Nike Air Jordan IV Retro in White & Military Blue

As I wrote before, the Air Jordan IV is one of my all-time favorite sneaker and I've had many over the years albeit mainly all retro releases. Of the original 4 colorways the only one I never happened to get a retro pair of was the white/red/black which was my 2nd favorite color scheme. I still plan to someday but since I got my beloved 'cements' it's not really high on my list of priorities.

Another of the colorways I bought during the retro years was the white & military blue. I had about 3 or 4 pairs of these but I was never all that into them. I wore one for a while and eventually sold it. Yeah, they're nice but let's face it--AJ aficionados have never been all that big on this pair. It might be because Michael Jordan himself never wore this color during his Chicago Bulls days. I'm not completely sure on that so don't quote me. But for me that wasn't an issue as I did not watch basketball in those days. For me it was a matter of these being more seldom seen than the other colors. In fact, during high I can really only remember one guy who wore these. So since I didn't see them much I didn't long for them much. You know what they say: out of sight, out of mind. Plus I never cared for the grey areas on these and those missing black areas that were present on the cement's and the red's were essential. At the time though I was pretty content with having a white pair of AJ 4's that I could rock until something better came along.

These photos are of a pair that I never wore.

This is a pair I will not be picking up if they ever retro it again. They are cool but I'm just a lot more selective about what I have and wear now. Instead of having one pair of every kind of cool sneaker I'd rather have 2 or 3 pairs of the ones I really like. But I will say these AJ 4's looked a lot better after some wearing, as the next photo will testify:

NEXT POST: More Air Jordan IV!!

Nike Air Jordan IV Retro (1999) in White / Black / Cement

One of my all time favorite sneakers--I'm talking top 3 here--is the Nike Air Jordan IV. I first saw these in 9th grade and fell instantly in love. They were to be seen everywhere--school, church, stores, the streets. I had no idea what they were but they looked really cool to me. On my way home from school one day I happened to encounter one of my grade school friends who ended up at another high school and he was wearing a pair of these. His were really beat up and worn but looked great. I don't know if by that point I knew what they were called but I do remember asking him how much they cost. He told me $100. I was like 'holy crap!' There was no way I was going to get $100 sneakers. The most expensive sneakers I had up to that point were like $45 and those were considered pretty expensive. Anyway, I'm sure this dude ended up throwing his away after that school year and I do regret not asking him to let me have them. He probably would have given them to me as no one at that time was anticipating that these would have been worth plenty of money nowadays.

I didn't get my own pair of AJ IV's until many years later and they happened to be from an online place called Vintage USA. That may have been the first online sneaker auction website and I was able to get a pair that was a bit worn down but looked really good. I really wanted to wear them eventually and I ended up destroying the foam midsoles which had broken down due to their age and condition.

Finally in 1999 I got my chance to get a brand new pair of these when they were being retro'ed. I ordered directly from Nike and the price surprisingly was still $100. This time money was not an issue. The issue was that they mistakenly sent me a size smaller than I had ordered. I tried to return it but they no longer had the size I had ordered. So I kept them and wore them not too many times since they were smaller than I needed and they hurt my feet. Afterwards I put them permanently away in their box and eventually sold them for over $400. This is how they looked before I sold them:

I had no idea that these were ever going to be reissued again. When they came out in 2012 I tried to get a pair but totally missed out. Then earlier this year my dream came true. Finally I had a chance once again to have them and I don't know how I managed but I was able to get through the Nike website on the Saturday they debuted and ordered the size I needed. Of course there is a huge difference in price as these cost $220, the most any AJ IV retro has ever cost. But now I am the happy owner of a sneaker that I have wanted ever since high school. And every time I go out wearing these shoes there is always someone who compliments them.

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER.  

Nike Air Jordan V Retro in Black

Everyone loves Air Jordans, right? Or everyone has at least one pair they can't live without for sure. For me it's always been the 4's but I also like the 5's a lot. So much so that when they were retro'ed in 2011 in black I had to get 2 pairs. I got one in size 10.5 and one in 11 and my plan was to keep the better fitting pair and sell the other. Well, these sold out pretty quickly and I was lucky to have gotten 2 of them. I believe I ended up keeping the size 11 and sold the 10.5 for a little bit more than I paid for them.

I remember first seeing the 5's in 10th grade. There were white ones and black ones. They both looked great but were way out of my ability to get them. Thank goodness for retros, though I must admit as much as I still am passionate about sneakers, they were ultimately more meaningful when I was a teen.

For whatever reason I did not end up keeping these for long and I sold them after a few wearings. They were still like new and I sold them on ebay for just about what I paid for them new. In hindsight I do regret parting with these because I really like black nubuck and it's so hard finding any nice black sneakers made of nubuck these days. The good news is that these are coming out again this year and I fully hope to cop a pair.

Here are photos of the pair I kept and wore for a little bit.

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER. 

Nike Nylon Cortez in Navy & White

Here is one of my absolute favorites: the Nike Nylon Cortez in Navy & white I really love this colorway and I had several pairs of these at different times. For whatever reason I parted with them (both times) and I deeply regret it. I cannot even find these used on ebay. These are great summer shoes with a colorway that won't quit and I just wish Nike would make them again. Mine were barely worn when I sold them. I think I only wore them a handful of times just to walk around in.

I have at least 2 sets of photos of Nike Nylon Cortez in navy, one from early 2010 and the other from mid 2011. This set is the former.

Sigh, if I could just have these back along with my white ones everything would be well with the world.

One thing I have noticed over the years with Nike Nylon Cortez is that one some pairs the tongue is white, and not the same color as the rest of the shoe. I never liked those. I always felt the shoe looked so much better and right if the tongue matched the shoe color. As you can see here they clearly match. These also feature written in lowercase letters on the back.

Anyway, I will be taking a break from the Nike Cortez line of sneakers I have owned. There are plenty of other sneakers I need to give mention to.

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER. 

Nike Nylon Cortez in Grey & White (circa 2002)

After having owned so many pairs of Nike Cortez, especially the Nylon Cortez, I am down to only one pair. I have started wearing this one again as it is a great, lightweight summer shoe that you won't see virtually anyone wearing.

These photos are of a brand new pair that I never got around to wearing. I purchased 3 of these shoes in early 2003 because they were so inexpensive. I ended up selling the 2 unworn pairs and still have the one I started wearing 13 years ago!

Now here is the pair I still have and wear:

They're still in great shape except for the leather lining which is flaking off now. These used to be my favorite shoes when I got them. It's just that I was accumulating so many sneakers around that era that I wanted to wear other ones and eventually these ended up taking a back seat to others. But now I have a much reduced collection and these are one of my go-to kicks again. I just added an extra insole for more comfort recently.

Note: There is currently a used pair of these exact sneakers on ebay for $70 shipped. And they are in worse condition than mine!!


NEXT POST: More Nike Nylon Cortez

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER. 

Nike Classic Cortez Light Nylon in Photo Blue

Here is another pair of Nike Cortez Nylon I have owned. Actually, I'm pretty sure I had 2 of these, both size 11 and they are from about 2011. I loved how the pictures I saw of these shoes online looked. I couldn't pass up the chance to have them. At the time though, they were only available overseas, so they were pretty expensive and so was the shipping. 

I did not wear these very many times. Not sure why. Maybe I decided they didn't look great on me. But I did end up selling both pairs. I'm pretty sure they would be extremely rare today and could probably fetch $100 or so. In fact, lately on ebay Nike Cortez Nylons have pretty high price tags on them. This blows my mind because just almost 5 years ago I sold these for less than $30!

The official name of these sneakers is Nike Classic Cortez Light Nylon in Photo Blue. They are a little more vintage looking than the more modern ones from the 2000's. Do I regret selling these? Well, I wish I had held onto at least one pair. Interesting thing is I didn't keep these very long. Both pairs were bought and sold within the same year.

 

NEXT POST: More Nike Cortez Nylon!

 NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER. 

Nike Cortez Nylon in White & Obsidian

So currently I'm really into Nike Cortez Nylon sneakers. I have had so many pairs of these shoes. For whatever reason I never wore any of them very much and ended up selling all but one. And to be honest, I regret having sold many of them right now. The one I still do have is a grey/white pair from 2002 that I have revived from my wardrobe. They are great, comfortable, lightweight sneakers for warmer weather. I think I had a grand total of 3 pairs of this particular shoe but I ended up selling the other 2, brand new, over the years. Yes, I do regret it.

Another pair I regret having sold is a white/obsidian Nike Cortez Nylon. Here are photos of the pair I had:

There have been many variations of Nike Cortez Nylon over the years. This particular pair features Nike written in all caps on the back and on the tongue and a shiny metal lace tag that says "Cortez 72".

That was a great pair of shoes! I miss these a lot. I have no idea why I sold them. As I mentioned in my intro, I am pretty fickle with sneakers, so while one day I may be in love with a certain pair, the next day I may be trying to get rid of it. Unfortunately, these Cortez nylon are no longer available in white. Can't even find them used on ebay. I love the simple design of the Cortez and am a big fan of the nylon and suede combination. I have owned a few of the leather & nubuck versions, which I will eventually post photos of, but I was never a huge fan of theirs. Nylon Cortez all the way!


NEXT POST: More Nike Cortez

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG & ARE NOT ALLOWED FOR REPRODUCTION OR USE ON OTHER WEBSITES WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED CONSENT OF THE OWNER.