QCing and LCing Jordan 11s: The master guide. (NOT THE LOWS)

BIG thanks to Fake Education for his detailed pictures. All credit goes to original owners.

Possibly the most famous Jordan model of all time, any pair of Jordan 11s will turn heads wherever you go. Here are some things to look for while attempting to purchase a pair of Jordan 11s. As mentioned in the previous Jordan 1 LCQC guide, some things may not be mentioned because I do not deem them important enough to put into the guide.

Nevertheless, here we go!

FEATURE 1: BACK HEEL PAD AND 23 The iconic back part of the Air Jordan 11 is important in deeming if fakes are good enough to be sent out, or if a pair of Jordan 11s are real or fake. The 23 pad on the back of each Jordan 11 EXCEPT FOR GAMMA 11s should be wide and comfortably house the 23 with a bit of extra space. Here is a prime example:

Notice how wide the heel pad is. The left pair's 23 pad is significantly smaller, and there is not as much space as compared to a retail pair.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: GAMMA 11S ARE AN EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE. For whatever reason, the gamma 11s that came out in 2013 were made with horrible quality and quality control, and as a result, loose threads and bad stitching were everywhere. All gamma 11s should look like the pair on the left. If a Gamma Blue 11 has a wide 23 pad, it is FAKE.

this is actually a retail pair. don't forget about this.

The above is a picture of retail gamma blue 11s. Keep this rule in mind when buying a pair! However, having a Jordan 11 replicas with a narrow 23 pad will not get you called out, unless it is outrageously small or outrageously wide (for a gamma blue 11)

Importance factor: LC: 8/10

Chance of callout: 3.5/10

FEATURE 2: POSITIONING OF THE TOP LACE STRAP All retail Jordan 11s have a very specific placement of the top lace strap:

left shoe fake, right shoe real. notice the highlighted lace holder placement.

pay attention to the location of the top lace holder

Notice how the lace strap on the Left, FAKE pair is much closer to the top than the Retail pair on the right. The green outline shows the lace holder placement on a real pair, while the red outline shows the lace holder placement on a fake pair. This is common on most Jordan 11 replicas, and will easily help you decipher the pair you are looking at is fake or real. However, especially if you wear a small size, you will not get called out for having that flaw on a replica.

Importance factor: LC: 7/10

Chance of getting called out: 2.5/10

FEATURE 3: YELLOWING ON SOLES. This is probably the most important feature of LCing any Air Jordan 11 COOL GREY, 2009 SPACE JAM, OR CONCORD AIR JORDAN 11. The soles MUST have yellowing on them, EVEN IF THEY ARE NEW! A brand new pair of concord, 2010 cool grey, or 2009 space jam 11 with no yellowing whatsoever is an instant sign that the shoe is fake. This will 100000% get you called out in person if a sneakerhead notices.

example of yellowing. the real shoe in this picture has never been worn.

If you want to yellow your soles quicker, wear them when it's very wet and humid outside, and step in many puddles. The water (for whatever odd reason, trust me I tested it) accelerates the yellowing process on the Air Jordan 11 (or any jordan with a clear sole), and after your soles yellow, they will be indistinguishable from a retail's soles.

Importance factor: Legit checking: 99999999999999999/10

Callout chance: 92390482304820*10^800/10

FEATURE 4: PATENT LEATHER HEIGHT. One of the most common signs of a fake pair of Air Jordan 11s is the patent leather height on the back of the shoe. All Air Jordan 11s before the 2016 should have a low patent leather cut. It is normal for the cut on 2009 space jams and 2014 legend blue 11s to be a little bit taller than usual, and inconsistencies in patent leather height are normal:

Notice how the patent leather quality is much better on the Pantone 11s (below, my personal pair) compared to a (very dated) picture of when the Concords first came out in 2011 (pictured above,before they yellowed - that rule still applies)

The height of patent leather can vary from size to size, but it should never look as high as the 2016 space jams:

Importance factor for legit checking: 8/10

Callout chance: 6/10

FEATURE 5: STITCHING AND QUALITY (More specific to 2016 Space Jams, 72-10s and Pantone 11s) Pairs of the 72-10 and 2016 Space Jam 11s should have a stitched 23 (72-10) or a stitched 45 on the back of them (2016 SJ). The stitching, especially for the 2016 Space jams, should always be high quality with no loose threads hanging out or sloppy craftsmanship. Of course, there are always B grades, but all the individual stitches should be connected together and not look jagged or lopsided.

Importance Factor for Legit Checking: 4/10

Callout factor: 1/10

FEATURE 6: JUMPMAN PLACEMENT. Every jumpman on every Jordan 11 MUST line up with the 23 on the back when viewing the back from a head-on view (2016 space jams are an exception of course).

For Space Jam 11s, the jumpman on the left shoe, instead of facing the 45, should be facing the opposite direction and pointing towards the toe of the shoe.

The jumpman must always line up with the 23 for Jordans other than the 2016 space jams. This includes the Midnight Navy 11s and Gym Red 11s, which have their jumpman pointing the opposite direction and facing the 23 again. However, if this problem is present on a replica, it is not a very serious issue. There are many products out there that I am aware of that allow one to remove the existing 23 and put down a new one so that the jumpman would line up.

Importance when Legit checking: 5/10

Callout factor: 1/10

FEATURE 7: PEAKS. Peaks on most air Jordans are an instant sign that they are fake. For all Air Jordans before the 2016 space jams, (Including DMP 11s from 2006) this is true; There should NEVER be any peaks on air jordan 11s before the 2016 Space Jam 11, excluding the 2010 concords, which sometimes have small peaks. If there peaks on jordan 11s other than the 2010 Concords, it's a sign that they are FAKE.

However, for the 2016 space jam, midnight navy and gym red 11s (and probably beyond), peaks MUST be present on the shoe. If there are no peaks on your pair of 2016 Space Jam 11s, midnight navy 11s, or gym red 11s, they are 100% FAKE.

Don't get confused by this rule!

Importance when legit checking: 10/10

Callout factor:

If there are peaks on a pre-2016 Space jam 11: 290182301283910/10

If there are no peaks on an AFTER-2016 space jam 11: 8/10

Once again, I hope you've enjoyed this guide! Hopefully you learned something new, and I hope that you GL a good pair. What guide should I do next? Feel free to shoot me a message at reddit.com/u/JSAcela