Image via Complex Original
Ask any sneaker collector about his/her "grails," and prepare to listen to a story. Because, whether they've been found or not, there is definitely going to be one. Sometimes it's all about the quest — a grail found simply means something else becomes a grail, and the quest continues. But sometimes a grail is found, and the quest actually ends. Is a sneaker just a sneaker? Perhaps. The stories, though, they're as precious as any creation of leather and rubber. Check out How I Got My Grails: 10 Industry People Speak On How They Got Their Favorite Sneakers, and feel free to share your own story below.
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Aaron Kr
Affiliation: Sneaker News
Twitter: N/A
Grail: Air Jordan IV "Black/Cement"
Released: 1999
Back in '99, before they started releasing Jordans on Saturdays to avoid precisely this type of truancy, I skipped out on my morning college classes to go scoop up the first ever retro release of the black Air Jordan IVs. A friend and I headed out early to the Carousel Mall in Syracuse about a half-hour before Finish Line opened, and when we arrived, there were about four people waiting in front of us and the line grew to maybe 12 by the time the doors opened. We walked in and checked right out with no hassle. Box price was $100 and there were no raffles, wristbands, campouts or Twitter RSVPs required to get the job done. It's great for the sneaker business that demand has exploded into what it is today, but it hurts to accept that the process will never be this clean again.
Sneakerbox Clyde
Affiliation: Inside The Sneakerbox
Twitter: @sneakerboxclyde
Grail: Ronnie Fieg x ASICS GT-II "Avatar" Samples
Released: N/A
The Holy Grail. No Magna Carta. Right? Man! That's a hard one. I honestly don't think I own my grail; if I even have one. I do have a story about how I landed one of the pairs that's pretty special to me though. It was 2010 I believe. Back before Ronnie [Fieg] was at the level he's at today. Before instagram took over our lives. I was randomly picked by Ronnie to win a pair of "Avatar" Ronnie Fieg x Asics GT- II samples that were never produced. The funny thing about it, is that I didn't even know I won. I was getting a bunch of @ mentions from different people congratulating me. I was lost. I had no clue. It was crazy. I thought it was a prank a first. Well, it wasn't. Ronnie sent them over and I have still yet to wear them. I've been offered plenty of money for them. Maybe I'll sell them. Just joking. I'd never sell 'em. There they sit in my closet; in an all-white, autographed box. Maybe I'll wear them next year for Inside The Sneakerbox's 5 Year Anniversary. Who knows.
Frank The Butcher
Affiliation: BAU/Boylston Trading Co
Twitter: @frankthebutcher
Grail: Adidas Forum “Crest” High (The Hustler’s Crest)
Released: 2011
My grails were a long-forgotten hazy memory from the late '80s. A status symbol on the handball courts where hustlers spent their days "working" and listening to BDK's Long Live The Kane album. The adidas Forum High "Crest" was a rare version of the Forum, in a premium makeup—even my adidas guys didn’t know it existed. Good thing I had some friends with deep closets, which led to a collaboration that reintroduced this gem to gen pop.
If I don’t contribute shit else to the sneaker world — I did my job.
Zac Dubasik
Affiliation: Sole Collector
Twitter: @xzacx
Grail: Nike Air Max Uptempo III
Released: N/A
Rasheed Wallace is my all-time favorite NBA player. Period. I admit that it's partially for the wrong reasons. But as a cheerleader for foolishness, I can't help but be impressed by his record-setting 41 technical fouls in a season. It's a milestone that, due partly to the since-enacted suspension rules, is almost guaranteed to never be broken. But I also like him for some of the right reasons. When Sheed, already my favorite player, joined my favorite team — the Detroit Pistons — in 2004, and helped lead them to a title, that cemented his place in my basketball heart. Since then, I've amassed a collection of Sheed items such as jerseys (including a Knicks REV30), shirts and shoes. I always wanted a game-worn item though, and a few years back, an interesting auction caught my eye on eBay: a "customized," game-worn pair of Air Max Uptempo IIIs. This was a particular interesting item to me because when pretty much anyone thinks Sheed, they think AF1s. He did in fact wear other shoes in his career though, and one of them was the Air Max Uptempo III. While I've never been able to find a picture of Sheed in this exact shoe, I have found others of him in Max Uptempo IIIs, as well as AF1s with the same "customization" as this shoe. "PEE-U" crudely written across the side. Now that I have the shoe, my new grail is the story behind "PEE-U."
Nick Engvall
Affiliation: Complex
Twitter: @NickEngvall
Grail: Converse Chuck Taylor All Star "John Lennon Peace"
Released: 2004
There are a lot of sneakers that I like but when it comes down to it, there is only one pair I would never let go of. In 2004, Converse partnered with the John Lennon Foundation to create a limited number of Chucks. The Beatles were my Dad's favorite band so I grew up listening to a lot of them and a lot of John Lennon. I wasn't able to find these anywhere near me when they came out, not sure where they released but I remember there was a big NYC event to bring people out and have a peace demonstration (the pair features the word for "Peace" in about 10 languages all over the upper). A couple years later I found myself dating a girl who really opened up my world and she was looking for the same shoe. It was one of those crazy experiences that make you think things are meant to be, so I was on the lookout for them once again. I was able to find a pair in her size and it took a couple years for me to find my pair. I ended up finding them in an old sneaker store in Los Angeles off of Fairfax in 2010. They were dusty as hell but they were still in perfect shape. Funny how things happen, but the Converse John Lennon Peace Chucks still hold more value in my life than any other sneaker I've owned.
Chris Lee
Affiliation: CtotheJL
Twitter: @CtotheJL
Grail: Nike Air Trainer 1 "Revis Island"
Released: 2013
One of my grails was the Revis Trainer 1. When they first dropped I didn't have extra money to cop them and that upset me. The 3M is super subliminal and the "Revis Island" embroidery on the back of the heel sets it off. My favorite part of the sneaker is the insole, it reminds me of those Tempur-Pedic mattress slips you put between the bed and mattress. I found them at Blends OC a few weeks back and immediately copped them, no question, they could of been marked up, still would of copped.
Gary Warnett
Affiliation: Crooked Tongues
Twitter: @Gwarizm
Grail: Nike Vandal
Released: 2002
I need some Snake Concord Lows from the early days of adidas Originals and some Nike Vandals in the Raiders-style colourway. I don't want the OGs or the VNTG shape in the Vandals: I want the 2002 shape. For some reason, a US10 eludes me. Whenever I get hold of anything, it ceases to be a grail so I don't own any footwear grails. There's a load of stuff with a PU sole from the late 1980s I love, but that would be unwearable, so ownership would be a waste of money and time.
Russ Bengtson
Affiliation: Complex
Twitter: @russbengtson
Grail: Nike Air Flight 89 High
Released: 1989
The Air Flight 89 became a grail for me by dumb luck as much as anything — I bought a pair when I was in my senior year of high school (yes, in 1989), and as years passed they became more and more cherished in my memory. But, seeing that "retro" as we know it didn't exist — and neither did eBay — I didn't hold out much hope of ever finding another pair. Then, in 1998, I was working at SLAM magazine, and flew down to Norfolk, Virginia to cover the McDonalds All-America Game. With time to kill, I took a walk around town — and stumbled across a sneakerhead's dream: an undiscovered mom and pop shop that appeared to be frozen in the late '80s, from the posters to the displays. Rather than max out my credit card and ship a whole crate of stuff home (which, in hindsight, I probably should have done — and someone else probably did), I bought just one pair of sneakers: the same white/royal Air Flights I had in high school. And if I ever find myself wondering if that place really existed, I can pull them out of the box and be reminded.
Dallas Penn
Affiliation: The Combat Jack Show
Twitter: @ Dallas_Penn
Grail: Air Jordan VI "Doernbecher"
Released: 2009
The VI is the greatest Air Jordan for my life. It just symbolizes how fresh a sneaker can be. The materials and the colors of the Doernbecher VI take this style to the 'nother level. I'm sweating this sneaker so crazy but I'm not try'na to give up my firstborn. They are being sold on eBay for a str8-up band and even them joints are used. Very, very, very near deadstock my ass.
Nick DePaula
Affiliation: Sole Collector
Twitter: @_NDP
Grail: Nike Zoom Flight
Released: 1995
The shoe that got me into shoes was the Zoom Flight '95. Jason Kidd was my favorite player, Eric Avar I'd later find out was my favorite designer, and ever since the very first time I saw them on the Foot Locker wall during the 6th grade, I knew the Zoom Flight '95 was my favorite shoe. Except I never could get a pair when they originally came out. (Moms wasn't feeling the price. Hearing "HELL NO" made things pretty clear when I asked for them. I ended up getting the Thrill Flight instead once they went on sale at Mervyn's, which were just under my $50 budget.) That all changed when I was in college and in 2004 realized there was this thing called PayPal that I could link my debit card to. A size 14 OG Mavs colorway was my very first pair off eBay, bought for $108 shipped. For the next five years, I bought as many original pairs as I could whenever they'd pop up. With all of the Retros that have since dropped, I think I'm up to 17 pairs now, and they're still my very favorite shoe all these years later.