My son immediately began playing in rocks and dirt and pouring sand all over these shoes the moment I put them on him and they still look good! He seems comfortable in them too. We've also gotten lots of compliments on them! I'd say the only drawback was when I first took them out of the box they smelled so strongly (kind of like new car smell, hot plastic and rubber) that I put them outside overnight. They ended up being better the next day.