V

The Air Jordan V. Black/Silver

First released in 1990, these shoes pushed sneaker design to another level. The use of 3M reflective material on the tongue, a translucent icey outsole, the largest air bubble in an Air Jordan at the time and these strange lace lock things that kept your shoes tied when they were untied continued to push the Jordan line to new heights. It also pushed him to new heights when he scored 69 points against Cleveland that year.

These particular retro models replicate one of the original colorways from 1990. The second time retro after the originals in 1990 (Jordan Brand first retroed this colorway in 2000) looks more like Michael's original player exclusives with a "23" stitched in the heel.

Since my mom wouldn't let me buy these in 1990 because I still had my black Jordan IV's from a year ago and since I missed out on the original retro release in 2000 (I again picked up the black IV's prior and didn't think I should get the V's), I had to get these. As soon as these released at 12 midnight (EST) I went online and was able to pick up a pair on eastbay.com before they sold out 90 seconds later.

Yes...90 seconds later.

They seem to always sell out so fast since they have a 10 pair limit on popular shoes. Makes no sense to me, but whatever, don't feel like arguing about their store policy.

I then packed my bags and got ready for my flight to Vegas the next morning. No need to fight with the kids the next morning or deal with ebay. One of the easiest (and luckiest) pick ups in recent memory. Kudos to me.

Now if I was only that lucky in Vegas the next day...