Nike Mercurial Vapor VI/Superfly II

Nikes Mercurial range will be released in its sixth incarnation in 2010. They are set to be released in April, and will feature new names for each of the ranges boots. The bottom range Velocity will become the Victory, the Steam will become the Glide and the Talaria will become the Miracle. Not quite sure why Nike are doing this, but they are. The Vapor and Superfly will stay the same.

The two release colourways are Violet Pop/Total Orange/Obsidian and Dark Obsidian/White/Cool Mint.

Aesthetically, there are a few minor changes from the current Mercurial. The tick seems to bit a lot large and a lot more central than what it is currently, and most noticeably there is the new design on the instep. It will usually be of a different colour like the current MV, but will feature an almost mosaic, straight lined design.

There are several interesting and distinctive features between each boot in the range, and changes from the Mercurial V. Firstly, the Superfly has two new circular studs on the instep. I've read reports that these have now been dropped from the design, but until Nike confirm it themselves then assume they will be on the boots when they are released. I don't know if it's to aid in turning, or whether it provides additional grip or something else. I'm sure we will find out soon enough. The Superfly features a black carbon fibre soleplate, where as the Vapor has a grey full length one. On the pictures you can also see that the Vapor has dual density studs which were first featured on the Superfly I. These type of studs are even featured on the Miracle (Talaria), but I don't thikn they have the holes drilled in them which are to save weight. The Miracle also has what looks like a part carbon fibre sole, not a full length one. This could however just be fibreglass. The Glide (Steam) also features what looks like carbon fibre on the soleplate but could just be fibreglass. The lace cover has also been improved and looks a lot like what the Vapor has, which is a massive gain over the current Steam lace cover which is pretty poor. The Victory (Veloctiy) has no major features from what I can tell and remains an entry level boot.

A third colourway has also been leaked on the internet recently. It's a yellow colourway simliar to that of the recently released yellow Vapor V, and has what looks like a Black or Green instep.