The cheapest Nike Air Force 1s

Short of stealing these shoes out of a store, or them being given to me as a gift, these are the cheapest Nike shoes, let alone Nike Air Force I (AF-1s), I have ever seen. And seeing how they are from the Nike Factory Store, on Smith Street, Collingwood, I know they are 100% genuine.

The AF-1s are a rock solid stable shoe. I use these shoes for day to day street wear, but I have also used them for playing raquet sports in. They are made of leather, and flex nicely on the toebox, allowing for a good comfortable feel. The Air in the heel make this shoe provide a very comfortable feel of the floor.

The AF-1s were an important introduction for Nike. They were the first basketball shoe the company manufactured that contained Air. They did not have the visible Air cell, as seen on the Air Max shoes, so they caused some confusions initially. As mentioned in the Sole Provider book, people did not understand the concept of Air in shoes, and some would buy shoes so as to open them or cut them to see what is inside.

So how cheap is cheap? I believe this shoe originally retailed for around AUD$150. It was marked in the Nike Factory Store as AUD$120. During the start of December, they had a 40% off their entire stock sale, which during that event, the shoes were marked at AUD$60. Total price for a pair of genuine leather AF-1: AUD$36. The shoe is not laced as was found in the box, but in the "double back" technique - as found on Ian's shoelace website - which exposes an additional "AF-1" lettering on the tongue.

For $36, I should have bought a few pairs. They would have made great gifts, and I could have even had the opportunity to open one up to see how the Air was positioned.