Nike Air Max Plus:

About Nike Air Max Plus

The Air Max Plus was enormously popular in Europe, but didn’t see the same success in the US. Featuring Tuned Air Technology, the Air Max Plus featured Visible Air Units along with mechanical implements to establish a structural support system. The upper incorporated mesh and several print variations including a color fade gradient, a grid print, and a floral print. Another unique feature of the Air Max Plus was the plastic toe guard that had never been seen before on a Nike Running shoe. There were several variations of the shoe including a slip-on version, but none of them were particularly successful.

Over the years, many colour variations of the Air Max Plus were produced for different countries – so much so that it became difficult to keep track of them. The US editions tended to carry lighter colours, while those designed for the Asian market were darker.

Nike realized the popularity of certain colourways and has reissued several. For example, the original ‘Hyper Blue’ edition has reappeared recently with a slightly different toe-guard, and the original black edition was reissued with patent leather in place of the regular suede areas. Nike has brought out variations on the basic model, including the Air Max Plus 2, 3, 4 and 5, and the slip-on variant of the first model, but none of them were particularly successful. Although this shoe established itself as a firm favourite in London, where it was associated with the hip-hop and garage scenes, it failed to achieve the same level of success in the US.

The airbrush effect on the upper looked like a new concept altogether, but the Nike Japan Terra Rainbow, which came out in 1984, used a similar fading style. While it was this distinctive print that got the shoe its initial fan base, later models of the Air Max Plus featured different variations on the upper, such as patterned prints (grid, floral and others), leather and nubuck suede.

A cult favorite and one-time Nike Running headliner, the Nike Air Max Plus TN manages to pop up every now and then to remind us what the running aesthetics were all about in 1998. We’ve seen these joints in several hybrid mashups, most recently the Air Max Modular 98, but never before has the AM Plus TN been ‘tuned’ up with a straightforward upgrade. Enter the Nike Air Max Plus 1.5, a Flywire-infused update on the original Tuned Air runner that appears to have adapted well to the simple colorways that dominate in Ten. Have a look at two models on tap for next year and stick with Sneaker News for the Air MAx Plus 1.5 release dates.

The Nike Air Max Plus aka AMP was released in the fall of 1998. The shoe was the first running shoe to feature Nike’s Tuned Air system. The Nike Tuned Air system consists of two opposing polymer hemispheres that rebound against each other to absorb shock. The Nike Air Max Plus is commonly referred to as the Air TN or Air Tuned. The Nike Air Max Plus, despite being released in over 100 colorways, has some legendary favorites. The first color it was released in “Hyper Blue” was a huge hit with the US market and foreign markets. Also, the Orange/Black/Red colorway is a must have even to US sneakerheads.