On a typical release, rather it’s Nike or Jordan Brand, we tend to receive and share first looks months in advance before the shoe actually drops.

While factories in China are usually where all the shoes are being made, first images typically come from one of the workers. From there, some will even take home a pair of the shoes and sell them to another party, which is when images start floating around.

For an example, remember the first images of the Air Jordan 5 Low “Knicks” that we shared. Well, according to some sources these were a pair that was stolen from the factory and stuffed in his/hers pants which is why there was a little dent in the toe area – image below.

But regardless to what the image looked like, we were able to see what to expect from the upcoming release. Then of course following those images came better views of the shoes as more people in China started to get their hands on them.

That was just an example of a recent pair that came to mind. So with all that being said, do you think early leaked images hurt or actually help the brands? Is it good to start the hype for the shoe months in advance before they launch?

Cast your vote and let us know what you guys think in the comments section. We also shared a few other examples that you can see below.

[poll id=”68″]