I hope this clears matters...
First and foremost.. the misuse of the term replica.... Replica means a replica of the actually worn item (jersey, shorts, socks or boots) by the players on the pitch with ones being sold to public. Do not use the term replica for representing something that is fake. To clear matters:
Fake boots/jerseys = An unauthorized product that is produced not by the authorized company that mimics what the players actually wear on pitch
Replica boots/jerseys = An authorized product produced by the original company that replicates what the players actually wear on pitch
Replica boots (we used this term again to represent the original ones) are made for the reason to be affordable and reasonable for fans to buy at authorized retail shops. How do they make it affordable since the ones actually worn by the players are super expensive? They make it in different ranges la!
Take a look at these two boots:
Both look the same but actually they are different. On the left is the
adidas Predator PowerSwerve Soft Ground Rome, while on the right is the
adidas Absolado PowerSwerve TRX Soft Ground. Question is, why did adidas make 2 different brands (one is predator and another is absolado) using the similar same design? Answer, to make them affordable for fans like u and me.. in case you want to wear the same boots as worn by the player.. well.. almost.. it's marketing psychology. Predator boots (the ones that is totally the same as worn by players) are £129.99 while the drop down versions of absolado boots are just £39.99.
Another good comparison for the multiple ranges of boots for the same design.. is the Nike Vapor boot:

Left: Nike Mercurial Vapor V SG Max Orange/Silver/Abyss
(£129.99), Right: Nike Mercurial Talaria V - FG - Max Orange/Silver/Abyss
(£74.99)
Left: Nike Mercurial Steam V SG Max Orange/Silver/Abyss
(£54.99), Right: Nike Mercurial Veloci V - FG - Max Orange/Silver/Abyss
(£39.99)Take a look at all 4 boots above... See how each are almost the same in terms of colour usage and design (slightly same) but each are ranged at different prices... So to conclude easier.. the boots worn by players who opt for vapor boots (C. Ronaldo, Drogba and Bendtner) are the high end vapor boots.. while the affordable ones sold to public meant to be the closest as worn by the players are the talaria, steam and veloci.
When the price drops.. means the specs also differs... Example, the vapor boots now have the superfly technology:
While the drop down version of Talaria, instead doesn't have the superfly technology but just lines on the surface that mimics how the superfly looks like:
At the end... the players actually wear the high end versions of the boots.. For adidas, the players wear the high end predator, F50 and adipure while for nike, the payers wear the high end vapor, T90 and tiempo.... We meanwhile as fans have the option to buy the mid range and low end boots that mimics the high end ones (for budget reasons)..
So now you should understand why there are many ranges of boots sold to mimic the design worn by the players..
To answer yhwong's question:
QUOTE(yhwong @ Oct 6 2007, 11:50 AM)
How about boots sold in Al-Ikhsan? Those priced at rm130++? Are they ori or not?
Answer is, yes they are.. Why are they cheap? Because:
1. The boots might be old stock and al-ikhsan is selling them with discount offer price. Al-ikhsan likes to do this.. old stock items are sometimes sold with clearance prices.. example, jerseys that are ending their usage in end of seasons.. even boots have season spans as well like jerseys.
2. The boots are produced in different ranges for fans.. adidas has predator boots and absolado boots that mimic predator boots, affordable for fans like you and me. Already explained rigorously above..
Another good point raised by giotto is that the player boots are actually customized based on the foot of the players (they take moulds of the player's foot using plaster) and then design the shape of the boot according to the player's foot. There is no 10, 12, 13 sized boots for the players, but drogba size, ronaldo size, van persie size boots.. They are really 100% customized!
Nike has something called NikeID where you yourself can feel having a customized boot of your own as like the players (even the high end boots as well). But it is super costly...
Watch this video so you can understand how NikeID makes customized boots for players:
You can see for yourself how the players foot moulds are in the factory and how they make them according to the player's preference (they have a sheet that lists down what the players prefer) and how customized they make these boots just to pamper the players.. hand made.. at a factory in Italy.
Amazing stuff...
Finally.... for muslims like myself, be careful with some leather boots.. They sometimes use pigskin to make certain areas at the boots.. I heard that there were also adidas copa mundial versions that used pigskin.. So be careful.
Jerseyman is also a fan of football boots..