1.
Last month, a Nike shopper took to Twitter to complain about her most recent purchase, a pair of "Anthracite" Air Jordan 9s with an upside down tongue label. And Nike seemed more than willing to help her replace her defective pair.
Fact of the matter is when a company is producing runs of sneakers by the hundred thousands, there's bound to be an occasional mishap. Labels are affixed incorrectly, stitching is sloppy, and items are misspelled. Pairs with extreme defects typically bypass B-Grade status and are immediately destroyed. However, there are occasions when one of those pairs ends up at a store. Here's a rundown of the 20 wild Air Jordan factory defects sneakerheads have shared online.
20. Air Jordan 11 Retro "Cool Grey"
2.
Year: 2010
Defect: Upside Down "Jumpman Jordan" Tag
One of the most common errors on Air Jordan 11 Retros. Just about every colorway has had a few upside down tag pairs in the bunch.
19. Air Jordan 7 Retro DMP "Orlando Magic"
4.
Year: 2009
Defect: Number "23" facing the wrong direction.
Most people wouldn't notice, but the "23" on the right shoe is angled incorrectly.
18. Air Jordan 20 "Stealth"
6.
Year: 2005
Defect: 1-2-3, no 4-5-6.
The second of the Chicago's three-peats are represented by 4-5-6 on most pairs, but they missed it on this one.
17. Air Jordan 8 Retro "Bugs Bunny"
8.
Year: 2003
Defect: One shoe has a "Chrome" patch.
The colors of the patches are somewhat similar, but not enough for this pair to have slipped through.
16. Air Jordan 14 Low "UNC"
10.
Year: 1999
Defect: Different shank plates on the same pair.
Both shoes should have the ribbed shank, but this mishap has popped up on several colorways over the years.
15. Air Jordan 4 Retro "Mars"
12.
Year: 2006
Defect: Dark grey netting.
Occasionally, sneakerheads will lace up mismatched Air Jordan colorways — this isn't what they have in mind.
14. Air Jordan 14 Retro White/Red
14.
Year: 2006
Defect: Missing Jumpman
If there's anything worse than the Jumpmanless toebox, it's people trying to call these "Candy Canes."
13. Air Jordan 7 Retro "Olympic"
16.
Year: 2010
Defect: No "Air" in between the Jordan.
The right shoe would have been appropriate for the Washington Wizards version of Michael Jordan — no air.
12. Air Jordan 8 Retro "Aqua"
18.
Year: 2007
Defect: Upside down "Air Jordan" on straps.
After a 14-year wait, somebody received these faulty "Aquas," and it wasn't the only upside down error spotted on the retro. More on that later.
11. Air Jordan 3 Retro "Black Cement"
20.
Year: 2011
Defect: "I" outline print.
The most upsetting thing about this defect is that it just reeks of laziness. How did this pass any kind of quality control?
10. Air Jordan 9 Retro "Doernbecher"
22.
Year: 2012
Defect: Upside down "Pollito" Tag
As limited as the production run was, one of theses shoes still ended up with a mishap.
9. Air Jordan 11 Retro "DMP"
24.
Year: 2006
Defect: Wrong date on dog tag.
The dog tag that accompanied this "DMP" Air Jordan 11 celebrated the date that Michael Jordan won his 4th NBA championship — June 26, 1996. Only, the Bulls actually won it on June 16 and MJ was probably running a blackjack table on the 26th.
8. Air Jordan 10 Retro "Chicago"
26.
Year: 2012
Defect: Missing "N" in championship on the outsole.
The outsole is the most detailed thing about the Air Jordan 10, so you'd think Jordan Brand would be paying extra attention to things like missing letters.
7. Air Jordan 7 Retro Black/Red
28.
Year: 2012
Defect: Missing Upper Eyelets
Most wearers of the Air Jordan 7 don't bother with the upper eyelets, but we at least want the option.
6. Air Jordan 11 Retro "Space Jam"
30.
Year: 2000
Defect: Misspelled Jordan
One of the most famous Air Jordan errors of all-time. When sneaker culture boomed in the 2000s, many collectors believed they had fakes after realizing their "Space Jam" Air Jordan 11 box read "Air Jordna." But it was just a misprint by the factory that resulted in the circulation of some of these boxes.
5. Air Jordan 1 "Royal"
32.
Year: 1985
Defect: Mismatched Tags
If you thought factory errors were limited to retros, guess again. This pair of "Royals" from 1985 featured mismatched tags.
4. Air Jordan 7 Retro "Bordeaux"
34.
Year: 2011
Defect: Missing "Air Jordan" On The Tongue
The geometric design on the tongue of the Jordan 7 is so good that it doesn't really miss its branding. It's still strange to see, though.
3. Air Jordan 7 Retro DMP
36.
Year: 2009
Defect: Incorrect date.
Jordan's 64-point performance against the Orlando Magic went down on January 16, 1993. He didn't even play a game on March 4.
2. Air Jordan 8 Retro "Aqua"
38.
Year: 2007
Defect: Upside down Jumpman.
Another upside down flaw — they were really off their game when producing the "Aqua" retros.
1. Air Jordan 11 Retro Low "Concord"
40.
Year: 2014
Defect: One shoe has the "Green Snake" Air Jordan 11 Low outsole.
What gives the "Concord" 11 its name is the blueish purple hue that appears on the Jumpman and outsole. So imagine this customer's surprise when he opened his box and saw his pair finished with volt traction.
