The Mercurial Vapor is a football boot manufactured by Nike. The boot is known for being lightweight. Because of this, the boot is favoured by many players for whom speed is a very important part of their game, notably wingers or strikers. The boot is now in its seventh version the Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly 3, currently available in two colourways: Red Plum/Volt, and Blue/Platinum/Orange The boot is available in either Soft Ground (SG) or Firm Ground (FG)or Hard Ground(HG) versions. The SG version's sole plate is fitted with six NikeSnap removable studs, which can be purchased in different lengths, for the first and second models, and traditional screw-in aluminium studs for versions 3 to 6; the FG version has twelve moulded blades.
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| Cristiano Ronaldo Signed Football Boot - Nike Mercurial Vapor V |
The origin of the Mercurial Vapors can be traced back to as early as 1998, when Ronaldo debuted the original Nike Air Mercurial boots. The boots were originally released in black, but a version in silver/blue/yellow was released for the 1998 World Cup and a blue/black version followed soon after. All boots were made in Soft Ground (SG) and Firm Ground (FG) varieties, with the SG version using removable studs. In 1999, the Mercurial 2 was released in two colourways: black/blue and black/red. These were identical in shape, size, and fit to the originals, but they had a different insole and a smaller swoosh on the side of the boot. The Mercurials were Nike's first boots to be made using synthetic materials, and also their first venture into the market of lightweight boots designed for speed.
The original Vapors were released in mid-2002, just before the World Cup of that year. The first glimpse anyone outside of Nike got of the boots was in the Nike cage advert (starring Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, and Roberto Carlos), in which a close-up shot of the boots is taken near the end of the advert. The boot was first released in three colourways: cinder/white/maize; dark obsidian/white/university blue; and medium grey/chilli red. A chrome/lime variation (worn exclusively by Ronaldo in the Semi-Finals and Final) was released to the public in limited numbers (just 4,600) in the period after the tournament. Other colours included white/ice/black; chrome/black; black/chilli red; dark charcoal/surf blue/white; and shock orange/white. In addition to the NikeSkin Vapors, Nike released its first kangaroo leather version of the shoe in black/grey. The Vapors also continued with the R9 designation on boots that was featured originally in the previous Mercurial lines. Both chrome colourways featured the "R9" mark.
At the time of release, the Vapor was the lightest boot on the market with several key innovations. The upper was made of an extremely thin, lightweight synthetic known as Nike Skin. It was claimed to be thinner and stronger than any kangaroo leather. The Vapor also featured an external heel counter which was very uncommon at that time as well as a "glass" filled outsole called NikeFrame, inspired by track sprint spikes and designed to spring back into shape after push-off. According to the booklets inserted into the box with each pair, the shoe showed a 3% decrease in the time to cover a 20-metre sprint compared to other boots.
At the time of release, the Vapor was the lightest boot on the market with several key innovations. The upper was made of an extremely thin, lightweight synthetic known as Nike Skin. It was claimed to be thinner and stronger than any kangaroo leather. The Vapor also featured an external heel counter which was very uncommon at that time as well as a "glass" filled outsole called NikeFrame, inspired by track sprint spikes and designed to spring back into shape after push-off. According to the booklets inserted into the box with each pair, the shoe showed a 3% decrease in the time to cover a 20-metre sprint compared to other boots.