in the united states, the day after thanksgiving is called black friday, which basically marks the beginning of the xmas shopping season. but for sneakerheads, 11/25/11 is no ordinary friday, not even black friday.
it's black cement friday.
today marks the release of 136064-010 aka jordan 3 retro black/cement/varsity red. known to sneakerheads as bc3, jordan 3 black cement was the shoe michael jordan wore in the commercial he had with spike lee in 1998, the year when he won most valuable player, most defensive player, all-star game mvp, and slam dunk competition. on court, he used this shoe in the 1988 all star game with fantasy god-like stats: 40 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks! he also played with these in certain games in the regular season where he won the scoring title (37 points per game). originally released in 1988, it has been retroed thrice: 1994, 2008, and 2011. this is known as the first jordan shoe to sport the "jumpman" logo to commemorate his win in the slam dunk competition a year before. the first of 14 shoes designed by renowned designer tinker hatfield for his airness, this is perhaps one of the most celebrated jordans of all time besides the jordan 11 concords and space jams. no wonder sneakerheads of all ages and shoe sizes have been looking forward to this day "to cop these joints."
i tweeted a few days back that i'm not keen on buying these shoes, as i am looking forward to other prominent releases especially the jordan 11 concords, which i personally consider as my "holy grail." but i know that a lot of sneakerheads won't sleep on this release. to get on top of this "sneaker game", a collector has to do whatever it takes to cop his own holy grail.
days leading into the release, there was much talk and discussion on nike talk philippines' facebook group page and i found it interesting that people intend to camp out and fall in line for these. i even read a post about tips on how to get inside the mall even if it's still closed just to get in line. true enough, a lot of them did. looking at the pictures from the various outlets that released these joints, it was not surprising that the lines could actually match that of a feature film or even a rivalry game in the uaap. and reading the posts in the group page was quite surprising, with stories of drivers and yayas falling in line to buy multiple pairs, collectors traveling from one venue to another to get their joints, disappointed sneakerheads who fell in line yet failed to grab a one due to over consumption of those in front, and other recollections and reactions on how black friday went.
with this hoopla around bc3 on black saturday, i wonder how much more will the commotion be on the release of jordan 11 concords less than a month from now. with all the hype building up for this shoe as well as the potential for resellers to make the most of the opportunity ahead, i won't be surprised that i myself will not be able to cop those concords on its day of release unless nike will impose a limit to purchases (which i think they won't). for sure, lines will be longer, commotions will be greater, anomalies will be messier, and accusations will be fiercer. on that day, it's either you leave the shoe premises with the shoe of choice on your own size, or die trying.
at the end of the day, they're just shoes. and shoes are meant to be worn, not kept.
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