The limited edition game was taken to the next level in 2014 as brands celebrated landmarks and heralded achievements. With the year coming to a close we've taken a look at the hottest selection of limited releases over the past 12 months.
World Cup years always spark mass competition between brands to do something different, something innovative and to be remembered. The World Cup is the ultimate playground for designers to get creative and brands to create buzz by dropping limited quantities of product to increase the desirability and demand of their products. Here's our pick of the bunch from a busy year of disruptive launches. In no particular order...
adidas Pure Leather Pack | Quantity: 500 pairs - adidas rounded off a celebratory year by dropping one of the most elegantly stylish collections of 2014 in the shape of the Pure Leather pack. A Predator, Nitrocharge and F50 were stripped back and carved out of beautiful K-Leather to land as a boot purists dream in a simplistic black and white colourway.
adidas Revenge Pack | Quantity: 1825 pairs - The world awaited the 20th anniversary of the Predator, they expected big things and adidas duly delivered. The Revenge Pack saw the return of three Predator favourite remakes in the 1994 original, 1998 Accelerator and 2002 Mania. Those who snoozed... losed...? with each of the limited editions selling out in a matter of hours.
PUMA Balotelli/Reus Tricks | Quantity: 400 pairs - PUMA entered the signature game late in the year by introducing two pairs of limited edition boots for Mario Balotelli and Marco Rues. We saw the evoPOWER and evoSPEED boots get the personal touch with Balotelli's boots taking on an Italian flag and Reus' evoSPEED boots adopting a colourway which took inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s kit and his affiliated childrens charity.
Nike Tropical Pack | Quantity: 2500 pairs - In the build up to the 2014 World Cup Nike released the Mercurial Tropical Pack. Three Vapor IX boots, each given a tropical renovation inspired by Brazil's rain forests and each colourway representing a different part of the Amazon. No on pitch time but a worthy souvenir that helped build momentum around the competition.
Nike CTR360 Maestri III 'Lights Out' | Quantity: 2500 pairs - Nike turned the lights off on the CTR silo as the Magista was born. One of the most popular Nike silos in recent seasons was sent to the archives in the dark as Nike dropped a commemorative black out colourway for one last time. A limited edition version that was an exceptional tribute and officially called time on a boot that has served Nike well since its launch in 2009.
adidas F50 Messi 370 | Quantity: 370 pairs - Lionel Messi broke Barcelona's all time goal scoring record of 369 goals with a hat-trick against Osasuna. For this achievement adidas made a limited run of 370 Messi F50 boots. Lionel Messi only wore these for one game against Celta Vigo on the 26th March 2014, Barcelona won the game 3-0 and to top off his performance Messi grabbed a goal in his #370 boots. Of course he did.
PUMA Streetwear Collaborations | Quantity: 106-146 pairs - PUMA collaborated with streetwear brands, Bape, Colette, Alife and Kith, to convert the evoSPEED. Each pair was dressed in the brand's own style from Bape's camo design to Colette's ice cool blue template silhouette. High-end fashion collaborations, limited numbers, stylish designs, PUMA know the drill.
adidas Primeknit | Quantity: 150 pairs - The Primeknit was like nothing seen before on a football pitch. Two years of development and testing ended with Luis Suarez wearing a pair against Manchester United. Introduced, played in once, but not forgotten, adidas are rumoured to have big plans for the technology next year.
Nike Mercurial Vapor IX CR7 | Quantity: 100 pairs - Nike celebrated Cristiano Ronaldo's record breaking year where he became the quickest player to reach 200 goals for a club and held an average of a goal a game. Nike introduced us to the Mercurial Vapor IX CR7 special edition, with a fresh white upper, a gleaming gold sole plate and not forgetting the CR7 initials on the inside of the boot - this was an epic limited edition boot, each boot being individually numbered from 1 to 100.
PUMA Celebration Pack | Quantity: 128 pairs - With Germany winning the World Cup PUMA wanted to celebrate their countrymen's achievement by introducing the Celebration Pack in late July. The pack included an evoSPEED and an evoPOWER in a two-toned colour effect with the outside of the boot in a clean white then growing in colour to a glorious pure gold. Both boots were only released in a firm ground version, with 128 pairs of the boot mad.
PUMA King Italia | Quantity: 898 pairs - With PUMA being the kit suppliers for the Italian football team, they introduced the King Italia to celebrate the 1898 founding of the Italian football federation. Original kangaroo leather was coated in an old school brown upper to reflect the look of boots at the time of the federation's birth.
Quite a busy year for Limited Edition boots - have you got a favourite from the list? Let us know in the comment section below.
