Velvet, Patent and a Raincloud: Care Bears Remake the adidas Adistar Control 5

Two pastel pairs, KK2605 and KK2606, wrapped a 2008 stability runner in velvet and Star Buddy embroidery before reaching Japan on July 15 at ¥16,500.

Grumpy Bear’s raincloud now sits on the tongue of a shoe that adidas built in 2008 to keep show road runners steady over long miles. The Care Bears collide with adidas Originals put two pastel takes on the Adistar Control 5 at the head of a wider run of sneakers, slides and apparel for kids and adults, and the pairs that reached Japan in mid July came wrapped in velvet instead of the model’s usual open mesh.

Signal. What happened: adidas Originals and Care Bears released two Adistar Control 5 colorways as the lead footwear in a joint collection that launched global on July 1, 2026, with a Japanese rel follow two weeks later. Exact object: the women’s adidas Originals x Care Bears Adistar Control 5 in Clear Pink/Footwear White/Lucid Pink (KK2605) and Bluebird/Footwear White/Clear Sky (KK2606). When and where: July 1 worldwide via adidas and select retailers, then July 15 in Japan through the adidas online store at ¥16,500, while Foot Locker’s US listing still carried both pairs at $130 in early October. Source: US retailer product pages, trade report on the Cloudco and adidas Originals launch, and a Japan market rel notice for the domestic date and price. Why it matters: the Adistar Control 5 has spent 2026 becoming adidas Originals’ go-to silhouette for licensed characters, and the Care Bears franchise itself changed owners while this launch was rolling out.

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The two colorways split cleanly by temperature. KK2605 layers Clear Pink and Lucid Pink over white, while KK2606 pairs Bluebird with Clear Sky, and sneaker circles quickly nicknamed them after Cheer Bear and Grumpy Bear. Retailer copy describes a velvet upper held in place by a glossy patent cage, with Care Bears lettering running beside serrated Three Stripes on both the lateral and medial sides. The stripes come in metallic silver, so the soft pile and the shiny overlays pull against each other in a way the mesh original never did.

The character work stays small and stitched. Embroidered Star Buddies, the smiling star characters from the franchise, are scattered across the upper, and the blue pair carries a raincloud on the tongue, the same symbol Grumpy Bear wears on his belly. Heart logos are stamped onto the insoles. Each pair also ships with a small Care Bear keychain clipped to an adidas Trefoil carabiner, an extra that the US retail listings call out as part of the box.

Underneath, the shoe keeps the reissue’s running hardware: an EVA midsole with Adiprene+ cushioning over a rubber outsole, at a listed weight of 9.09 ounces. US retailers sell both pairs in women’s size.

The rest of the collection leans younger and fuzzier. Adilette slides come with a plush bear fixed to the strap in Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear and Grumpy Bear versions, the Spezial picks up two colorways of its own, and the kids’ range runs to Samba OG and Campus pairs with Share Bear charms plus Superstars with light-up soles. Apparel includes hooded cardigans with bear ears, denim with Care-A-Lot patches and a faux-fur Share Bear bucket hat. For older kids and adults, the Adistar Control 5 shares that end of the lineup with a Superstar II in Cheer Bear and Grumpy Bear colors, which also comes with a matching keychain.

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The Adistar Control 5 first appeared in 2008 as a stability shoe, built around Adiprene+ forefoot cushioning and adidas’ Torsion system, at a time when the Adistar name sat at the technical end of the brand’s running catalog. adidas Originals brought it back in autumn 2025 with a set of inline colorways, and Sporty & Rich followed that October with an early collide version in grey and white with teal stripes.

In 2026 the silhouette turned into something closer to a character billboard. A Buzz Lightyear pair arrived in June, timed to Toy Story 5, and adidas’ World Cup collection with Coca-Cola included its own Adistar Control 5.

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Care Bears began as greeting card art painted in 1981 by Elena Kucharik for American Greetings, became plush toys in 1983, and sold more than 40 million bears between 1983 and 1987. The property later moved to Cloudco Entertainment, the character studio that grew out of American Greetings, and Cloudco framed this collection as a run-up to the brand’s 45th anniversary in 2027. Robert Prinzo, Cloudco’s head of global licensing, called it “a defining moment for Care Bears,” and a License Global report on the launch noted that a spring/summer 2027 follow-up is already planned.

The bears changed hands while the shoes were still rolling out. On June 30, one day before the global launch, Authentic Brands Group announced a definitive agreement to acquire the Care Bears intellectual property, and the deal closed on August 19. Terms were not disclosed, but Authentic described a franchise with more than $12 billion in lifetime retail sales, more than 100 bears and over 500 licensing partners, and made it the first character brand in a portfolio otherwise built on fashion, sports and celebrity names. Authentic also owns Reebok, which adidas sold to the group in 2022, so the license behind this adidas Originals collection now sits with the owner of a former adidas brand.

In Japan, the characters have stayed busy well beyond footwear, from capsule toys to licensed tees. Takara Tomy announced in September that a seven-piece Petit Licca-chan Care Bears Collection goes on sale October 24 at ¥1,650, describing it as the group’s first product under a global Care Bears license and crediting the characters’ rising popularity across Asia.