Taking us back to the golden years of MJ is the Air Jordan 1. Often referred to as “the shoe that started it all” and released in 1985, The Jordan brand has released their newest take on the OG classic “Royal,” one of the first three colorways of the Air Jordan 1, with the name “Black Game Royal” on May 9, 2020, and retailing at $170 USD.

Nike dropped the official photos, and that gives us the chance to take a close look at the 2020 “Black Game Royal.”

The Design

The OG “Royal” version initially had a black and blue only colorway. The addition of white in this colorway gives us a closer vibe to the 2014 AJ retro collaboration with Fragment Design. This pair boasts a premium, dominantly leather construction with a satin tongue. 

Image @gc911

Compared to the 2014 “Fragment,” the newest take has a royal blue toe box with the classic black mudguards versus the previous white toe box and black mudguards. It’s closer to the OG “Royal” in this aspect. Meanwhile, unlike OG Royal and 2014’s Fragment, the collar and the heel have been switched to black. The winged basketball logo at the dons a printed rather than an imprinted logo and comes in white ink. The contrast of the blue and black on the side of the neck adds to the overall fresh look.  

 The sock liner is in black, and as expected, the stitching detail is very modest, with it matching the color of each part of the shoe. The Nike swoosh is in black and stitched over the contrasting the white side panel. The tongue is made from nylon material and is complemented with black laces. On the tip of the tongue is the Nike Air label in white text. 

Image @gc911

The back portion of the “Black Game Royal” is kept classic. Soles for all three mentioned versions are the same as the classic white midsole and royal blue outsole. The outsole is also in the classic Nike Air Jordan pattern.

The Release

Some Nike warehouses are closed due to some employees testing positive for the Coronavirus. This could cause changes to the release date, also with the entire world battling COVID-19. There may also be a possibility that online retailers will still push through with the scheduled release on May 9.

However, for now, the Air Jordan 1 High OG “Black Game Royal” is said to be available at selected distributors, and online retailers such as Nike.com