Following the death of my Uncle Jeff, the search had been on to replace him on both sides of the Atlantic; Paul Fireman later said that he realised that he would have to take over the design and manufacturing if the brand was to grow, so he began to build his team in Boston, with Ed Lussier taking on product management and Steve Liggett the design and development role. It was Steve who did all the work developing and manufacturing with PYC in Korea.
My dad realised too that he could not do the sales and marketing roles as well as run the manufacturing and design the shoes. This had become all too clear when Bata messed up the first batch of Aztecs sent to the USA, with soft EVA midsoles that collapsed. An episode known within Reebok as the legend of the black spot.
So, in 1982 Dave Singleton was brought in to head sales and marketing while Paul Brown was to design the next generation of Reeboks. Along with Paul came further investment in equipment and product.
The first shoe to get a makeover was the Aztec, Reebok’s best-selling shoe that had landed us the American market. Dave and Paul researched the market and were aware of the new Nike Pegasus which heavily influenced the design of AZII: Gillie lacing and a flex dip in the mudguard or toecap (if you’re English) were lifted from the Nike and the window label from the Victory G was shoehorned in, just look at the dip in the window box for the dropped R of Reebok.
The first shoes also feature that Victory G, Red label before it was swapped out for a blue label in 1984. Other changes involved swapping the midsole and wedge stack over to wedge on top and the outsole moulds were amended to allow a one-piece sole in place of the previous repairable heel, (nice idea but the shoes midsole broke down first, meaning a new pair of shoes).
The biggest change was the last, gone was the old toe pinching CC last replaced with 1714 which cured the toe volume issue. Sweaty nylon interior was replaced by a new wonder material by the name of cambrelle, this random fibre material was excellent at stabilising the nylon outer fabric and became a standard feature of Reeboks made in the UK right up to the closure in the ‘90s. AZII retained the 2mm Bontex board and the self moulding footbed with a nylon cover and exposed latex arch cookie.
About those labels; As the business grew, and volume began to increase so too the labelling evolved and it’s an interesting topic. When I started to work at Reebok in 1983, many of the style were still those designed by my uncle Jeff in 1978 and ’79. Inca track spike, Gazelle, FAB XC off roaders and Midas Road shoe, all in need of replacement if we were to compete. All the shoes had one standardised tongue label in navy with a golden script and the STARCREST logo with two infilled segments in red.
Only Victory G had its own Burgundy on white tongue label and the window label matched. The New AZII, thus started its production life with the standardised Navy tongue label and a Burgundy window label.
All the old Bright Street production and early ’84 Bradley Fold production had this label. When the Old Victory G was replaced and the Invincible retired. The window label switched to the blue on white developed for the London racing shoe of ’83 vintage. When Chris Brasher took over in UK distribution in 1985 he dropped the AZII, it was too expensive! They still had to sell it though, as it had a large fan base and was the favourite shoe of Steve Jones, our star athlete. The shoe soldiered on with this labelling until ’87 when it was finally withdrawn.
Now let’s look at Reeboks OG model, I have gone for the Aztec blue:
Why not the original ’83 Reebok blue and red box? this one looks a little sad.
Overall impression of the shoe is good, the Aztec blue is a little pale when compared to the original, (see the Aztec in the above photo) but maybe the intention was to make it look that way. The red and the acid yellow are a good colour match so thumbs up Reebok.
Two things leap out at me, the tongue label is white and light blue, it would have been so much better if it had been the original navy and gold. Reebok used this on the Aztec remake, why not here? The same for the side label, we could kindly say it’s a post ’84 model, but how much better if it had been burgundy red. The second thing is that lace, where did that come from? The AZII always had the cotton lace of the original Aztec and was a deep blue, again they used it on the Aztec remake? This may be picky of me, but I want to love this shoe, it’s a remake so the details should be 100%.
Flip the shoe over and there is the famous road star sole, but what’s that line, the sole of the AZII was one piece, this sole has been lifted from the AZTEC remake of a few years ago! It lacks the sticky butyl rubber finish of the original too.
Looking inside, wow, modern day cambrelle from Asia, not quite the same but good effort. What’s that footbed though, Reeboks never had a foam footbed and that cover is nasty. Why can’t we have the white brushed nylon cover and mouldable foam and where’s the arch cookie?
Love the retro size label though, that took me right back.
When I start to look more closely, other details leap up around the heel; AZII had an isometric counter, the inside was a 15mm longer, this is not. There is no tail kick on the lateral stripe, the AZII finished under the front of the heel tab, with a pronounced kick. I do like the soft touch plastics and their leather grain, Super finish.
So in summary, good job Reebok, you have resurrected a true Classic from the achieve. The quality is way better than the original, no cement lines and wobbly trimming on these babies. Can we now have a limited edition true OG version with those details, I mentioned? Or even a JD special make up that we made in ’84 navy/ red/ silver, just 200 pairs of long gone history, please, please, please!
© David Foster July 2021.
Foster's Famous Shoe's 
Steve, Paul, and then later Tuan, all contributed to unique designs and building on the Reebok tradition. The commitment to working directly with the factories (PYC), to address design changes to improve manufacturability and quality by Steve in particular, made a difference. Hope you relate your view of the use of garment leather and management of chromes and lasts. Making omelette out of broken eggs. And then making it a very good meal,
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