JORDAN SHOE NICKNAMES when did it start?

[bulls90s]

I hate the nickname Raptor 7s. For me, you can call 'em Playoff 7s just like the 8s.

12 & 13 Playoffs can't be justified because MJ wore an home colorway and an away one (black/reds).

Breds and Cherry 12s are one of the worst too.

Like ijapino said, nicknames that came from specific colors are the acceptable ones.

 

[al bundy5]

I hate the nickname flu games-particularly the crap nubuck shoe that was called that. And altitude is horrible, along with last shot xiv

 

[go rilla]

Originally Posted by Kaz Fury206

I'm old and I don't remember Jordan shoes having nicknames, for example "Bordeaux" or "Grapes."   Back in the day we just called those the ugly 7s or the ugly 5s.   I'm just curious on how this nickname thing got started and who actually comes up with these names.  

you started it. "those ugly 7s" and "the ugly 5s" are considered nicknames

 

[ultimate disposal]

AJ XII "Taxi "

 

[ccastro02]

I think back in the day people just used to refer to the as the "new (colorway here) jordans". For example the new white/red jordans. I don't think it was common to refer to jays back in the days by their associated numbers. If you were referring to an older pair of jays you would say the "white and red jordans that came out last year, or two years ago". There were no retros back in the day so if you were referring to the new white/ red jordans, or the old white/blue jordans from last year, people knew exactly what you were referring to.

 

[Mound Raised]

^nah, we def knew em by the #.
And the whole "ny was doin wateva wheneva" dont mean ##@+.

 

[airjaiden]

The hidden 23 on the VI's is interesting! Never noticed.

Anyways I don't understand why you guys trip over nicknames. What if Jordan was the one who gave his own shoes these nicknames? Honestly before I learned these nicknames I would just say the two dominant color. Like Black/Red XI's. It was only a few years ago that I hear people call them the "Breds". However ever since I heard these nicknames, I seem to use it quite a bit since everybody refers to it as whatever it may be. Most of the nicknames I hear seem to have a history behind it as well. Like the Last Shot XIV's, All of the Playoff's, The Shot IV's (Except the fact people call them the Cavs., etc. I think these nicknames are cool tho. To me it's just sneakerheads coming together and kind of making their own language in a way.

 

[ptone]

To me, these color nicknames started when the retros came along and the only real way to keep up with them all was to refer to them by color...

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by moundraised23


And the whole "ny was doin wateva wheneva" dont mean ##@+.

why doesn't it?

we've been calling sneakers by nicknames predating da internet so if da whole basis of this thread is to show how this site or other fans coined nicknames

which makes is "immature" well that argument can be thrown out da window. air force I's for example have been called uptowns for more then 20+ years...last time i checked that wasn't on da box.

converse chuck taylors been called skippies for eons....ya gotta really get off your soap box with this nonsense...i can get what ya saying with da forced ones (candy cane? lol..) but for da most part

nicknames do their job = quickly identify something to a particular group of people.

 

[rdfm]

Originally Posted by ijapino

The nickname debate will never go away. But I've learned to deal with it and realize that it's not changing...No matter how much I attempt to swerve the opinions of people.

The ONLY nicknames that are acceptable to me are the ones that use an actual "official colorway" in the name (i.e. Bordeux, Carmines, Stealths, Concords etc...) and a few that were specifically named after something (i.e. Space Jams, Laney V's)

All the other ones I don't care for..."Raptors" are by far the worst with "Bred" coming in a close second.

I pretty much agree with this 100%. I don't mind Bordeux VII or Carmine VI at all because it's just distinguishing what colorway you're referring to. And we (at least those of us that knew about shoes) used to call the Grape Vs just that long before the current nicknaming trend started, or even before the retro craze. Chartreuse, Altitude, etc. would be the same deal. Space Jam and Laney also make sense for the reasons ijapino illustrated. Anyhow, I was going to say the same thing before I read his reply.

 

[mben32]

Don't mind some of the more original, unforced nicknames. 
Hate "Bred" & hate the fact that EVERY shoe needs a nickname nowadays. Literally every single LeBron, Kobe, or Jordan release has a nickname. so unnecessary.

Hate calling XI's anything other than "Patent Leathers".

"Candy Cane" XIVs was a travesty 

 a shoe that never had a nickname doesn't need one after it's been retroed 2x. Forced nicknames 

 

[jumpman cbt2]

I agree that there have been some
nicknames around like the raptors,
Candy canes or breds just suck and
Are a product of lazyness and
Even disrespectful. Raptors VII
are for me playoffs VII, candy canes XIV
Are just white/reds XIV and if a shoe
Has mainly black/red color contrast
I dont like to call them breds.
im also avoiding the word Jays
for Jordans.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by PTone

To me, these color nicknames started when the retros came along and the only real way to keep up with them all was to refer to them by color...

not really..people back then refered to older jordans by year "89 jordans, 91' jordans" etc.

 

[Mound Raised]

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by moundraised23


And the whole "ny was doin wateva wheneva" dont mean ##@+.

why doesn't it?

we've been calling sneakers by nicknames predating da internet so if da whole basis of this thread is to show how this site or other fans coined nicknames

which makes is "immature" well that argument can be thrown out da window. air force I's for example have been called uptowns for more then 20+ years...last time i checked that wasn't on da box.

converse chuck taylors been called skippies for eons....ya gotta really get off your soap box with this nonsense...i can get what ya saying with da forced ones (candy cane? lol..) but for da most part

nicknames do their job = quickly identify something to a particular group of people.

Why? Just because it was done in NY a certain way don't mean !#@@.I understand the reasons nicknames stick, but that whole "we was doin blah uptown" means turds.I agree on the rest of ur post, cept we always called AF1s= 1s and chucks = chucks...skippys were keds

 

[AEA18]

I assumed it started with the September Blue VI.

Which some people began calling sport blue because of the abbreviation on the box.

 

[jordan3cement]

i blame niketalk 

 

[dankenstien88]

Originally Posted by AEA18

I assumed it started with the September Blue VI.

Which some people began calling sport blue because of the abbreviation on the box.

You got that backwards... SPT BL was Nikes abbreviation for sport blue.

 

[bence23]

Originally Posted by dankenstien88

xfile 11 wrote:

---

I remember nicknames since I started wearing jordans which was in 90.  Without the internet I am sure some of the names were regional.  I can remember some specific nicknames for colorways but more so for models, for example around me they were the reflector tongues, or pull tongues, bugs bunnys, carpet tongues.  

Yeah... most hood cats still just call the shoe by its most obvious and distinguishing characteristic

Here is a lil list just for fun...


1s - "First Js" or the "Jays with the Swoosh" or the "Jays that look like Forces"

2s - "Second Jays" or the Jays without a Swoosh or Jumpman

3s - Jays with the sidewalk pattern

4s -  Jays with the sidewalk pattern... no, no, not those... the ones that came out after those... with the straps on the ankles

5s - Jays with the reflective tongue

6s - Jays with the big 23 on the side

7s - "Jays with the 'mountains' on the sole"... Yes im 100% serious, cats at my school actually described these that way

8s - "Jays with the carpet tongue"

9s - "Jays with the Chinese sole" or back in the day the "Tupac Jordans"

10s - "Jays with the striped sole"

11s -  "Patent leather Jays"  now everyone calls them SpaceJams regardless of the colorway

12s - I dont actually recall a Hood nickname for these

13s - "Hologram Jays"

14s - "Ferrari Jays"

15s- "The Ugly Jays with the pointy tongue"

16s - "The Jays with the removable cover"

17s - "The Jays with the removable cover... No, no, not those the other ones ones... with the suitcase... The $200 dollar Jays"

18s - "The Jays with the telephone on the heel" 

  Yes Im serious.  I also remember people calling Air-Max Plus "The Nikes with the telephone on the sole"

19s - "Fingertrap Jordans"

20s - I remember people calling these "The Mars Jordans" and the "Spike Lee Jordans" before the Spizike became so popular.

21s - Dont recall a name for these either

22s - "The color changing Jays"

23s - The last "real" Jays





all of this

 

[digglo]

Blame NT for that horrible shirt with the "nicknames" on it that released last year too.

 

[diamond mike 75]

back in the day we referred to them by year, 89s, 90s, etc

 

[airthompson]

Gimmicks = hype = $

I think Jordan used it as a marketing scheme, like Nike does with all their shoes.

 

[chris316]

The VII playoffs being called "raptors" is lame and "Bunnies" which they hoped that came with a bunny strap. 

 

[firepower23]

It's annoying when you go on Ebay and see a pair of 2009 DMP 7s listed as "Original Nike Air Raptors Rabbits!!!" 

 

[anomaly]

Originally Posted by ccastro02

I think back in the day people just used to refer to the as the "new (colorway here) jordans". For example the new white/red jordans. I don't think it was common to refer to jays back in the days by their associated numbers. If you were referring to an older pair of jays you would say the "white and red jordans that came out last year, or two years ago". There were no retros back in the day so if you were referring to the knew white/ red jordans, or the old white/blue jordans from last year, people new exactly what you were referring to.

I was going to say the same thing.  OP can't be THAT old if  he referred to Jordans by their numbers (eg. V, VI, etc) because the majority of the early Air Jordans WEREN'T numbered back in the day.  As castro said, they were simply referred to as "the new Air Jordans", or if we knew the black/red colorway was specifically for the playoffs, they'd be "the new playoffs Jordans", etc, or maybe you'd state the year of release to identify which ones you were referring to.  Personally, I'd sometimes refer to the white ones as "regular season #1" and "#2" since they would release an original white colorway for each style in February, and sometimes another white one would come out towards the beginning of the next season that MJ would switch to (eg white/infrared VI = regular season #1, white/carmine = #2).  More often than not though, they were just referred to by their colors.  But numbers, and nicknames for the colors/colorways were generally non-existent early on for the vast majority of consumers buying up Air Jordans at that point. 

 

[sdot73]

Originally Posted by Chris316

The VII playoffs being called "raptors" is lame and "Bunnies" which they hoped that came with a bunny strap. 

they only started to be called the raptors around 02 during the first retro. stupid nickname either way. The low 14s that dropped this year, people calling them the candy canes. I wish they'd die.