25 and older Jordan heads

25 26, wear dress shoes every day to the office. It's very hard to justify buying Jordans at this point in my life.
While I have an income that allows me to live comfortably, I can only wear nice kicks 2 days a week.

If it's winter or raining, it leaves like 30 days a year to wear nice kicks...
So I've started wearing nice Jordans to the bar or in the rain. They're just shoes and VNDS or NDS shoes don't sell for what I think they're worth.

All in all, I could care less what the kids do today. I don't want to talk to them about kicks or how many pairs they have. I don't acknowledge their stupid comments, I wear/buy the shoes I like.
 
Really only buy OG colorways, eventually rock all of them, probably have like 20 or so DS waiting for the right time to pull some stuff out
 
35 here and good to know I'm not the only dinosaur here LOL.  I wear all my shoes.  I only buy what I like which does not include strictly Jordans.  If I notice a shoe not being worn enough and just sitting there I will sell it or give away to one of my less fortunate homies. I try to keep only 30 pairs of shoes otherwise I don't see how I will have the time to wear them all.  I don't believe in the whole collecting thing or stock one rock one but I do believe in to each his own.
 
35 here and good to know I'm not the only dinosaur here LOL.  I wear all my shoes.  I only buy what I like which does not include strictly Jordans.  If I notice a shoe not being worn enough and just sitting there I will sell it or give away to one of my less fortunate homies. I try to keep only 30 pairs of shoes otherwise I don't see how I will have the time to wear them all.  I don't believe in the whole collecting thing or stock one rock one but I do believe in to each his own.
I don't believe in one to rock, one to stock per se, but what if you do it let's say for a shoe you really like for example the Concords. Get two pair. One to wear now and one down the line to avoid: 1) headache trying to obtain a pair 2) the shoe sells out? That's my only reasoning for that. Nobody has time to go through a whole bunch of crap for a shoe. 
 
I'm really enjoying reading all of the stories and can truly relate to most of them.

If you had told me when I was a kid that I would still be obsessed with Jordans when I'm 40, I would have said you were crazy.  Well, I'm turning 40 in October. I have over 200 pairs of sneakers, about 180 of which are Jordans and my passion/obsession is as strong as ever.

I have loved Jordans since 1985, but have been completely obsessed since 1987 when I saw the Jordan 2's in the "It's all in the imagination" commercial during a Lakers/Celtics game on CBS.  So... it's been a while.

The first pair I ever owned were the black/red AJKO I's in 1985/86 when I was 12.  They cost $19.99.  When I saw the 2's and HAD to have them, my mom, who was a single mom at the time, would not spend $100 on a pair of shoes for a 13 year old kid who grew 4-5 inches every summer (I'm 6'5").  This is what began my complete obsession... the fact that I could not get the OG 2's.  I did, however, get the OG III's (both white/cement and fire reds), OG black/red, fire red and cement IV's, OG white/black/red V's, OG black/infrared and Carmine VI's.  I beat all of those into the ground, except both pairs of VI's which I still have DS.

I got my 2 pairs of OG VI's when they released in 1991 and got them because I was recruited to play college ball, but decided not to play in the end, and just ended up keeping them DS to this day.

When they first started retro'ing in 1994 is when I first started really collecting and was when I was finally able to get a pair of 2's... well, 3 pairs of 2's lol  What a great time to be a Jordan collector.  The shoes were made damn near identical to the OG's and  NO ONE wanted them.  The deals I got when the retros hit the sales racks were amazing.

I got 90% of the Jordans in my collection either because I associate them with MJ wearing them or because I wanted them when I was younger, but couldn't get them, some just for nostalgic reasons, but mostly because of MJ.  And I think that's the difference between young and younger sneakerheads and the old 'heads like some of us, is that we collect for the nostalgia aspect of the shoes.  Not because they just look cool or they're popular.  In my opinion, the shoes, for most of us old collectors, have some significant meaning.  Whether it's because we watched MJ do something historic in them, or because we had or wanted the shoes as a kid, it's more than just trying to keep up with what's hot or fresh.  I think that's why it seems most of us don't sell our shoes.  I have never sold a pair of Jordans or any other shoes I have and don't see myself ever wanting to, but I won't say 'never'.  

I still wear most of my shoes, but double up on ones I really love to keep a pair DS.  I'm a teacher, so I can wear whatever shoes I want every day.
 
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im 26, j's bring me back to awesome times in my life. ive had great experiences wearing certain pairs of jordans and i love the designs in general. older jordan sneakers def have huge nostalgic value to me. they are timeless.
 
Its weird, I just turned 30 this year and still wear jordans. When I was 18-28, My favorite jordans were the XI,XII,XIII. Once I turned 29 and stopped playing ball I respect and found a new love for the 3s and ivs. So now I just boxed up all my older model jordans and just wear my 3s and 4s. I wont sell my other shoes, but I don't really like wearing them anymore. I think I will wear my Black and Cement 3s till im 60 years old tho. lol
 
31 here and i love my shoes and my wife will buy me a pair here and there if im a good boy lmao gotta do chores as a grown man (if you dont know about this then you arent married probably) but not having kids and both me and my wife having a decent job helps me support my addiction but as i have aged i will keep the ones that give me memories (olympic more uptempos, shaqnosis, penny 1s, griffey 1 FW, and my XIs) i have gravitated towards the more classic sigs like the Jordan 1 and 3 and will be selling the rest, none of my shoes are DS but my rotation is smaller than my collection so i will de downsizing. Wish it wasnt so hard to grab shoes and it was like the 90s so that we can just show up the day of and have absolutely no doubt that you would get a pair. These days its too much work and i see myself stopping until it calms down (if it ever does)
 
Wow I was just running this topic through my head, and I'm debating on dropping some of them. I only rock the Jays that I've seen Mike wear as a Chicago Bull and a few of the Blues ex: XIII's, IV's and the Olympic VII's. Will I do it, idk right now I can't see myself doing it but you never know, but I am trying to sell off my OG XIII's and my 01 bred XI's...
 
34 here and started collecting in the mid 90s. I bought every jordan in every colorway i could get my hands on and dedicated most of my pay checks to do so.

i had so many garbage Js that i started selling them and trading them for Rare Js and was especially was a part of the dunk sb craze, met alot of good people on nt back in the early 2000s

when it was time to get married, i thought that i should just sell all my stuff and grow up...

so i liquidated my collection, paid for my engagement ring and used the rest for a down payment on a house

i kept nothing...over 300 pairs sold, including some prize possessions...paris, pigeons, denims, supremes etc all gone...hardest was actually letting go of my 99 retro 4s as it was the first pair of js my mother ever got me in 89

for 4 years i stopped buying kicks cuz i was too afraid of getting hooked again, but when the bc 3s came out, i just had to cop and i have been buying selectively ever since.  i can no longer buy like i used to cuz that money is better spent on my kids, so if it aint retail, then i move on.

the game has changed and kicks are more mainstream now then ever, so its easy to pass cuz its eventually gonna come out down the line.

but to me, i buy and sell kicks still because its a better return on investment then lots of stocks out there and its a product that i love.

i dont think thats ever going to stop.
 
^ I feel you, but if there were really any rules and regulations to this "sneaker game" no way in hell it would be this effed up right now. We're out numbered by new heads and beast, and majority rules, bruh....
 
27, and starting to build my jordan collection. I never really collected when I was younger because I have no financial capability. My only pair I had back in the day was the OG bred 11's that I beat up until the sole was cracked open. Told myself that when I get a decent job, I will try my best to collect and buy J's or kicks that I like/missed in the past. So, I got excited last year when the Bred 11 re-retroed coz childhood memories I had on that shoe

 
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30 years of age, been buying jordans since i was able to get a part time job while in high school. The vert first pair of jordans I bought was the Oreo IV's. no lines or anything. from dere the next aj was the cool grey xi... i passed up on all the jams columbians concord due to the fact that i was in highschool, and i probably had 2 or 3 pair of tennis shoe and the other would be timberland boots. after the cool grey xi my love and passion for aj grew on me. so i started having my cuzin (who is probably in his 40's now) help me get pass release for me. first pair he got me was the Taxi 12. it was supposed to be the playoff 12 but we had a misunderstanding... but i was still happy with the OG Taxis, which i didnt know they were OG's. the next pair i got from him was the obsidian 12 (this was probably like in 2002/2003 when i started working fulltime after highschool), from there on he would help me find pass release shoes such as banned 1, white navy 1, royal 1, wc3 etc. that I wasnt able to afford and pay at a reasonable price during that time. but after a couple of years of him selling me his doubles and helping me find pairs for reasonable price. he switch up on me and started asking for more money. So I was like forget it I gotta venture off and try to find some shoes I want at a fair price. Only 1 camp out I been in and it was for the DMP’s. I was lucky enough to cop to SETS. By then I probably had 30-40 pairs of shoes… in 2005-2006 I was able to work and earn enough money to buy the overprice shoes, like 2000 jams, 2000bred xi, 99 bred iv, 99 whitecement iv. I went ahead and cop those shoes above. The price I paid for these shoes was stupid ridiculous… thinking jams would never ever retro again… as for the bred xi it was at a reasonable price. The 99 bred and white cement IV’s I cop from someone from here on Niketalk, I think he was from Arizona, paid a pretty penny for both of them too… after spending all these money on a pair of shoes I realize that the shoes I wanted (Eminem ivs, undefeated iv’s (exclusive kicks) was basically impossible to get. On top of that the bred ivs I got started cracking around the midsole area… that day was the saddest day of my shoe life. It was on thanksgiving where I find that my breds iv was falling apart. It felt like the world was falling down on me….since they were 1 of my favorites shoes… From there on my I notice how the older shoes was falling apart (this is before the whole do your own shoe restoration boom) So I did the unthinkable… started slowly selling off my shoes. Only kept the ones that I really liked… i stop buying aj’s for a good maybe 2-3 years…. Until they retro the space jams n cool grey xi’s. that right there got me hooked back on. Not as bad as before but it got me.. and plus JB starts retroing a lot of OG colorways. But now. Its stupid. To get a pair of shoe you have to either give up a arm and leg or go out your way to get a raffle ticket. As far as RSVP/nikestore goes you have no chance even if you have a ROBOT. Lol don’t know anyone would read this but owells. shout to the NTER who sold me the 99 bred and 99 white cement iv in size 9 i forgot the year and your username. but i think ur first name was like Fernando u were either from TEXAS or Arizona, u haha. if your still around WASSSUP!
 
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29 here, golden bday 9/30
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- Really started buying J's when the XI's first retro'd - Wore the concord XI's my jr year and the Black/Red XI's my senior yr -

Soon as a I got into college and starting my making my own $, I soon started buying the Jordan's I could never have. I eventually got a job at a local shoe store and that's when my collection started growing exponentially because I could buy J's at cost and the shoe manager would order an extra size just for me
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My collection ballooned to around 100 pairs of DS J's and Nike's and with probably 50 more pairs that I rotated and wore on a day to day basis. All my J's were DS and I couldn't bring myself to wear them - I think it was due to the fact that I put them on such a pedestal cuz I could never have them as a kid -

But like many of the guys in here so far, life events changed my priorities, got married and didn't think I should be buying J's - After a tornado severely damaged my house in which I lost a pair of DS Zoom Generation 1st Games and almost lost a DS pair of Bday Lebron II's - I started to sell off a bunch of my DS stuff with just keeping a little bit just cuz they didn't seem that important in the scope of things and I wasn't wearing them anyway.

The passion never phased and now that I'm more established, I'm getting back into it, buying new retro's and buying back some of the stuff I sold, but now I wear everything I keep, some stuff I buy and sell to help offset the cost of buying my own stuff - I don't have any desire to keep anything DS, plus my wife would kill me
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I can remember back in high school my teacher warning my moms that I spend too much time "looking at sneakers" in my computer class lol - Was a long time lurker - started browsing NT late '99 - early '00 and my friends and I loved getting to see all the upcoming releases months before they'd come out.

Shout out to my boy - ekalk - grew up with him and shares the passion, good to see a fellow Iowa head on here sharing his mind and heat
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Buy what you like, wear what you buy
 
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Turning 30 soon and I wear nearly everything I purchase, sans a few pairs for trade bait.

I wasn't able to own a pair of Jordans until after college when I got my first real job because my parents were never willing to spend over $50 on a pair of kicks. I went a little overboard for a bit, but my collection is nowhere near some of the OG cats in here.

Luckily, I have a 9-5 that allows me to wear sneakers daily. Grateful for that.
 
I wish I could rock sneaks to work.  My 8-5 requires straight up biz attire.  Rockin dress shoes gets old and I got too much heat in the closet.  So I wear my Js at every opportunity unless there's some inclement weather.  My shorty's like "Why are u wearing Js to pick up ice cream from the grocery store?"  LOL
 
35 here & I don't see myself selling none of my collection...I'm in the same boat my job is business attire too so I rock my J's as much as possible when i step out...but its crazy especially since JB is now retro-ing the shoes for the 2nd 3rd & soon to be 4th time...these young cats be like how did get them so early they don't come out til next year...I be like naw I got these when they came out/retro the first time...its crazy bc retros that are 10+ years old are getting the OG love now...
 
I didn't mention my age but I am 41.. Funny story.. I went to my local Hibbets Monday .. Sort of know the guy working, he's in his early 30's.. We were talking about the new J's coming out and what he wold have. Said the young guys come in, buy the and sell them in the parking lot...lol. He spoke to one of the young bucks.. Said he didn't care about mj or the shoes.. Just $$ to him.

No respect for MJ or appreciation for his shoes or young Entrepreneurs in the making?? Funny and I am cringing as I say this... the LeBron's are well built and bring more then any Jordan's. if I were a young buck in it for the money.. I would be camping for those...
 
Ok, I'm trying to understand something, from the responses here you have those that say they don't collect, but have stuff in the closet. I say I collect, but I wear my stuff. Some might be on ice for a while, but I damn sure don't intend on looking at it like it's in a museum. That's stupid. I collect with intention to wear, I think that's the best way of putting it. None of my stuff is ever for sale (well, there were a few exceptions, but I don't buy to sell or trade by any means)
Lol so basically u dont collect but you have a collection. I think thats where i am now.
 
I've never understood buying kicks that you're never going to wear.  I'm 30 so I was about 13 and obsessed with the Bulls 2nd championship run.  I never got Jordan's as a kid, but as soon as I could buy a pair of bred XIIs i did.  Wearing your J's as a kid gave you that feeling of true swag.  wear em on the court and you felt like you were channeling Mike and his magic.  That's where the hook comes from.  It was like the closest you could get to being a super hero.  I guess as I've gotten older it just doesn't mean as much.  Which I think is probably a good thing.  I still rock my Jordans no matter how old they are.  But the obsession is dwindling.  I just can't fiend after any shoe at 30.  
 
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