SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

Christmas in July Part II….

Nick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:21:05 +0000

First priority for the day : Change my business cards.

I got a call from Fed-Ex on Monday from a Customer Service dude notifying me that I had a package sent to Satellite Beach, Florida that was undeliverable.

My business cards are over two years old. We haven’t used the listed addy for at least the past year….

Rather than have the box returned to sender, Steve had it forwarded to his new place down in nearby Key Largo.

When he mentioned who Fed-Ex said the sender was…I had never heard the name before. What it could be? NO CLUE.

Sure enough….the mystery box showed up at Steve’s this morning…and he captured a quick video of the unveiling for us….

Turns out Zac and I both lucked out big time…

Now it’s time to get those new cards done up…

First Thursday July : Organized Chaos

Nick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:03:06 +0000

Kicked things off down at Hecklewood for First Thursday.

Works by Nike SB rider Chet Childress….

Oh yeah…and anyone who wanted to tag the wall up…

Next up…Compound….

Copper Nike Air Foamposite One Retro

Nick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:09:37 +0000

words_Nick DePaula

When the Sole Collector team interviewed Penny Hardaway last fall in Memphis for our 25th Issue, we got to learn a great deal about his sneaker knowledge and involvement with Nike. Unlike some athletes, Penny was truly invested in the direction of his signature line during the 1990’s, and in entrusting the design mastermind that is Eric Avar with his footwear, he never once feared that his shoes wouldn’t offer the most in terms of both looks and performance.

During the interview, he was pretty honest about his feelings towards the digital camo Penny IV Retro, which he described with a laugh as “freaky.” Afterwards, I asked him what colorways he wished Nike would try out on some of his shoes, and he immediately said, “A real Penny color. Copper, like a penny.”

When I mentioned the whole account a few months later to the two fellas at Nike who are tasked with planning out which shoes to retro and in what colorways, they looked at each other and giggled like schoolgirls. “You don’t say,” one said with a smirk. Sure enough, a Foamposite One in Black/Copper had been in the works already, and it will see a release during the Spring of 2010 that will be comparable to this year’s Eggplant Foamposite One drop, which retailed for $200. Penny Hardaway is surely smiling somewhere…

Penny holding the Foamposite One in its most memorable colorway at his home last fall…

Failures In Sneaker History : Nike Ovidian

Nick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:44:28 +0000

words_Nick DePaula

I’ll be completely honest, I had no idea this shoe was even made. Maybe I’d seen it right around the turn of the millennium and have made every effort since to remove it from my memory, but in fact the Nike Ovidian was a real shoe that actually released.

Surprisingly bad indeed.

As embarassing as it would seem to most, I really do often sit around and talk about shoes with friends in my spare time, as they’re all invested in the sneaker industry in some capacity as well. Naturally the conversation got to awful concepts that never made it, and the Ovidian was brought up by withholder-of-useless-information-extraordinaire Ira.

In the fall of 2000, Nike introduced the Ovidian to the ever-unreceptive market, proclaiming it a “3-in-1 shoe” that boasted versatility as its main selling point. The shoe, priced at $85, appeared to offer a skate or performance use at first glance, and by removing the insole, flipping the shoe inside-out and re-inserting the inner bootie, the shoe could also become a more casual option with its more toned down outsole design. The performance side featured a leather and suede upper and waffle traction outsole, while the casual flip relied on simple mesh. In a bit of a reach, Nike also claimed the removable bootie could serve as a third option, taking on the role of shoes like the Aqua Racer and other neoprene based slip-ons. Named after the poem “Metamorphoses,” penned by ancient poet Ovid, the unisex sneaker didn’t feature any visual Swoosh logos. As you may recall, it took Nike a few missteps before figuring out the “action sports” category.

The concept is certainly counterintuitive to Nike’s unabashed goal of selling as many shoes as possible, but rather than catch on, the mildly branded and entirely forgettable sneaker has vanished from literally everyone’s memory, if they even recall seeing it the first time around at all. I hadn’t apparently. With “the economy” in its current state, would a 2-in-1 or even a 3-in-1 sneaker have a place in today’s market? Is it possible the Ovidian was…..ahem….ahead of its time? It’s certainly a practical option for most, and would seemingly have more legs with the kids market, as an extended life via a secondary outsole would likely entice most parents. I have just one request : If something similar were to return, it better not be this damn ugly.

Conveniently, the Ovidian included an instruction manual as well.
Steps of course that include:
1. Removing the laces from the shoe
2. Removing the insole/bootie
3. Flipping the shoe inside out
4. Re-inserting the insole/bootie
5. Re-lacing the shoe

OUCH. Estimated time of switch — at least five minutes.

Note: “Failures In Sneaker History” is purposefully brutally honest! The intent is simply to look back at concepts that never caught on, as not every post can be glowing with positivity.

Are YOU planning to grab any Kanye x LV sneakers?

Nick — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:09:33 +0000

words_Nick DePaula

At an astounding $215 retail and resell value nearing $700, the Nike Air Yeezy certainly tested everyone’s wallets (and Paypal debit cards…) earlier this summer, selling out nationwide instantly and confirming Kanye’s stranglehold over everyone’s “individual” style.

During the timeline in which the three colorways of the Air Yeezy dropped, West was working simultaneously with Louis Vuitton and their Creative Director Marc Jacobs on a line of sneakers for the high fashion brand, inspired by the movie Dune with its high-reaching protruding heel. With prices ranging from $840-$1140, it would appear that the Kanye West for Louis Vuitton collection is a bit out of the price range of the everyday sneakerhead….but are YOU planning on breaking the bank for a pair this summer?

The Kanye West for Louis Vuitton collection is expected to have been shipped to stores already, and will be available at Louis Vuitton flagship stores upon arrival.

Images courtesy La MCJ via Hypebeast

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Don’s – $870

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Jasper’s – $1140

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Don’s – $870

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Jasper’s – $1140

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Mr. Hudson – $840

Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Don’s – $870

Kanye West for Loius Vuitton Mr. Hudson – $840

Exclusive Gatorade Cooler 4 of 23

Steve — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:25:00 +0000

There is nothing like getting a box in the mail and having no idea what is in it. A big box from Gatorade was delivered a few hours ago so yeah – today is one of those Christmas in July days. And with a big “23″ on the side of the box I knew it had to be something good.

Usually when a box like this comes it is a few pairs of shoes – but this box was way too heavy for that. The dude that dropped it off even asked if I ordered a few cases of Gatorade because it was that heavy. (you can talk about it at this link: http://www.solecollector.com/forums/exclusive-gatorade-cooler )

I brought the box inside and thought I’d photograph each step – glad I did because there were multiple items in the box….

You know I like the 4 of 23 written on the outside of the box.

Then. Now. Forever. 23.

A pretty sick cooler – and it is pretty heavy.

There is a really nice lasered hang tag with #4 of 23 on it.

Inside the Gatorade cooler there are two levels. One is a really nice foamed case with four Gatorade bottles and the other is a set of two bottles with a towel and a leather Gatorade case.

The four bottles of Gatorade are in a really nice foam case with MJ’s sig.

In a nice leather case there was pretty smooth Portable Reader by Sony. It said hit button 8 for a message from MJ. The message was indeed from MJ and talked about the history of MJ and Gatorade.

Here are the bottles – each one has a pretty good photo of MJ and one has one of his Michael Jordan Motor Sports bikes. Here they are:

Bottle 1

Bottle 2

airjordanxi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:28:45 +0000

words by Steve Jaconetta

Summer is officially here (even if the weather isn’t proving it for some of us) and with that so are Jordan Brand footwear releases for the months of July, August & September. During these three months we have some very exciting releases including a slew of I’s, two more DMP’s, an international only III and much much more.

It’s now July 1st and kicking things off this month are new colorways of the Jordan Phly Legend, Jordan Pro Classic and Jordan Jeter Captain. Along with that we have the highly anticipated 4th of July release of the “Metallic” or “DTRT” Air Jordan 1 Retro High’s in not two but three colors! The white/green and white/red colorways will be available worldwide while the newly seen white/purple colorway will be an exclusive international release and available everywhere in the world except over here in the U.S. Retail on the 1’s will be $110 and they are all limited releases available at select urban accounts and such.

A week after that we have the Air Jordan 1 Retro High DMP aka the “60+” releasing on July 11th. The colorways were inspired by both the team MJ was playing with when he scored the 60 points in the game (Chicago) and the team MJ played against in that game (Boston). Retail on this pack is $225 and will also be released in gradeschool kid’s sizes this time around. We also have the debut of three new sneakers, the Jordan Schoolin’, Jordan Elements and the Jordan Flight 45.

The Jordan Elements (now available) comes in two colorways inspired by the popular Air Jordan XI, both the “Space Jams” and the “Concords.” The Jordan Schoolin’ (coming soon) also comes in two colorways while the Jordan Flight 45 (available 07/25) will debut in three colorways and retail for $120. Rounding out the month of July we have the debut of the newest Fusion, the Air Jordan Force 4 or just simply, the AJF4. Two colorways released today one for men’s and the other for girl’s (kid’s). Retail on the men’s is $145 while the gradeschool kid’s sizes retail for $100.

Next up is the month of August. This month we have a wide variety of releasing including new colorways of the Jordan Phly Legend, Jordan Pro Classic, Jordan Flipsyde and Jordan Elements. We also have the debut of the Jordan Campus Chukka now available to a wider crowd than it’s recent quickstrike release that came in very low numbers as well as the Jordan Sixty Plus. We will also see at least three new Air Jordan 1 releases including a High Strap, a High, and a Phat Low colorway along with two new colorways of the Jordan Elements. Also releasing this month will be at least three new colorways of the AJF4 which are all inspired by original Air Jordan IV colorways.

Those colorways include: the “black/cement,” “white/cement,” and “military blue.” The military blue colorway releases first on the 1st while the white/cement follows on the 8th and the black/cement closes out the month on the 29th. Then we have probably two of the most anticipated releases of the summer, the Air Jordan 7 Retro DMP “60+” as well as the long-awaited return of the “true blue” Air Jordan Retro 3. No release date is set for the III at this time but we do know that retail should be around $140. But the bad news is that like the metallic purple Jordan I’s in July, these will be an international release meaning that they will be available worldwide/everywhere excpect over here in the US.

But good news, at least we are going to get the VII pack! While rumors of which version would be releasing representing the Orlando Magic in this pack kept people debating wether to cop these or not, the answer is finally here. The released version will be the same originally seen in the catalog images, a nice white upper with royal blue and black accents. The colorway representing the Chicago Bulls has stayed the same brining the return of the “raptors” except this time around we get more grey on the upper than the 2002 version. Retail on this pack will be $310 and will be released on the 22nd.

Finishing out the summer is September. While we don’t have any major releases this month there’s still some very nice releases including new colorways for the Jordan Pro Classic, Jordan Elements and the Jordan Flight 45. Jordan Brand shows Andruw Jones some love by releasing two colorways of the Jordan Phly Legened Premier featuring his “AJ” initials on the side. Three new colorways of the Air Jordan 1 will be releasing including the “Alpha/Omega’s” (Lakers & Raiders) which will be sold separately and not as a pack.

airjordanxi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:06:07 +0000

Tech Info:

08/01/09 Jordan Campus Chukka

364705 001 Black/White

$110.00