The drop at a glance
| Release date | August 1, 2026 — reported, not brand-official yet |
| Retail price | $125 |
| Style code | IB0018-006 |
| Colorway | Vast Grey / Electric Green snakeskin |
| Where | Nike.com + select retailers |
The story
The second Kobe AF1 slated for August 1 leans on texture instead of storytelling: a full snakeskin-embossed upper in muted Vast Grey, with Electric Green flooding the liner and outsole for a strike of Mamba venom. It follows earlier 2026 entries in the Kobe AF1 series like 'Lower Merion Aces' and 'City of Champions.'
Snakeskin has been the visual shorthand for Kobe product since the Black Mamba era, and putting it on the Air Force 1 — a shoe Kobe wore early in his career before his signature lines — makes this a lifestyle play with real DNA behind it.
At $125 and a wider release than the Rucker pair, this is the attainable Kobe of the weekend. Clean grey snakeskin AF1s tend to age well on-foot and at retail.
The deep cuts
- Kobe gave HIMSELF the Black Mamba name in 2004, pulled from Kill Bill — a deliberate alter ego to wall his on-court identity off from the turmoil of that period.
- Nike reportedly pitched the 'Black Mamba' concept to Michael Jordan first — MJ turned it down before Kobe independently embraced it.
- This pair shares its IB0018 style-code family with the 'Lower Merion Aces' pack, which put snakeskin and No. 33 'Aces' branding on the AF1 for Kobe's high school.
How to cop
- Launch draw — enter the minute it opens; the raffle button above takes you there.
- Retailer raffles — the big accounts open entries in the days before the drop.
- Miss it? The buy links on this page route to the marketplaces we trust.
Dates move — the Drop Report updates as brands confirm. Answer this drop's culture question in The Feed to build your Culture IQ.
