As another reviewer mentioned, i found the break-in to be longer than most shoes i've owned.  Once they "cracked" and developed the toe-line, they feel great!  Took about 7-8 all-day wears for me.

What i found useful was alternating them (give them a day between wears to fully dry, with a spring-loaded shoe tree helping to stretch them a bit.  While they weren't fully broken in on wear #3 for instance... they were a lot more comfortable.

I also ditched the insole...  the funky heel-ridge / air circulator just didn't do it for me.. luckily, this part is fully removable... replaced it with a standard pharmacy brand insole and they've been great.

Now onto the polish - these polish up GREAT with a real polishing (and no, if it comes out of a bottle with a sponge - that's not a real shoe polishing) - i'll leave the debate on best way to wax polish a shoe for someone else, but i will say it took me about 35 minutes or so to clean the current finish (saddle soap) and work in a good wax polish (kiwi) followed by a wrist burning buffing with brush and cloth.  Subsequent polishes are much easier, and they developed a very nice patina, gloss, and dropped in shade (brown full grains for me)