Mercurial Vapor V & Mercurial Vapor Superfly

Cristiano Ronaldo wearing the black/volt Vapor Superfly.

Zlatan Ibrahimović wearing the voltage cherry/obsidian/silver Vapor Superfly II.

The Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly & Vapor V were the fifth incarnation of the Nike Mercurial line and the first of the Superfly line. The Mercurial Vapor Superfly marked the first time a boot was made using Nike Flywire technology,^[14] while the Vapor V followed the use of a lace cover like its immediate predecessor. The boot was launched by Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford in Manchester on 26 February 2009. It was debuted during the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League knockout stage a match between Manchester United and Internazionale by Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović.^[15] The following weekend, players across the world also debuted the boots (notably Robinho, Theo Walcott, Alexandre Pato and Daniel Alves).

A customised Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly boot.

A collection of Mercurial Vapor Superfly II's and Mercurial Vapor Superfly's in different colorways.

Both the Superfly and Vapor came in the original max orange/abyss/metallic platinum colourway as well as six others: black/voltage yellow/max orange; orion blue/metallic silver; platinum/max orange; vibrant yellow/black/midwest gold orange; white/pink flash/black/metallic silver; and abyss/white/max orange, which was not released in Superfly version.

[edit] Women's Mercurial Vapor

A women's version was released in April 2009, and is available in one colourway: white/metallic silver/max orange.^[16]

[edit] Mercurial Vapor VI and Mercurial Vapor Superfly II

The second release of the Superfly series was released on 24 February 2010 at a Nike Football event at the Battersea Power Station in London. Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo launched the boot first appearing in a violet poppy/obsidian/orange colourway.^[17] Cristiano Ronaldo, however, did not debut the Superfly II. Fulham winger Clint Dempsey debuted the boots on 18 March 2010 against Juventus in the UEFA Europa League at Craven Cottage.^[18] The second colourway is dark osbidian/white/cool mint. Both the Superfly II and the Vapor VI were made available for pre-order on 22 March, and were released on 1 April 2010.^[19] The third colorway of the Mercurial Vapor VI and Mercurial Vapor Superfly II is cactus/white/anthracite. This colorway was released on 1 August 2010.^[20]

The fourth colorway of the Mercurial Vapor VI came in Voltage Cherry/Obsidian/Silver. This colourway was released on 1 October 2010.^[21]

The fifth colorway of the Mercurial Vapor VI came in black/gray/orange. This colourway was released on 1 January 2011.^[22] The Superfly II weighs about 7.4oz (210 grams), while the Vapor VI weighs about 8oz (226 grams).

[edit] Mercurial Vapor VII and Mercurial Vapor Superfly III

Nike unveiled the third incarnation of the Superfly series – the Mercurial Vapor Superfly III – and the Mercurial Vapor VII on 16 March 2011.^[23] Both boots received two initial launch colourways: Plum Red/White/Volt and Marine Blue/Platinum/Orange.

Nike Superfly III Volt/Retro Colorway

This update of Nike's lightweight football boots transpired to be largely cosmetic; rather than any new innovations being added to the Mercurial Vapor and Superfly (as the Nike SENSE adaptive traction system was with the Superfly II), the sole, studs, last and weight all remained the same on both football boots.

The only change came in the form of a new graphical design on the upper, which was deigned to make the boots even more visible on the pitch.

Whilst many players were seen training and playing in the new Mercurial Vapor boots in the preceding weeks,^[24] the Mercurial Vapor Superfly III is set to receive its official on-pitch debut on 19 March 2011, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil played in the Madrid derby.

Both of these football boots were set to receive retail releases on 1 April 2011.^[25]

On 14 April 2011, Nike revealed the Nike CR Mercurial Vapor Superfly III,^[26] a version of the Mercurial Vapor Superfly III to be worn exclusively by Cristiano Ronaldo. Whilst not featuring any technical updates to the standard Superfly III, the Nike CR Mercurial Vapor Superfly III features an all-over 'Safari' print in Black/Volt, and geometric pattern on the instep that differs to the standard Superfly III.

On November 17, 2011 it was announced on the Nike website that the new colorway version of the Vapor Superfly III was released. It comes in a Metallic Mech Blue/Solar Red-Dark Obsidian color,and they are Cristiano Ronaldo's latest Nike Mercurial Colorway.