Now that the dust has settled and we can reflect back on another holiday shopping bonanza, the Snkrs Day team got all nostalgic about our favorite Black Friday releases of all-time. And although Black Friday is still a relatively new shopping experience, that didn’t stop the team from clearing the cobwebs in our memory banks to reveal some favorites from the early years of the the post-Thanksgiving sales day.<\/p>\n
Headlined by a range of coveted Jordan Brand releases alongside others that hit close to home from a sentimental standpoint, check out our favorite Black Friday releases of all-time and see if any of yours made the list.<\/p>\n
Air Jordan 3 Black\/Cement<\/p>\n
“In 2011, I remember vividly wanting the black and cement Air Jordan 3. It was my sophomore year of college and the benefits of attending college within a niche town is the fact that the newest Jordan releases may sit on the shelves. With that in mind, my brother and I made the early morning journey to Denton, Texas from Dallas, Texas which is about 48 miles, give or take. After about 40 minutes of waiting in the blistering cold, my brother and I grabbed our pair of kicks and slept for most of that day after making the journey back to Dallas. Such a great moment of bonding between my little brother and I.”<\/p>\n
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Nike Sportswear x DJ Clark Kent “Black Friday” Air Force 1<\/p>\n
“I really like the material makeup of this DJ Clark Kent-designed Air Force 1: black pony hair, lenticular material on the back panel, swoosh, and tongue and black patent leather on the midsole and a leather lined interior. It’s also one of my favorite Black Friday releases because it was one of the first original-content stories we published during my first year with Snkrs Day.”<\/p>\n
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Nike “History of Air” Pack<\/p>\n
“The Nike “History of Air” Pack kicked off on Black Friday of 2005. I remember being in an Indianapolis Finish Line down to see my Swisher side of the family and the whole store was canvassed with White\/Red Air Max 1s. They had the whitest mesh I’d ever seen and definitely evoked an “oh sh*t” feeling upon sight.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, I passed. ’05 was right before the blog boom and I was an avid reader and sometimes commentor on NikeTalk. Through passionate insiders and collectors, it was well known by mods, members and readers that Nike would be dropping an iconic Air Max every month starting in ’05 and running into ’06 to build steam for the Air Max 360 — a shoe that had big deal written all over it with some even imagining an all-Air bubble design. Yes, ambitious. While I dug and wanted the AM1s, the “Infrared” 90s in December were the cream of the crop for me. I’d ultimately get them from my mom and dad for Christmas and have to wait til the spring of my senior year of high school to break them out as the Michigan snow melted.<\/p>\n
While other shoes I picked up like the Air Jordan 3 Black\/Cement — thanks to Greg Grovey and the good folks at the Snkrs Day Shop — remain in rotation, the “History of Air” Pack really impresses me now. They were the hottest Air Maxes — period — and accessible for all. It also didn’t feel like you had to rush or have them all. You had to be in the know to budget ahead and prep to pick them up, but you could have no idea what NikeTalk was and still show up at a Dick’s Sporting Goods and see a full size run for a month. The “Color of the Month” Air Force 1s this year remind me a lot of that, even though I don’t think it’s culminating in a new silo (save the Flyknit Forces). I still have my “Infrared” Air Max 90s from the HOA Pack. They’re cooked, but they still get burn. I had to take out the History of Air timeline midsole because they frayed, but best believe I still kept them.”<\/p>\n
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Air Jordan 6 Black\/Infrared<\/p>\n
“For as long as I can remember the Black\/Infrared Air Jordan 6s have been one of my all time favorite shoes. While I was fortunate enough to acquire a number of Jordan silhouettes growing up, I typically only copped the white\/red coloways of each signature. Therefore, in my later years I made it a personal task of mines to go back and collect all the gems that I’ve missed over there years. A few items from that list included the “Black Cement” 3s, “Bred” 4s, and “Aqua” 8s. Both 2000 and 2010 gave me an opportunity to add the Black\/Infrared 6 that I’ve longed for, but it was the 2014 release that brought things full circle for the kid.”<\/p>\n
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Air Jordan 4 Black\/Red<\/p>\n
“I like to consider myself a “deep cuts” kind of guy. I tend to liken my affection for sneakers with that of my penchant for obscure music. Typically I’m looking for the song no one else is checking for, with a sound few have an ear to stomach. But when it comes to my all-time favorite Black Friday sneaker release, it’s sadly similar to a pop single that received heavy radio spins and sold 10 million maxi singles like Nelly’s “Country Grammar” or something like that.<\/p>\n
There’s no way I can go with anything other than the Air Jordan 4 Black\/Red. By my estimation, it’s one of the best shoes ever made and it’s not even close. The look and feel of the shoe, as far as I’m concerned, represents every single reason why I love Air Jordans. I’d gotten a few pairs growing up, typically by\u00a0pooling my money from cutting lawns with birthday cash from my mom and uncles. Yet 2012 would be my first opportunity to score the Black\/Red 4’s.<\/p>\n
I was home in Houston, Texas that week and one of my best friends had a connect at the Champs in the Galleria. We got there early, walked past the line-up, tossed the connect an extra $50 a piece and grabbed our shoes, which were both marked with our names on the boxes. It was one of those moments that we felt really, really cool. In retrospect, though, seeing as how our shoes weren’t going anywhere being that they were labeled and all, we probably should have just waited in line instead of trying to appear “cooler” than we actually were.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now that the dust has settled and we can reflect back on another holiday shopping bonanza, the Snkrs Day team…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137731,"featured_media":473875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[742],"tags":[1209741,1225545],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n