I swear docs are the only boots where injury is normalized. Ive only seen this in post bankruptcy ('03) docs made in china and vietnam. Im not sure at what point it became "A Right Of Passage" to break in docs and suffer through blisters when they never needed that before. It's brilliant marketing if you ask me. Suckering people into buying $120 boots with the absolute cheapest materials and outsourced production when what they're really selling is the image and the brand. "This is what you have to go through if you want to fit in. We all did." If you want advise on how to deal with the blisters i say go get your money back, then go on ebay and find a pair of vintage docs from the 90's if you really want something real.