Gallery: A Guide To Spotting Fake Nike Air Yeezys

As the release date for the Nike Air Yeezy 2 nears, we thought it was time for a refresher on identifying fake Yeezys — especially since fake Yeezy 2s are staring to hit now, too. But aside from the public service, they're also hilarious. So click away into A Guide to Spotting Fake Nike Air Yeezys.

It was awfully bold to make fake Yeezys in the first place — seeing that the originals only came in three colorways. This wonderful pair bears a certain resemblance to the "Net/Net" colorway, only replacing the glow-in-the-dark outsole with some lurid green. Awful.

We're not sure whether the glow-in-the-dark sole here is real or photoshopped — and we sure weren't going to order a pair to find out — but yeah, fugazy either way.

The "Y" pattern looks right, it's just everything else that's wrong. Walk away.

Here's a helpful hint: If your Air Yeezy outsoles say "JORDAN" on the bottom, they're probably fake.

Second helpful hint: If your Air Yeezys are taller than they are long, they're DEFINITELY fake.

You have to hand it to the companies that churn out these things — sometimes they can look pretty good. This watered-out pair has a lot of appeal. From a distance, anyway.

The less said about these, the better. What is that, plastic?

Again, that glow-in-the-dark sole must be difficult to duplicate. Or expensive. Either way, neon is no replacement. Terrible.

The "Gay Fish" fake Air Yeezys were quite possibly the pinnacle of fake sneakers. Although six sets of extra laces seems a bit excessive by any standard.

What's that you say? Nike never made an Air Yeezy Low? Well, clearly someone did. And they shouldn't have.

Even the Air Yeezy wasn't immune to being hybridized in Chinese factories. Whoever threw this Air Max 360 sole on this all-white version must have been a Vince Carter fan or something. (Psst — you forgot about the Jumpman.)

As terrible fake sneakers go, these black/pink "Air Yeezy 360s" are amongst the least terrible. Don't get it twisted, though — wearing them would still be at least a misdemeanor.

This is like the missing link of fake Air Yeezys. It's got the cut and forefoot of the Air Yeezy, the midsole and back of the Yeezy 2, and it should by all means be extinct. The worst fake Yeezys ever? Perhaps.

Helpful hint number three: If the logo on the tongue of your Air Yeezy 2s looks like the mask from "Scream," you got got.

We're not sure what template the fakemakers worked from when drafting up their "Air Yeezy 2s," but they sure got it wrong.

All-red Yeezy 2s? NO. Never happened. Not going to happen, even if Kanye gets to go back in time and play in the 1993 NBA All-Star Game. OK, maybe then it might happen, but don't hold your breath.

Yup, that's right, just walk away.

Hey, we're back to the "Net/Net" approximation. A few things: that snakeskin print is beyond awful, and what's with the slot on the sides? Maybe someone in the factory aspires to be a designer someday? Well, don't quit your day job.

Clearly the pressure of churning out zillions of fake Air Jordans has begun to weigh on factory workers. Either that, or they just have a lot of black and red raw materials.

We saved the worst for last — of course the "Gay Fish" colorway found its way to fake Air Yeezy 2s. Even "Scream" guy looks horrified to be remotely involved with these. Grails? Like the man said in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade": "You have chosen... poorly."