Nike Clash Colourway Tops Vapor VIII Chart
The Vapor VIII will go down in Nike's record books as the brands shortest lived Mercurial. After just five colourways - excluding the CR Vapor VIII - the curtains are closing on Nike's eight generation Vapor. After much promise, it's open to opinion whether the Vapor VIII lived up to expectations or not. There was however one colourway that left a real impression.
The Mercurial Clash colourway - Nike's third release of the Vapor VIII, launched in June - will go down as the most popular colourway of the brief MV VIII collection. Ask Mercurial fans to name their best Vapor VIII boot, and most would point you in the direction of the white/red Euro 2012 edition.
The 10 months that gave way to the reign of the Mercurial Vapor VIII also saw Nike launch two editions of the ground-breaking GS and the signature CR collection. All of this meant that, amongst experimenting with a variation of upper materials on the Vapor VIII, we didn't see too much action in terms of colourways. 
By May the Vapor VIII had been in the game for two months. Following the two launch colourways released in March, the White/Red design landed in line with Nike's Clash collection ahead of the Euro 2012. Not only did Nike hit us with a stand-out design, but the reworked upper offered leather-like properties and became an instant success.
On pitch, it didn't take long for the boots to make an impact. A who's who of Europe's best attacking players quickly demonstrated that the split colour design had no problem in catching the eyes of the camera. A boot fan or not, it was obvious to everyone that these were one of the stand-out boots of the tournament.
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Their popularity in Poland Ukraine quickly made an impact elsewhere across Europe. Ahead of the new domestic season, huge numbers of amateur players wasted no time in getting their hands on a pair. Even after the European Championships, the majority of Mercurial professionals returned to league action wearing the same colourway, as the Seaweed/Volt/Challenge Red release slipped under the radar with little recognition. 
Whether they were the most popular Vapor VIII colourway or not is always open to opinion, but there is no denying the impact they had. As we get closer to the launch of the Mercurial Vapor IX, which of Nike's five Vapor VIII boots was the best for you? Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook. 
