What initially sparked your passion for shoes? What got you excited about them?
My passion started in my youth. I was 12 years old when MJ came back with the ‘I’m Back’ announcement. Before Jordan returned, I had already been playing basketball, but I was just a casual fan. However, after Jordan’s comeback, my perspective on basketball players completely changed. From that day on, I became a huge Jordan fan. I played in OG basketball shoes, and my room was filled with posters. I collected Jordan cards, and I’d say that was the best part of my childhood, my youth, and my teenage years. That’s the reason I collect shoes now, especially Jordan shoes.
How do you decide which sneakers to add to your collection?
I’m a collector of Jordan 1 to 13 because I only collect and wear shoes that Jordan actually played basketball in. I know the story behind the Last Shot, but a lot of people ask me, ‘Bro, why don’t you have any Jordan 14s?’ I watched the three games and the Last Shot, but the shoes just don’t resonate with me. I have all the OG colorways from 1 to 13. The only ones I’m missing are the Orange Metallics, because the 1985 OGs never got a re-release, and the Sacramento 10s. After completing the OG colourways, I started collecting collaborations, including Asia and US exclusives. My focus is always on Jordan 1 to 13, and I try to add every pair I can to my collection
What’s the rarest, almost valuable sneaker in your collection, and how did you acquire it?
I hate the question, ‘What’s the rarest or most expensive shoe?’ or ‘How much did you pay for your collection?’ I hear this every day on my TikTok lives. But as a collector, what really matters is owning the shoe, especially when you get it for retail. When the value goes up, it’s a bonus because you got it at retail price. If you look at my interviews over the years, which you can find on Google with various big sneaker pages, there’s one shoe that stands out: the Tokyo 5. It’s only available as a friends and family pair in my size, released in 2011 for the opening of the Jordan store in Tokyo, Japan. It was a special lottery where you had the chance to win the shoe in your size. The largest regional size available was 43, and my size is 44 or 44.5.
Since my size is friends and family only, it became my goal in 2024 to own this shoe. I’m happy to say that as of July, I finally have them in amazing condition. I’ll be wearing them at Sneakermess Luxembourg on the 20th of October. What’s incredible is that the pair is in wearable condition.
What makes these Tokyo 5s even more special is that I have the original receipt from the Nike Japan store, along with the card from the basketball event. Owning these shoes has been a huge dream of mine because, with their price and the fact that they’re a friends and family size, they were my holy grail. It’s a shoe I knew I had to save up for, even though it’s just a pair of shoes. At the moment, they’re the most expensive shoes I’ve ever paid for, while for other shoes, I’ve been lucky enough to get them for retail. I managed to get the Chicago 1s and the Off-White ‘The Ten’ for retail, which is incredible when you consider they normally go for around $5,000. That’s a lot of money for a pair of shoes! But with the Tokyo 5s, I knew they wouldn’t be cheap, and I wanted them. I spent the money, and now they’re part of my collection
Do you have a particular silhouette that dominates your collection?
When you look at the wall behind me, you’ll see I have 254 pairs of Jordan 1s, all packed tight, along with a lot of older models. The Jordan 1 is a classic silhouette, and it’s a shoe you can wear for 30 or 40 years. When you think about Jordans 3, 4, 5, or 6, after 15 to 20 years, the soles start to crumble, and the shoes fall apart. I experienced that terrible feeling two years ago with my 2000 Bling Bling 4s. After wearing them out, I got home and the sole had completely broken. The same thing happened to my 2000 Midnight Navy 6s. But when you think about OG Jordan 1s from 1985, you can still wear them, and that’s why the majority of my collection is made up of Jordan 1s
How do you keep your sneakers pristine?
This room, as you’ve seen on Instagram and TikTok, I’ve had for three years now. Before that, I had a Jordan room, but it looked more like a storage space. My wife told me we were moving apartments, and I told her I needed a dedicated room for my shoes. So when we moved, I agreed to pay more rent just so I could have my own room. Right now, I have 943 pairs in here, and space again is a luxury. I built the shelves myself because I wanted a system that fit my collection. You see, most guys on social media have their shoes displayed side by side, but I built my shelves like Tetris. It’s the only way to fit all the shoes on my wall, and yeah, I built it all by myself.
I thought about which system would be best, and while those drop-front plastic boxes you see everywhere look amazing, I’d need two more rooms just to display all my shoes. I think this setup works best, especially when the weather isn’t great outside and I’m doing TikTok or Instagram lives regularly. The background with all the shoes grabs people’s attention, and they’re always like, ‘Wow, what is this?’
I have to keep the boxes in my basement cellar. I don’t throw them away because the box is part of the shoe. I don’t ever plan on selling my shoes, no, no, no! But if anyone ever asks for a legitcheck or something, I’ve still got the boxes in the cellar. The only issue is finding them when I need them, but I have a catalog for all the shoes in my room
With sneaker culture constantly evolving… What trends or collaborations are exciting you at the moment?
At the moment, I have to say, this week’s release of the A Ma Maniére collaboration has me excited. Ever since 2021 with the first Women’s Jordan 3s, this collab has really made a mark in the sneaker game. Every shoe has amazing quality, including the Jordan 3s that people slept on. The black pair is a really nice shoe, but lately, it’s been crazy with constant restocks. When I think back to how hard it was to get the white pair—it was tough! I had to pay resale because I wear a size 12 in women’s, which is the most expensive size for the last women’s pairs, like the Black Toe Reimagines.
I’m really excited about these shoes because I love the Air Jordan branding on the side. When you think back to the early days, Jordan wore a similar shoe, the Black Toe, in that iconic picture where he had them slung over his shoulder with the Wings logo. That was back in 1985, the original Air Jordan. For me, this reimagined version is part of basketball history, and I love that they brought it back with a fresh take. It’s not the same as the 2016 or 2013 Black Toes—this one really honors Jordan’s legacy in a unique way, and I’m excited to get them.
As for the rest of the year, I have to say the Legend Blues are also really nice, but overall, the end of the year isn’t as interesting as past years. That’s actually good for my budget, though! I can save up for something special. My goal for Christmas is to get the 1985 Chicago pair. People often ask me, ‘What’s your oldest pair?’ Right now, my oldest is a pair of Aqua 8s from 1993, but they’re totally crumbling. That shoe holds a lot of memories from my youth.
The market right now is pretty slow, so you can find a lot of 1985 Chicago pairs at decent prices. With fewer releases coming up, I can save my money, and hopefully, by Christmas, I’ll be able to show off my 1985 Chicagos
What is your opinion on the influence of social media and the rise of reselling as a business model?
There are sneakerheads around the world, building friendships, that now have the opportunity to get shoes from different places. It’s come a long way since 2013, but I have to say, the sneaker game on social media has completely changed. Back in the day, you could post four pictures of the same shoe in one day, and every shoe would get respect from sneakerheads and lots of engagement. But now, it’s all about the hype and, unfortunately, influencers and paid promotions. If you don’t pay, you don’t get engagement.
It’s a bit sad because people only care about what’s trending, and they ignore the story behind the shoes. A good example is when I posted a Jordan 2 in amazing condition from the Python US-only release. If you compare that with a post about Travis Scott’s shoes, the difference in engagement is insane. People just chase the hype and the resale value without appreciating the history or the quality of the shoe, like the Jordan 2. Travis’s releases are all about hype, but the Jordan 2 is a shoe with real history. It’s disappointing to see how things have shifted.
Have you had to pass on a grail because it was out of reach? Do you have any of these, one that got away stories?
I’ve missed out on a few shoes, but they aren’t grails—more like big items on my wish list. One of them is the Yellow ‘Not for Resale’ pair, the US version of the red ones with the ‘No Photos’ on the back. I had the chance to get them twice this year, but both times the shoes turned out to be fake. They were super limited and only released at the Flight 23 event in Los Angeles, so they’re really hard to come by.
Normally, I can find what I want eventually. For example, I hunted for over a year and a half to find the Trophy Room Friends & Family pair. I had them checked by eight different guys who got theirs from Trophy Room, plus two big resellers from the US also checked them. I finally got them last year, and it felt incredible because there are only 12k pairs worldwide.
The story behind that release is wild—Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus Jordan, had a lot of backdoor deals with the shoe. So many pairs flooded the market even before the official release, and the fakes were sometimes better than the originals. That made them extremely hard to find. After the release, the Friends & Family pairs were going for $5k-6k, while the regular ones were around $2.5k-3k. But with the market being down recently, I finally managed to get my hands on the Friends & Family pair, complete with the blue laces. I got them personally, hand-delivered from a good friend who brought them from the US to Germany. When I held them, I had goosebumps. After a year and a half of searching, to have an OG pair and not a fake felt amazing.
How do you keep the balance from wearing your sneakers and keeping them in good condition?
Every day in my lifestyle is different, especially when you own so many shoes; you have to wear them all. If you don’t rock your shoes, they wear out quicker. When shoes just sit in their boxes, they age much faster. I keep track of my rotation through my Instagram stories and TikTok, so I can see how long I’ve had each shoe on my feet. Right now, I’m trying to wear all my deadstock pairs, and once I’ve gone through those, I’ll revisit my older pairs.
It’s important to keep wearing your shoes. If you don’t clean them after wearing, things like icy soles can turn yellow or brown very quickly. If your shoes look new but the soles look like they’re over ten years old, then you’re not doing it right.
One of the greatest shoes I own is the 2015 LA-exclusive Jordan 1. That was a tough hunt because it’s a white high-top with the 23 and ‘Los Angeles’ on the back. The soles are amazing, with that beautiful icy look. I’ve seen so many pairs from different collectors—some worn and some deadstock—but the soles were yellow or brown. Mine, however, still look brand new. It’s crucial to rock your shoes and keep them clean. That way, you can enjoy them for many, many years
What advice would you give to someone who is starting their sneaker collection?
I must say, at the moment, it’s the best time to start collecting sneakers. If you wait maybe two or three weeks, you can get 90% of all the releases for under retail or maybe just 10 to 20 euros over retail. Take this year, for example—the ‘Bred Reimagines’ are a sleeper; I don’t know why. The ‘Military Blues’ had a high stock, with 1.7 million pairs available, which is a lot. The quality is okay; my pair is really good, thanks to Nike, because for me, it’s my shoe of the year—not one of the collaborations—since I’ve been waiting a long time for the ‘Military Blue’ with Nike Air on the back.
I believe other collectors feel the same way. It’s important to find what you like; don’t just follow the hype. If you want to start collecting, find your real passion, maybe it’s for Dunks, Jordans, Yeezys, or another brand. When I see people on Instagram buying everything just because it’s hyped, I’m sure they don’t feel a connection to what they’re doing. I miss the passion. For me, it’s been a passion for Jordans since 1995, driven by the sport of basketball and its players.
Take the Travis Scott 6s, for example. I know a lot of guys on Instagram who don’t own any Jordan 6s in their collection, yet when Travis drops the olive pair, everyone posted about them. I’ve loved Jordan 6s since 2000; it was my first pair, and I currently have 70 pairs. For me, the silhouette is important, not just for the Travis Scott shoe. My advice for anyone starting a collection is to determine which shoe you want to collect and then look into the story behind it. If you’re starting with Jordan shoes, check out the history of the player and the significance of the shoes. You’ll feel more connected to them when you wear them.
Don’t just wear Jordans because they’re hyped; wear them because they’re a part of history. That’s the advice I can give as a collector.
