Why the Hype?!?!: Air Jordan 5 Edition

Each week we will breakdown a well known sneaker and try to understand what made it popular, how it came about, and where its future is going.

This week we will focus on the Air Jordan 5.

First released back in 1990, the sneaker was designed by Tinker Hatfield. The sneaker had roots from the Air Jordan 4 but there were three elements that made the sneaker stand out:

1. The reflective (3M) tongue

2. Clear rubber soles

3. Shark teeth shapes on the midsole (inspired by the World War II Mustang fighter plane

why-the-hype-part-1

When the Air Jordan V (5) released in 1990 there were four colorways: White/Black/Red, Black/Silver, (“Grape”): White/Grape Ice-New Emerald , and (“Fire Red”): White/Varsity Royal/Varsity Maize

The sneaker didn’t see a return until 2000 in which the original (OG) colorways were re-released.

2006 and 2007 were the years of the Air Jordan V (5). Over those two years 13 Air Jordan Vs were dropped including 11 new colorways. It is these years that caused the sneaker to take off and truly become popular as well as a staple in the community.

Why the Hype Part 1

The years following brought a few releases in 2009 but 2011 was the year that allowed the sneaker to stand out. 2011 brought about the Air Jordan V Raging Bulls Pack, the “Bin 23” (seen above) and the “Quai 54”. Each of these sneakers is highly sought after by collectors because of their unique features and colorways. The Air Jordan V will always be a staple sneaker in the eyes of many and has found a special place in our hearts.

Let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed this type of article and would like to see more.

 

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4 Comments

  1. I wasn’t a air jordan fan until I saw the V’s. This sneaker had it all when I saw them in the store in ’90. A very unique style and out-sole and talk about ankle cushioning! I became a fan of the shoe line ever since. THE all time best of that line.

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  2. The Vs are the only of its kind, in the Jordan line at least. With the reflective tongue and the “icy” sole giving it that flashy style, but maintaining the quality court performance on court, what more could you ask for? Also, the last of Jordans that kept a casual look to it that flows with street gear, without looking like a ba shoe. It’s an all around shoe, definitely a “staple” in a collection.

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  3. The reason that im into the fives so much especially the grapes is because i grew up watching the fresh prince and he would always rock them

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  4. These are just my opinions so don’t get upset with me for having them, every person is entitled to have one. The hype is created by people who gives two sh*t’s about the culture Jordan created with his shoes. As of late it just seem odd that all of a sudden shoes became real popular amongst the kids these days. I mean Jordans have always been popular since he signed with Nike his Brand has become more of a following than anything and it extends across the globe. What Jordan has done with the game of basketball, and everything else associated with it, what no other person can ever do. He is the reason we all are into shoes like we are today. The hype is simply about money. The economy is in the worst shape possibly ever but for some reason nike is posting record profits. How is this possible? I thought about it and I came up with this. I notice that urban areas don’t get particularly huge numbers of inventory ever. But areas where Jordan are less popular get huge inventory. I’m not saying this is fact but shopping around for shoes I found this out on my own. I thought why not put shoes where you know they can sell out, then it hit me, resellers. Think about it like this, if I have a shoe store and I wanted to make more money than I usually do (because we all don’t buy socks) I can resell my own product in the aftermarket and get 3x to 8x the retail on top of the retail price I charge customers. So I get my friends/associates to buy shoes from my store in bulk and they set up ebay accounts and sale the shoes for more. This works like this all those retail stores saw how much the first South Beaches and Yeezy’s sold for after release. I see that I’m thinking I’m missing out on some money. You can’t just charge a $1000 for retail they won’t buy them but I can create scarcity hoard the inventory and sale them online and make hundreds of millions in untaxed dollars, you don’t find it odd that after that the shoe game just went crazy. How can a shoe sale out of a store with out you ever seeing one person buy the shoe from them? I know I’m not the only one that notice this trend happening. Just my opinion.

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