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My last Nike pickup were the Celadon Dunk Lows. Keeping the SB collection going, I now have these Nike SB Dunk High TV Signal.
The shoe is inspired by old cable signals. More specifically, the signal that would show late at night on a channel that didn’t have any more programming scheduled for the night.
Overall it seems like these are being slept on. While these still cost me over retail, the prices generally are not that crazy considering these are a dunk. I think we might be reaching that point where there’s so many dunks and SB dunks out that not every single one is going to be a guaranteed hit anymore. Certain pairs get more hyped up and others seem to fall through the cracks. Not that I care about resale, but I’m bringing it up here to give you an idea of how in demand the shoe is overall.
In any case, if people are sleeping, it’s a shame because in hand the shoe is way nicer than I thought it would be. According to the internet, these may not see a US release. And random things said on the internet are of course always facts all the time.
Why I Got These
I started with collecting SB dunks and so I’m always looking at what the new dunks are. When I saw pics of these around on social media, I thought they looked cool but wasn’t sure if I was going to try for them. These days it’s a bit of a balancing act between how much I like the shoe vs. what I’m willing to pay. For these, the price vs how dope the shoe is seemed ok for me.
I grew up in the days of CRT TVs and I have seen the signal these reference on late at night before. These are nostalgic, but in an indirect way. While I don’t specifically have nostalgia for an old TV, the era that these describe is what I grew up in. So it’s more like these evoke that time period which I find dope.
I find the colorway to be very good on this shoe. This is also another flashy but lowkey at the same time type of kick. The mostly black and white upper makes these a bit under the radar, particularly with the black laces in. Yet you still have the flash of the panels with the signal graphic. Swapping in the infrared laces turns this shoe up way louder!
I’ll get into the quality in just a bit, but I was surprised when I got these in. They are definitely better in hand than I thought they were going to be for a GR or general release pair of SB Dunks.
Details/Materials
Starting off we have a Nike SB Logo and Dunk High Pro in black on a white nylon tongue tag. The tongue itself is mesh. We have black suede eyelets leading down to a white leather toebox with a black mudguard.
Moving to the side we get a black patent leather swoosh on top of a panel of the signal pattern. This panel has a holographic effect to it where the vertically striped bars move in the background as the shoe moves. This kind of reminds me of those holographic bookmarks I used to get in grade school. This panel is surrounded by more black suede panels.
On the back we get another tv signal graphic panel with the suede wrapping around below. The lacetab near the top here is patent leather, a continuation of the swoosh material.
The insole has a tv static graphic with the timer at the bottom at 0:00:01. We also get the Nike SB Zoom Air logo in white. The outsole is all black with the Nike SB logo in the middle. I like all black outsoles as they can still look pretty clean after they are worn. These ship with sets of infrared and black laces and come in the purple Nike SB box.
So, exactly what you expect, we get the shoes plus some spare laces. Again, these are a GR and that’s all I thought would be in the box.
How is the Quality on the Nike SB Dunk High TV Signal?
The materials here are better than I thought they would be.
The toebox leather here is actually soft and there does appear to be some grain althought that could just be the finish. It does feel nice though in my opinion; I was pleasantly surprised with it.
Meanwhile, the black suede while not buttery is still somewhat soft on parts of it. It’s definitely better than some sandpaper or tennis ball/felt suede. Not quite premium, but still decent.
The patent on the swoosh seems like an ok cut, not particuarly thick. Still seems nice and shiny, there’s not a lot to actually rate here but it adds some more texture to the shoe.
Finally the panels with the signal graphic have this kind of vinyl material going on. It’s got this finely ridged texture if you run your fingernail carefully across. This is similar to other holographic items of this type, I think the ridges actually help with the effect. The material itself seems good enough for the job.
The QC seems about as good as expected as far as craftsmanship on my pair, nothing too out of the ordinary for a GR Nike. I think overall, we’re getting a pretty good value on the materials considering these aren’t some hyped up quickstrike. We get what feels like decent leather on the toebox and an acceptable level of suede which is more that I thought was going to happen!
How Do They Fit?
I went with a half size up on these. The soft leather used combined with the suede make these bearable right out of the box. So my advice here is whatever you normally get in Nikes, get a half size up.
Comfort
The overall comfort here is pretty good for an SB Dunk. As mentioned earlier, the softer toebox material and mostly suede construction around the front of the shoe results in a faster break in. I don’t get that normal stiff vibe I normally get from a dunk SB.
While there is a seam by the pinky toe, having some suede as the material there makes a difference. Since the suede isn’t stiff, my toe is not getting that irritated when worn. Some SB’s murder my pinky at true to size, but these aren’t that bad in this respect. I think they’ll break in before it’s a problem.
Underfoot, we do get zoom air in the insole but otherwise it’s just a regular midsole. There’s not really any tech here besides what’s in the insole. Personally when just walking around I don’t feel Zoom air that much although your mileage may vary. I think these are comfy enough to walk around in for a couple hours. Older dunks might work better for longer wear as the uppers tend to be a bit more forgiving. Ultimately, I’d probably pick a runner or something with a little more cushion for all day wear.
Overall, I’d say the Nike SB Dunk High TV Signal low is decently comfy shoe for a modern SB dunk. The uppers usually make the most difference on shoes like this for me, and these aren’t as uncomfortable as other recent SB’s I’ve gotten.
Final Thoughts
I’m always keeping my eyes peeled for dunk SB releases. The model itself is nostalgic as the first shoe I ever bought to wear AND collect. This colorway is certainly unique and while it won’t be a daily go-to, it definitely is a sneaker for when I want to rock something a little different.
Seems like people generally aren’t really picking up this pair, but I think they’re worth another look if you’re a fan of SB dunks or dunks in general. If you’re an older collector who remembers the time period of old TV Signal colors and static, these may evoke some nostalgia for you like it did me.
I think the materials here are relatively nice. SBs are skate shoes and so they can either be rough and rugged, or more on the collectable side. I think these definitely lean towards the latter.
As far as comfort, no surprises here for anyone familiar with the model. If you’re a fan of SB dunks, you might find these to be slightly more pliable in the uppers than some other GRs are. Best of all though, they look great on feet!
Where To Cop the Nike SB Dunk High TV Signal
As of the writing of this article, you can find these on eBay
Colorway: White / Black – Infrared
Style Code: CZ2253-100
Year of Release: 2021
MSRP: $110