Confessions of an Air-Jordan-oholic

I plan on quitting the shoe game after this year as well, mainly jordans due to the inflated retail prices..Smh. I know for sure I will get 1 pair of lebrons a year since he is my current favorite player in the NBA. Me being 24 years old and still in college, I realize that there are better things to spend my money on and I don't need that many shoes.. I know down the line I will eventually sell some of my shoes. I know I will keep some of my retro nike's such as, Pippen 1's, Lebrons, pennys, and flight/foamposite shoes, and etc. That was a good read by pat though...
 
Originally Posted by beh235

Originally Posted by Pat

Originally Posted by krunkskrilla

i like the 8's too. they were my first pair of j's. id love for them to retro with something like OG quality.
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  I remember in 1993 going through boxes and boxes of original AJ8s looking for ones without overglue, asymetry, stitching problems, or some other cosmetic issue.  I remember rejecting MORE shoes than I was willing to purchase.  But, I didn't see so many problems on the remakes.  
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So, I guess this settles the argument some of the young'ns have with quality and how it used to be. They have no idea. This is coming from a true collector. I liked this post, it has what a lot of people lack on here; perspective.
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Yeah, if you wanted QUALITY, you had to look for the Korean made Air Jordans.  To this day, I've never seen a bad one out of Korea.

Back then, the quality order was:
1) Italy (AJ2s only)
2) Korea (for the AJ models where some were made there - though I think Nike stopped building in Korea?? -- probably was more expensive, sigh... something like $7 per shoe instead of $6. --- hahahaa)
3) Taiwan
4) China (used to be the worst quality)


Nowadays, the China quality has really gone up... not that I'm a fan of outsourcing to China.  I think we're going to be at war with them within 20 years.  And, I'm definitely not a fan of communism.  But, I'm just stating what I consider a fact, which is that their shoe quality has gone up in the past 10 years... while it's true that the quality of China-made Air Jordans used to be junk.

Don't you think there was a REASON that none of MJ's own personal AJ shoes were made in China back then?  All of his personal AJs were made in Feng Tao (sp?) factory in Taiwan, or in Korea.
 
i think a lot of us take it too far bro i know i am for sure & thanks for the priceless insight!
 
thanks for taking the time to share your story with us, I'm sure a lot of us can relate, I know I can.
 
great post, we need to keep the OG (both heads/stories and shoes) alive...dont forget where ya came from.....glad to see your business going well.....i'm not addicted because Js fell off to me already, so I retired from Jays when that happened...I still have my LS 14s from 05 though...Sometimes you have to keep that one pair, in your case the SAC 10s (among the few)....great read, keep those OGs alive
 
Originally Posted by ijapino

The "left over" shoes you have "floating around" is still a decent sized collection of quality kicks.
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Definitely! Lol....

PAT: Definitely great to see you back! Hell, even brought me out of the woodwork to type this! That was an excellent story, and once I can relate to.

I used to have your page bookmarked when it was in full swing...that, and Sneaker-Central, Sneaker-nation, NikePark (which spawned this), Greg's shoe page, etc.....those times were great, when collecting was at it's purest, and you did it because you truly loved shoes...not because you were trying to cash in or trying to fit in.

I truly understand what you were going thru, as I hit that mark myself at one point...given, it was anything NEAR the amount of money that you spent, but I worked 2 jobs for 70+ hours to be able to buy whatever I wanted, and how many pairs I decided to get. Often times, if I couldn't choose between a pair or two...or 3, I'd just buy all of 'em, and it made it worse since I collected everything....Jordans, AM95's (fav.shoe), Huarache's, etc...at one point, this is all life consisted of. If there was an Ebay auction that ended at 4 am, I'd stay up all night to make sure I didn't get outbidded. If it ended during the day, I'd take an extended lunch break or just not go in at all to make sure I didnt pass 'em up.

Strange enough, although I was getting sick of NIKE/JB's BS as I got older, I stuck with it...the main thing that made me stop so much is when life took over. After I had gotten married & had children, my wife went to nursing school, and when she did clinicals, which was for 40-hrs a week for 6 months, finances took a dive, so something had to give....but amazingly, it didn't bother me. Given, there was some pairs I was upset that I missed out on, but I felt "free"...it was good to know that I wouldn't die if I missed out on a pair. Like you, I still buy them occasionally, but they no longer consume my life and my every waking thought isn't about a release. At this point, it's just about living and trying to use that money to make me rich instead of NIKE/JB.
 
Great read, hope your business continues to grow and prosper.
I think as everyone gets older they come to realize that Sneakers are not that important as life, family, business and good friends.  If only we had that knowledge when we were younger.
 
great read Pat! you're a inspiration to everyone here on this forum. I think i've slowed down since first getting heavily involved in the game 5-6 years ago. Before it would have killed me to pass on a release like the Playoff XIIIs and I would be on ebay every day planning to spend all of my money (and then some) on whatever deals i could find (even if the shoe was beat, telling myself "I can restore those). Now, I still cop but not as much as I used to. Most stuff I wait a few weeks on to cop from my brother's(who was heavier in the game than even I was) store on discount. And some stuff that i thought i would never sell I sold to pay for bills. (such as Powder Xs, Buck SB Dunks, Unkles, etc.) Not to mention I have better priorities now, like paying rent, getting out of debt, getting a new car, and trying to think of ways to invest for the future. But I think the older you get, the more you realize that Jordans are just leather and rubber.

Cam info on your avy?
nerd.gif
 
An addiction can be separated from a hobby though IMO...

My way of telling myself that I am getting to deep (I have over 100+ pairs been collecting since 98) = when I tell myself I am going to pass on a release, if I end up picking them up anyway during the release date.

When that happens (rarely does), I usually take a break and reflect on how much money I am spending, and usually sell a couple pairs of shoes to make up for the price difference.

I dunno, I guess have have discipline (and maybe a false sense of it), but good luck to everyone out there
smile.gif
 
Great post. I remember Pat's Air Jordan page it was crazy. Really it should be rebuilt for reference. Sometimes I forget that everyone isn't like me. I love Jordan's and have since 1987. But, I have never had the desire to "collect". I buy and wear. I think nowadays it is a fad for most young people. The shoes collecting fad is something that has spawned the reselling fad.

Whatever happened to the guys from JumpmanSt? LOL!
 
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