Local Man Has Ultimate Air Jordan Collection
By Evan Jankens
732 -- No, that's not the number of games Michael Jordan has played in. That's the number of Air Jordans that sneaker head Mark Bostic owns. That's right, Bostic owns 732 pairs, which will soon be 733 on Friday with the midnight release of the Retro Jordan XI "Concorde."
Check out Bostic talking about the Retro Jordan XI HERE
I was lucky enough to catch up with Bostic to talk about his unbelievable collection that I could only dream of. I own roughly 50 pairs of Jordans and I used to think my collection was nice -- until I talked with Bostic.
Below is a video of Bostic in his basement that contains the 732 pairs of Jordans.
Bostic started his collection in 1986 when he got his first pair of the OG Jordan 1's, but the collection really started to blossom when his friends started noticing all the pairs. That was when he had around 200 or so. Just to think this shoe sold for $65 new in '86. I don't even think you can buy a kids size Jordan for $65 anymore. I asked Bostic if he still owned this OG pair of the shoes that started it all.
There was a long pause, almost as if he didn't want to say he no longer had them. When moving from California to Michigan, 50 pairs of his OG (original) Jordans went missing during the move -- something told him he should have moved them himself.
Part of me wonders if Michael Jordan signed with Adidas would the Air Jordan be as popular as it is today? I say, "no way." Look at the players who wear Adidas in an NBA game, their biggest star is NBA MVP Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and I would never buy a current pair of his shoes over a retroed pair of Air Jordans.
Now you have to think of 732 pairs of shoes you would have to have a favorite right? I'm not even sure if I had that many that I could narrow it down to one and Mark answered it as quick as can be, with 1 of 1 pair of the 2010 Air Jordan's that were a sample of the shoe and were given to Michael Jordan himself.
I also asked Bostic to name the hardest-to-find Jordan that he owns. The answer? They're the hard-to-find and very rare BIN 13's. This shoe wasn't released to the mass public and Bostic really had to do some searching to find this shoe. He finally found it and they ended up running him around $450.
Now while talking to Bostic, I noticed we had something in common. We lived in Detroit and weren't on the "Bad Boys" bandwagon. Nope. We liked Michael Jordan. I remember going to a Pistons game when I was around 10 years old I wore my Jordan T-shirt and Bugs Bunny/Air Jordan hat. All these old men were giving me a hard time and when I asked my dad why this was he said "you are rooting for the person everyone in Detroit hates."
One other really neat fact about Bostic and his collection is that he wears a size 13 or 14. Those are two of the hardest sizes to get. People might ask if Bostic is just collecting these shoes why not just get any size? Well, Bostic is unique and wears his collection out and about. Owning 732 pairs you might also be thinking he can't wear them all. That's correct and he did tell me he takes them out of the box once every few months to make sure they get some air.
Bostic has been featured on plenty of websites including theshoegame.com and also was recently featured on the cover of sneakerfreaker.com.
You can follow Bostic and his journey of sneaker collection on Twitter @jumpmanbostic.
Also check out Bostic's videos on his collection on his YouTube page.
This Friday marks a very special day for me as the Air Jordan XI comes out in the original color way at midnight. I am going to start waiting for these shoes, which I have missed out on three times now. The first time they were released was in the 95-96 season while I was in seventh grade and there was no way my parents were going to buy these for me knowing I would mess them up. The second time was when I was in high school. My father promised to buy them for me but low and behold he showed up at the store at noon and they were sold out.
That's the thing with Jordans. If they are an original color way and you aren't there when the store is open, good luck. Third time the original color way of the XI came out it was in the Defining Moments Package and I just couldn't afford them. Well, now I have the money and the time and nothing will stop me from getting these. I will be live blogging tomorrow while I am in line waiting for my prized possession in the form of a shoe.
