This New Balance Collaboration Is Finally Releasing

Sneaker Freaker readies the "Tassie Tiger" 997.5.

Images via Sneaker Freaker

The long-awaited sequel to the Sneaker Freaker x New Balance 998 "Tassie Devil" from 2013 is just about ready for its retail release. This time around, the Sneaker Freaker team sticks with the down under theme on the "Tassie Tiger" 997.5, a shoe tribute to the now-extinct animal native to Australia.

The design uses fangs at the forefoot and what the Antipodean footwear magazine is calling "the blackest suede in the animal kingdom."

A sample of this shoe was floating around in late 2015, although the final version is very different.

This sneaker will release first via a friends and family edition, which comes in special packaging, at 15 McKillop Street in Melbourne, Australia, at 6 p.m. on July 15. An online release will follow on July 16 at 9 a.m. here.