Weekly Methamphibian Throwback

This is our first and definitely not our last post like this. Paying tribute to the one person who did more for the customizing hobby than anyone else: Methamphibian. We are going to have a look at his past customs, a throwback. Which is funny because “throwbacks” were the popular clothing item when Methamphibian was on top of the sneaker world back in 2000 to about 2005. To make this post title even more ironic the first shoes were are showcasing are based off of a make believe “throwback” team from Nike: The Rayguns. His design on the Air Force 1 was based off the red and gold stripes across the Rayguns jersey. I can still remember the rumors that these would be released by Nike, back in 2002 and the subsequent Raygun Dunk sample that surfaced later that year. Which was still 3 years before the actual release of the Nike Dunk SB with the Rayguns theme in 2005. The rumor is that Methamphibian was supposedly “hired” to make this design by Nike to promote the new Nike Basketball site which was heavily based on the Rayguns campaign. These were also one of the first customs to be significantly “faked” by the factory variant makers. Now who knows where the originals are? But Mr. Methamphibian does have for sale a “retro” version of his Raygun AF1 for only $200 that would look good in any collection. Either way check back for the real answer as PaintOrThread goes out to research if Methamphibian was actually commissioned by Nike back in 2002 for this design.

Purchase the Raygun AF1 Retro

Methamphibian’s Website

Original Methamphibian Raygun AF1
Original Methamphibian Raygun AF1
Original Methamphibian AF1
Original Methamphibian AF1

Pics of the Away Rayguns and Retro Rayguns AF1s after the jump!

Diversitile: Dreamscape I & II

Quietly and slowly over the past year a customizer by the name Diversitile has been making a name for himself the right way. That right way has been through original designs that are fresh and imaginative. Based out of Orlando, Florida Diversitile released his “Dreamscape I” Dunk high last December. Here it is described in his own words:

Theses shoes were just a visual representation of one of the artist’s dreams and was conveyed with the color pattern of a coral reef. The shoes were a fun project from start to finish, simple but crazy.

I especially love the fade on the swoosh. The white around the toe panel is awkward but somehow works. Others obviously liked them as well because Diversitile made a second version with green around the back heel, a brighter coral reef pattern, AND glow in the dark ability on the back panels of the coral reef pattern. Be sure to check Diversitile’s site if you want a pair.

Diversitile’s Website

Diversitile’s MySpace

Dreamscape I
Dreamscape I
Dreamscape II
Dreamscape II

Glow in the dark pics after the jump!

Back to the Future version 1 from Mizzee

A popular theme used a few times in 2008 by customizers was the movie “Back to the Future”.Much of which was started by Nike’s release of their limited HyperDunk inspired by the movies futuristic and never released Nike Air Mag worn by Marty McFly. This all leads to the recent custom posted up by Mizzee Customs, which is his version of an Nike three-way: Nike Air Force 1 + Hyperdunk + Air Mag. Which just happens to be inspired by emmanueLabor’s own rendition. Mizzee a master of crazy painted designs was different from emmanueLabor’s in the fact that he only used paint while EL had a combo of paint and fabric. That said Mizzee came correct with a near perfect hand painted copy of the Hyperdunk Flywire and tongue tags. But the most interesting part of these are the toe box perforations to which Mizzee somehow filled up all but six of the holes to mimic the Hyper Dunk quite well. Great work by EL and Mizzee. These are supposedly the first go-round for Mizzee so check back later for an even more improved version. Or visit either’s MySpace for your own pair.

emmanueLabor’s MySpace

Mizzee Custom’s Myspace

emmanueLabors version
emmanueLabor's version
Mizzees version
Mizzee's version

More pics after the jump!

Perforated Perfection

There is a guy in the UK who goes by Ghettrocentricity. If you have not heard of him, shame on you. Let’s fix that. For some reason one of the coolest fabrics to PaintorThread.com is perforated leather. Its just amazing how evenly spaced and sized the little holes are made. Now suede is just as cool, and Ghettrocentricity proved that with his recent New Balance 576 customs. The changes to these are so subtle only an New Balance aficionado would even have a chance of noticing the additions. The shoes started with the perforated suede on toeboxs and back ankles and 3M Scotchlite around the Ns. After Ghettro got through with them they had added Scotchlite on the back ankles and red perforated suede on the entire tongues and Ns. Simple and subtle but extremely amazing. No paint was used. Ghettro only used his deconstructing and reconstructing abilities to make a shoe a tad more original for a New Balance fan. And……..monotone shoes…a.k.a. all one color are the best shoes.

Ghettrocentricity’s Website

Before and more after pics after the jump!

Madd Rhythms by Swaves

An acronym thrown around often at the PaintOrThread office is to try and K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. That is exactly what new customizer Swaves might have had in mind when he created the recent Madd Rhythms Nike Dunk high for The Madd Rhythms tap dance company out of Chicago. Even though it is obvious to tell which base shoe Swaves used they are definitely one of a kind for the dancer they were made for, who goes by “Cake Daddy”. Swaves made a great replication of the Madd Rhythms logo of three figures tap dancing on the lateral and medial mid panels of both shoes. My favorite part though of these shoes is probably how the toe boxes are both painted to look like the bottom of tap shoes with the grey metal and screws. Young customizers take note, a custom does not need to be flashy with popular characters, neon colors, Scotchlite reflective material, or clear vinyl to be a great custom. So when in doubt K.I.S.S.

For more info check Swaves’: MySpace

More pics after the jump!

The most recent champion is………..Twitch!

The champion of the most recent Sole Collector Forums Custom Contest was announced last month after a year of monthly contests in 2008 that saw strong competition from some of the best customizers around like: Mizzee, Mateo Customs, C2, Sharp020, and many others. So when the finals went down 9 customizers were up against each other to win the votes of the general Sole Collector public and 5 trustworthy judges. The winner Twitch Customs known as SoleAffection on the Sole Collector forums was 1st by the public and 3rd by the judges for a big 59.3% of the total vote. Twitch’s winning design made perfect use of the base shoe. Described in his own words:

“I was highly disappointed with what Nike SB deemed the “Venom dunks” when there was no reference to Venom AT ALL. So I thought I’d do the theme justice and represent Venom or the Venom Symbiote the way he deserves to be shown. The toe, and lace panels are textured to represent the gooey, almost liquid-like symbiote form trying to consume the shoe.”

These Venom Dunks are still up for grabs in size 11. So Hit up Twitch’s MySpace or email for more info. Don’t forget to tell him where you found his customs: ThreadOrPaint.com

Twitch Customs: MySpace

Twitch Email: [email protected]

Twitch Venom Dunk
Twitch Venom Dunk

More pics after the jump!