It’s almost Christmas time and you know what that means. No, it doesn’t mean that we get to unwrap all the awesome presents that we got from our family and friends and give thanks to the year that was (although giving thanks to this year is a highly dubious move unless your personal life was just that great). It means that our Buy, Pass, Wait column is a little short this weekend because the staff hasn’t turned in their picks yet. So until I get a few more emails responding to our weekly thread, it’ll just be me and the other Juan (Carrillo) for now giving our takes on the weekend’s releases and beyond (UPDATE: Renz and Andres finally turned their entries in, yay!), including the Air Jordan 11 Suede, the Nike Kyrie 3 and our picks for Christmas Day sneakers.

Air Jordan 11 Suede

Juan Martinez, Editor-In-Chief: (PASS) We’ve seen the Air Jordan 11 take on a different vibe when it goes low (snakeskin, IE, etc.), but now it looks like the once-sacred patent leather overlay is no more as we are now starting to see the Air Jordan 11 get the Pinnacle treatment. This stylized treatment might be appealing to a lot of people – there’s no way this doesn’t sell out immediately – but I’m not a fan at the moment. I’ll be very interested to see what the future holds for the 11s in general. Will we start to see more 11s drop in general and not just be limited to the holiday season?

Juan Carrillo, News: (PASS) $400 is way too much for this Jordan. Based off the images I’ve seen, the suede isn’t that impressive either. I’m not crazy about the 11s. I already have a hard time paying $220 for them. $400 is out of the question.

Renz Ofiaza, News: (PASS) I do like like the new material construction on the sneaker, and with this colorway, it’s a stylish silhouette for sure. I’m just against that pice tag really. I’d pay for a designer brand instead, haha.

Andres Carrillo, News: (PASS) My favorite feature of the Air Jordan 11 is the patent leather. The shoe just looks kind of off without it. The suede construction on this pair is pretty cool, but I don’t like it better than the original mesh and patent leather construction. Plus that $400 price tag is just crazy!

Air Jordan 16 Midnight Navy

EIC Juan: (BUY ONCE THE PRICE DROPS) I love the Air Jordan 16 and I absolutely regret not being able to buy this when they first came out. I love the blue toe and the look of the sneaker both with or without the shroud. That being said, I’m confident I’ll be able to scoop this up for less than $200 in a few weeks because they won’t sell out.

News Juan: (WAIT) The Air Jordan 16 is a solid model, but remind me why it’s priced at $250 again? If these end up sitting, I’d feel more comfortable paying $150 for them. If they sell out, I’m okay with that too.

Renz: (WAIT) I owned it back in 2001 and I really liked this model when it was introduced. It’s one of my favorite colorways on the silhouette, although I’ll wait for a price drop since I’m not too crazy about it this time.

Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG Storm Blue

EIC Juan: (PASS) If it’s not the Chicago, Banned, Royal or Shattered Backboard (Original or Alternate), I don’t care about 1s, and it’s not like I wear 1s anyways (they hurt my feet and ankles).

News Juan: (WAIT) I’ve already seen this shoe priced at under retail. Which leads me to believe that I can eventually get these for close to $100 like many other Jordan1s that dropped this year. I love the colorway and I’d love to have it in my collection, but I’m going to wait it out in hopes of getting these way below retail. People are sleeping on these, and I’m okay with that.

Renz: (PASS) It’s always nice to see a classic colorway to return. This pair is appealing but I was never into it. Probably because of the shade of the blue. Easy pass for me.

Andres: (WAIT) This is such a clean and classic colorway. I’m sure that most people don’t even know that this is an OG colorway. I definiteyl plan on picking these up when they drop in price in the near future. I just hope people sleep on them hard so I can cop for the low.

Nike Kyrie 3 Black Ice

EIC Juan: (PASS) I might actually buy it for purposes of featuring it on the site, but I wouldn’t cop them for personal reasons. I’m intrigued with the possibilities of the Kyrie 3, especially after he gave it such an illuminating talk about it a few months ago way before anybody even had a chance to ask him about it.

News Juan: (WAIT) The Kyrie 3 has potential to be a good shoe. I’d like to try it on and see how it looks on-feet as a casual shoe. I’m in no rush to buy them. I’ll hit up my local mall in the next couple of weeks, try on a pair, and then make my decision there.

Renz: (PASS) Design-wise, it’s not bad but, I don’t think it’s better than the Kyrie 2. This colorway is a classic though and I still like the strap detailing. Looking forward to other variations though.

Christmas Day Sneakers (Pick One)

EIC Juan: adidas Harden Vol. 1 13 Below Zero

Congrats adidas, you finally made an all-white Ultra Boost that could on a basketball court. It’s super clean and a dirt trap that would make me cry the moment it got even the slightest speck of dirt, but it’s real nice to look at.

News Juan: (NONE) Not many Christmas-themed releases caught my eye this year. What will I be wearing for Christmas? Well it can go both ways depending on how I’m feeling. I could go with a clean pair of Cole Haan LunarGrands in this sweet Burnt Burgundy colorway that I have, or I can decide to unds my pair of Jordan 1 Breds. Either way, it’s a win-win.

Renz: Nike KD 9 Sauce

This is probably a top 6 colorway of the silhouette. Maybe I’m just biased towards the colorway but, you really can’t go wrong with this pair for the season.

The post Buy, Pass, Wait: Air Jordan 11 Suede, Nike Kyrie 3 Black Ice, Christmas Day Sneakers appeared first on KicksOnFire.com.