How To Tell If Your "Cement" Air Jordan 4 Retros Are Real or Fake

1.

Since its first retro in 1999, the "Cement" Air Jordan 4 has been one of the most heavily counterfeited Air Jordans on the market. Fifteen years ago, the differences between real and fake pairs were easy to spot — the mesh wasn't parallel, the speckle was way off and there was no "bump" on the heel of the shoe.

Now, fake makers are much better at creating accurate replicas, but there are still a few telltale signs. Fake Education has broken down a few of them while comparing an authentic pair purchased from StockX and a pair of replicas from Trendslock. View the guide below.

2.Box Pull Holes

Fake Education: "Different style pull holes on fake boxes."

3.Box Tag

Fake Education: "The color way code is bolder font on the retail box."

4.Speckles

Fake Education: "Significantly heavier paint speckling on real pairs."

5.Midsole Paint

Fake Education: "The paint speckling on the mid soles of fake pairs is very light."

6.Tongue Mesh

Fake Education: "The mesh on the tongues of fakes is very loose and smashed."

7.Tongue Height

Fake Education: "The tongues on fake pairs are significantly shorter."

8.Outsole

Fake Education: "The paint job on the outsoles of fakes is very sloppy."

9.Insole Stickers

Fake Education: "The font on the size sticker that comes on insoles is different with fake pairs."

10.Insole Branding

Fake Education: "Clear difference here. Look how closely the letters of 'Nike' are on the real insole."

11.Shoe Trees

Fake Education: "The shoes trees that come with fakes have different labels on them in different places."

12.Lace Tabs

Fake Education: "There is a clear paint speckling on the lacing tabs of the fakes."

13.Heel Tab

Fake Education: "The back heel tab is significantly thicker on the fakes, on the real pair it is very thin, on the fakes it is thick."