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Back to the Beginning

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Nike and Jordan Brand are taking us back to the beginning where it all fatefully began with the release of the Air Jordan 1 Chicago colorway.

This shoe is the one that birthed a new genre of sneakerheads with a young MJ redefining the shoe game on the hardcourt.

I’m pretty sure I picked up my unexpected pair at Arakawas in the heart of Waipahu. Yes, Arakawas by the sugar mill smokestack.

I don’t remember much about the store anymore except that it had lots of odds and ends and a weird store layout (I remember stairs to the second floor??), and amongst the oddities, I found the white pair of Air Jordan 1s. I’m pretty sure the cost was $60 or $65 which at time was a lot to pay for shoes. Fortunately, I got a pair though it might have been too big with not all sizes available.

So fast forward to November 19, 2022 with Nike timewarpping us back to 1985 with a re-imagined Air Jordan 1 that’s supposed to mimic the original shoe found in the depths of a storeroom, forgotten all these decades. And if Arakawas were still here today, I have no doubt this situation could actually happen.

While generally available to the public on November 19, Nike is giving long time members a chance at an early purchase:

Exclusive Access will provide some of our most dedicated SNKRS Members the opportunity to purchase the Air Jordan 1 ‘Chicago’. The offers will go out to a selection of Members who have entered and lost at least 20 different Air Jordan 1 High releases on SNKRS.

While nothing is guaranteed, I’m hoping my Nike membership since 2001 offers a slight advantage.

IBSFH Footaction Online

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unnamedImagine being a shoe fiend in Hawaii (IBSFH), successfully ordering a hyped shoe on Footaction.com, only to have it cancelled. The shoe, the Air Jordan 1 Shattered Backboard 3.0 in this case, is secured right? Well, from my personal experience, NO!

All my past orders with FA have ALL been cancelled. Yes, all of them. Granted, I only go for the sought after shoes on Footaction, so experiences may differ with general release sneakers. My most recent Footaction cancellation was the AJ1 Women’s Satin. But I think I have another cancellation coming up with the SBB3.

After an email confirming my order, I got the first warning signal a few hours later with a follow up email that said this:

It’s taking a bit longer to complete your order. We’re trying to track down your item.

Hang tight and we’ll let you know when we have some news. Don’t worry, we haven’t charged your method of payment yet.

Yeah… my SBB3 order is a goner, and I think I’ll get official word tomorrow. It’ll go something like this:

Thank you for your recent order. I am sorry, but one or more of your items are shipping from an alternate location and cannot be shipped outside of the 48 contiguous United States. Therefore, we are unable to complete the order.

Yes, technically Footaction does ship to all states within the US, but Hawaii and Alaska has to pay a little more as seen on this cost chart.

footaction-shipping-cost-chart

The main takeaway is that Footaction says they ship to Hawaii. But this has never happened to any of my orders to date.

So imagine being a shoe fiend in Hawaii and only getting cancelled orders from Footaction online.

I Got No Jacks

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Is this becoming a theme? No Frogs, no FOGs, and now no Jacks. Oh BTW, Happy Birthday Travis Scott!

To commemorate being 28 years old, good old TS let go a few more pairs of his Cactus Jack Air Jordan 1. I thought I had a chance but no, that top tier stuff still eludes me. I was in queue to checkout for so long but now that I think about it, I should have used several browsers to increase my odds. That’s my bad, and my bad looks like this.

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I didn’t realize this was my third strikeout on the Cactus Jack Jordans. There was the initial drop then the Grammy drop, now this birthday surprise. There’s one opportunity left on May 11 and even though there are a lot of retailers, those familiar names didn’t work out with the FOGs.

Nordstrom Redemption and Air Jordan Color-blindness

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Nordstrom has redeemed itself, partially at least. Last you remember, Nordstrom cancelled my discounted order for a pair of Air Jordan 1 mid, in a shadow-like colorway (I’ve since learned that these are not THE premium Shadow AJ1 highs). They just couldn’t fulfill the order.

But seeing the here-now-gone-tomorrow nature of these shoes, I persisted, checking the site’s inventory every now and then. And it paid off. One day, an AJ1 in an obsidian, game royal colorway appearend on-site. Not a premium model but still discounted, last pair, and my size. So I ordered it, expecting to get yet another cancellation.

Then redemption…

Thanks Nordstrom!

Oh, about that Air Jordan color-blindness. From the pictures above, you can see the shoes are a mix of dark blue and royal blue. On the Nordstrom site, I had thought these shoes were black and royal blue (see the image below).

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Air Jordan 1 Obsidian, Game Blue

 

If you remember, I had also bought a pair of Air Jordan 31 on clearance from Nike. I thought these were black and white when really they were dark blue and white.

I guess I’m just color-blind when it comes to Air Jordans? But really, I can’t complain after getting both at reduced prices.

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Double Air Jordan Loser!!

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Not once but twice in the same day I became an Air Jordan loser. First, I totally missed the sneaky launch of the Off-White Air Jordan 1 collaboration in the UNC colorway. I learned of the drop one hour later, so it’s no surprise I took that loss.

 

A few hours later, I get an email from Nordstrom. I had ordered a pair of Air Jordan 1, Shadow colorway at a discount earlier in the week. Sometimes Nordstrom surprises me with what they carry, and they were clearing out the black and gray AJ1. After much refreshing and retries on their online store, my order successfully went through with a confirmation email. Well I guess a Nordstrom confirmation email is easily reversed with a cancellation email.

Dammit, Air Jordan loss number two of the day!! The day was just about a bust except for one saving grace at Starbucks. I hadn’t paid attention to their ads, but I scored a BOGO offer in the afternoon.

So I had two Caramel Macchiatos, one for each AJ1 I missed out on.