What was it like back in the day????

[kix dood]

heres some video from "back in the day" when even pro-skaters rocked Nikes/J's
1987 Search for Animal Chin (Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero, Steve CABallero
and Mike McGill (inventor of Mctwist ala 540) anywayz

6:05 and on good view of their kix (now i feel really old

)



i still have this movie on VHS.......

 

[messiah914]

i remember it was impossible for me to get the v's black/silver, and when the v dmp pack came out i was able to find them at a bunch of different stores,that made me say damn the recession really got people trying to chill out with spending alot of $ on shoes.

 

[notoriuswes]

dont believe the hype....asking about this is like when your friends tell you about a girl youve never seen
and when u finally see her its not what u expected

 

[23collector1985]

Originally Posted by ninjahood

depends what "back in da day " you talkin about.

OG releases while did they well were very attainable even months after initial release. Nike even re-stocked periodically to maximize sales since

lookin back, each color had to hold da model current for months at a time "launch colors, all star break color, playoff color, last color before new model introduced)

OG releases like da infared VI's were altered during first and second runs in 1991 (alterations to rubber tongues that came apart at da seams)

OG raptors during their initial run were changed drastically from every run...each variant either looked like da 2002, da DMP VII, or a mixture of both.

first run of retros in 1994 were complete failures da first wave of retro I, II, III's ended up on outlets for as low as 19.99

....no one wanted to mess wit older jordans since new sneakers like barkleys, pippens, pennies had

Nike's newest technology and were cuttin edge.

it wasn't till 1999 wit da black and cement IV's that peaked da interest of da consumer..but even then they didn't sell out till months later...although with

da momentum slowly building with da re-releases of da V's in OG and newly designed "retro+" colors it wasn't till da infamous infared VI's and

concord XI's made there triumphant return that really turned da next 3-5 years into lines, fights, and overall jordan hysteria...it helped that no other

signature lines were really around to fight off and compete with da re-newed interest with da jordan brand.

years later da demand and cooled and JB is puttin out all da stops considering people are slowing becomin more resistant to their "fusion" plan which

seemed to be working for a while....and here we are in da present day.

Thank you for putting "back in the day" into perspective. I love how a lot of people are reminiscing about how it was "back in the day"and they are referring to stories that took place 6-9 years ago LOL.

Another thing is, people are referring to their personal experiences as though that is how it was for everyone in the world. Stuff like, "back in the daythere were never any lines". Maybe where you lived there were no lines. Everyone has had different experiences based on where you live. Someone wholives in New York City, for example, is going to have a much different experience with Jordan releases than someone living in a suburban community in Canada. Ya feel me?

Personally, I am 36 years old. I have been around since the beginning. Things were much different then... much better. Quality, quantity, prices, etc. Everything was better "back in the day"... at least, that was my own personal experience.

 

[flipmode11]

When Jordan Retros and Signature releases were actually worth getting, it was crazy. My brother, our friends, and me always waited in line early in the morningfor them. Well worth it. The last time I can ever recall waiting in line was for the DMP pack. Waited I think 8+ hours? My brother and me both got a set in oursizes. It was hard as hell to get them. After that, releases started to suck. That pretty much tells you how JB sucks now

 

[solefulone]

My first day at Champs Sports when I was in high school was the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving 1995. I remember this vividly because the first thing theyhad me do was move the Air Jordan XI Wht/Blk/Concord to the front of the stockroom since they were releasing early. They were scheduled to drop the day afterThanksgiving. It was a last minute change so no one knew they were dropping. People knew they were coming because this was MJ's first full year backafter his 1st retirement. I told a few of my friends that they were dropping early at school the next because we had a half day. Since I hadn'trecv'd my 1st check I couldn't get a pair. The next day that I worked was the day after Thanksgiving. They were selling fast but not crazy. Peoplewere saying that they looked like wingtips, calling them piano shoes, marching band shoes, it was funny.

Back then Jordan's had a very typical release schedule. White color way for the Start of the season (usually October), white/red for New Years (January),ASG (February) color way, and a playoff color way (May). When the White/Columbia XI's dropped Nike was selling Michigan Jerseys with Webber on the backand UNC jerseys with Jordan on the back. I still have the UNC jersey I bought for my XI's. Since I worked at Champs I was allowed to get mine the nightbefore to rock to school. I was the man!! That was until lunchtime when people started popping up with them on. This was the first time people were going tothis extreme to get them. In Michigan it was the dead of winter so White kicks usually wouldn't sell because of the snow, but again this shoe wasdifferent.

Then the Black/Red XI's dropped. This is when it became crucial. At work we couldn't touch the shoes until days before. People would offer to pay usor buy us lunch just for us to show them what they looked like!! They would offer more to get a pair early. We never did that. At Champs they didn't letus get these early. We were allowed to hold them until we came in after school. With the Black and Red, they were gone the first day. I still have myoriginals. All three colorways were released on Wednesdays. The 11 I.E. lows that dropped that summer didn't do as well. They sat on shelves a littlebit longer but eventually sold. The black/red/smoke sold better because MJ played in them. The White did alright because they had the elephant print back.

From the XI on people came in early but there weren't lines. At the Champs that we had there were regulars that came in every time. But starting with theXI's the amount of people that came early started to grow. It wasn't until the Last Shot 14's that they started changing the release days toSaturdays. That is when Nike responding to the flack they were getting parents started complaining that kids were skipping school to get Jordan's. Fromthe XI's to the XIV's they sold well. The XV's were so "out there" that sales slowed up a bit. This was primarily because he hadretired again. By then the transition plan was in place with the Retro IV's (1999) and then I's, III's, V's, VI's, and XI's (all in2000) and Brand Jordan.

On a side note when I started working for Champs it was a great time for sneaker heads. There were Concord XI's, Air Max Penny 1 and Neon AM95's inour backroom all at same time!

 

[bigben1986]

im nearly 40. so lets say i got my first pair (air jordan 1) blk/red in sears for 65 bucks. back in 1985.

 

[ogbobbyjohnson773]

I remember seeing Jordan 1's (the first retro's) and Pearl Foams at a Nike outlet in Wisc. for $19.99. Piles of them, no one wanted them.

 

[rdrex7]

depends on where you live really.. i live vancouver canada, when i started out back in 1999,was 13 at the time.. there were no campouts.. nothing.. Co. JPDunks, euro/asia exclusive dunks. would sit for a very long time.. then would be around 30-50 bucks... it was crazy...no one really cared for them.. PearlFoams back in 2002 sat for so long... ended up being on sale for 79.99!!! you could easily pick up a pair of retro jordan 2-3 months in.. except when the XI`scame out.. those sold out quickly within weeks.....

 

[manny1]

Originally Posted by dtb00201

who camps out for jordans though? ive heard of ppl getting up really early in the morning the day of release but as far as sitting in line for days like for the yeezys ...what releases are these and where was this at?

i remember when the 11/12 pack came out the lines were crazy. in the hood i live in (dallas) theres 2 footlockers, 1 finishline, and 1 mom and pop store thatare less than half a mile away from each other and 2 of these stores are right next to each other and i acroos the street in the same shopping center. but eachplace had about 20 ppl in line by midnight with gear to camp out when i went out that night and when i came home at 5a.m. i passed by to see if there were pplposted up still and there were. man by that time the lines were jam pack. luckly my boys the manager at footlocker so i dont have to worry about campming outand waiting in line.

 

[porkchop 216]

1999-2003 were my glory years of J's. Some people would be hanging out before the store opened, but only 5-10 heads if that. Hot releases were $100-$125tops. Great quality! People would only buy like 1 pair, and would rock them out of the store. My size 12 would always be available. I bought a couple pairs in2006, and that was it for me. The game just isn't the same (quality blows, rip-off prices). I didn't have a computer then, and would learn aboutreleases by the workers at footlocker and footaction. No re-sellers either. It was a GREAT time for Jordans. I'll never forget those times.

 

[celtixhalfshell]

ogs were readily available as were retro iii and iv at the turn of the millenium, like ppl said tho u just had to know where to look for retros......


what you really missed out on OP were the old commercials and wheaties boxes and how fresh the movement was...


they need commercials for retros during nba games bad

 

[23sole]

whats "OP" mean???...Im not on here a lot but when Im on NT I always see OP floating around...

 

[beasly151]

Man i remember back in the day when you saw that Jordan commercial you had to have them. jordans use to release during the week, but then i think peoplecomplained about students missing class and adults missing work to get a pair. i started getting jordans when the og 6's came out i was in third grade soshoes were easier to get u could go into the store on release day and they would be there. that all changed when the og 11's came out then things flew offthe self, but camping out was unheard off. that's a little take on how it was back then compared to now were u have to be 3 months plan to get some kicks.

 

[nationaltruckerdave]

i never did the lines.. i always copped mine early from the arabs..

 

[dr damon]

Man i wish we could go back in time. Im 35 and grew up in the bay area, got my first j's for christmas 1988 true blue 3's. Back then, jordansdidn't sell out and would be on shelves for months. You could get them at Macys, Nordtrom, JC pennys. they were everywhere. They also used to drop onwednesdays. I remember leaving school at lunch time to pick up the jays from this little soccer/volleyball shop near my highschool, and i would wear them backto school that afternoon and break necks, and then go play indoor and outdoor ball in them. I remember jordan I's being on sale for 19.99 at copelandssports in 88. They were so easy to come by. Fast forward to 99. The only time i ever lined up for shoes. skipped classes in med school to go pick up the cementivs and the bred ivs. All the other retros from 99-2001 or so, i got the product code from NIKETALK when it was still underground, and back ordered pretty much2 pairs of everything (all the og retro colorways) from eastbay. Life was so easy. It was a time when dudes who loved shoes helped each other out, and hookedeach other up for the love of the game. reselling hadn't really taken off yet. Then the internet shoe scene really took off niketalk grew alot, and all thehype began.

 

[c4]

Originally Posted by 23SOLE

whats "OP" mean???...Im not on here a lot but when Im on NT I always see OP floating around...

original post

 

[porkchop 216]

^^ Word to Dr Damon, you are 100% on the money. Being 32yrs old I can relate. In the late 80's I couldn't afford my favorite OG's, I had to waituntil 1999-2003 when I made some real ca$h to buy my favorite J's (IV's, III's, V's, VI's retros ). Still holding up after these yaers.

 

[dr damon]

Originally Posted by Porkchop 216

^^ Word to Dr Damon, you are 100% on the money. Being 32yrs old I can relate. In the late 80's I couldn't afford my favorite OG's, I had to wait until 1999-2003 when I made some real ca$h to buy my favorite J's (IV's, III's, V's, VI's retros ). Still holding up after these yaers.

in high school, i had a little job grading papers for one of the teachers, and would save up that money, birthday money, christmas money, so i could go buy ONEpair of jordans to wear all year long.� Back in those days, late 80s early 90s, there would only be four colorways, not a million like there are now.� a muchsimpler time.

Here are a few pics of what i mean by WEARING our j's. OG V's

 

[anabolic dunk]

biggest diff for me is def smaller lines back then

 

[brockbo]

Great storys man i really missed out

 

[kf]

I'm from Singapore, 32 this year. The very first time I saw an AJ was the blk/red iv back in 1989. That time I did not know what shoe that was,
and not to say who Michael Jordan or what basketball was all about. My dad had a sneakers shop back then and that shoe was one of the priciest.
A year later, the Vs came out. I set my eyes on the grapes on display. I got it of course. Then came the vii's and viii's (the vi's were in HOTdemand, so
I wasn't able to get that. They were literally sold out everywhere). Those were the days, no fusions, no fakes, no fanciful, out of this world, atrociouscw.
Just good old OGs. Even back in 2000 when I got the blk/red vi's, I didn't have to wait in line or get up early. I was just doing some window shopping
on a Saturday, saw the blk/red vi's in a sneaker store, my heart started to pump up real fast and excited, got in, bought the vi and came out a happy man!!

Fast forward, technology advancement, web selling booming, fakes and crapy CWs popping out of nowhere, fusions......blah blah blah.
All the classics, OGs, the good old days were literally killed, and our younger friends in NT got misled into believing that fusions and the quality of the
AJs nowadays are the ultimate. NO!! The only thing that we had for us old timers are nothing but sweet memories of the good old days of OG classics,
the quality of the shoes back then, the battles on the court in our Js, etc, etc, etc.

 

[dr damon]

yeah man! the quality on most of the retros doesnt even come close to the ogs. 94 and 99-01s were on point. after that very few come close

 

[brockbo]

I think people should post pics of there og's and early retros

 

[burns1923]

It's astounding that people think 1999-2003 was "back in the day".

If you want to be accurate, "back in the day" is 1985-1993. And it was Nike Air Jordans back then. There was no "Jordan Brand".

And back in 1985-1993, Air Jordan shoes were readily available. Like walk-in-the-store-6-months-after-release-and-buy-my-size available. Likefind-a-full-size-run-of-original-Carmine-VI's-at-the-Nike-Outlet-in-1992 available. Like stores-often-got-restocks-of-models-and-colorways available. LikeJ.C.-Penney-carried-Air-Jordans available.

Back then, Air Jordans were a premier shoe but they were still just a shoe, which meant that people bought them because they were the IT shoe to wear but worethem into the ground until the new Air Jordan model released or moved on to other shoes. Notice I said "wear" and not "own" or"collect".

For those who didn't grow up in that era or were not yet born, I don't hold that missed opportunity against you. But there is an enormous differencebetween your conception of what Air Jordans are and mean and what Air Jordans were like in the years of Jordan's young prime when they originally released.The presence both MJ and Air Jordans had in culture in 1985-1993 was a truly special thing that will never be replicated. So, whenever one of us "oldtimers" chimes in with a "This is how it used to be" story, don't be so quick to tune us out. We're the ones who can report the past.