Customizer: New Balance Customs 2013

Photography By Angel Gonzalez/Vagrant Sneaker© 2013.

New Balance’s entry into the custom arena that allows consumers to pick one of two silhouettes, 574 or 993, to design has been nothing short of a success story. Quality materials, excellent workmanship, Made in The USA,  and a delivery to your doorstep within 6 to 8 business days (originally 3 to 5). Now that 2012 is over, fans are wondering what’s next for NB’s builder and palette as far as options. Well, I have some scoop on what you should be expecting next…

New Balance’s builder will get one of many updates this year. One will be a refresh or update to the palette with new colors introduced. Whether it will be a merge to the existing 23 hues, or if it’s a total restructure is unknown. Lets hope that it is an addition and merged to the current palette. That would make this one of the most open brand custom shoes ever. Just imagine? 23 colors and another 5 to 10 hues added would be amazing. Burgundy or maroon anyone? It doesn’t stop there though. Word of a possible new addition to the material department has been mentioned also. A definite welcome to the 3m, pigskin suede, and leather options already there.

All these add-ons would be great and much welcomed, but the fans are really waiting for NB to introduce their next heritage silhouette to the builder. Well, here are three that have been mentioned to me. The 3 models are the 996, 999, and 1300. These almost seem to good to be true and far-fetched, but if I had to choose my one guess it would be the NB996. My main reason for that choice is that NB has been churning out that model all of a sudden. Last year we saw quite a few release back to back and all were very successful. We are talking about a model that is predominately released only in the Asia market. Now we see it making a comfortable home in the US all of a sudden and if you notice the colors used on them, they can be found on the NB Custom Builder. That’s my guess. It seems a far stretch that the 1300 or the 999 would make an appearance on the builder. The 999 and 1300 are being used at the moment as collaborating models, so why would they let you design either one of those when they have brands waiting years to push their make-up through. Again, these are just my thoughts and I have no definite answer to which one will come out.

One thing to also note is that the price of the New Balance 574 custom has gone up. The original $114.95 has been raised to $139.95. That’s a $25 increase that some will complain about, but in all honesty, still within reason. At $114.95 it was a steal to get the type of quality we are getting. Especially when compared to what other brands offer. By far, these NB customs are on a level all on their own.

So there you have it. Some food for thought. Lets see what you think will be the next model to make it. Below is a poll you can vote on.

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