These Nike Air Mocs were one of the first shoes that got me into Nikes, go figure. I worked in a childrens’ shoe store the better part of three summers, with a sneakerhead owner. - He had one of the first Nike accounts in Ottawa, wore Jordans to his wedding, and was in such good standing with our fav company that they sent him grips of good sneakers in his size, for himself. I wore some III’s to work one day, and my boss mentioned how he had “every Jordan ever, including the metal ones”, but gave them all away to the guy who had my job before me. Cool. At least we were the same size. Cooler.

We were a children’s store, but we carried some bigger sizes - half the Ottawa Lynx’s roster, then the Orioles’ AAA affiliate, bought their VC3s from us - mostly in Mocs and Alpha Project shoes. Whatever Nike was pushing, they sent to us. I remember coming in to work one day and the whole floor was covered in boxes - it was a small store, but did a lot of business - mostly baby Terra’s (not the good kind), but with 3 pairs of Kukini’s in a size 10, in obese orange boxes, staring out at us, daring us to c0pe. None did. I bought a pair of Mocs that summer to add to my busted ass collection. I returned them a week later, not being leisure enough to pull off this look. I have since regretted it, but not in any real way.

ACGs, they’re my shit. For a while, if you saw me in the street, and you would, I’d be arcteryx’d and ACG’d out, something orange, or grey/brown, nutty on my feet. “That’s me dogg, on my block I didn’t have to play the big shot”, is what Brad meant when he’d post up in houston rocking Goadomes and a light fleece, ready for any weather. Then I moved back to Canada where everyone wore the hell out of that look, only their jeans had raisins (raisans? shout out to J Mascis’ Witch playing a secret gig tonight that I’m not connected enough to get into), peanut butter stains, dust from their little bag of chalk hanging off their jeans, tousled (knotted) hair. If not for some of these details, it might as well have been me. So I just ran a pair of 97s into the ground, trading an OG pair of Okwahns for a TV (which was not cable ready), selling beat-ass wildwoods for $30, spending the money on basketball magazines, bus tickets and feta burgers, etc etc. I was free for now I thought, with less clutter in my sneaker sanctuary, just an X minus 1 pair situation.

But man.. I don’t know what’s worse. That feeling I’d get when I’d leave the house with nothing to wear* or the feeling I just copped while looking at these. Such a sick color combo. Just enough black and white to make it totally look sleepy, and a highlighter yellow swoosh (and lacelocks) to set off your faded ass steep tech, or purple Theta AR, or whatever. I’m not sweating it too hard, because they’re way too large for my feet, but hey, to see a 1999 shoe - any shoe, screw an ACG - on sale, on the cheap, even with a bobo box, is bittersweet unless you cop it. I guess I just know what I like, but don’t always get it.

*worst feeling for about 5 seconds. Sometimes you don’t want to wear your beaters, no matter how icy.

The Air Bakin was a pretty wacky shoe. If you ask me, they’re almost unwearable. They’re high, about a foot off the ground, and are either burgundy (I think they’re burgundy) or puce. They’re air, but they’re an old model, so they won’t feel resilient or anything. This was the shoe, or one of them, that got recalled because of the Arabic script on the “Air”. Fair enough I say, send these shits back to the stone age. The only dogs who can pull this off are either packing trail mix or a gun.
Otherwise, it just doesn’t click. I have to hand it to this pair, though. They are quite spanking, clean and fresh. I haven’t seen many with this gum rubber outsole, or even in yellow. Stay away from those reds, they are played out, man. This shoe, at its best, is a waterproof, sturdy, high top air max 97? Up to you if you think you can pull it off.

PS peep this guy’s other auctions, esp. his prices. $2K for a pair of IIIs? $250 for a rookie Garnett jersey? All right. If I was wealthy beyond my means I would definitely buy only overpriced stuff on the bay, from guys like this, just to ruin it for everyone.

PPS Gasol looked good last night. Kobe’s points dropped down real low… Is this a sign of things to come? How are they going to handle those weird twin towers come late March? I’m sure the triangle offense contains some sort of answer, even if it is just kick-out. There are onions in this sauce though…

OG Nike Air Mowabb — size 9.5 - Here is what Sami said about these shoes in Trumbull Escapades ish #1 in July 2004

This shoe dropped in 1991 as part of the ACG series but more importantly, it was the debut of the Mowabb colorway. The juxtapostion of burnt orange/royal blue defined the Mowabb look, but there is more to be said about the aesthetics of the sneaker itself. It looked like the Hurache LE and the Jordan VI had a baby. Defintely ACG’ish, yet it maintained a crucial edge over many other models in the ACG line due to its relatively Mondrian use of colors and excellent inner sock lining. I personally don’t own a pair but thats because it will be retroed in October, so I will buy it then.

I dont know if Sami would quite speak so highly of this shoe since its now been retroed, he didn’t buy a pair and its now obvious to me at least just how dumb this sneaker is. Its so pliable its almost like a presto! And the lining isn’t excellent, its the dumbest idea. You can’t wear ankle socks with these or the lining rubs against your bare skin and gets filthy (you can see this a little in the pic below), and what kind of sock looks good sticking out of the top of that sock lining? I tried a pair of orange Lacoste socks a few times and it was one of the dumber things I have ever done. Former CEO of Turbine, Jeff Anderson even went out of his way to shake his head at these shoes when I tried wearing them around him at Atari University one year. Also you can’t get them wet.

Click on the image below to see more pics, these look to be in great shape and might not even crumble when you wear them. Kinda funny that he calls them “the classic nike hiking shoe”, the last thing you would ever want to do in these is hike anywhere except to the kitchen for another cold one.

PS - I just realized I made it sound like I dont like these. I actually love em.

The classic Presto gets redone as a hiking boot, fitting in with the ACG theme. While Prestos are known for their light weight and their comfort, this model bucks the trend by being made up as a shoe, complete with the standard 5 ringlets with thicker laces and a foldable top (think those stupid cons some girls wore). It therefore makes absolutely no sense. This shoe is cumbersome and dark in color, however it is simply more sturdy and durable than a simple Presto. Think of it as the Innovation Kitchen  equivalent to the Stash BW, or the Sweet Ink equivalent to the Nike dunk. I personally don’t have a pair but only because my friend Rob has one, and I dont want to look like I’m copying him.

A FSR recently went mostly unbid on for about 30 bucks each from a UK retailer. Click the pic to check the auction: