Air Jordans Create Shopper Frenzy

Would you wait in line for 7 hours in the cold from midnight to get a new pair of shoes?

A shoe. A basketball one at that. And one manufactured by Nike. Yeah, that sneaker company with the cool swoosh label.

Oh, it's no ordinary shoe they say. It's a shoe endorsed by former NBA basketball superstar Michael Jordan.

Scores of people around the nation lined up at their shoe mall to purchase the new Air Jordan on Friday.

Reports of people firing guns up in the air, pepper spraying, fights, stabbings, and all the horrors of, well, buying a $180 shoe ensude.

As I watched this, I couldn't help but scream "It's a shoe people! It's just a f*cking basketball shoe!"

But I knew there was more than this to meet the eye. So I went to eBay. I searched and found lots of shoes. Mens, womens, children. White, pink, blue - you name. it. And, I was doing it all from the comfort of my own home without any long lines or 30 degree bone chilling temperature.

Oh wait. It's the Nike Air Jordan 11 shoe. Tap tap tap.

Seems that there's a reason why some of the sneaker devoted fans waited in line. They are flipping those shoes on eBay at $380! Aha!

Mr. Jordan's shoes fetch quite a bit in the open market. Many are held as collectible items for a few years and then sold in auctions or specialty stores. The original Air Jordan 1 that was released in 1985 is going for $999 on eBay, unused of course without smelly foot odor.

The Air Jordan line has released 26 shoes to date. What makes this one different is that it has interchangeable soles for extra cushion. To make the shoe totally unique, each is made out of Patina leather and burnished by hand. And that's what Jordan fans were waiting in line for ((cough).

Thank your lucky stars that Imelda Marcos wasn't a basketball fan.

About Kerry Kobashi

Kerry is the founder of KerryOnWorld. He lives in Silicon Valley.