The word quickstrike doesn't really describe the colors of the shoe. Instead, quickstrike just means that the stores who sold the shoe didn't get much advance notice that the shoe was being released. Customers hoping to get the shoe had to either constantly check their closest quickstrike store or rely on word of mouth (the internetz).
The XX's are a polarizing shoe because of the ankle leash. Some people really like it and like the innovation. Others think it's ugly as hell. I'm somewhere in between here. You don't really notice it if you wear socks that match the leash color anyway.
The main reason I like the XX's is for their on-court performance (oh yea..Jordans are for playing basketball, remember?) They actually didn't feature any air cushioning. Instead, they used something called Independent Podular Suspension (I.P.S.) -- not to be confused with the I.M.S. from Call of Duty
this:
not this:
IPS is technical shoe speak for "bumps that cushion your feet in the right places." This actually works out really well. If you look closely, you can see that the pods on the outsoles of the XX's still have the familiar herringbone pattern for traction and yes, they do give you the "squeaky-squeaky."
There's some other cool things about the shoes designed by Tinker Hatfield (who most notably designed the Jordan XI that people are still going nuts over). Again if you look closely, you'll see some laser etched images and numbers all over the shoes. Each of these celebrate some aspect of Jordan's career or life over the span of 1985-2005.
Performance + elegance make this one of my favorite Jordans to this day.
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