classicsneakersblog

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The Air Jordan 1 Has Been Revealed in a New “Dark Marina Blue” Colorway

Jordan Brand‘s plans for the early days of 2022 are starting to come into focus, as fittingly named Instagram sneaker leaker account leaked.sneaks has revealed a new Air Jordan 1 “Dark Marina Blue.” Featuring a two-tone black and blue color scheme identical to the one used on Nike‘s recent Dunk Low “Hyper Cobalt,” the “Dark Marina Blue” also calls to mind images of the OG Air Jordan 1 “Royal,” save for a flip-flopping of colors on its forefoot and eyestays.

Constructed entirely of leather, the “Dark Marina Blue” uses its eponymous hue on the mudguard, Swooshes, heels, collar flaps and above-mentioned eyestays. Black appears on the toeboxes, quarter panels and collars, with further branding served up by a black ball-and-wings logo on the lateral collar flap and a white Nike Air graphic on the black nylon tongue’s blue fabric tag. Blue laces wrap up the top half, and down below white midsoles work with blue outsoles to complete the look.

Leaked.Sneaks’ Instagram post indicates that the Air Jordan 1 “Dark Marina Blue” will release on January 15, 2022, but this has yet to be confirmed by Jordan Brand. Its MSRP will likely be set at $170 USD.

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Carmelo Anthony's 1-of-1 Air Jordan 1 Low "Baltimore Crab" Nods to His Hometown

It’s an exciting time for Carmelo Anthony as he’s now in a situation with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside longtime friend and ‘03 draft class member LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis where he has a legitimate shot at winning an NBA title. And with the new regular season on the horizon, we can certainly expect Melo to lace up some heat both on and off the floor, and for his street-ready options, Jordan Brand has produced a special makeup that honors a delicious staple of his hometown: the Air Jordan 1 Low “Baltimore Crab.”

The kicks are designed to mimic the natural aesthetic of these sea-born crustaceans. Orange overlays — which are done up with ostrich leather — call out the crab’s natural color, while the tongues, toe boxes and quarters show face in a murky brown to represent the appearance of Old Bay seasoning once it’s caked onto the delectable seafood. “23” tabs that affix to the throat along with the Swooshes and ball-and-wings logos on the heels are filled with a bright blue tone which certainly spruce up the shoes with some nautical flair.

Additionally, the kicks are packaged inside of an Old Bay seasoning-inspired box. And instead of the traditional branding, the box spells out Carmelo Anthony’s name at the top, replaces the left side images with icons that nod to his accolades, writes out his position and Syracuse University on the middle, states how many years he’s been in the league and prints out his draft pick number towards the bottom.

These are 1-of-1 makeup and won’t be released to the public.

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You Can Own Michael Jordan’s Personal Air Jordan 1s From 1985

Nike Air Jordans are an institution—and now you have a chance to own a piece of the sneaker's iconic history. Well, that is if you have a quarter of a mil to spare.

A pair of signed 1985 Nike Air Jordan 'Chicago' 1s—which were designed especially for Michael Jordan himself—is currently on sale through eBay for a cool $250,000. But the shoes, which are said to be in "immaculate condition," were never actually worn by Jordan—and that is part of what makes the pair's history so rich.

According to Complex, this specific pair of sneakers was initially created for Jordan to wear during the 1985-86 NBA season. But the iconic player broke his foot in October 1985 and never got a chance to try them out. Instead, Nike created a similar custom version of the shoe for his return, which featured an additional ankle strap for added support while he recovered.

The unworn shoes are notably made to fit Michael Jordan's famously different foot sizes, with the left shoe a size 13 and the right shoe a size 13.5. The unlaced sneakers are a serious collector's item, featuring Jordan's signature on the inner ankle of the right shoe. The listing even dubs them "the crown jewel of the Jordan collection."

Jordan first wore Nike Air Jordan 1s on the court on November 17, 1984. At the time, the shoe was so innovative and singular that the National Basketball Association banned them due to rumors the shoe would enhance the athlete's performance. Jordan was reportedly ordered to stop wearing the Nikes immediately due to a uniform color compliance code. But he didn't stop, racking up $5,000 in NBA fines for each time he wore the shoes on the court. As they say, the rest is history.

Gawk at the shoes yourself here—or scoop them up if you have $250,000 that's just burning a hole in your pocket.

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Sneaker Talk: Air Jordan 8 “Aqua”

The Air Jordan 8 “Aqua” was one of the three OG colorways released in 1993. It first made its only on-court appearance during the 1993 All-Star Game where Michael Jordan dropped 30 points.

As part of Jordan Brand’s 2015 Holiday Collection, the Air Jordan 8 “Aqua” made its retro returned, which was last seen back in 2007. True to the original, this Air Jordan 8 features a Black premium nubuck upper, signature cross straps, chenille Jumpman logo on the tongues highlighted with Purple and Aqua contrasting accents. The classic ’90s graphics on the outsole completes the design.

Take a closer look below, and you can still find the Air Jordan 8 “Aqua” available on resell sites like StockX.

Air Jordan 8 “Aqua” Color: Black/True Red-Fling Grey-Bright Concord Style Code: 305381-025 Release Date: November 27, 2015 Price: $190

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Exclusive Oregon Air Jordans Are the Next Step in Paying College Athletes

For the first time ever, student athletes at the University of Oregon will be allowed to turn the cultural cachet of their exclusive sneakers into actual currency. This week, 100 pairs of the new Oregon Ducks version of the Air Jordan 8 tied to the school’s football team went up for auction. All of the money raised from the sales will go directly back to players on the team, who will split the proceeds evenly. This type of sale has historically been forbidden, but an overhaul of the rules prohibiting college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness earlier this year has opened up new avenues for NCAA athletes to make money.

The auctions are facilitated by sneaker resale platform StockX in partnership with Division Street, an agency established this year to work with Oregon student athletes on NIL deals. The company was started by powerful Oregon alumni and donors, including Nike co-founder Phil Knight, and is staffed at the top level by ex Nike execs. Nike’s roots can be traced back to Oregon athletics, and the school has long enjoyed the benefit of that connection through sizable donations and flashy gear.

Sabrina Ionescu, the star point guard who shattered records on the Oregon women’s basketball team before starting her WNBA career with the New York Liberty in 2020, is Division Street’s chief athlete officer.

“Division Street continues to demonstrate thinking outside the box for our Oregon athletes and partnering with innovative companies,” Ionescu said via email. “With former Nike execs and Phil Knight leading the charge for Division Street, we loved the idea of dropping select pairs of the Oregon Jordans in an unexpected way that would benefit our athletes.”

The pairs of Air Jordans in question are dressed in white, black, and green with the school’s fighting duck logo on the tongue in black, as a nod to the Black student athletes that make up Oregon’s teams. The football players will get their personal pairs, but an extra 100 were set aside for the auction. The StockX release, sizes for which range from men’s 6 to 17, started on Monday at noon and concludes on Wednesday a minute before noon.

The coveted versions of player edition sneakers like those made for the college athletes at Oregon inevitably make their way to secondary markets, where they sell for thousands of dollars. But selling them to benefit the students they’re made for in this way is unprecedented.

It’s important to note that Nike is not directly involved in the sale of the shoes, although it did announce its first NIL deal with a student athlete on Tuesday. Nor is the University of Oregon, which is still not allowed to compensate student athletes. The school’s explanation of NCAA rules make it sound like student athletes are still not able to sell their own shoes themselves either—bylaw 16.11.2.4 states that “an item received for participation in intercollegiate athletics may not be sold or exchanged or assigned for another item of value.”

Division Street is the conduit for the auction, having obtained the Jordans and shipped them to StockX, which will handle the actual sales.

“We will pay out to Division Street and they will allocate all of those proceeds equally to the athletes,” explains Tom Woodger, StockX’s VP of cultural marketing.

According to Woodger, StockX only interfaced with Division Street for the auctions, but Nike signed off on the sale of the shoes. Tinker Hatfield, the legendary Nike designer and Oregon alum who’s responsible for the Oregon Air Jordan exclusives, also played a part, he says. The moves signal an embrace of a new era in which college athletes are able to make money for themselves without fear of losing their spot on a team.

Woodger says that StockX is looking for more ways to support these students going forward. The platform has participated in NIL deals before the Air Jordan auction, having signed UConn point guard Page Bueckers to an endorsement contract in November.

The success of StockX’s latest NIL program hinges on the authenticity of the bids coming in for the Oregon Jordans. It’s unlikely that any of the sizes will sell for under $1,000, but some of the bids on the sneakers made at the time of writing don’t appear to be legitimate. The size 12 set is at $69,412, a price way above reasonable market value. The 10.5 is at $40,000.

Charity auctions for Nike sneakers on platforms like eBay have suffered a similar fate, where shill bidders have driven prices to astronomical highs just for the sake of trolling. StockX is aware of this kind of action, and says it’s working to prevent it.

“People are coming in with fake bids,” Woodger says of past releases, “so now we have bid authorization at the time of bid so that there’s not people coming in trying to game the system to bid $100,000 to get a pair of shoes. If you’re bidding $100,000 now, we’re gonna try and charge that on your card.”

Selling Oregon-exclusive Air Jordans out in the open on a public platform was unthinkable when the first pair emerged 10 years ago. The sneaker marking the beginning of the University of Oregon Jordan era was an Air Jordan 9 done in black and dark green that was given to the Ducks football team in January 2011 as a celebration of their berth in the BCS national championship game. Spencer Paysinger, an Oregon linebacker who went on to win a Super Bowl with the Giants, was on that team.

“They warned us that people would definitely be reaching out to us trying to get their hands on a pair and that, if we did sell them, we would be ineligible,” he says.

The players knew they weren’t allowed to sell them, Paysinger says, and didn’t really need to be reminded of the rules. Up until this summer, that was the norm. He didn’t foresee a future in which college players would be able to benefit from the sales of those kinds of exclusive sneakers, although, some did upon exiting the universities that flowed shoes to them.

“Once you graduated, you felt like you were free from those rules,” Paysinger says. “That was a big thing, you knew as soon as you graduated or left the program that you could possibly sell them for anywhere from $2-$6K or so.”

After his time playing for Oregon, the linebacker remained engaged in pursuit of Ducks sneakers. On one visit to his alma mater he had to settle for a pair of “Pit Crew” Air Jordan 3s given to him that were a size too big. Another time, he cold emailed Tinker Hatfield asking for a pair.

“He literally overnighted me a pair of 3s in my size,” Paysinger says.

He remembers being back on campus and seeing a box of Air Jordan 5s made for the Oregon basketball team that the school had taken from players after learning about one member of the team’s plan to sell a pair. Paysinger says that Hatfield mandated the sneakers be returned.  

The story is similar to one Hatfield has told about taking back “Pit Crew” Jordans made for members of the student fan squad at Ducks basketball games upon seeing them for sale on eBay. While he’s been protective of the shoes in the past, Hatfield is engaged in helping students get paid for their name, image, and likeness. Aside from being a mainstay at the school’s sporting events, he is a former Oregon athlete who recalls the days of being too broke to go on a date despite being a star on the school’s track and field team.

This summer, Hatifeld created an NFT for Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Ducks’ star defensive end, who then sold it via OpenSea. (Though Hatfield works at Nike, he was careful to explain that Nike was not involved in the project.) In an interview with Complex about the NFT, the designer said that he wasn’t opposed to players selling their sneakers.

The auction of the Oregon Air Jordan 8s on StockX is representative of the changing moods and rules around college players getting paid for their footwear. Nike is only connected by proxy for now, but it could signal a future in which the brand regularly raises money for players by selling limited edition footwear. This would make the University of Oregon even more alluring for recruits, helping serve the goals of donors like Knight.

It also makes the sneakers less rare for the general public. Shoes that were once given to players and students dedicated to the teams are now being made more readily available to people who are willing to pay the right price. All Oregon versions of Air Jordans will eventually surface on resale platforms, but this approach uses them more explicitly as a tool for profit.

But that’s the point—to open up a new avenue for players to get paid. Paysinger, who put blood, sweat, and tears into the program in order to earn his Oregon Jordans, hasn’t thought much about the shift in their status.

“To me it’s just a natural progression of helping these students out,” he says.

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The Air Jordan 6 Low “Atmosphere” Is Releasing In Full Kids’ Sizing

Playful “Atmosphere” is set to launch on the Air Jordan 1 to create a bubble gum-inspired retro, but it’s also appeared on an Air Jordan 6 Low exclusive to kids.

Set to release in January, the upcoming sneakers are expected to launch in Grade School, Pre-School and Toddler sizes, with the smallest pair surely forgoing any visible Air Max unit at the heel. Base construction across all offerings, however, have been crafted to feature the titular pink tone, while synthetic leather overlays indulge in a contrasting white color. Traction zones on the outsole deliver the “Atmosphere” hue in a semi-translucent style, which differs from the fluorescent rose-colored detailing that animates the midsole, lace toggle, Jumpman logo on the tongue and accenting strip on the sportscar-inspired heel tab.

Enjoy official images of the G.S. pair here below, and expect the low-top Jordan 6 to hit Nike.com on January 3rd.

Air Jordan 6 Low Release Date: Jan 3rd, 2022 (Monday) Color: White/Atmosphere/Infrared 23/Black Grade School: $120 Style Code: 768878-102