Once the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, there's only one thing that crosses a sneakerhead's mind: Which Jordans are going to release on Black Friday and around Christmas that year. Some might already know the answer, but it causes months and months of speculation.
For the past few years, Jordan Brand has given a consistent schedule of putting out a retro of a sought-after O.G. colorway on Black Friday, and then follows it up by dropping an XI a few days before Christmas. As expected, each release causes nearly every local mall to turn into a mess with everyone who knows anything about sneakers or basketball. And everyday between Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with parents running from sneaker store to sneaker store, trying to find whatever Jordan they're looking for, just because their child wants something that they know will be impossible to get.
If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you want a pair of the "Legend Blue" XIs this holiday season. You may still be asking for a pair of "Black/Infrared" VIs, if you haven't tried to resell the pair you scooped on Black Friday. If you want either of these sneakers, by all means, go out and get a pair. Get your raffle tickets, stand in line (hell, pay someone to do it for you), buy a bot, or get an in-store connect to hold you down on a pair, but don't, under any circumstances, ask your parents, girlfriend, or anyone you really care about to go through this process for you.
Why would you subject someone who is unfamiliar with sneakers to the chaos that is going to ensue around this year's biggest release?
You know the degree of difficulty that's associated with getting a pair of XIs around this time of the year. So think about it for a second: Why are you going to put them at no. 1 on your Christmas list with no second option?
No Christmas present should come with a set of instructions to make the purchase
Your folks aren't just going to wander into a Foot Locker or Finish Line, pay $200, and get your present. They're going to be met by a sales associate who's been fielding the same question all day long: "Do you have these Jordans?" Which is usually followed by someone pulling out a folded computer printout, opening it, and showing the same sneaker that everyone else wants, but has already sold out.
Your parents, because they love you, will walk from store to store and from to mall to mall, and even check every online site selling the sneakers. But, more than likely, they'll come up empty-handed.
Then Christmas morning will come. You'll run down to the tree, rip through a couple of presents, and hope you get the XIs. They're probably not going to be there, though — not because your mom and dad didn't try hard enough to get you a pair, but because the rest of the world was out to get a pair, too.
No Christmas present should come with a set of instructions to make the purchase. Parents have to read enough of those on Christmas Day to put together whatever else you else you asked for. Not to mention, people get physically hurt every year when the holiday sneakers come out.
Point blank: It makes you a jerk to ask someone other than yourself to go through the hardship of obtaining these joints. And let's not even bring up the people who are still putting "Galaxy" Foamposites, "Black/Cement" IIIs, or Supreme x Air Force 1s on their lists. They're either clueless, have unrealistic expectations, or have a family member who doesn't mind frivolously spending cash.
Just be upfront and honest with whomever is providing you with the gift. Tell them what you really want and how much it will cost, and explain that you'll do all the dirty work yourself. You might actually score the sneakers, and your holiday will be a little more stress-free. On top of that, you'll put yourself in better standing with your parents. And who knows, they might actually pick you up the next pair of Js that doesn't take a year of planning to get.
Matt Welty is an editorial assistant at Complex and he's worked too many holiday seasons at sneaker stores to really care about what you want for Christmas. You can follow him on Twitter here.
