Vintage Fashion Sneakers, Nike Air Jordan, etc.

How It Started

Michael Jordan singlehandedly kicked off the sneaker collection craze when he wore his red white and black sneakers while playing his rookie year with the Chicago Bulls in 1984. The design was extreme enough at the time to be forbidden by the NBA, who fined Jordan $5000 per game for wearing the non conforming footwear. More than 25 years later his name is still associated with some of the hottest designs, Air Jordans being one Nike product absent the swoosh trademark. Some of the more memorable Jordan models include the 1993 Air Jordan IX which came out when Michael retired from basketball to try a career in baseball. The Air Jordan XI, one of the shoes featured in the live action - animation hybrid Space Jam is another prize sought out by collectors.

New Sneaker Collectors

These enthusiasts, called "sneakerheads" must have the latest designs in order to maintain a complete collection, not unlike other collectors of object ranging from beanie babies to exotic cars. The shoe manufacturers make the best of this ready made buyer group, with an endless parade of new designs, sometimes released in limited editions, raising their collect-ability through scarcity. Nike recently produced a viral video as part of the promotional campaign for the Blue Lobster shoe, initially sold for $250, and limited to a quantity of 300, the release day line stretched around the block, in addition to the dark blue shoes with lime-green laces, the buyers received a special box, a skateboard bed, a mixtape and a T-shirt.

Hard Core Vintage Sneaker Collectors

The most advanced sneaker collectors seek out hard to find vintage models, which due to a real scarcity, often cost hundreds of dollars, the original Jordan 1 shoes appear to demand the largest price, near $2,000. Perhaps it will be few more years before we see sneakers on the PBS Antique Roadshow program.

I got to visit The Cool Shoe Shine, a store front setup by a major Ebay dealer of vintage Air Jordan and other sneakers, the store seemed to be operated as a sort of low profile facility for accepting "gently worn" classics the he sells on consignment, there are no price tags on display, he probably doesn't care to have 12 year olds from the neighborhood checking out shoes that cost more than a year's allowance.