New Balance 998 by Teddy Santis
After Ronnie collaborated with NB on the 998, we finally have the long awaited return of the 998 model in its first GR colorway, but this time with Teddy's spin on it.
Materials: the materials used on these is something we have come to expect from a Teddy NB. You have the usual long hair suede in grey & it covers the majority of the upper, including the tongue. The suede is soft to touch, as expected, but some of my suede felt rough & looks like I may need to hit it with a suede brush to undo the flat parts. A couple things I wanted to mention is the shape & the sockliner, which I recently learned pays homage to the OG 998 models. I personally like the shape of these a lot more & I feel they have a much cleaner look on foot when you compare them to other 998's that I have seen. The last thing I really wanted to mention is the mesh. It is in a cream color & is that squiggle mesh that I personally find more comfortable & breathable on foot. Overall, if you've liked the quality of the previous teddy pairs, then these will be right up your alley.
Comfort/Sizing: imo, the 998 is a pretty firm & stable shoe that becomes more comfortable the more you break it in. I personally feel like it's similar to the feel of a 997, 991, & 990v2. In terms of sizing, I usually grab a 7.5 in 998's, however I tried these out in an 8 & they fit decently, but I have about a half size of room in the toe. If you have a wide foot or like some room, I'd go tts because the 998 is a more narrow model.
Overall Opinion: out of the other models coming out in this color scheme, I personally like these the most, followed by the 990v6, v4, then 996. Idk why I'm this way, but every season the season opener has always ended up as my favorite colorways. They're always made with high quality materials & they're clean & simple cws, & most importantly, they are easy to wear. I personally wouldn't sleep on the entire pack, if you're able to, I'd grab 1 of the many models dropping.
This model & along with a plethora of other models & cws should be releasing this Friday, May 12th, 2023, don't sleep