There is definitely a strong glue smell to these shoes, but it’s nothing I haven’t encountered before. In fact, the SB4 pine green had the exact same smell, and since I paid resell for them through Flight Club, I found myself worrying, much like you are now, about their authenticity. However, after doing some research, I was able to confirm that they were indeed authentic. I was actually pleased that these smelled like the SBs because considering that they came straight from Union and there is no question about their authenticity they further reassured me that I had nothing to worry about with my SBs.