Zoom Power Deception

For a very long time everybody believed that this is how the Nike Zoom LeBron VI is gonna look like. Plans got changed, but apparently “fake makers” didn’t realize in time and focused on the early prototype version when manufacturing counterfeits. Here are some of the made-up colorways as well as some regular fakes, which base on real Nike samples.

Initial Colorway

There are some things that cannot be seen without actually owning a pair of a fake shoe. Fortunately, folks at Chinasize.com made that sacrifice and thanks to them we have a full set of guidelines on how to spot a fake Zoom LeBron VI in the initial Black/White/Red colorway. Remember the yellow ‘X’ marks the fake.

Real shoes have a tidy and compact stitches alignment opposed to sloppy and irregular on fakes. Also, length of stitching segments should be constant. See below.

Fake shoes’ carbon fiber plate is very soft, in fact, it’s only a piece of plastic. Real Carbon plate LeBron VI colors are dark black with more intense lines. Of course it’s impossible to determine the hardness using only pictures, but if you come across a fake in person, be sure to check that property.

Other than the stitching alignment it’s hard to tell anything about the L23 logo sitting on the collar. Counterfeits are just sloppy.

Swoosh on the genuine VI appears to have a longer “hook” at the top. What’s more, the inner part should be more glossy due to the us of the Patent Leather material.

Just like in the case of the Nike check, fakes don’t feature the shiny Patent Leather on the toebox. Instead they are less glossy and rigid.

LeBron James sign on the medial side of the shoe displays different font and again sloppy stitching.

On the original LeBron VI, the heel pull tab is highlighted with red borders, which doesn’t appear on counterfeits. Also, the shape should be semicircular arc-shaped opposed to a “flat” one on fakes.

See the next section for more examples of this kind of dissimilarities. In short words all original VI’s feature ‘The Six’ on the tongue.

Notice how fake strings dye the laces’ plastic caps. True woven laces are meticulous, but it’s one of those things you need to feel for yourself.

In addition, the Swoosh on the sole is slightly wider in the middle section of the shoe. Apart from that this part is very hard to distinguish.

The imitation of the Nike Zoom LeBron 6 is highly similar in appearance. Cutting through the shoe did not encounter any difficulties. The so-called carbon panels are just a decoration. At the same time, pungent smell of the glue is emitted out of the shoes. Fake shoes are fake shoes, no matter how lifelike the appearances are, eventually they could not escape their shoddy nature.

The LeBrons

Although fake VI’s were far behind the original product due to the Zoom Power Deception, they’ve caught up really fast and even the most exclusive colorways have been bootlegged. The LeBrons pack was the first major Zoom LeBron VI release that hit the streets back in October. Notice smaller logos and wrong collar inprint on the fakes from The LeBrons Family pack. Another useful tip, since the materials used on all four kicks from the pack were pretty unique, some of the fakes failed to copy it. As an example, the Business Six has a Wool upper opposed to a low quality pinstripe material on fakes. Also, the Carbon Fiber pattern featured on the back of the shoes is different between OGs and counterfeits.

CORRECT – Athlete Logo:	FAKE – Athlete Logo:
CORRECT – Business Logo:	FAKE – Business Logo:
CORRECT – Business Material:	FAKE – Business Material:

As far as the Zoom LeBron VI labels go, here’s a compilation of all known tags. It’s difficult to get that angle of the shoe before purchase, because many not even know about its existence. Actually it’s hard to photograph as well. The labels are placed on the other side of the L23 logo, that sits on the top of the collar.

See all the labels: Label Dictionary.

St. Vincent – St. Mary

CORRECT – Gold Stitching:	FAKE – Green Stitching:
CORRECT – Gold Outsole:	FAKE – White Outsole:
CORRECT – Gold Logos:	FAKE – White Logos:
CORRECT – Clear Background:	FAKE – Graffiti Background:

Hardwood Classic

CORRECT – The Six:	FAKE – VI:
CORRECT – Black Carbon:	FAKE – Yellow Carbon:
CORRECT – White Swoosh:	FAKE – Yellow Swoosh:
CORRECT – Clear Background:	FAKE – Graffiti Background:

The ‘VI’ vs ‘The Six’

The first Zoom LeBron VI samples carried the ‘VI’ logo on the top of the tongue above the Lion-head logo. However, all production models with the exception of the Witness Gold Special Make Up, feature ‘The Six’ instead. This is very useful when dealing with fakes, cause most of the Fake OGs didn’t get the memo about the change. For those, who don’t know how to distinct the Witness Gold edition from the regular United We Rise please see this post.

CORRECT – The Six:	FAKE – VI:
CORRECT – The Six:	FAKE – VI:

United We Rise

Just like in the case of The LeBrons, the United We Rise edition, being one of the most popular styles, has been an inspiration for many fake colorways. You can find counterfeits of the actual shoe, as well as, some new creations. Apart from the ‘The Six’ vs the ‘VI’ tip, we mentioned previously, turn your attention to the label behind the L23 logo, because fakes doesn’t come with the torch like the original shoe does. Also, below there are a couple of examples of fake colorways, which use the UWR theme.

CORRECT – Torch:	FAKE – Dunkman:
FAKE – Wrong colorway:	FAKE – Wrong colorway:

Fake OGs

Fake colorways

Remember to check the existing colorways at the menu on the left. If a given style is not listed, there’s a great chance you’ve found a counterfeit. Apart from many regular fakes, there is plenty of “invented” colorways including several version of the United We Rise theme, Fairfax, Black/Gold, and many more.