Iconic. A word often overused, but a word the Adidas Predator Accelerator truly deserves. Zidane and Beckham iconic themselves, made this cleat timeless. It is pretty much what we all remember as THE Predator, its the DNA and bar that all other Predators are judged by.
How does the re-make stack up against the original and does it work by modern day standards?
Let's settle down first, and ditch the nostalgia. This is a boot review, so we'll endeavour to do it justice, this isn't a tribute.
The Predator was born way back in 1994, but 4 years later the Accelerator became the iconic boot we all know and love. The ridges turned into grippy patches but it had us all in the back garden swerving in freekick after freekick in a bid to emulate Mr Golden Balls himself Becks.
The re-make keeps the upper pretty much the same, so those with a desire for nostalgia will be happy. A full kangaroo leather upper, the only change apart from miniscule Adidas logo changes, is the tongue. It's more rigid. There was a 2004 remake which was more of an imitation, aimed at ballerz who wanted to go out and wear the boots day in day out, it looked cheap, and didn't go down well. These re-makes are more a clone of the originals with moderate modernisation.
The real updates begin on the soleplate. Got are the much maligned bladed configuration, they are modernised with Adidas' one piece sole plate. Adidas' studs tend to be more aggressive than Nike and Puma, bearing that in mind, they can be a little too sharp on 3G.
The boot itself, at £300 is a ridiculously priced, it's marketed as a collector's item. It's easy to fall into the nostalgia trap, and skim over the tech. The grippy patches still hold up over time, but the boot itself is chunky. It's the first thing that hits you when you slip them on. Well actually, modern boots are a struggle to put on so it really does dawn on you how much improvement has whizzed by in 20 years.
The boot is physically larger cm for cm over modern boots...very very cushioned, it feels like you're wearing boxing gloves on your feet. The comfort is nice, but the lockdown is poor. The lacing is simple, true to the original, slightly angled down the foot, which was fairly revolutionary at the time. But it doesn't provide much lockdown and the shoe felt very loosely held on, especially around the heel area. I can see the heel deteriorating fast over time too.
The leather upper is nice but very malleable, but it stretches dramatically after a while, so factor that in with the sizing. Go down, maybe a whole size to compensate for the long term stretch. It never feels like it's ever going to honestly mould to your foot though the internal cushioning just devalues the point of the premium k-leather.
Ultimately you have to accept that these boots are a collector item. Were they made for day in use?
No.
As such, they show their age, even with the modern applications, it's not enough. They perform well enough but not compared to the newer silos on the market. They fall up short against the heritage models like the Puma King, Adidas Copa Mundial and Nike Premier IIs. With a price tag of over £300, you can't take this boot too serious. This was more an experiment to see how they perform, most people will be chucking these in the background for their YouTube channel.
We're here to judge boots for what they are. Sure these might look great on the mantle piece, but not for much else. They do the job, and are okay.....don't get me wrong, but with the market saturated with boots with different tech, styles, materials and price ranges, you have to be honest and say that the Accelerator Remakes just don't come out top on anything but it's iconic value.
Price: £300+
Fit: Go 1 size up
Tech: The OG Predator grip patches, it still delivers by today's standards
Comfort: Cushioned, poor lockdown, but comfortable
Look: These are THE Predators. Sick.
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