My very favorite pair of shoes are a pair of Adidas Samba shoes. They are black leather with 3 white stripes on each side. They are a perfect soccer shoe; light, agile, and they fit beautifully. I've never seen them advertised at more than $50, and they are incredibly comfortable.

I oil mine at least 2 times a week and clean their beautiful white stripes...

I know these things are classics but, exactly how long have they been in production? I know I've been wearing them (different pairs) for at least 5 years. The Adidas website has no real info.

They Come in 4 styles.

Samba classic : made from oxhide
Samba classic k : same as classic, but kangaroo leather uppers.
Samba nubuck : nubuck uppers, slightly smaller tongue.
Samba Milenium : Has very little in common with the trusty Classics. A complete redesign, complete with high-tech gimicky soles. A perfect example of spaceship shoes.

The Samba is old school. They're older than the shell toe jocks. The Sambas, and their cousins the Gazelles, are sweet shoes.

I used to have hunter green Sambas and (yeah get this) electric blue Gazelles!!! {that looks like a bad spell to me... l'il help?}