How To Spot Any Fake Nike Air VaporMax (2023)

Last Updated on July 26, 2023 by Ch David

To put it shortly, the fastest way to spot fake Nike Air VaporMax shoes is to look at their size tags and the text that appears on the little white fabric. Fake VaporMax sneakers always have their text at different font weights and with all sorts of flaws that are never to be seen on legitimate Air VaporMax sneakers.

Learning how to spot fake Nike Air VaporMax sneakers isn’t that hard, especially if you want to follow the fake vs real VaporMax guide.

If you want to learn how to spot fake Nike Air VaporMax shoes, don’t worry, it’s not that hard, as we’ve compiled this ultimate fake vs real Air Vapormax guide that will teach you everything you need to know about your shoes.

Along with every step of our guide on how to legit check Nike Air VaporMax shoes, we are going to attach reference real vs fake Air VaporMax images that will help you visualise the details on the fake shoes, as well as the ones on the authentic pairs.

We’d like to mention that this guide is for general use regarding every basic Nike Air VaporMax sneaker because these shoes were released more than once, as there are many varieties of the shoes: the VaporMax 1.0, the 2.0, the 3.0 and the 2020 VaporMaxes, which are considered to be the 4.0 version of these.

How to know if your Nike VaporMax is original (or not)

To know if your Nike VaporMax is original or fake, you should check the size tag. A fake pair always has thicker inscriptions than a real pair of VaporMaxes. Authentic pairs always stand out thanks to their quality of printing on this little tab.

Now, let’s check the detailed steps to legit check your VaporMax.

1. Size tag

The Nike VaporMaxe were released more than once, and the 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 VaporMaxes have different size tags. We’ll now go through each release and compare the real vs fake pairs side-by-side.

1.1. VaporMax 1.0

• Looking at the style code’s text (the bolded text, mainly made out of numbers, in the middle of the label) on the fake shoes, we’ve noticed how the numbers are way thinner than they should be.
• The fake pair’s date of manufacturing looks too thin, and how the real shoes have their text thicker once again.
• The “MADE IN ” in the “FABRIQUE AU” inscription on the replica Air VaporMax 1.0s looks too thin, except for the letter “B” which looks too thick.

Back to the authentic Vapormax 1.0 shoes, you can notice how their “MADE IN” and the “FABRIQUE AU” text has the same font weight for all of the letters.

The conclusion here is that the text on the fake shoes has multiple font weights.

1.2. VaporMax 2.0

Now that we’re done with the 1.0s, let’s have a look at the size tag inside the fake vs real Air Vapormax 2.0 Nike sneakers.

• The fake Vapormax 2.0 pair has its “06/20/18” text looking too thin.
• The fake pair has its style code print looking too thin for the letter “A”, and also too thick for the two numbers “6”.
• The “MADE IN” and the “FABRIQUE EN” inscription are too thin on the fake VaporMax pair.

1.3. VaporMax 3.0

Since we’re done with the comparison for the first two VaporMax releases’ size tags, let’s have a look at the two authentic size tags for the VaporMax 3.0s.

The first style in which the size tag may come is the one with the style codes text looking smaller and thicker, and the second one is with the same text looking bigger and thinner.

1.4. VaporMax 4.0

• The fake style code is too thin on the fake pair.
• The fake shoes also present their “EUR” inscription at a lower font-weight than the real one.
  • By that, we mean that the fake VaporMax 4.0 pair’s “EUR” text looks too thin.
• Looking at the fake pair’s “MADE IN” lines of text, you can see how the text looks too thick.

The authentic pair’s “MADE IN” block of text looks thinner and slimmer than the fake one.

2. Toe box

• The fake pair’s toe box is way curvier than it should be.
• In fact, looking at the front tip of the shoes, you can see how the fake pair’s toe box is too far away from the ground since it is too high.

On the other hand, the authentic Nike Air VaporMax sneakers have their toe box less curvy, as it is closer to the ground when put side-by-side with the fake pair’s toe box.

3. Sole logos

• On the fake pair, there’s no inscription at all.
• The “VAPORMAX” and the Nike Swoosh logo miss from the soles of the fake pair.

The soles of the legit Nike Air VaporMax pairs must have two inscriptions on the area where the heels sit when the shoes are being worn.

Looking at the authentic Nike Air VaporMax pair’s soles, you can see how the right shoe has the “VAPORMAX” printed there, and on the left shoe, you can notice how there’s the Nike Swoosh logo.

A quick mention:

• The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
• The next few steps are still reliable methods…
• … but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item

If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.

4. Insole

• The fake pair’s “VAPORMAX” inscription looks too thick and too wide.
• The fake pair’s letter “O” is way thicker, wider and generally bigger than the authentic one.

The real pair’s “VAPORMAX” text looks thinner and a bit smaller than the fake one since the legit pair’s text is not as wide as the fake one.

5. Sole opacity

Note: This step only applies to the pairs that have a black sole.

• The fake pair’s midsole is too little opaque, as it was painted in black, without any sort of opacity.
• Authentic shoes must let light through their black midsoles, and in most cases, fake shoes don’t do that.

On the other hand, the authentic shoes have their midsoles painted in black, but they do allow light to pass through, as you can see a bit of the background floor in the authentic image.

6. Rear text

Note: This step applies only to the releases of the VaporMaxes which do have the “VAPORMAX” text on the pull tab.

In the picture with the fake vs real Nike Air VaporMax sneakers above:

• The fake shoes have their text badly font-weighted.
• In fact, the fake pair’s “VAPORMAX” text looks too thick.

The authentic sneakers have their text looking thinner.

Shortlist: Spot fake Nike Air VaporMax in 30 seconds

1. Check the size tag of your shoes. Mostly, the fake VaporMax pairs have their text at the wrong thickness
2. Examine the toe box of your shoes, since the fake VaporMaxes usually have their toe boxes too curvy
3. Look at the inscriptions on the soles of your shoes, as the replica pairs sometimes have no inscriptions on the soles, and the authentic shoes must have the “VAPORMAX” and the Nike Swoosh logo prints there
4. Inspect the text on the insole. Mostly, the replica Nike Air VaporMax pairs have their “VAPORMAX” text looking too thick, too wide and generally too big
5. Brief the opacity of the midsoles, in case you have VaporMaxes with black midsoles. Usually, the fake pairs don’t let light pass through their midsoles, and the authentic shoes must let light pass through
6. Check the “VAPORMAX” text on the back of the shoes, in case your pair has this text. In most cases, the fake pairs have this text too thick

You will not always have the time or patience to go through each detailed authentication step when you need to verify the authenticity status of your Nike Air VaporMax shoes.

That is why we have compiled this quick 30-second solution to authenticating your VaporMaxes.

Expert Nike VaporMax authentication service

Well, that’s what we’re here for. Our guides will help you to look through a pair of Nike Air VaporMax shoes and check if they are authentic. If you will like to be even surer, feel free to get in contact with us and we will be able to look into the shoes on your behalf.

So, there you have it; the guide on how to spot fake vs real Nike Air VaporMax pairs in just a few simple steps.

We hope this fake vs real Nike Air VaporMax sneakers guide is useful to you. Also, we hope to see you in our next legit check guides.

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Thank you for reading this,

Ch Daniel and Ch David