OG HEADS CHECK IN...JUST WONDERING...

Ok back when jordans were originally released were they like they are now? Talking about one shipment and that's it...or were they shipping in that whole year while all the other colors dropped.. just curious this just now popped up in my head

Had 2 bump..come on somebody has 2 know lol

This isn't some question I can google

I bought the 4s 5s and 6s in release day Ditched school to get them. I do know that you could still purchase them months after they came out so I think they must have gotten more shipments during the year. Especially since there were only 4 color ways during the golden age for me. (3s4s5s)

Everybody was going after Jordans back then....but you still could walk in weeks later and possibly snag a pair here in the midwest i vividly remember getting the 7's and 8's (playoffs) easily weeks after release at my local Footlocker. The original concord 11's were considered so "out there" to people that they were still sitting in abundance at Sportmart for SEVERAL weeks after release. Multiple pairs of nearly every size on the racks. It's crazy to think of that now.

I think you guys might be missing the question.

From my memory (around the OG 11 timeframe), the releases were like they are now.
That means stores got stock and that was it aside from maybe additional shipments but they were from the same production run not constantly produced throughout the season.

To my knowledge it was only one shipment, and thats it. Also considering how less of a production shoes were manufactured in. You have to take in account shoes were more of a subculture back then. When I say that I mean collectors were seldom seen, people weren't buying every release, and the hype was at a minimum cuz it was only a handful of people doing it.

Went off on a tangent, but all in all shipments have always been one in done on big release Jordan's aside from rare restocks here and there.

I dont know much about it, but OG's went on discount many months after release and you cop em at Sears and JCPenny. I remember seeing 12s at Sears.

Jordans used to restock throughout the sales year. They might sell out on production date but a month or two later stores would receive more sizes. But demand went down when they werent the "new" Jordans anymore and became uncool.

sthebest said:

Jordans used to restock throughout the sales year. They might sell out on production date but a month or two later stores would receive more sizes. But demand went down when they werent the "new" Jordans anymore and became uncool.

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Came to post this.

I clearly remember "Are you getting more in" being a regular question to ask about ANY shoe a shop didnt have your size in.

@Rainking repped man! Thanks for the story that's awesome

One thing that may have made copping easier is that, at least in the neighborhood I grew up in, not everybody even wanted Jordans.

Lots of kids were going crazy for British Knights for a little while. That and stuff like the Reebox Pump were a hot item after Dee Brown won the slam dunk contest. Adidas was a thing, too. Run DMC were hyping up Adidas before Kayne.

Today I know dudes who only buy Jordans and maybe one work shoe to beat up, and half the time their beaters are still Jordans.

Champa said:

 
One thing that may have made copping easier is that, at least in the neighborhood I grew up in, not everybody even wanted Jordans.

Lots of kids were going crazy for British Knights for a little while. That and stuff like the Reebox Pump were a hot item after Dee Brown won the slam dunk contest. Adidas was a thing, too. Run DMC were hyping up Adidas before Kayne.

Today I know dudes who only buy Jordans and maybe one work shoe to beat up, and half the time their beaters are still Jordans.

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I'm sure it was, as with most things, a variety of factors. I don't know about production numbers then vs. now, but regardless, up until the OG Concord release--again, at least where I was in suburban Detroit--we never were concerned that if we didn't get a pair of shoes on release day or even within the first months that we were going to miss out. To add to my story above, after my experience with the Concords, I decided to be at the mall when it opened the day the black/red XIs dropped. Just to be safe. I was shocked to rock up to Footlocker--the same one I had gone to for years--and find 10 or more people lined up waiting for those shoes. I had NEVER seen anything like it before that day. Later in the afternoon, I told some of my boys I played ball with about it and they were like, "What? People were lined up at Footlocker? You're lying." From that day forward, it became somewhat common seemingly overnight, though it still took years for the lines and the madness to reach their apex. 

Champa said:

 
One thing that may have made copping easier is that, at least in the neighborhood I grew up in, not everybody even wanted Jordans.

Lots of kids were going crazy for British Knights for a little while. That and stuff like the Reebox Pump were a hot item after Dee Brown won the slam dunk contest. Adidas was a thing, too. Run DMC were hyping up Adidas before Kayne.

Today I know dudes who only buy Jordans and maybe one work shoe to beat up, and half the time their beaters are still Jordans.

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As you mentioned, other brands had popular following, but you can't overlook how strong the regular Nike brand (Non-Jordan) was at this time in all footwear categories for all sports.  Running, basketball, cross training, hell even the tennis shoes of the 80's and early 90's were classics.  This very often overshadowed the Jordan line.  Converse had a huge market at the time as well for basketball with the Weapons and the whole multigeneration Energy Wave offerings. 

Back to the original post, many stores got restock shipments throughout a colorway run.  I remember waiting until the release of the "new" Jordan 6 and then once I saw it I realized I liked the last colorway of the V better (fire Red and  Black - black tounge) and had the store locate that colorway from a different store that had surplus.  I also remember buying the red, white and black original Jordan 1 at J.C.Penny months after release.

Those were the good old days.

Alright, off the top I will be 40 in August, and I am from a small to medium military town, that had just one mall and still does from what I gather, I don't go back there anymore. I can say from experience just like my man from Detroit that Jordans sat. I remember being a youngster and having the Cement 3s, but would go to the Footlocker and see the True Blue 3s, no one, absolutely no one bought that shoe. Jordans stayed on sale, and like few in here stated, some people weren't into Jordans like that. You had other brands like Converse (Cons) L.A. Gear, British Knight, Troop, Lotto, Diadora,  Fila, Pony, Etonic, Avia, some people brought Brooks off of the strength of Dominique Wilklins. It was just more variety back then and a lot of the shoes were plentiful in a sense. Another reason why Jordans sat is because people still weren't with the price point. All of the other shoes that I mentioned could be bought cheaper than what you were going to drop on Jordans. It didn't really bother my folks, but it bothered my friends parents. So let's say that was back in 87-89, then about 92-96 was my high school years and retros started happening and I want to say I was a Junior in high school when they retro'd the Cement 3s, I bought them because I had them back in the day and those still sat, the Black Cement 3s sat, but back then where I was at no one was feeling them. Then they retro'd the 2s and they sat to the point our Footaction sent most of their stock back, it wasn't until 98-99 that Jordans (Retros) started selling out instantly where I was at. Hell, I even bought the OG Concords with no problem, in fact I had to go to the Post Exchange on base (basically a small mall for the military) to get them for like $100 because our mall didn't order them because no one was buying Jordans around there.

So maybe it boils down to where you are from, but where I was growing up at and later moved back to it was never a problem to get the shoe that you wanted, but now not so much because my hometown has expanded and there is soooooooooooo  many people there just due to the military base that I am more than certain that if you want a particular shoe, you have to go to Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, or any of the towns on the outskirts because my city wont get the shoe because regardless of how many people live there, it is still considered a small market.

One more thing, like homie said up there, I never, absolutely never got Jordans on a release day.  Most times I didn't even get them in the release month. Like it was Jordan time twice a year for me when I was a kid, back to school, and Christmas. If I needed a shoe between that time it was either another Nike or a Lotto.  It stayed that way until I started working and buying my own shoes, but even then I still didn't get the Jordans on release day, there was no rush to go out and get them because they'd always be there. I didn't buy one Jordan on release day until 2008 when the CDP 11/12 pack came out and of course for my son, other than that, nothing doing. Even for the OG Concords and the 2000 Concords, way after release for both.

@Art Vandelay  knows. I turned 40 in November, dude. This isn't the real or at least main reason things have been hard to come by or a pain to get during the past decade, but it's funny to think maybe we've been part of the problem re: supply and demand. When we were 20 in the mid-'90s, how many 30- or 40-somethings did we see wearing Jordans or the latest high-end Nikes, etc.? Not many. Now it's a lot more common, more mainstream, so we have more people our age than ever before who are purchasing the same product the "kids" are 

Rainking said:

 
@Art Vandelay  knows. I turned 40 in November, dude. This isn't the real or at least main reason things have been hard to come by or a pain to get during the past decade, but it's funny to think maybe we've been part of the problem re: supply and demand. When we were 20 in the mid-'90s, how many 30- or 40-somethings did we see wearing Jordans or the latest high-end Nikes, etc.? Not many. Now it's a lot more common, more mainstream, so we have more people our age than ever before who are purchasing the same product the "kids" are 

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THIS. I can't recall many 40+ cats wearing sneakers, at least not casually when I was in my 20s. And I am just about there myself, so basically as a soon to be 40 year old it is like I am competing with actual "collectors" that are in my kid's age demographic (15 and 19) and they are more tech savvy and have nothing but disposable income. However, I compete, but not for myself, but for my kids, but my son has found his own niche of networking and my daughter is seemingly indifferent, she would rather have the shoe that is in the store in her size right then and there. Exactly how I am now. Except for the PG1 Shining, I really like that shoe, and if I trusted eBay I would have it right now.

Art Vandelay said:

 
My daughter is seemingly indifferent, she would rather have the shoe that is in the store in her size right then and there. Exactly how I am now.

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I'm right there with you. I don't go out of my way to get anything anymore. Happily, the past year especially, things have turned back to a degree and it hasn't been a challenge at all to pick up things like Space Jams, royal foams, white/black IXs, Indiglos--stuff that would've kept me on the sideline if it dropped two or three years ago because it was such a hassle. I usually just don't care that much anymore. That said, if it's tough to get the silver Air Max 97s coming up, I'll be extra annoyed. I've had multiple pairs over the years, it's one of my favorites, but generally no one ever cared about that shoe. Now it appears to have some hype behind it and I'm sitting here like 

A lot of older folks wear Jordans today simply because they didn't have the money for them back then.

I got maybe one pair of nice shoes a year and it usually wasn't Jordans. I could kick myself for trashing what I did get. But they were shoes and being a kid you did everything in them. You didn't exactly think of them being worth a lot of money one day on Ebay or Stock X lol.

I really didn't pay much attention to the scene after the early 2000s. I'd casually hear from a friend about new Jordans coming out, which I thought was weird since he didn't play anymore.

Now being well into middle age and having a few adult bills finally paid off, I started collecting again a few years ago. I'm missing maybe 4 or 5 og Jordans. After that I can semi-retire.

In my area when the OG jays released, stores only got one shipment. Also they didn't sell out and a lot of stores carried them that no longer carried Jordan's when Jordan Brand started.

I started buying Js when the 5s were at the end of their run. It was nothing like today. NOTHING. Js were just like anything else. Nike made 'em and you went out and bought 'em just like any other shoe. I saw the Infrared VIs in school before I knew they were even coming out, and didnt even know at first they were Js for a second. I wondered what they were cause I had never seen such a good looking shoe. Then I saw the sole and I was like WOW......

Went out that weekend and bought a pair. Didnt even stop to consider which store I needed to go to cause I knew any store would have 'em. Parked at the mall, went to foot locker and tried on 10 then a 10.5. Like the 10.5 better and bought them. Simple. Bought the carmines and the maroons the same way. No camping, no worry about stock, nothing. A shoe came out, you went out and bought it when you had the time and felt like it.

This is why I have the love/hate relationship with Nike that I do. I love seeing these bits of my childhood being released, but I HATE the way they make us fight for the "privelege" of overpaying for their retroes. Back then, it was nuts to shell out $125 for a shoe and that was the only price of entry. If you were willing to spend that insane amount on a shoe then you could go buy Js. Simple.

Believe it or not - Js werent the pinnacle of kicks back then. They were expensive enough that not everyone bought 'em. And if they did, not a lot of people bought multiple colorways. Most bought one pair and that's what they wore. These were my high school days - 8th, 9th, 10th grade, so keep in mind most of my peers didnt have jobs and they got what their parents were willing to get them. So not everyone had Js. There were lots of other Nikes and Reeboks. Some Ewings. There was sort of a hierarchy of what was cool. This was sneaker culture back then. 

- L.A. Gears: OK for girls. If a dude wore them, he got clowned BAD. The Catapult sort of changed that, but they were sill L.A. Gears. There was some curiosity about them, but at the end of the day it was like "Why did you pay that much for some LA GEARS??? Fool!"

- Converse: Not as bad as L.A. Gear but still funny.

- Addidas: Acceptable, but forgettable.

- Reebok: Depending on what they were, either acceptable but forgettable or pretty high up there. The PUMPS were like second to Js. A little more rare, but not quite as cool. Not worn all that often because we got tired of people asking to pump them. Anything Reebok with the visible ERS on the bottom was cool, but slightly secondary to anything Nike Air with the visible sole.

Ewing: Not common, but they were pretty cool. No trick like pumps or visible air soles, but still a nice respected shoe.

- Nike: Always more respected than any other brand. Any Nike Air was OK. Depending on how high, how wild or how obnoxious the Air sole was it ran from kind of forgettable to AWESOME. Flights were second down on the Nike hierarchy of cool to Js. We all liked them.

Js: Pretty much top tier shoes. Everyone always wanted to see them if they were newer. We all checked each other's out, compared colorways, etc.

Absolute Pinnacle: Command Forces and Command Force 180s. They brought together the best of both worlds. A Pump with the Nike Brand. Believe it or not, these were even more respected than Js back then. First, they were more money so they were more rare. Second, they looked WILD. They had all the tricks. The Command Forces had visible air and a pump with the big swoosh on the side and they were like $160 so nobody's parents were buying them. Rare shoe. I never got around to buying them back in the day and always liked them. A LOT. It's why I like my current retroes so much. Cause I got to buy the one I missed out on back then.

Let's talk about the Command Force 180s. Nobody had them. I mean like overall 3 people in a high school of 1500. THESE were the absolute top tier of sneakers back in the golden age. The 180 was a double meaning. They had the 180 sole, and they also cost 180. In 1991. Back then, that was unthinkable. Keep in mind, $125 For Js was a lot. And everyone knew what those 180s cost and everyone wanted em and nobodys parents were buying them. They looked like freakin moon boots. They had that wild 180 sole and TWO pump systems. The climbed up to like your friggin knee. You wore em and everyone was drawn to them. It wasnt like oh hey nice Js. It was "DAMN! Howd you get those? How do they work? Where do you let the air out? What's that switch for? Can I Pump them? How soft is that sole?"

I worked for a carpenter from the time I was 14, made 8 bucks an hour tax free. Worked a lot and I had a ton of money so I bought any shoe I wanted. I probably spent 10 grand on shoes back then.

Js were cool. But not these mystical, next to impossible to get kicks that you guys are used to. We simply went out and bought them. On the shelf. Those of us who had jobs and money to spend went out and bought them at our leisure. They were expensive and that was IT. As long as you felt like paying for them you could go to any mall, any time and buy them. If one store was out of your size, you walked down the mall to the next store. The 5s were available right up until the 6s came out. Even after you could find a few. Same with the 6, 7 and 8.

There's your history lesson for the day. I'm off my soapbox except to say HEY NIKE - I WORK ON SATURDAYS TO MAKE MONEY SO I CAN AFFORD TO OVERPAY FOR YOUR SHOES. HOW ABOUT YOU STOP PUNISHING ME FOR IT BY MAKING THESE RETROES SO HARD TO GET.

They've actually been really good about mass producing most of their shoes this year. Every Jordan I've bought so far in 2017, I've walked right in the store and bought them when I felt like it. That's exactly how it should be. There's a certain shoe coming out this Saturday that could be a problem for some, which sorta pisses me off. I just want to strangle somebody when I hear "They sittin lol!" or some other sort of idiocy.

good question

Just one shipment is what I remember. Especially because I remember being poor and waiting until I had money to go and hope that the shoe was still there.. and usually they'd be sold out by the time I had money to buy em. Back then stuff lasted longer though because everyone couldn't afford 100 dollar shoes and it wasn't common to have a collection.

I was born in 85.. so Im speaking on experience from like 95-2005. I used to go shoe shopping in September and almost always had only one pair of shoes a year lol.