It’s a ‘New Year, New Design’ for Nike‘s ever-popular football boots as the Swoosh brand delivers the Blueprint Mercurials Pack. This ‘Chlorine Blue and Laser Orange’ colourway features a new templated Mercurial graphic inspired by a blueprint’s technical markings and schematics. Certain design blocks emphasise the vital parts concerning lockdown, dribbling, and shooting. Specific brandings put forward the driving innovations of the current Mercurials.
What is immediately noticeable is that the primarily cyan Blueprint Mercurial has a vivid shade when struck by light. It then displays a new template silo design (orange on this boot) featuring outlines and brandings, such as the Vaporposite arch on the medial side and the Customize Speed chevron on the toe box. The Swoosh gets a ribbed vertical underlay, red on this colourway. Replacing the Speed Wings are the Mercurial and Nike icons sitting atop their circled underlays.
Like in the Vaporposite upper, nothing separates the Vapor and the Superfly underfoot. The Aerotrak soleplate features the Chlorine blue dominant colour with a dark shaded inner spine and laser orange chevron studs and structure. Also in orange are the mini Swoosh on the forefoot and the FIT360 markings alongside the Aerotrak spine. The former is dark-toned, while the latter remains light. The Dynamic Fit of the high-cut Mercurials shares the same shade with the main colourway, with the heel tab of the low-cut Vapor in a deeper hue.
The Blueprint pack includes a laser orange Phantom GT 2. Its stylised branch-and-strip graphic design in red and chlorine blue essentially reverses the colour roles of the Blueprint Mercurials. This particular GT 2 is the first to suit in orange, appealing to fans hoping to get Nike’s control boot in the said colour. Lastly, the Tiempo Legend 9 in this pack brings back the ‘Team Red’ seen on the Tiempo Legend 3 from 2011. The colourway somewhat borders in maroon for the K-leather upper, a typical red around the heel, and a pinkish finish for the outsole. The Swoosh is white with turquoise borders that flow directly to the Tiempo logo on the back of the heel.
