I have personally never owned a 996 until now. The 990v2 with blue colorblocking from teddy season 1 was one of my favorite pairs that he did that season & it's unfortunate bc that cw seemed to be pretty heavily slept on since kith dropped their V3 around the same time.

Materials: I personally think they had a great choice of materials on this sneaker. The majority of the upper is covered in this soft, long hair navy suede. On the back heel, you have this soft khaki colored suede that has a nice color change while brushing across it. On the heel tab, you have this semisoft white leather with the NB logo debossed into it. Overall, I think they had a nice choice of materials & tbh these seem consistent to most of the MADE pairs that we have seen released previously.

Comfort/Sizing: I personally feel that this model requires a break-in time somewhat like the V1. The support is more firm than a v1 but has started to mold to my feet the more that I have worn it. If I had to compare it, I would say the comfort is pretty similar to a v1, so if you like those, I'd grab these. In terms of sizing, I personally bought an 8 and I feel like I could've fit a 7.5 from a length perspective & I have personally had some heel slippage. I will say, they are slightly narrow, so if you have a wide foot, I would stick tts.

Overall Opinion: this seems to be the beginning of what we may see more of in 2023. It's looking like some v4's & 996's. I'm honestly really excited to see some more v4's & this is looking like it going to be another awesome season for Teddy pairs. I think that this particular design was pretty cool to see them put the V2 & V3 cw on the 996. I feel that when you think of Teddy pairs, you have come to expect premium materials & clean colorways that have a subtle, yet clean colorblocking. If you're a fan of the 990v1 & the older designs NB did like the 997 & 998, I personally feel this would be a nice addition to the collection.

If you made it this far, I wanted to say thank you for taking time out of your night to read my thoughts on this sneaker. I hope everyone has a good week & ty for your support