There are very few football shoe silos that stand the test of time. Almost everyone can name Adidas Copa and Puma King which in all honesty stand above rest of the brands in the nostalgic heritage category of boots. Yet these models very much like the Umbro Speciali series explore very little and provide very few limited once in a lifetime releases. Copa has remained unchanged and maybe that's a good thing. On the other hand Mizuno's classic boot Morelia, now in second or third variant of the silo, packs more punch with its tip to detail and luxury. That said, Mizuno has set the stage for leather crafted football boots with extra care and class with its made in Japan series. These boots are hand made with Japanese workers with top quality kangaroo leather and it shows.
Mizuno Morelia AF KR 2 is most likely one of the first boots that have boasted the elite made in Japan sign on quality even though only later on the brand truly embraced this trait as a part of its marketing. Its release is also very sneaky and the boot incorporated many features of what turned out to become integral parts in the light-weight Mizuno Morelia Neo series. Most notable aesthetic feature is probably the Adidas Samba pack imitating colorway even though Samba pack was released way later in time for the 2014 Brazil world cup. Another visual detail was placing the word Morelia to the back of heel whereas in previous and later releases the word is placed outside foot on the heel side. Then again one notable feature of the boot is the short tongue instead of the classic fold-over tongue which would from time to time appear in future Morelia II colorways. Third feature which sets the boot definitely apart from other Morelias is the stitching across the toe box in similar fashion to Morelia Neo to prevent too much stretching. That said the overall fit of the boot is considerably tighter to regular Morelias. However, when the fit lengthwise is right, the boot will start to mold to your feet after 25 minutes of wear and soon after the feel is responsive and glove-like.
The sad part of Morelia AF KR 2 is that the supply these days is extremely limited and finding a new pair online easier said than done. Fortunately some Russian online retailers seem to have few pairs in their storage but the hefty 200€ price tag might turn out to be a hurdle too high for Western customers with no experience with no-English sites. Limited supply, sizes and prices...
It would be nice if Mizuno were able to revive this model like it has done many times with previous limited colorways. To me, the biggest downside of the release is most likely a more rigid and narrow Morelia which after breaking in turned out to be the best boot to date which I've ever worn. 5+ years in use and still no deterioration. Top quality, built to last. Rarest of the rare, Mizuno Morelia will most likely continue to surprise us all on and off the pitch.
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| Mizuno Morelia AF KR2 Mij and Morelia NEO Mij side by side |
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| Similar stitching across the toe box |
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| Neo has a more aggressive stud pattern, less stitching inside of the toe box |
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| Morelia AF KR2 has overall a wider shape |
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| Front profile reveals some similarities |
Only downside I can think of is obviously wet and rainy conditions which in many ways put a lot strain on leather boots. First of all, enough water will eventually enter the leather and make it swell like a sponge even though some leather treatment, like wax and shoe polish, will reduce the absorption. Second, the stud pattern is less effective with soft and wet grass and the mud will stick to the outsole.
My rating: 9/10
