Ever since Off-White collaborated with Nike, sneakerheads have jumped over to the Swoosh bandwagon. This new wave of Nikeheads is similar to those who started from Adidas’ Boost where most only know sneakers from that time onwards or much lesser compared to the OG heads who have been collecting since the Nike SB era and earlier. If you ask the new generation of sneakerheads what’s their Nike grail or just what Nike grail do they know of in general, Off-White or Supreme collaborations usually will be the answer. Today, we will be introducing 10 Nike grails that you should at least know of before you sound like a Hypebeast without knowledge among your peers. Let’s begin.
Nike Air Foamposite One ‘Paranorman’
Inspired by the Laika-produced film ‘Paranorman’, the Nike Air Foamposite One was the perfect silhouette to display unique details from the movie. Smoke graphics, glow in the dark outsoles, embroidery on pull tabs that reads ‘Weird Wins’, and embroidery of Norman on the heel area shows a successful execution of concept on a silhouette by Nike. There are only 800 pairs produced worldwide which explains the resell price which ranges from $3,700 (RM14,800) to $5,000 (RM20,000).
Nike SB Dunk Low ‘What The Dunk’
The OG sneakerheads will know these as these were considered one of the craziest pairs to be released by Nike back then. With details combined from 32 different Nike SB Dunks, the ‘What The Dunk’ became one of the most sought-after Dunks in the sneaker market especially since rumors say that only 300 pairs were produced worldwide. Resell price for these ranges from $1,800 (RM7,200) to $5,000 (RM20,000).\
Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Denim Reese Forbes’
Released in 2002, with limited production of 444 pairs worldwide. This pair features colors by Reese Forbes and the artwork of Natas Kaupas. The highlight of this pair is the upper which is entirely built from denim materials in blue and light blue. Nike SB collectors definitely rate this as one of the Holy Grails of the SB series which makes these more difficult to search for as every collector tries to hoard or keep this pair, making this pair almost impossible to find on the market unless for exorbitant prices. The resell price of this grail ranges from $3,700 (RM14,800) to $5,000 (RM20,000).
Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Freddy Krueger’
This grail was supposed to be released for Nike’s Horror Pack, inspired by the villain of the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street named Freddy Krueger. The blood splatter details on the shoes are to represent Freddy Krueger’s gruesome killings while the green and red stripe pattern on the shoe panel represents Freddy Krueger’s signature sweatshirt. However, this pair was scrapped as there were copyright issues and were sent to be destroyed. Rumor says that a few pairs were smuggled away by the factory workers and then sold in the secondary market. You may realize if you pay attention to detail that there are two types of Freddy Kruegers, the oiled pair and the pair that has less oil on them. The oil is not a defect but is actually the oil used to burn the pairs when they were sent away, which makes this grail’s background story worth the money.
Air Jordan 5 ‘Tokyo 23’
This pair has been highly sought after back then till today. It was released exclusively only by Japan accounts to commemorate the opening of Jordan Tokyo 23, which explains the embroidery ’23’ detail on the heel of this pair. The resell price for this pair ranges from $3,000 (RM12,000) to $4,000 (RM16,000).
Air Jordan 1 ‘Banned’ (2011)
We have all heard of the Air Jordan 1 ‘Bred’ from 2016 which was dubbed Banned 1’s, but the Bred from 2011 is the true Banned 1’s. The 2011 Banned 1’s have a ‘X’ printed at the heel area and is one of the better built Air Jordan 1 as the leather used on these are more premium compared to the others (not SBB quality). All the pairs sold at Nike outlets were labeled as B-Grades but Nike did not give an explanation why it was all labeled so regardless of the premium materials used compared to others. The resell price ranges from $1,000 (RM4,000) to $2,000 (RM8,000).
Nike Lebron 10 ‘What The MVP’
This pair was given the ‘What The’ treatment where features and unique details of the Lebron 10 series is combined into one pair which makes this pair outstanding. They were only released in limited quantities and only at selected retailers. These are going for $1,700 (RM6,800) all the way to $4,300 (RM17,200).
Nike Lebron 9 ‘Watch The Throne’
This pair is a Friends & Family (F&F) exclusive which is gifted by Lebron James and Nike themselves to close associates. The inspiration behind this pair is based on Jay-Z and Kanye’s collaboration on an album named ‘Watch The Throne’ and apparently, there are 3 different types of this colorway where each type has their own strengths. The resell price for these is estimated at $2,000 (RM8,000) to $5,000 (RM20,000).
Nike Air Force 1 ‘Playstation’
If you were wondering why these are grails, ask yourself whether you even dislike the console itself. Nike collaborated with Sony to produce the Air Force 1 ‘Playstation’ with a limited production of 150 numbered pairs worldwide, during the period when the Playstation 3 was releasing. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Playstation 2, Sony reissued the pair for a release but with lesser pairs from the previous release. Resell prices are ranging from $1,800 (RM7,200) to $3,000 (RM12,000) these days.
Nike Air Force 1 ‘Entourage’
The inspiration behind the name of this grail is HBO’s series named Entourage, Fukijama-designed for an Entourage-member Turtle. We may observe sick graffiti-style lasering on the pair which is designed by the brand UNDFTD. If you observe the sneaker market close enough, you’d realize that this pair does not come about often and usually comes with a high price tag of at least $2,000 (RM8000) up to $5,000 (RM20,000). This definitely makes the list in the AF1 Holy Grail list.
Nike Air Yeezy 2
The brainchild of Kanye with Nike, released in three colorways namely Solar Red, Platinum and Red Octobers. Resell prices for these range from $1,800 (RM7,200) to $5,000 (RM20,000). Red Octobers are the one with the highest resell price even though it released a period of time after the Solar Red and Platinums. For the OCD sneakerheads, don’t be disheartened but it’s almost impossible to find a brand new pair with everything that comes along with it such as the metal aglets, dustbag and/or the original box these days.
That’s all folks. Hope you picked up a thing or two regarding rarity and concept related to sneakers. Now, is Off-White still the best? That’s for us to find out and for you to know.
