn't stop falling and had a bitch of a time stopping/skating backwards. BUT, once I got used to them I loved them, they were really stiff and pretty durable(or atleast mine were). I also had both shafts..those sucked.

[prenny207 1]

And welcome to the demise of the Hockey Industry as we knew it. Prior to NIKE entering the marketplace, dealers made money, and sold the product that was on their shelf. Enter NIKE, and watch the Closeouts and the "Old" product mentality ruin what used to be a fun and successful business world!

[DarkStar50 679]

Closeout lists and product life cycles were around the hockey industry long before Nike entered the game. What do you think Cupolo's was eating up back in the 70s/80s to stock their store and run their full page ads in The Hockey News with? The first Bauer Custom Supreme 100 skate in the early 80s was replaced in less than 3 years by the Custom Supreme 1000. Dealers who know how to manage their inventory make money. It is not the responsibility of the vendor that the dealer makes money. These situations and principles occur in all industries.

[prenny207 1]

Closeout lists and product life cycles were around the hockey industry long before Nike entered the game. What do you think Cupolo's was eating up back in the 70s/80s to stock their store and run their full page ads in The Hockey News with? The first Bauer Custom Supreme 100 skate in the early 80s was replaced in less than 3 years by the Custom Supreme 1000. Dealers who know how to manage their inventory make money. It is not the responsibility of the vendor that the dealer makes money. These situations and principles occur in all industries.

I guess i shouldn't say that they were the only reason for the change, but they did bring a different mentality to the marketplace. The were a leader in the import philosophy. The timing of product releases, to the amount of inventory, to the variety of products. They did bring about a large charge. I'm not an outsider on this matter, but i'm by no means an expert. But this thought process is from working in retail stores, and then working with manufacturers.

[chippa13 1844]

Sadly, I think the biggest change that Nike ushered into the hockey industry was pushing the envelope on pricing.

[tommym96 0]

I guess i shouldn't say that they were the only reason for the change, but they did bring a different mentality to the marketplace. The were a leader in the import philosophy. The timing of product releases, to the amount of inventory, to the variety of products. They did bring about a large charge. I'm not an outsider on this matter, but i'm by no means an expert. But this thought process is from working in retail stores, and then working with manufacturers.

I don't think it is fair that you are pegging Nike as a villain who changed the hockey industry in a negative way. It's a sport that uses technology to continue evolving as well as keeping with the times with the appearance of equipment.

Obviously there aren't as many companies producing products and while that may be in part due to Nike, it could also be due to the current state of the sport.

The only problem I have is the current prices. Obviously these have been driven up by Nike but every other company has done the same thing. However, when all said and done, I think NBH has been putting out incredibly innovative, quality and attractive products that perform well.

They may push the envelope on price but they also do so with materials used and a quest to put out a better product every year.

[DarkStar50 679]

I think pricing on hockey equipment, especially skates was going to change, no matter who was first. It was inevitable. Although Nike's early attempt at skates failed the introduction of Vapor skates by Bauer signaled a new technology and style for skates. The fact that consumers had to pay for it was a reflection of what the Vapor skates brought to the marketplace. There was innovation in the product. The bake oven has been used with skates for only 10 years.

Equipment production on the other side of the world had also been under way before Nike got in the game. If players think equipment is too expensive now, how would you like to pay for equipment made in North America? The same products made in North American facilities would price more than a few players right out of the game. And I am thinking about the next generation of kids who want to play hockey, not men's beer leaguers.

I think this can be a positive and productive topic of conversation on our different points of view. :)

[kosydar 0]

I had those Fedorov shoes. They were so badass back in third grade.