These seem to be great sturdy shoes but still nice and flexible. The darker gray is a really nice color. I only gave 4 stars because I can't attest to their durability/wear. I bought them for my 3-y-o ahead of time because they were on sale at the time. He's been primarily in StrideRites and is a little wide, but not wide enough for a W width. We are finally ready to move up sizes soon so we tried on the new NBs in size 9.5R only to find out that they are the same length as his current size 9R StrideRites and a bit narrower. If I reorder them I will order a half size up and one width wider, 10W. Hope this helps someone else with the sizing.