Beh235 Collection (Sneaker Storytellers...)

Do you think having a unique story behind a shoe makes it more or less likely for you to sell it?

  • Less Likely - These are personal famb, ask me how much to buy them, I'll tell you to kick rocks

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • More Likely - Someone has to pay for the experience besides me.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Neither - I just cop kicks man. If I get a good offer, it goes to the highest bidder.

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Total voters
    2
37,677
15,283
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Being on this board a while now, I've seen other member's collections and a lot of them are pretty nice. I've never professed to have the greatest collection, and I know I don't. My collection is complete to ME. I borrowed a formula for building my collection with variety in mind. I broke it down into categories: Foams, Flights, Air Force 1's, Dunks, Signature retro lines, Jordans. I borrowed that from the original ISS site when then only sold kicks. I thought that was a good way to have a well rounded collection. I have my own strategies and reasons on what to buy. I say, if you keep looking at the same shoe 7,8,9 times, buy it. Don't just buy because the color looks nice when it's in your hand for 2 minutes. I've also had the advantage of having an employee discount for the most part, which I can by and large attribute my collection to. I've always wondered if anyone has any stories behind each shoe they've acquired. I think having a story behind your shoe adds more meaning to it, which makes you less likely to want to sell it, imo. I decided to show my collection (again), but this time I wanted to share some of the stories behind it. Some are more interesting than others, but they're all important. The stories are in the spoilers for all you lazy readers, so read what you want. So, here ya go. I hope you enjoy it.....



In no particular order in acquisition, but I'll start with my first pair..

Air Force Max B
View media item 275748
Price: $55 (2001 retro) , $47 (2007 retro)

This is obviously not the first retro, but the second retro. I have the first retro from 2001 in my closet still. I didn't take a pic because I was pressed for time and no need to show two of the same shoe. The story behind this, was what many of us go through. These dropped in March 2001, right when I first started working at Niketown NY. In fact, they had already sold out for the most part. Suffice it to say, I was pissed. I found out earlier in the week from my manager that there would be a restock likely on Sunday, but they weren't sure if the delivery was going to come on time. So, on my day off (which was def out of the question when I first started because we were so busy at the time) I came into the store early. Went to the second floor, and there they were behind the cash wrap. FSR. 50% off. Done deal. great day...


Air Force 1 (Mychal Thompson All Star Edition, Bahamas)
View media item 275773
Price: $75

This story is interesting. As you know these came out in 2007 for the All Star game in Las Vegas. We got these in the store two weeks prior to the game in Vegas, they were on the shelf and no one touched them. The store put into effect a store wide policy on new releases at the time, they are on employee hold for two weeks, then employees can purchase them on discount. So, these sat pretty much until the day before the two weeks were up. That Friday, I see the entire stock being boxed up. They were being sent to Las Vegas because the pop up shops that had them there sold out quick. I was pissed. I was ready to cop my pair the next day, and now I couldn't. Later that day, a co-worker of mine let me know he had a pair buried for a friend but his friend couldn't give him the money for the shoe. So, he offered it to me. He showed me where he had the shoe and I moved it to my own spot. I think I left the shoe in my spot for 4-6 weeks before I actually bought it. In this time, that co-worker got busted for attempting to steal a shoe right out of the basement. This dummy switched out a pair of Lebron IV for a pair of black AF1 lows. Anyway, he was questioned about this shoe because it was being watched. The count in the system was off and in trying to save his job, he mentioned my name and that shoe being stashed away. My manager asked me about it once, I denied it. I never had a reputation of doing that so that was enough for him. That is the reason why it took me so long to buy it. I was working two jobs and worked evenings in the store. I copped the shoe one night 15 min before closing. I was allowed to do so by one of the leads (who was lazy). I was able to get the shoe out without inquisitive eyes and managers on the lookout. This shoe was stashed away with a companion......

AJ V (2007)

View media item 275805
Price: $ 81

This shoe was stashed alongside the Bahamas AF1. I wound up copping the AF1 first, and then the very next week, I purchased this shoe. I scooped it up initially in the nick of time. I was clearing out the tube where they send shoes back down. I saw it and immediately claimed it. Someone asked who was going to buy it a minute later and I told him I would. Due to eyeballs on the lookout for the shoe, I had to get it out quietly. Mission accomplished.

AF1 Low
View media item 275815
Price: Free.

Nothing really much to it. It was a free pair I chose as part of picking out staff dress for the store. There was nothing really good to chose from at the time and I wanted an orange pair of kicks for the collection. Nothing special

AF1 Low ('Sheed)
View media item 275820
Price: $75.

These were tricky to get. The day they were put out, they were going fast. I actually missed out. Was talking with a co worker of mine. He pulls me to the side and says "here". It was this pair. I tried it on kinda snug. He comes back with a half size bigger (11.5), perfect fit. I'm a happy camper.

AF1
View media item 275836
Price:$45

No real story other than my first and only pair of white on whites. Not big on AF1's but I guess you just have to at some point. Plain kicks are good too....

Air CB34
View media item 275839
Price: $140 (first pair) $84 (second pair)

When these came out, I was at my day job. I walked into Footaction on 125th St. I was checking to see if they had put them out as different stores put them out different days, but it was scheduled for an October release of that year. I walk in to FA, see the displays and ask for my size. Gone. Using my brain, I ask them to do a stock location. Pair 1 is found at a Long Island store. I paid for them on the spot. Delivered to my house. Being nervous, I text my co worker who told me he already cracked the box and put them out on the shelf. I told him to put one away for me so I could buy it later. Done deal.

AF1
View media item 275848
Price: $55 (I think)
Just a regular pair of AF1, nothing real special. I liked the colorway

Air Force 180
View media item 275850
Price: $78
I almost didn't cop these. They went faster than expected. No real incredible story :lol:. One of my favorite pickups though.

Air Force 180 (Olympic)
View media item 275856
Price: $84 (first pair) $66 (second pair)
Copped when they first dropped. Got a restock in the store, copped the second pair after all Olympic stuff was put on sale

Air Max 93
View media item 275876
Price: Free
I picked these out for staff dress. I was really happy to get these for free. Very underrated shoe and is forgotten about a lot these days.

Air Max 95
They were these....
View media item 275899I didn't like the white midsole, so after some years, I decided to customize them and change them to this...
View media item 275892I really miss the grey midsole. It's the best imo
Price: $78
Easy cop, no story.

Air Max 97 (Rejuvenation pack)
View media item 275910
Price: $60
Copped these finally after watching them sit on the shelf for about a year or so. I was shocked no one got them. Nice scoop. Still one of my favorite pairs.

Air Max Griffey 1
View media item 275915
Price: $84
Missed original RD. Asked my cousin to get me a pair while he got his. He didn't get mine. Swoosh got more pairs about 2 weeks after, copped my pair.

Air Max Sensation (formerly Air Max CWebb)
View media item 275922
Price: Free
I had the OGs in 1995. Didn't really appreciate them as much then. Got these as my staff dress selection at work. Obviously these need work :lol:. When I get around to it, I'll post it in the restoration thread.

Air Max Penny 1 (New York Knicks Edition)
View media item 275939
Price:$84
Thought about it for a day, copped with no issues. I'm surprised how much people still want this shoe to this day. I guess it's underrated.

Air Max Penny 1
View media item 275947
Price: $84
Finally got these in 2010. I missed the previous two retros of these. I had the OGs in 1995 and it's one of my all time favorite shoes. I got these for Christmas of my freshman year in HS. This was the first shoe that I started to clean on a regular basis. Soap, water, toothbrush, and a rag. All you need.

Air Max Penny 1 (Chicago Bulls Edition)
View media item 275956
Price: $78

Liked it. Copped them.

Air Max Penny II (All White Colorway)
View media item 275959
Price: $84
Copped off swoosh. Since I missed the Black/blue colorway. I got desperate and settled for these.


Air Max Penny II (Black)
View media item 275964
Price: $130
I walked into Footaction two months after the release. These were gone for the most part when they dropped. I saw a display and decided to ask the sales associate if they had any in my size. Lo and behold, he had an 11. Good deal.

Air Max Penny II (Atlantic Blue)
View media item 275978
Price: $90
A co worker of mine offered these to me. I wanted them since RD but since I missed out, I gave up. We were talking and he said he wanted to sell them. I asked if he could sell them to me. I thought he was gonna OD, but he sold them to me at the discount price :smokin


Air Max Penny IV

View media item 1234242
Price = Free. A friend of mine actually got these for me. Details are murky and don't want to go into it, but it was a nice surprise to get these for free. I was gonna cop out of the store on my own anyway, but he used his discount and copped for me. One of the most comfortable shoes I own, but they are a ***** to put on and take off as you know if you have a pair. So fire. I still hope the Phoenix colorway drops. I'm so sorry I didn't include these when I originally mad this thread, I thought I posted it and just noticed they were missing.


Air Pippen 1
View media item 275986
Price: $84
Regular cop. No issues

Air Total Foamposite Max (Original)
View media item 275992
Price: $150
This story was interesting. I searched on eBay for about a year for this shoe.I bought these in 2003. Every time I found my size, I didn't have the money and every time I had the money, I couldn't find my size. I finally found a pair in 2003. I bid on them, and lost the auction. I kept in contact with the seller and e-mailed him a few days after the auction ended. I asked him if the winner paid. He said no. I asked how much he won it for, he said $150. He offered the money, he agreed to sell to me. I had a Saturday class that semester, and he lived in Queens. I asked him to meet me by my school after my class. He brought the kicks, I had the money. Mission accomplished. Lesson: never give up on an ebay auction even if you lose, but I don't know if it's changed since then.

Air Zoom Kidd Retro
View media item 276007
Price: Honestly can't remember
No issues with these. Saw these copped. Nobody was really on them at the time. Underrated imo. Nice pickup.

AJ III White Cement (2011)
View media item 276025
Price: $150
Fluke story. I got off work and there is a Foot Locker across the street from the bus stop where I transfer from the train to the bus to go home. I looked into the store and saw some III's displayed in the store. I decided to go in and ask if they had any more IIIs. The lady goes in the back. There is one last 11.5. I just needed her to hold them until Friday. They had layaway. Put the $ down to hold until the weekend. Came back on Saturday morning before they opened. Got an unnecessary sobb story from some dude talking about his ex wife and child support, it was trifling. Got the kicks. Done

AJ III (2003)
View media item 276046
Price: $160
I won these off ebay in 2004. It was a surprise due to fakes and rising prices. At the time, these were going for $200-$225 on average on ebay. I wasn't prepared to pay that at the time. So I kept searching and found a pair being sold in Hawai'i. I checked out the pics for signs of a fake. It passed the test. I contacted the seller. He agreed to end it early for $160 shipped which is amazing for finding that shoe a year after release compared to times like now. Seems like a lifetime ago.

AJ III True Blue
View media item 276066
Price: $93
I lucked out. A co worker offered these to me. He found them, had them stashed because he didn't want them. So, he offered them to me. They were a size 12. I'm usually an 11.5. I tried them on, they still felt alright. I decided that I wanted to buy them. Had them in my hand and was about to put them in a spot until I was ready to buy. I had another co worker I noticed watching me with these. Thought about it and realized I had a bill due. Said F it, and gave the kicks to my co worker. About a week later I was talking to another co worker, he said he found another pair of TB IIIs in and 11.5. He told me to pay him full price, but I was like "C'mon Son" . We co workers and we look out for each other. After negotiating with him for a week I got him to show me where the shoe was, he showed me, I waited until I got paid and copped on my way out the door. It was a nice birthday gift to myself :smokin

AJ IV Cement (2012)
View media item 276074
Price: $100, yes $100
This was another fluke :lol:. I was in a meeting this past July. I did my presentation and was listening to others. I was bored and didn't want to fall asleep. I was actually looking for a pair of playoff XII's to buy. I found a seller, texted him back and forth for a few hours. The jerk wound up having the same pair on ebay at the same time as CL. He was selling them for $180 too. In looking for the playoff XII's on CL, I came across a pair of cement IV's, a pair I wanted but gave up on since I couldn't get them on RD. They were VNDS one minor scuff at the toe that was barely noticeable which was no issue to me. I contact the seller, asked how much. He said $100. I thought this is BS, didn't believe it. I asked him to send more pics. He did. I told him I had cash in hand and asked him to meet me in front of NTNY at 9pm after I got off work. Sure enough he was there, kicks were legit. Paid the man. Quickest turnaround for a pickup for me ever. It turned out to be a very nice day.

AJ VI (Black/Red)
View media item 276086
Price: $84
Easy cop. I thought I'd have trouble. Went to swoosh and ordered with no issue. I will likely do work on this shoe to change the red to infrared with angelus paint. This edition you see here has the trick discussed with the garden marker pen to make it look infrared. I don't like how it looks up close so I'll modify it before I wear them more regularly.

AJ VI (White/Midnight Navy)
View media item 276092
Price: $45
One of my favorite stories. These are currently on my restoration project list. Anyway.. I was putting shoes away one day in my section at work. A co worker comes by my aisle (I was in the basketball/Jordan section at the time). He slams the Jordan box on the floor in my aisle. I was like wth? He says "here, this is for you". I open the box and it was them, long after they sold out. Mind you this is July 2001 we're talking about. Needless to say, I was happy. That same day, I also copped....

Nike Air Foamposite Pro (2000)
View media item 276100
Price: $60
These. The same day I was blessed with the White and Navy AJ VI, I had these stashed away and was going to cop that day anyway. The VI's just made the day that much more special. This is a stock pic. Why is that do you ask? Well, I did have these. The reason why I don't have them is even dumber. I had them for a long time. In 2008, I was going through something and got upset. I almost wanted to sell my entire collection. The outsole on the right foot began to separate. It was completely fixable but since I was going through something I decided F it, I don't want my kicks anymore. So, I wrapped the shoebox up in tape and went outside and sat the box on the curb :smh:. Dumbest move ever. To this day I regret doing that. This was before foams were destroyed by Nike too

AJ VII (Black and Red) (2002)
View media item 276112
Price: $140
Copped from FA online during the holiday 2002. Sizes were running out quick, Copped mine and my cousin's French Blues that night. Currently being restored as you can see :lol:

AJ VII Cardinal (2006)
View media item 277514
Price: $81
Regular cop. No hassle really.

AJ VIII Aqua
View media item 277520
Price: $84
I actually missed out on RD. We wound up getting replenishment three weeks later when no one expected it. Easy cop.

AJ VIII (Black/Red playoff)
View media item 277525
Price: $84
Holiday cop. Got 3 pairs before they were all gone. 2 for me one for my brother. I just found out two days ago he actually sold his pair to a friend for $160 :smh: :lol:

AJ VIII (Black/Red playoff OG RIP)
View media item 277544View media item 277546
Price: $175
I bought these off ebay...like a dummy. I was well aware of how older shoes can crumble, but you couldn't tell me nothin in 2003. They were nowhere on the horizon for being retrod and I just wanted to stunt. I noticed something wasn't right during the first wear, but that was the risk I ran. I got about 5-6 wears out of them before I noticed separation. This pic was from last year when I went through the closet and decided it was time for them to go. I regret nothing. The 2007 version is pretty much the same in terms of quality. The only difference is on the OG, the pull tab is red, while on the 2007, it's black.

AJ VIII (White/Red 2003)
View media item 277575
Price: $135
Copped on RD from Eastbay I believe. I wasn't at NTNY that year so I paid full price. Wasn't used to that. Still happy though

AJ XI (Black/Red 2001)
View media item 277578
Price: $75
This is one of the better stories. That Christmas when they came out, there was a list that went around the store. Every employee had an opportunity to secure a GUARANTEED pair of Black/Red XI in their size only. This is the most generous I ever saw NTNY be when it came to a release. It was the first and only time they did something like this to my knowledge. I'll put it like this, there were so many black/red XI's made, we sold to customers, employees got their pair 2x over, and there were STILL more in the stock room in January. I actually had two pairs of these. I sold my second pair at flight club for $450 back in 2006. Let's just say I regret that decision. These were my everyday shoe at one point. I like them and miss them. I was kinda pissed I didn't get them this past Christmas, but not really. I wore these a LOT. So I guess I'm kind of over it. These are pretty beat, but still wearable. Whenever I get in the mood, I'll throw them on. When cleaned up, they still look pretty good. All this being said, you would think they would do the same thing with guaranteeing pairs now right? I'm sure they made more of these now than in 2001, but then again, there wasn't as much hype then. 500K pairs my *** :lol:

AJ XI (Colombia)
View media item 277586
Price: Free* ($159)
I like this story. They weren't actually free, but they were free for me. I'm going to admit, at the time, they weren't my favorite pair of XI, but they grew on me one day. I was on a break waiting for a class in 2003 when a dude sat across from me in one of the student lounges in the hall. I'm sitting back chillin and he crosses one leg over the other and what does he have on? A crisp pair of Colombias. Right then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Them ***** are hot! I said to myself. I gotta cop me a pair. At the time I was looking at kicks daily like I do, looking at sneakerpimp.com, ebay, and ISS, when it was much much simpler :smh: where it was only sneaker reviews and kicks for sale (I hate what it looks like now that Steve sold it). Anyway, ISS had a full size run of these. At the time I believe they were going for $150 regular. Then this happened. For an entire calendar year, they were on sale for $99. I kid you not, on sale...FSR. Nobody touched it. Why? Everyone was still trying to get their hands on a pair of Concords and Black/Red XIs. These were basically ignored (which is why I say people who hold these in high regard now are by and large ********). After about a year or so, I noticed they were taken off sale. In biweekly intervals they were $99, $109, $119, $139, $149, $159. That's when I said enough is enough, I want them. At the time,my mom was also going to school getting her degree and she had to write a 5 page paper for one of her classes. She asked me for help with the paper. Since I was pretty good at writing papers (I never got anything less than a B on any paper in college), I asked her if she would buy me the shoes if I got an A on her paper. She said sure. I guess she wasn't really expecting an A from me since I wasn't taking the class and it wasn't even in my major. Needless to say I got an A. It wasn't too difficult and I got my shoes.

AJ XI (Concord, 2000)
View media item 277627
Price: $190
This was an interesting story. Like many people at the time, I was on the hunt for a pair of Concords. I checked ebay, sneakerpimp, ISS, shoetrends, and a few others at the time..most of the time, nothing. Well, one day I went to the computer lab in one of the science buildings to kill some time before my next class. I went to sneakerpimp.com (as some of you remember was where Ewayz23 sold his kicks. I wasn't aware he was an NTer until that list came out, I was obviously unaware of NT at the time :lol:) Anyway, I go to the site and do my usual rounds to see if anything new is up. What do I find? There is a size 11 in Concords :wow:. I'm sitting there like "oh ****, please don't let somebody scoop them before I get home". I go to class. Thank goodness it wasn't a long class either. I jet home, get back on my computer, they're still there...and for $190 too. Mind you, it's 2002 and I've seen some going for like $225 plus.Call me cheap but my cap for a pair or shoes is $200 and that goes for everything, As you see, I had to bend on that but that's generally my rule. I order them and get really excited. I look on the page and see that he lives in Brooklyn. He left is AIM handle, so I contact him. I ask him if I can meet up with him to avoid shipping. I thought it was dumb to pay shipping for something and we live in the same borough. He said it was cool, and gives me his address. We set up a day and time where I can meet up with him. The day we arranged, I came from class (in Manhattan) straight to his crib (Bay Ridge). I get to the house, ring the bell...no answer, >:. My initial thought was, why the hell am I at this regular *** house? Dude has a website and I'm at a house. Shouldn't I be at some sort of store? That was my first red flag.You know what I'm thinking at this point right? I got scammed. I rang the bell about 3-4 more times and stayed there for a total of about 25 minutes hoping someone would come out. No one came so I eventually left. I get home, see dude on AIM and IM him "what's up?". I told him I stopped by and no one was there. He tells me that he forgot and went to baseball practice. In my mind I'm like wth? Baseball practice? This mf is in HS? :lol:. He tells me to come back the next day. I go back the next day. He's there and says "my bad, I left a little early for practice". Cool, no problem. He then goes and gets the kicks. I inspect them to make sure that they aren't fake. I checked the style number and color code on the shoe and the box, I smell them, look at the herringbone pattern on the outsole (some fakes had blue or black for those who didn't know), I checked the direction and stitching of the Jumpman, I also checked the carbon fiber plate, as well as the tag on the tongue and the letters. They checked out. He explained to me that they were real, he just didn't have the original box because it got messed up, so I had to accept a box that had B grade stamped on it. Whatever. I took the box and didn't have a bag for it, so it was a naked box all the way home. I had to take the train from Bay Ridge all the way to Canarsie. The whole way home I'm thinking "please I hope nobody asks me what's in the box". I hold on to it like it was gold. I get home very happy. One little extra tidbit about this shoe. I could have gotten it for free. When I first was hired at NTNY, we got to pick out a pair of kicks to work in for staff dress. At the time, one of my boys from HS worked there (he actually helped me get hired). When they let us go on to the floor to pick out our kicks, I ask him if there were any XI's around. He said they were long gone. He steps away for a sec, then comes back with a beat up box. What's in it? Concords. I tried them on, but told him to take them back because they were a size ten and felt too tight :smh:. In retrospect, I should not have done that. I could have chosen those and got them for free.

AJ XI (Concord, 2011)
View media item 277685
Price: $200
:smh:. Since having my 2000 Concords on ice for so long (I only wore them 3 times total since 2002) I knew this day would come and really tried to avoid it. Years leading up to this re-release I told myself "nah, I'm good. I have a pair of Concords, I'll save mine to avoid the eventual chaos whenver they release these again. I KNEW they would at some point. Anyway..I couldn't resist. I decided halfway through that year I would try for a pair. So, the link gets sent out or whatever, the usual mayhem ensues. I order my pair on swoosh.(after trying 3 times) I get all the way through to the process order page. I get the circle of death and then a white screen :stoneface: . I'm tight. I get that close to NOT get my shoe. After rationalizing that I didn't get a pair (and switching to the thread on NT in another tab) I go and check my bank account. The money is taken out. I sort of get excited. I continue to read the concord thread and seeing footaction stories :smh:. Hoping that doesn't happen to me. I stay up a little longer and get my confirmation e-mail from swoosh. Good to go.

AJ XI (Cool Grey 2001)
View media item 277736
Price: $75
This pair was actually my first pair of AJ XI. I was only at NTNY for about 6 weeks at this point. One of my co workers came up to me and asked me if I wanted a pair of XIs. At this point, not having any, I get excited, like "hell yeah". He then takes me into the Jordan/basketball aisle and pulls out a black box from the back row. It's a cool grey pair in a size 10. A full size smaller but I said F it, I'll cop. After the first incident. I told myself I'm NOT passing this pair up. Not one thought of trading or flipping it for anything. Such simple times...

A couple of years later I got a second pair of these. The way I got them was a good one too. I was closing at NTNY one night. Everyone was in their section cleaning up after we closed. I was up front by the machine watching for any extra tickets. There is a customer service tube that sends down returns from the third floor. One of my co workers cleans out the tube and yells out, who wears a size 10.5? No one responds at first. Then me, not being a dummy, yells out "I do!" He comes around the corner with the box facing him. I thought it was a wack shoe and thought it was a joke. He asks me, "do you want these for real?" I tell him "yeah, I want them. What are they?" He flips the box around and it's a returned pair of CG XI. He gave them to me because he wore a 15 and couldn't do anything with them. I was the first person he saw, so they belonged to me. 30 seconds later, dudes rushed up and asked what it was. By then it was too late. I already claimed them. Needless to say dudes were tight. They tried to say it wasn't fair but dude called out and got no response. I claimed them. End of story. I would up trading this pair for a pair of Stealth 20's and a pair of White/Colombia XII's


AJ XI Spacejam (2000)
View media item 277859
Price: $55, yes that's right $55
This is my favorite story because it was dumb luck. I went into work on a Friday morning. It was right when we opened so it wasn't busy yet. My manager asks me to go look for something in the mismate box around the corner. I go into the box (which is a whole box of shoes with two different sizes in a pair and don't have boxes and need new boxes) and when I go into the box, I see the right foot of a spacejam. In my mind, I'm like g t f o h. Is this a fake? It has to be. I examine the shoe, The smell and everything checks out. I immediately start looking for the left shoe. I check the tag of both shoes. 11.5. Both of them. Without saying a word to anyone, I ask my manager to hold these for me until the next day in the office because I wanted to buy them. He did. He asked someone to make a box for them. The next day, I went to buy the shoe after my shift. I look down to get my debit card to pay for them and look up at the register. $55 :wow:. I couldn't believe it, but I played it cool. Paid. On the way out, two people asked what I bought. I simply opened the box and everyone was hating. Out the door. Good day.

AJ XI Spacejam (2009)
View media item 277885
Price: $96
I literally had no intentions on buying this shoe. I was reading the threads leading up to the release and on release night. At 11:55pm, I decided to go on swoosh and look around. I honestly thought the site would melt down. I was bs'ing around, then at 12am, I decided to refresh the home page on swoosh. At the time, when a shoe first drops it was the first pic on the new releases page. I refreshed. It was there, I said "why not?" copped, very easy. I literally laid in my bed and ordered a pair. I also didn't go into that thread boasting about what I did. I thought it would be in bad taste to do after reading what some people went through that night, especially since I literally did it on a whim. This was the last AJ retro to be discounted for employees on swoosh.

AJ XII (White/Colombia blue)
View media item 277907
Price: Acquired through trade
Got these with Stealth 20's in a trade for my CG XI.

AJ XII (Playoff, 2011)
View media item 277916
Price: $240
I actually copped these about a month and a half ago. I had a deal to buy a pair of 2001 Black and red XI's from a former co worker of mine, We settled on a price of $230, but that fell through. I searched CL and found these the next week. The price was similar and the cheapest I've seen for these. Copped em on a Sunday. Dude I bought them from copped them in Germany a week earlier. I guess that's the spot if you want Jordans. Dude said when he was in that footlocker in Germany they had stealth foams sitting on the shelves :smh:. The real reason why I wanted these so much is that I had the OG's. When I got these, I still had the taxi's in GREAT shape (because the quality was that good). So as a result, I didn't wear these much. One day I went to look for these to put on, and they were no where to be found. I couldn't remember where I had them last, they just up an disappeared. To this day, I still don't know what happened to them. Since then I promised i would get another pair. Missed out in '04. When they came out in April 2012, I struck out. So, I was doomed to resellers :smh:. It was worth it. Meh....

AJ XIII (White/University Blue)
View media item 278000
Price: $90
Regular cop. I thought they were nice. This was actually my first pair of XIIIs. I wound up turning these into an experiment. I wore these for a while and got bored with the colorway. It no longer interested me. I was watching the Celtics game when Ray Allen broke Reggie Miller's record. Then, I noticed his shoes. As you know, there aren't many Jordans that get released in a green colorway. I was always a fan of green XIIIs, even though all of the ones I've seen were PE's. This game, it just hit me. Maybe I should convert these XIIIs into the one's Ray had. So, I came up with these...


View media item 278007
Obviously these aren't finished. I do have to finish the details of the shoe. I got so excited about the idea I just wanted to quickly try to match the dye to see what it looked like. I had nothing to go off of, so I had to google pictures of Ray Allen from that game. This is the actual color of the shoe, not the color that was released later that year (if you want, compare the pics, the released pair is a noticeably lighter green than on the pair Ray had on). Let's just say I got mad when they did decide to release these, albeit in limited quantities. When I found that out, I got worried that when I wore these, people would think that they are fakes, but in actuality these are just a custom job that I thought of before JB thought to release these. No matter though, I know they aren't fakes and when I get the change, I'll re-do the dye (it has faded in some spots since then) and fix the details. I'll likely post it in the custom/restoration thread later on.


AJ XIII Flint
View media item 278057
Price: $ 96
Nothing special about this one. I missed em in '05, wanted them. Got em.

AJ XIII (Playoff)
View media item 278069
Price: $160
My favorite colorway of the AJ XIII. Nothing really special about the cop. I ordered them with no hassle.

AJ XIV (Pine Green)
View media item 278075
Price: $60
I caught these on sale. Wasn't really feeling them until I saw the sale price and said "what the heck". Very underrated colorway imo. I tried to convert these into some sort of Milwaukee Bucks type of cw adding some purple and pewter to it. The material seems hard to change. I still might do something to them. Stay tuned...

AJ XVII (College Blue)
View media item 278084
Price: $75
I hated these the first time I saw them. Like most I was like I don't know about these. They wack. But I kept looking at them. I saw these when they were initially put out. $200? No dice. People didn't bite initially. I left NTNY and went back to school after winter break. I came back in the spring and there were still pairs on the shelf. I checked the price again. They were on sale, and for $75, they could be all mine. Done deal. By that time, I had changed my mind. They looked so clean. Imo, this is the best colorway. These were not creased like the red version. I was turned off by the red version because of this. Trust me, I went through the whole stock and just about all of them were pre-creased. No bueno. Still, underrated shoe nonetheless.


AJ XX (Stealth)
View media item 278108
Price: Trade
Got these in a trade along with the aforementioned AJ XII for my CG XI. I have no regrets. I passed on these when they were in the store. When I wanted to buy them, they sold out. Trade helped me out.

Air Max CB34
View media item 278118
Price: Free
I got these for doing a favor for a homeboy of mine. Helped him scoop a couple of pairs, and in return, he got these for me.

Nike Dunk Low SB (Cinco De Mayo)
View media item 278124
Price: Free
I get an e-mail on Facebook one day telling me congratulations for winning a contest. It was from an upstart store from The Bay. The e-mail let me know that I won a pair of Nike SB's and asked for my size. Naturally, I thought it was a scam. I left it alone for a few days. Then I thought about it and said let me reply, what the hell. I gave my size and address for them to send the shoes. I just hoped it wouldn't lead to them using my mom's address for anything. About a week later, my mom calls me and tells me I have a package. It's these. I wasn't really a fan of this colorway. The brown killed it for me. I don't like brown on my sneakers all. I already know what I want to do with this shoe, but I'll keep it to myself for now. As you can tell from the pic, I already started working on it. I'll post the final product on here eventually. The idea is pretty nice.

Nike Air Flightposite III
View media item 278128
Price: $96
The shoe had crazy buzz from the beginning. People wanted to know what it was, it was on the shelf two weeks prior to the RD and it was cardboarded up so no one could see them or try them on. I snuck a pair out to look at them. I liked the material. They were smooth. Originally for Kevin Garnett, but he left Nike for Adidas, so they took his name off of them. If you remember the Kobe sample, those were sick too. If you have a pair, and put the two feet next to each other, you can see a pair of snake eyes and fangs on the outsole pattern. It's dope. These weren't too hard to get. The $160 pricetag stopped a lot of people at the time, so it was an easy cop. I had the white/blue version of these, but since I didn't wear them as much, I took them to flightclub, and listed them at $100 :smh:. They sold. One of my regrets. I liked that white/blue pair but just never wore them a whole lot.

Nike Air Infiltrator (Livestrong Edition)
View media item 278142
Price: Free
Staff dress shoe. I wanted something different and nothing was really good at the time. It was different and I wanted to expand so I picked these.

Nike Air Max Uptempo 97 (Black)
View media item 278147
Price: $57.68
I wanted this shoe for the longest. Scoured ebay since 02-03, couldn't find a pair. They retrod and I waited for them to go on sale because they weren't moving, which was a surprise. Got them at a great price. One of my fav 90's kicks.

Nike Air Max Uptempo 97 (White)
View media item 278151
Price: $96
Same as above. Liked these and needed the white pair too. They go great with my KG Timberwolves jersey. Dope combo :smokin

Nike Dunk Low Baseball Pack (Oakland A's)
View media item 278156
Price: $45
Dope colorway. Thought the baseball idea was good. Easy pick up

Nike Dunk Low (Manu Ginobili)
View media item 278160
Price: Free
Staff dress shoe. People weren't paying attention to these. Love this shoe. Smart pickup

Nike Dunk Low (Grey)
View media item 278163
Price: Free
Staff dress shoe. I wanted a dunk, these looked cool at the time.

Nike Dunk Low (Jordan Pack, Olympic VI make up)
View media item 278182
Price: $45
One word. Sleeper. NOBODY picked these up. I knew they were coming and kept an eye out. I wanted the TB colorway in the pack and cement IV cw. I actually got the cement IV make up, but I gave that pair to my brother once I actually got cement IVs. These are really comfortable. It's a subtle, yet effective shoe. Here's a secret, the leather on these >>> Olympic VI retros that came out last summer and it's not even close. I love this shoe.

Nike Dunk Low (Nike ID, New York Mets colorway)
View media item 278188
Price: $70
I always wanted to make a custom pair of dunks using Mets colors, which is my favorite baseball team (don't ask :smh:). Got my chance, this is the result. The heel says LETSGOMETS on both sides.

Nike Dunk Low (Blue/Mean Green)
View media item 278194
Price: $45 (I think)
I liked these for a while. I liked the green a lot in them, it was different. I got bored of this colorway and decided to go in another direction. So, I changed them to this....

View media item 278197
I always wanted a grey/orange pair of dunk lows. These are not finished. I still have to add more to the shoe. I will post the finished version here. Traditionally this type of colorway was only made in youth sizes and not men's. So I took matters in my own hands and came up with this.

Air Flightposite 1 (Charcoal/Red)
View media item 278198
Price: $112 (originally) $125 (final)
I won these on ebay in 2001 I believe. One of the lesser sought after colorways. I was shocked. Most FP1's were going for decent money but not outrageous, but at $112, these were a steal. I bid on them and won. The seller required payment in 3 days so what I did was offer the $125 to him as courtesy to hold them until the next week for me and not re-list them. He agreed.

Nike Air Bakin Foamposite
View media item 278206
Price: $130, I think
I liked these. Thought they were a great idea and needed a boot. Great pickup. I might even cop the flightposite version. A lot of people slept on these. I didn't. I knew better.

Nike Air Foamposite Pro B
View media item 278210
Price: $96
Almost missed out on these. The day they released, they were flying off the shelf. Lucky for me, I had a co worker look out for me. He put away a pair for me right before they completely sold out. They were a 10.5 though, but with how the shoe fits to mold to your foot, I have no issues. Glad I have at least one quality foamposite.

Nike Air More Uptempo
View media item 278212
Price: Free
Staff dress shoe. They sat for a long time and I thought it was criminal how these sat so long. Blue is my favorite color.

Nike Dunk Low
View media item 278219
Price: $78
We had these at NTNY. They sat for a bit, but I kept putting it off. They went faster when they were put on sale. I went to cop, no dice. Stock located a pair from NT Chicago. I called them and they said I couldn't use my discount which was bs. I wanted them so bad, I paid full price. No regrets.


View media item 1176991
Penny Hardaway Af1
Penny Price =$60. They looked fire to me. Glad there was no hype. Good pick up for me.


AJ V "Laney"

View media item 1177029
Price = $170. Copped these off NT from the homie @quise2024, he's a good dude. Missed these on RD. He did me a solid on these. 9.5/10. Didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Glad I did.


Air LeBron XI "Diffused Jade"

View media item 1220411

Price = $90. My first Lebron, finally. Not that I couldn't have had pairs before, I just didn't cop. The first Lebron I really wanted since the Lebron IV, except this time I pulled the trigger on them. I still hope to have the Lebron IV, so many near misses on those. As for these, they feel comfortable. I randomly walked into a Footlocker back in August and tried these on. They felt great. I remembered I could get them cheaper and copped. End of story. No special limited colorway, nothing, just the XI. That's all I needed.

Air Max 95

View media item 1234233
Price= Retail. These were on sale for $30 less than retail. Solid pickup. I have been eyeing them since August. Finally picked them up. Sort of an impulse buy but not regretting it. I needed a pair of blue 9-5's, glad I copped these.


Retro Air Jordan VI (Infrared)

View media item 1299998
Price = Retail. I initially thought I had some help on these so I didn't even bother trying on the morning of Black Friday. The person that was supposed to help fell through, so I thought I struck out. Was going to plan on copping the legend blue XI and trading for these. I'm not totally sold on legend blue XI's and as you can see my Colombia's are in good shape. Anyway, while browsing the thread on 12/3, I got a PM from a fellow NT'er to keep trying for them on Eastbay. I called up and they had my size available. I got lucky and didn't have to pay resell. Unexpected and easy transaction :nthat:

Retro Air Jordan VII (French Blue)


View media item 1660476
Price= Retail. Struck out on raffles for these, not knowing what the outcome would be. I walked into a Modell's that morning and snagged an unclaimed raffle pair and was happy out the door....A shoe that I passed up in 2002 because I thought the black/red ones were better. I can't remember why but for some reason my cousin wanted me to order his pair of OG French Blues with mine and I had them both delivered to my house. To my surprise the OG had great quality and was a nice surprise. I secretly wanted to switch shoes for a moment with my cousin. This shoe has been in the back of my mind since then. Didn't really bother searching for a pair on the resell market due to pricing. I'm glad these came back around, minor changes and all...

Retro Air Jordan VII (Hare)

View media item 1545641

Price= Retail. Man...what can I say about this shoe? Of course I was familiar with it, but didn't really fall in love with it until I saw it on the AJ retro card that came with the early 2000 retros. I thought the red/white colorway was so clean. What made them even more desirable was the fact that they held these back from re-release for so long. Struck out on raffles as usual. I put in for about 5. I was lucky enough to cop from NDC on release day, which has been a rarity the last 5 years or so given the current climate of shoe interest these days. The retro card pictured was from the 2002 Black/Red release. I'm not a fan of the weak card they gave with the hares. Insignificant detail, but whatever :lol:


Air Max '95 OG (2015)

View media item 1660483
Price=Retail. I wasn't really aware of this release until recent months (I should peruse the Nike Retro section more often, but that's another story...) When I first saw them, I was like damn...I wasn't planning on these. It's the only cw of the 95's that matter to me. I mean, there are other nice colorways and I have had a few, but this shuts it down for me. In past years, I've missed the retros of these when they dropped, mainly due to lack of awareness of when they dropped and not having the money for them around their RD (funny, I know since there were more than enough versions of this shoe that released). I wasn't about to let these slide by me YET again. Similar to the Air Max Penny 1 :lol: . Anyway, I walked into the mall last Friday, nearly a week after RD and copped. I went into Footaction, and they didn't have any in stock at the store, they tried to stock locate a pair and nothing. Then I went into Champs upstairs and they had a size 11. Usually, I'm an 11.5 but since 95's still look great a half size down, I copped. I'm VERY happy with these.


Nike Zoom Superdome

View media item 1803172
Price=$101. They dropped last year and disappeared withthequickness. I thought, like many, that the price would have them sit and eventually go on sale. Boy, was I wrong. These dried up so fast. I thought a restock would happen mid winter or a staggered release like they sometimes do for ACG footwear but nothing. I searched for a deal online and ebay for pretty much an entire year. Until, this fall my prayers were answered when they restocked the black and brown colorway. I thought it was just on a few sites, but they eventually popped up on the usual sites. Saw these on NDC two weeks ago and the brown ones were on sale. Now, I usually am not a fan of brown boots, I usually cop black ones, but the orange jumped out at me on these and make me come around on them. When these his NDC, they were immediately on sale and I jumped at the chance. Then, with the assist in a thread on NT, someone dropped a code to help bring these down to $101. I regret nothing :smokin


Nike Zoom Lebron IV

View media item 1805437
Price= $160. These came available October 2015 to me. I actually was going to cop originally. It had been one of the shoes on my list that I needed because I didn't cop when they first dropped. They were on sale on NDC years ago. I checked at the beginning of the week, and at the end of the week when I had the money, they were gone. I believe they were the silver and white pair. I fell in love with the all black pair when I held them in hand, but put them off too long and they sold out of the store where I was working at. I never forgot about them. I had been looking on ebay here and there over the years, and the prices made me hesitant to pull the trigger, until last October. I fellow NTer, who shall remain nameless at this point, offered them up at this price. I thought it was BS. I told him to get back to me in a month, and I thought he was playing still and forgot about it. Until he contacted me again, we agreed on price and the transaction was done. I'm satisfied with my 2015 Black Friday cop.


Nike Foamposite One Royal (2007)

View media item 1876045


Price = $180. I found these in the buy/sell section here on NT. My second purchase from the NT marketplace, which is rare for me. Shoutout to NTer @AquaGrape2345 for the fair price. I never thought I would find these in this condition for this price. I'm grateful. I definitely missed these in 2007, because as you know they went fast and even working at NTNY before I had a shot, they were gone. Not to mention the $200 price, which at the time, I hesitated and that wasn't a good move. Either way, I'm satisfied these are now in the fold. Beautiful shoe, and one target to cross off my list before I'm done.


Air Jordan IV (OG Remaster 2016)

View media item 1941104
Price= Retail. I really wanted these since they were announced. Obviously I have a pair of 2012, but those were NDS pair and I wanted a DS pair. I tried them on and they feel comfortable. Slight improvement over the 2012 version imo. I had issues with the SNKRS app just like a lot of people did that morning, but I kept trying and eventually got a pair. Glad these were plentiful and hope future releases are the same.


Air More Uptempo (2016 version)

View media item 1967689
Price = Retail. These were hard to get a hold of as some of you know. Scheduled for an April 2016 release, these have been popping up randomly. As of right now, (3/26/16) some places still have yet to release these. As for me, I was just on vacation in Washington DC this past week when these dropped on NDC. I checked my IG feed and saw these were to drop on 3/23 at noon. Got up, waited to cop on my phone and....nothing. Struck out. Sold out in 5 min. I was mad like everyone else. I didn't panic. I called my mom and pop store back in Brooklyn and they didn't put theirs out yet so I figured I had time. But I still didn't trust that since they told my they can put them out any day in the coming week. I got some help with links from kicksusa and a few other foot sites. Sold out on those sites also. Called kicksusa, and only a 13 was left. No dice. I then cycled through the other stores I had heard about in ares. I looked on my phone and saw there was a DTLR in the area where I was at. Before I did that, I called a City Gear in the area, they didn't have any pairs. I then went to DTLR as an option. Called them, dude there said they had pairs in my size-11.5. Took a shower and drove over to that DTLR witdaquickness. Got to the store, and they were on display at the register. I asked him if they had any 11.5 left and dude said they had 11 and 13. That 11.5 disappeared quick. I told him I'd take the 11, and I did something here that I haven't done in a good while--I tried on a pair of shoes that were selling fast or sold out fast in other places in the store! It's sad what used to be common practice is now a rarity. I tried on the size 11's and they fit perfectly. The 11.5 would have been too big for sure. I copped quick before anyone else came in the store and I appreciate the tax in DC, I def would have paid more if I copped in NYC.This was my first vacation cop, it's weird, but I'm glad I was able to navigate through it.


Air Jordan XII (French Blue)

View media item 2244137
Price=$245. I know, I know....team retail, but when these dropped, I struck out hardbody karate. I actually went to a mom and pop shop on the morning of RD to avoid the online disappointment. What did I get? More disappointment from the store. I lined up before the store opened. When they guy came to open up the store I asked him how much they wanted for these and he said $350. I promptly left the line. I came home and...you know the rest. I had to wait after scouting for a month and a half. I even thought I caught these on eastbay when my size popped up after a few weeks. I ordered them, but of course it wasn't in stock and my order got cancelled. I later found these on airgoat after the site was mentioned in the French Blue thread. I'm glad I scooped them when I did :smh:


Olympic Jordan VII (2004)

View media item 2244142
Price=$150. IMO, steal. Another gem I found in the buy/sell thread here on NT. They were slightly higher, but we settled on the price. It was a smooth transaction. They are in great shape but unfortunately there was some separation, which isn't the worst thing. As you can see, I still haven't fixed them yet. I think this was a great pickup considering how much 04's go for. I don't mind putting in the work to fix them. Shoutout to @mcflyaldin for these.


Air Jordan 1+ (Midnight Navy/Metallic Silver)

View media item 2244149
Price=$111. This was an Ebay scoop. I sat down one night and thought, what shoe do you still want to cop but never got the chance to get? Listen, I was NEVER a 1's guy, but this particular pair caught my eye way back when in 2001. The day these released, they went FAST. I was working at Niketown and was hoping they would stick around so I can get a pair on discount. I was way off base. These sold out before 12pm in store and I was pissed. Time went by and because I wasn't on these hard, I just never really thought about it. It was just one of those dream shoes to get because they weren't really around a lot because there were fans of AJ 1's, but you just didn't see a lot of these out there, at least I didn't. I searched Ebay and saw these for a damn good price for the condition. I'm so glad everyone's focus was on other cws of the AJ1. These are truly and underrated shoe and are somewhat forgotten.


Nike Total Air Foamposite Max (2011)

View media item 2244159
Price=$140. I wanted these in 2011 when they dropped. I didn't have the money to cop at the time because I had more important responsibilities at the time. As you know, I needed a backup pair to my OGs. I wasn't worried though because my OG's were still good..until later on, my OG's separated. I still have the OGs and I will repair them eventually. I searched on airgoat and found these for a steal for the condition they were in. Another shoe that's underrated and forgotten about. I don't regret these at all.

Air Jordan III Retro OG (True Blue)

View media item 2244165
Price=Retail. I planned on getting these since they were announced. Of course I wanted a backup pair so I said why not? Blue is my favorite color. I got help from an NTer who let me know Nike+ was allowing people to buy these on Monday instead of Black Friday. So glad they let me know, I was able to cop with absolutely no hassle. I wish all releases could go this smoothly. I'm very happy with my pair despite all the complaints :rolleyes


I hope y'all enjoyed the collection. Tell me what you think. If you have stories behind your kicks, feel free to add to the thread. I don't want this to be just about me. If you do decide though, please no stock pics of kicks as much as you can. Since I put up so much, I also decided to write reviews for each shoe so look out for that. I'll try to do two a day or something to add as a companion to this thread and give to those who are interested in performance information about the kicks. Peace.
 
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Thanks for the responses so far. I forgot to add a group shot of everything. I'll do it later.
 
Nice collection

Those OG VIII 
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Nice collection

Those OG VIII :x

I know. When it happened I wasn't even mad. I knew it was coming a long time before that. That's why I bought two pairs of the retro in 07. They are basically the same quality.
 
Nice thread bruh! No retirement talks will be accepted tho. LOL  It's like balling, I don't run in summer leagues anymore but I still hit the gym every now and then.
 
Nice thread bruh! No retirement talks will be accepted tho. LOL  It's like balling, I don't run in summer leagues anymore but I still hit the gym every now and then.

Idk, retirement is looking good right now. These prices plus the hype is making me sick to my stomach. Can't take it anymore. The failire rate of getting a shoe at retail is going up :lol:.
 
Idk, retirement is looking good right now. These prices plus the hype is making me sick to my stomach. Can't take it anymore. The failire rate of getting a shoe at retail is going up :lol:.
I know that's right! Waaaay to many hoops to jump through to cop for retail. I feel like one of the Knicks when copping shoes, as long as my minutes are low I can keep up! LOL
 
A lot of good stories, bro. :nthat:

I like holding onto some of my kicks because of the story behind them too.

But very nice collection, and nice to see that you customize some of them.
 
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Nice thread bruh! No retirement talks will be accepted tho. LOL  It's like balling, I don't run in summer leagues anymore but I still hit the gym every now and then.

Idk, retirement is looking good right now. These prices plus the hype is making me sick to my stomach. Can't take it anymore. The failire rate of getting a shoe at retail is going up :lol:.

no doubt about that,and to make things worse, its not just Jordans and Nikes now. All the decent NB and Asics shoes are hard to get now, and most Adidas too

:smh:
 
:D Awesome shoes and awesome thread, just further proof OP is one of the realest heads on this board :nthat:

I love hearing the storys behind peoples shoes, why they like them and what led them to that particular purchase. :nthat:
 
Woah, didn't know you was holding heat like that. All the stories made it better too. Those foam pros though :smokin :smokin
 
great stuff in there :smokin

some of those prices :x :x :nthat:

The story behind the shoes are always the best imo.
 
good stuff beh 
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I read the stories too man, good ish…It's cool that people still appreciate the little things 
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Those AirMax 97. I've never seen that color. I just sold my all Orange pair and all Blue pair. I think because it's playoff time here (Thunder) and they rock well with game gear, and I never wore either of them. I sport the ****e out of the all blacks though, kinds my go to shoe.

Fresh Collection though. 
 
 
Those AirMax 97. I've never seen that color. I just sold my all Orange pair and all Blue pair. I think because it's playoff time here (Thunder) and they rock well with game gear, and I never wore either of them. I sport the ****e out of the all blacks though, kinds my go to shoe.

Fresh Collection though. 
Those were part of that whole air max campaign or something back in 05 I want to say. There were a lot of air maxes from that time that were never produced again and are under appreciated. That 97 was actually my consolation prize, I wanted a pair of air max 95s that we called Michaelangelo 95s because they had the cw similar to Mikey from TMNT. It was a dope shoe, but my size was already gone. I'm surprised the 97's stayed around as long as they did. I copped those MONTHS after that whole air max campaign was done at NTNY. 
 
nice collection
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Thanks man. 
 
That is a very nice collection 8)

All the shoes I have kept mean something to me so I can relate to that.
Much respect.
 
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