Mostly-softball brand 3N2 Sports just publicly launched “My3N2,” their tool that allows you to design and customize your own cleats and uniforms.
After opening the “pre-launch” in late November 2011, they’re now saying the software is in beta.
This is our beta launch: a fully featured sandbox where you can customize product for your team and purchase it in time for the 2012 season. However, being in beta, you are bound to encounter some rough edges.
My3N2 requires Flash and Unity 3D web player (I had to install that.. never heard of it) and it doesn’t work with the Chrome browser, but after I got the tech stuff lined up, it worked pretty smoothly.
First step, you pick the shoe model you’d like to customize.
As of February 21, 2011, they offered 4 trainer / turf shoe variations, 4 women’s cleats, and 1 model of men’s cleats, the Rally PM metal spikes.
Next, you have to name your customization project and they give you the option to include your design in a public gallery that other people can use as inspiration for starting their designs.
This part made me realize it really is for team use (and kinda weird that they’d call it “My3N2″ which sounds very personal / individualized). The custom Rally PM men’s cleat will cost $90 each, with a minimum order of 12 pairs.
For comparison, buying the pre-made Rally PM direct from 3N2 costs $84.99, available in 8 color schemes.
Or you can get the Rally PM spikes in your choice of 5 color schemes for only $69.99 at Eastbay.
The My3N2 tool then takes you through choosing colors for FOURTEEN parts of the shoe (I didn’t even know it was possible to have 14…and that’s just for the upper).
- Cordura color
- Leather strapping
- Quarter leather
- Removable tongue flap
- Eyelet border
- Shoelaces
- Toe Cup
- Toe Bumper
- Mud Guard Leather
- Quarter Strapping
- Ankle Loop
- 3N2 Tongue Logo
- 3N2 Quarter Logo
- 3N2 Heel Logo
I was exhausted after 3 or 4 choices, and then just started picking white, or whichever color I could choose quickest.
Throughout this process, you can zoom in/out and rotate the shoe all the way around to inspect your design choices. Guess that 3D software plug-in comes in handy.
Finally — we get to the upsell. You can swap in your custom logo in place of the 3N2 logo on the tongue ($5 extra) and on the heel (another $5). If you did both, you’d be up to $100 for each pair of cleats.
When you’re done designing, you’re asked to enter names and sizes for your 12+ unit team order. Then just pay your $1,000+ total bill and call it a day.
They say “orders are typically processed in 4-6 weeks from time of artwork confirmation.”
Overall, it’s a pretty cool tool, but I think you’d have to REALLY, REALLY WANT some custom team cleats to carefully make 16 design decisions, get 11 teammates to buy in to your design and the cost, especially when you can get the same cleats in 5 different colors for up to $30 less at Eastbay.
Yup, after all that work, resulting in my kinda crappy / too-busy-looking design and the $90+ price tag…the $70 pre-made cleats through Eastbay are looking like a big relief and a good value to me.