The Jordan Eleven's

The Air Jordan 11. Where to begin? The Elevens are many sneaker collectors favorite shoe model ever.   This shoe is a classic. Tinker decided to take a different route to making the best sneaker he could. He began to experiment with new materials that hadn't been used before and he ended up using a nylon material and patent leather in the design. This made the shoe noticeably lighter and gave the foot more lock down during a game.

Tinker was always looking for motivation for the design of the shoes he created. This particular model was designed after a sports car. He gave the shoe the shiny patent leather to go along with this inspiration. He also used high quality materials like a clear outsole, and carbon plate insertion.

The Original color ways that released of the Jordan 11 were the concords, columbia's, and the playoff's.
Other color ways include the cool grey's and the space jams. The space jam's were made for Michael to wear in the movie Space Jam. Every color way is very popular and many wait every year to see which one will release next.

The Jordan Ten's

During the creation of the shoe Michael was still out of the game. And the Nike Jordan line seemed to be a wrap. Tinker had other plans. Tinker created a shoe that would symbolize Michael Jordan and give him on last hurrah, since they thought Mike was done for good. The tens are the only shoe Michael didn't give his authority to release and create.
Tinker and Nike wanted to make a shoe that congratulated Michael on his awesome career and all of his accomplishments. On the sole of the shoe they printed Jordan's accomplishments in the league in this order:  When Mike returned he wore the shoes upon coming out of retirement. 

1. 85-Rookie of the Year
2. 86- 63 Points
3. 87- Scoring Title
4. 88- Dunk Champ
5. 89- All Defense
6. 90- 63 Points
7. 91- MVP/ Championship
8. 92- MVP/ Championship
9. 93- MVP/ Championship
10. 94 And Beyond

Upon release the brand released a shoe with a strap on the toe, a clean cut toe (Jordan's favorite) and a city pack. The OG colors of the shoe are the Chicago's, New York, Sacramento, Orlando, and Seattle donning the respecting city's NBA teams colors. Also released outside of the city pack were the steels, and shadow color way. 

Jordan's Alter Ego Pack (2012)

When Jordan shocked the world with his first retirement many wondered how he could leave the game he loved for baseball. And Nike, and Jordan brand used this to their advantage for advertising. They created a alter ego  "Johnny Kilroy". They created commercials starring Steve Martin and other NBAstars to go along with his alter ego. Along with Kilroy they created other alter egos for him.

The Kilroy Pack
Courtesy of KicksOnFire.com

In 2012 the brand announced they were going to release a line of Jordan 9's that go along with his alter ego's team colors. They released six shoes for the six egos he had including the Kilroys, Slim Jenkins, Motorboat Jones, and Calvin Baileys.

The Air Jordan 9

The Air Jordan 9 was released during Michael Jordan's first retirement from basketball. Mike never played a full season in these shoes. During the designing of these shoes Mike was in Asia promoting for Nike and Tinker used this to his advantage as he was very influenced by Japanese culture. Tinker gave a Japanese reference hidden all throughout the shoe but the heel logo is a 'rising sun' Jordan Logo.  This shoe was designed to show the Jordan and his brand was a global thing and Tinker is quoted to say "everyone in the world wanted to be like Mike". On the sole of the shoe they put words in different languages that described Jordan's significance to the game and sports world wide.

 The Words are as listed:

Left Shoe
Uhuru (Swahili) – “Independence”
Cвобода (Russian) – “Freedom”
Cпорт (Russian) – “Sport”
Athletisch (German) – “Athletic”
Muundaji (Swahili) – “Hope”

Right Shoe
Intenso (Italian) – “Intense”
Liberté (French) – “Freedom”
Anmutig (German) – “Graceful”
Fuerza (Spanish) – “Force”
Dédié (French) – “Dedicated” (sneakerfiles.com)

The Air Jordan 9 Black/Charcoal
Courtesy of Sneakerfiles.com

This shoe released in October of 1993 in four color ways including the olives, powder blues, white/red, black/charcoal/red. Some other sought-after color ways are the cool greys, and the chromes. The shoe was also released during Jordan's baseball career so the brand made Jordan personalized baseball cleats to play in. They also released more cleats in 2002-2003. 

The Air Jordan 8

The Air Jordan 8 was released for the 1992-1993 season in which Jordan would go on to win his third consecutive title, seventh scoring title, and would score his 20,000th point in the NBA. This shoe represents a lot of history for not only the Jordan brand but the man himself. Today, the Air Jordan 8 is a very sought after retro and many have been waiting for another release of this shoe.

One of the most notiecable things about the eight's is that there wasn't a Nike sign. Tinker believed that after the Air Jordan 6 the brand had enough strength behind it to go forward without Nike logo's plastered on the shoes but, Nike wasn't having it until the eight's. Tinker designed these shoes like none other before. He added higher ankle support, and straps (bunny ears) into the design for amazing ankle support. The shoe was a lot heavier than the others but performed like a tank and was a great all around shoe. Tinker also added in a display of colors on the mudguard to give the shoe the extra pop that it needed.

The Aqua Colorway--photo courtesy of nicekicks.com

When released the brand released 3 original color way's throughout the season which were the aquas, the bugs bunny, and the playoffs. The Aquas are one of the most sought after Jordan shoes ever and are also rumored to release sometime in the next year. Other color way's of the shoes include the chromes, peapods, and the black toes.


The advertisements used the popularity of the Looney Tunes to their advantage again. They used characters like bugs bunny and marvin the martian and placed them inside the Air Jordan 8. They used the comedy and cartoons to draw kids into wanting the shoe which worked because it is one of the most popular ads in the line.

The Air Jordan 7

The Air Jordan 7. Michaels second championship, MVP and Finals MVP, and the year of the Dream Team. The shoes were released in the 1991-1992 season where Jordan led his Chicago Bulls to the best  record in the league. This shoe was another Tinker Hatfield design (see a trend?) and proved Tinker could find inspiration from anywhere. As Tinker was in Portland he passed a music shop advertising afropop music and it hit home with Tinker. He purchased this poster and used it to build the Air Jordan 7.

The Air Jordan 7 Sock liner with hits of the Afripop designs Tinker threw into the shoe.
(courtesy of soleredemption)

They used the hurache technology and used a inner sock liner for the shoe and got rid of the visible air unit. They were very light weight and form fitting and designed for a comfortable ride on the court. There was also no signs of a Nike logo on the outside of the shoe. The only place you would be able to find a Nike logo was on the box, or the sole of the shoe. Instead of the Nike logo on the back they added a new Jordan "v" logo with his number in the middle.

The shoe was released in 1991 in 5 original color ways. The Hares, Olympics, Raptors, Cardinals, and Bordeauxs (pictured above). The olympic color ways is one of the most sought after shoes in the Jordan line because it was worn by MJ in the 1992 Barcelona olympics with the "Dream Team".

A new thing for advertising the Jordan Brand shoes this year they used Bugs Bunny in a commercial. Its a great commercial and makes you wonder if they got the idea for Space Jam from the making of this commercial. Bugs is wearing the "Hare" color way which, is expected because he is well...a rabbit, and Jordan is wearing the Bordeaux.

The Air Jordan 6

The Air Jordan 6. A lot came along with the Air Jordan six, including new materials, new technology, and most importantly MJ's first NBA championship! The Air Jordan 6 was one of the first shoes Michael gave his direct orders to Tinker on the design of the shoe. One of Michaels requests was also a first for basketball shoe design. He requested a clean toe, meaning that he wanted a solid to with extra reinforcement. Jordan also had trouble getting his previous models on his foot so Tinker added he two holes in the tongue and a loop hole on the back of the shoe which, he called a spoiler (sneakerfiles). They also added a molded heel tab (another first) to the shoe so it didn't rub on his achilles tendon. They added a solid rubber sole to the bottom because of complaints that kids were falling because the sole on the Jordan 5 sole collected dust on the court.


The Air Jordan 6 released in 1991in five original color ways for a retail price of $125. The color ways it released in are white-infrareds, black-infrareds, carmines, and the maroons. Other notable color ways are the Olympic's. the Lakers, and the DMP pack.

The Air Jordan 6 was also one of the shoes jordan released a specific color way in a package deal with another shoe. The sixes were released with a special color way of the retro 11's. The sixes were released in the pack with a all black with gold hits in the midsole.

Michael and Nike took the advertising route of Spike Lee again. Spike finds a genie and wishes to be Mike.

The Air Jordan 5

The Air Jordan 5 was another Tinker creation. The 5 was inspired by Fighter Planes. Yes, you read that  right, Fighter Jets. Tinker made this shoe to stylize with Mikes play style. The 5 was had a couple or firsts in the shoes makeup. First off it was the first shoe to use a clear rubber sole (which is used heavily today.) Tinker was involved in modeling the Marty McFly's in 'Back to the Future' and used the soles for inspiration on the five. Also, the five's were the first shoe to use molded foam for the upper part of the shoe.  Tinker added the flames in the midsole to coincide with his war plane inspiration. The shoe's tongue also had a very cool 3M material which shined in the light and when the flash of a camera hit it.

The retro 5 was released in 1990 in four original color ways in the classic fire red, black metallic, grapes, and fire reds. The Grapes today are one of the most sought after Jordan's period and are set to release in the beginning on 2013! When the shoe was first released only 100 pairs were released and given to less fortunate children which added more hype to the shoe and helped Jordan brands popularity.

"Raging Bull Pack" (courtesy of Nice Kicks)

The 5's got a lot of attention and were great sellers. Other than the shoes original colors, Jordan created more color ways such as the Wolf Greys, the Laneys, and the Raging Bull Pack. The Raging Bulls pack is very sought after and came with two shoes in a stacked box for at 315 retail price. The pack included a all black 3M color way, and an red/black suede color way called the Toro Bravos.

There was two commercials created for the 5's. One only featuring Mars in his room showing off pictures of Mike's feet dunking all across the globe.

And then, the famous "Is it the shoes?' commercial. The Mar's Blackmon slogan. And Mike's least favorite question. As Jordan says its not the shoes Nike makes one last push to make sure the consumers think it is the shoes. Watch for yourself!

The Air Jordan 4

  Air Jordan 4 was another Tinker Hatfield masterpiece. Instead of looking for inspiration for the shoe, Tinker looked towards the performance aspect in the Air Jordan line. The Air Jordan 4 is one of my personal favorite retro's because of how clean it looks.


The 4's were released in 1989 which was Michaels first year of being a married man, and also a father. (sneakerfiles.com) They released in four original color ways that were, the white cements, black cements, military blues, and the fire reds. (I personally own 3 out of 4 of them!). When first released they didn't have a warm welcome. Many people felt they were ugly, but the shoe grew on people. In recent years, Nike and Jordan brand have collaborated with UNDFTD and Eminem to create special edition colors of the 4s, and also have released many other color ways that were highly sought after including the Thunder/Lightning pack, columbias, and the pure moneys to name a few.

The Air Jordan brand took a new route in advertising this shoe. They kept the Spike Lee 'Mars Blackmon' commercials and used them heavily. The commercial only featured Mike for three dunk scenes and the rest featured Mars above the rim with shoes talking about how "every homeboy has them" and talks quickly about them. Its hard to follow but you can't help but watch and get the words you do understand stuck in your head.

The special advertising spot the four's got was a new turn in advertising for basketball shoes and shoes in general. The shoes got a advertising first in Spike Lee's film "Do the Right Thing". The scene is a sneakerhead classic and almost all Jordan collectors know exactly what scene it is but what shoes they are. The shoes featured in the film are the White Cement color way with wild laces in it. What happens in the scene is any sneaker collectors worst nightmare, the dreaded SCUFF! And its no normal scuff, its a huge black scuff on ALL WHITE SNEAKERS! You can't recover from that. See for yourself in the scene below. (Warning Explicit language)

Jordan Brand History 3--The Start of an Advertising Era

The Air Jordan 3 is one of my personal favorite retros because of how simple it looks. The Air Jordan 3 was the shoe that saved Jordan from leaving Nike. The jordan 3 was the first shoe to use the Jumpman logo on the shoe and have Nike Air on the back. This shoe changed the style of shoes again by adding a visible air bubble, tumbled leather, and the elephant print that Jordan loved. The three's are one of Jordan's personal favorites also. He wore these shoes in many basketball events including the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Competition. The Air Jordan had the best advertising that any shoe company had seen. They enlisted Spike Lee to portray Mars Blackmon ( a character Spike played in his movies) as Mike and Mars. The commercials are still very popular to this day and launched Jordan Brand to new heights.

The Jordan Brand Retro 3 ad with Mars Blackmon (photo courtesty of http://www.air-jordan-release-dates.com/Mars-Blackmon-Air-Jordan-Videos.html)

Spike Lee helped Jordan brand wonders with pushing advertising. He went on to help create and star into many ads for almost all of Jordan's shoes after the three's released. Some complain the ad's were annoying or that Spike Lee had no relatable content with Jordan but, having a major celebrity campaign for a shoe was a big thing and hadn't been done for. The reception for the Jordan 3 was pretty small but not bad for a shoe release at the time. The ad's were very creative and sometimes funny. But, they never failed to mention something Jordan could do that a "average" person couldn't do and always asked the question "Is is the shoes?" creating a hype around the shoe saying a normal person could play like Michael if they purchased the shoes.

The first commercial starring Mars Blackmon and Air Jordan himself.

History of Jordan Brand Part 1 and 2.

Before the 1985 season when Nike released Michael Jordan's first shoe basketball shoes were all white. Nike and Michael changed this forever. The first Jordan shoe to release was obviously the Jordan 1. The Jordan one changed basketball shoes forever with its bold red and black color ways that people weren't used to seeing. David Stern (the commissioner) outlawed these shoes from the game, but that didn't stop Michael from wearing them and every time he stepped on the court in the shoes he was fined $5,000. Jordan shoes became a phenomenon.The Jordan one is the only shoe to have a Nike swoosh on the shoe.Today these are one of the most sought after retro out of all shoes reselling at very high prices. The banned color way is the most popular of the colors.

Nike then used these bans as a promotional factor in ads across the world. Later in the 85-86 season Nike created a more NBA friendly red, white and black color way.    



                       The Air Jordan 2
Nike created the Air Jordan II in the 86-87 season. These shoes were the last Jordan shoe to be designed by Peter Moore. This shoe was considered the most technical shoe in basketball when it first released. It got rid of the Nike Swoosh logo and created the Jordan wings logo to the shoe with the Nike Air logo on the back heel of the shoe. There was no controversy around this shoe release or usage on court in the NBA.
In the Retro releases before 2004 the Jordan 2 sold very poorly and could be found at very cheap prices all over the place (Nice Kicks). As time has went by the Jordan 2 is now a very sought after retro.

(Photo Courtesy of Nice Kicks)

My Collection (Jordan's Only)

My collection started in 2011 at the end of my senior year in high school with the Jordan Retro 5 Wolf Grey color way, and since then I have been looking at shoes and purchasing them on a regular basis. I have thirteen pairs or Jordan shoes and the rest are Nikes or Adidas, and I don't plan on stopping my collection anytime soon.



     My favorite pair I own is my "Concord" retro 11's. They are my favorite pair because it was my first pair of Jordans as a little kid and my family kept the old ones for me to have so I had to get a pair when the re-released. I waited in line for eight hours for them in the freezing cold and it was well worth it.

I have three pairs of retro 4's. The fire reds, the military blues, and the white cement 4's. Out of all the color ways the cement 4's are my favorite that I own. The reason they are is because the shoe is basically all white and are almost blinding when light hits the, and also because they match with anything because the are the basic white and grey.


I own two pairs of retro 7's. I own the Olympic color way and the Raptors color way. My favorite pair out of the two are the raptors. I really like the all black suede featured on them and the hit of red and purple on the bottoms.

I have two pairs of 6's. The Laker colorway and the Olympics color way. My personal favorite is the laker color way because of the all black suede on there. Also, they have really cool threading throughout the shoe. The thread changes colors from yellow, white, and purple (LA Lakers colors). The shoe is also really cool because it wasnt a OG color way.

The stealth 10's are in my top 3 maybe even second in my collection. The tens are one of my favorite retro's and the stealth color way is one of my favorites because You guessed it, all black suede. Suede is really easy to clean and keep clean and doesn't show creases as much as the leather does.

The playoff 12's are the other shoe in the top 3 of my collection with the 10's. I love the 12s as a shoe and the playoffs are my favorite color way because they are simply white and black leather with a little hit of red on the tongue, and heel. The black cement 3's I own are a classic Jordan model and I love wearing them almost every day.

Release Reminder--Air Jordan Retro 7 "Raptor"

The Air Jordan 7 "Raptor" 9 (black/true red-dark charcoal-club purple) color way hit shelves again September 1, 2012 for the first time since 2002. The Raptor colorway also was released in the 2009 DMP 60+ quick strike pack but with a slightly modified color way. The MSRP of the shoe is 160.00 plus tax.

 The Air Jordan sevens first released in 1992 in a Chicago Bulls traditional red/white/black color way. Jordan wore the sevens for the 1991-1992 season on his way to helping the Bulls repeat as World Champions.

Photo Courtesy of www.nicekicks.com

The Raptor color way was worn multiple times throughout the season. In fact, some of Jordan's bigger games in the season he was wearing the Raptor color way, including a 56 point game against the Miami Heat. The nickname "Raptors" wasn't around when Jordan first wore the shoes because the Toronto Raptors didn't exist during the time. The color way got the nickname during the 2002 release because of the colorings of the midsole are a purple and red like the old-school Toronto Raptors team colors. 

Becoming a Sneakerhead

My name is Taylor Slavens and in the past year and a half I became a "sneakerhead". I started collecting shoes my senior year in 2011. My first pair of Jordan shoes that I purchased are the "Laker" retro sixes. Since then I have purchased 19 pairs of other retro shoes. In this blog I will post about release dates, post pictures, talk about my favorite pairs, and post the retros Michael Jordan actually wore while playing in the NBA.