How basketball shoes transcended their role as tools of the sport to become a retirement savings plan for savvy investors
Michael Jordan's "Last Dance" Jordans, which sold for a record $2.2M US.
Somewhere, in a some dusty corner of someone’s grandfather’s attic or basement, lies a treasure of leather and rubber.
Tye Engmann knows, because he’s seen them. They’ve arrived on his Vancouver doorstep in FedEx boxes from far-flung waypoints in Japan, Europe or the U.S.; Nike Air Jordans of different iterations, some worn out and frayed, and some still in pristine brand-new condition.
“I've had so many were I see the original sticker price of like 65 bucks on them,” he said. “And some pairs that I've got, they’ve been marked down to like $19.99, $24.99, and now you look at how much that shoe's worth today. It's crazy. It's wild to think about.”
The 20-year-old Engmann has been sourcing vintage Jordans and reselling them through his business, Curated Van, for more than five years. His clientele is massive. It includes Hollywood A-listers like Kevin Hart and current NBA stars — even those with their own Nike shoe lines, like Devin Booker.
The numbers involved are staggering. His high-water sale was for a pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1.5s, shoes Nike remodelling the shoe specifically for Michael Jordan to give him more support after he broke his foot. The sale price: $107,500.
Vancouver's Tye Engmann runs Curated Van, which specializes in sourcing and re-selling vintage Jordans.
Its rarity — fewer than 50 were made, and only in Jordan’s size — made it one of the unicorn of Jordan shoes. The baseline release pairs from 1985 go for a minimum of $15,000 and usually around $20,000 depending on the colour.
“If I showed a random person on the street a pair (of Jordan 1s) that is worth like $1,500 bucks, they literally think that shoe should just be thrown in the trash,” he said.
You have to appreciate the history, said Engmann, to understand the value.
It all started with a shoe company looking for a basketball player to help promote and sell their shoes. Not Nike in 1984 when they signed Jordan, but six decades earlier in 1920. That was when Converse, two years into sales of the Converse Non-Skids, hired semi-pro basketball player Chuck Taylor to showcase and help sell their cutting-edge shoes.
The Non-Skids, which evolved into the Converse All-Stars, was one of the first shoes specifically designed for basketball, featuring a high-top canvas construction with a rubber sole. This shoe proved to be the pinnacle of performance for the time, capturing 70-80 per cent of the basketball shoe market up until the 80s when competition from other companies knocked the “Chucks” off their pedestal.
Nike, a company known for its running shoes, entered the basketball scene with sneakers and technology the courts had never seen before. Silhouettes like the Nike Air Force 1, Dunk, and the Air flight gave players new options to wear on the court. Nike’s revolutionary “Air” technology featured an air bubble in the soles of the shoe, reducing impact on the body.
It was the technology, combined with Jordan’s incandescent talents on the court, and the most influential marketing campaign in history — “it’s gotta be the shoes” still resonates today — that caused the shoes to transcend their role as tools, to cultural and fashion incarnates. The NBA unwittingly helped Nike's cause, famously finding Jordan $5,000 every game he wore his new trademark shoes as they violated the league's uniform policy. Nike happily paid those fines, a cheap cost for a massive marketing boost.
“I think it really took on some new legs when the Jordan 1 came out,” said Jeff Martin, owner of the VanCity Original Brand and Dipt Kicks in downtown Vancouver.
“People started to be like, ‘Oh, we want to be like Mike,’ whether they played ball or not. They're wearing it. You look back in those days and you saw like heavy metal guys wearing it. You saw skateboarders it. It became kind of a thing in that regard where they were being worn as fashion as much or more — probably more — than what their intended use was, which is on the basketball court.”
And from fashion, to art.
Shoes are now being collected for display or investments. Much like classic cars that are bought and stored in environmentally-controlled garages, never seeing outside asphalt or rain, shoes are spending their lives inside glass cases or fireplace mantles. That’s where the first pair of Jordan 1s Engmann bought resided.
“My whole idea of buying them was to wear them,” he said, remembering his treasured Grade 10 purchase.
“I bought these shoes and the sole was completely hard on them. I couldn't wear them,” he said, laughing.
“They just ended up sitting on my shelf because I literally if I put them on, it was like I skating. They were so hard, the sole would not flex. There was no grip.”
“That specific shoe, I don't think anyone's buying them to wear them,” he said. “But there are other like SBs — Nike's skateboarding line — like the Paris SB and that shoe brand new is like 90 grand and there are people that wear that. I've seen many pictures of people wearing that shoe.
“But as Michael Jordan collection pieces, I don't think anyone's throwing that on their foot. Sneakers are treated more like art now. Like you go to Sotheby's or whatever, that would normally sell just art pieces, and now they have a complete section for sneakers, which wasn't there like long ago.”
The 1998 Jordan 13s that His Airness wore in the NBA Finals that year — the season detailed in The Last Dance documentary — sold at auction earlier this year for $2.2M US. A pair of the Air Jordan Retro “Kobe Pack” sold for $800,000 in 2020.
Signature shoe lines have soared in popularity as NBA stars like LeBron James, and Kevin Durant have followed the trail blazed by Jordan with their own personalized line of sneakers and clothing. The running shoe style has move to the forefront of basketball shoe silhouettes, though the retro products still have strong sales. Engmann had a visit to Nike's headquarters in Portland, where they 3D scanned one of his shoes to help with an upcoming design.
Jordans aren't the only coveted retro shoe — the Reebok pumps, while famously expensive and heavy — still command big money because of the unique bladder system technology.
When Dipt gets a shipment of new shoes, there's usually a stampede of sales, with times where the $300 kicks have sold out in 15 minutes. And he can never keep any of Kobe Bryant's shoes in stock. The NBA star's death, along with his daughter and seven other people, deepened the emotional connection fans had with him and his brand. His shoes became a symbol of remembrance and tribute. In essence, Kobe Bryant shoes are more than just footwear; they represent a combination of athletic excellence, innovative design, cultural relevance, and an enduring legacy.
And a smart investment.
"With the Kobe ones ... they're either going into someone's collection, or they're getting re-sold," said Martin. "It's kind of sad in a way."
Engmann wears Durant's KD17's when he hoops with his friends, and if he was going to invest in the future, he'd shell out for the AE1 from Adidas — the Anthony Edwards line. But nothing beats the 1985 Air Jordan 1s, he says.
The next generation of basketball shoes might just come from overseas companies. The Chinese basketball shoe market has experienced explosive growth in recent years, transforming from a domestic-focused industry to a global contender. Companies like Li-Ning, Anta, and Peak have invested heavily in research and development, resulting in products that can compete on a global stage. Former NBA star Dwyane Wade has a signature line with brand Li-Ning called the (Way of Wade), which exploded in popularity even with Wade retiring in 2020.
When asking local hoops standout Taige Roberts what he liked about the Way of Wades he explained that “the grip alone makes a huge difference, its unmatched. Other companies can’t compete”. The Chinese basketball market is continuing to expand as more NBA stars like Nikola Jokic and Kyrie Irving have just released their respective signature lines, 361 degrees and Anta.
"What is the future? I've thought of that exact question," Martin said, when asked about sneaker investment.
"I think the one good thing is how the number of people that are quote/unquote 'sneaker heads' really grew. It just will take the right person and the right shoe to kinda to spark that and have it back up. But I do think there's a bigger a bigger market to draw from now."
"It's interesting, I see it definitely evolving," added Engmann. "As far as like some of the shoes I sell, eventually, just natural scarcity, some of them are going to become rarer and rarer and rarer. Which could drive the price up if there's demand for them. It's just simple supply and demand."
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