Joe King - SpeedShop: March 2010

This is a very rare pair of the original Hi-Point Motocross Boots. Hi-Points by Alpinestars are traditionally associated with the metal shin plate, but the first ones had these "Red, White, and Blue" diamonds. This first pair had seven buckles. They soon went to six straps. This pair was the enduro version with the lug sole.

This is another rare pair of the original Hi-Points with 7 straps. This pair is the more common smooth sole motocross version.

Very interesting was the fact that even though Alpinestars used the "Red, White, and Blue" diamond on the front, they had the Italian colors, "Red, White, and Green" on the rear of the boot. To this day, all Hi-Points have the "Red, White, and Green" on the rear.

In the early 70's, Alpinestars started using the metal shin plate which has undergone many style changes in the past 25 years. These four plates are the basic designs used from the original to today. There were some more minor variations of these basic designs.

The first Hi-Points with the metal plate. This pair has the original red, white, and blue diamonds under the metal plate. Alpinestars apparently added the plates to existing stock. This pair has 6 straps. I believe the only Hi-Points ever to have seven straps was the original ones with the "Red, White and Blue" diamond as shown above.

This 6 Strap Hi-Point was the next generation still with the original metal shin plate which is the same as the one above, but a small metal piece has been added in the metatarsal area. Again most were smooth MX soles, but this is the enduro version with a lug sole.

This is the next generation of the Hi-Point boot. It features the second version of metal plate. Notice it is a more rounded plate than the ones above. The stitching on the front has now changed from the diamond pattern to horizontal stitching. The boot also retains the metal piece in the metatarsal area. A pair similar to these were worn by Goose in the original "Mad Max" movie, but there were some minor, but interesting, differences from this pair. See the new Boots In Movies page on the boots won by Goose in "Mad Max."

The next version of Hi-Points was marked by reducing the straps to just five and was the most common of all Hi-Points. The metal piece in the metatarsal area has been eliminated by design. Again the metal plate is the third version of plate and lasted for many years even as Hi-Point changed to the buckles in lieu of the leather straps. A few pair of these early 5 strap boots used the second version of metal plate like the one in the above picture.

Most Hi-Points, especially the 5 straps versions had the smooth MX sole. This is a more rare pair of the 5 strap version with a mild lug sole. Recently, I have discovered this sole was also used on some of the later 6 strap versions.

I wish I had done this review since it's so damn cool...taken from classicboots.com...great job!
There's more there...the newer versions came with metal buckles and I don't like them...so my review "rip off" stops here.