Believe it or not, that's how long it took for me to finally acquire a pair of the Air Jordan III Retro white/cement with the Nike Air on the back.
My journey of searching first started in 1998 when I scoured the anal ends of Metro Manila and raided the stockroom of old-school sneaker shops for decaying and forgotten Air Jordans. I found some white/red VIIIs and a few carolin IXs, but unfortunately, no IIIs.
Then I remembered a store called Save-A-Lot inside Robinsons Galleria had a whole pallet of them just sitting right when you walked in the store in the mid-90's. I spent an entire afternoon making phone calls, asking whoever I could get a hold of where the unsold pairs went.
My efforts were all for naught since the store no longer existed and the parent company couldn't be bothered tracing where the stocks went.
When the shoes were retroed again in 2003, I didn't bother picking up a pair when they came out because the Jumpman on the heel tab made me upset. I heard it was because Nike didn't allow Jordan Brand to use the Nike Air logo on the same shoes that they originally sold. Like, whut?! 🥴 I did end up buying a pair months later when I randomly came across a pair in my size at Cash & Carry. (Before the stores there started selling fakes.)
With how much I hated all the excuses Nike/JB was giving its loyal customers for not bringing back the Nike Air logo, it was a no-brainer for me to totally skip the 2011 retro altogether.
When the brand finally came to its senses in 2013 with a proper retro, I totally missed my opportunity to grab a pair because I honestly thought I was going to be seeded one. 🫠This was when I got free pairs left and right from stores that I supported/promoted. Instead, a fuckface working for a retailer was tagged an "influencer" and given a pair. 💩
2018's "Free Throw Line" with the icey outsoles never really appealed to me. It was cool when a photo of the sample was posted online years prior, but it was not what I wanted for myself.
Five retroes later and 35 years since they first came out, I can at last cross them off my list.
And it's definitely a raffle dub worth blabbing about.
@sneakersnstuff
