No need to wait any longer, the big day has finally come: This Saturday on December 10th, TOMORROW, the Air Jordan XI „Space Jam“ is hitting stores again. It‘s the release every sneakerhead was dreaming about and saving his “sneaker-money“ for. We share your sheer excitement, because not only is the AJ XI probably the most famous J in the Jordan line, but the „Space Jam“ colorway in black, dark concord and white is the most dope.
When the Air Jordan XI Space Jam was first released to the public and hit the stores in 2000 – 4 years after MJ already rocked them in the movie and on court -, a never seen before hype had been upon the sneaker scene. Now with the 20th anniversary of the most popular basketball movie Space Jam, Jordan Brand finally releases the legendary Air Jordan XI Space Jam again in order to honor Michael Jordan‘s starring role. His Airness wore the iconic shoes when he teamed up with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters in the famous intergalactic battle against the evil MonStars from another planet far far away (Feel free to take a walk down memory lane with us and relive the best scenes of the Space Jam movie in one of our latest blog entry).
Back to the hard facts! Some basketball fans and sneaker enthusiasts might shake their heads now, because they made their homeworks and know the real deal of the shoe. The Air Jordan XI „Space Jam“ came to fame thanks to the legendary movie in 1996, that‘s right, but His Airness actually first wore the „Space Jam“ colorway during the fourth game of the 1995 NBA Playoffs against Shaq, Penny and the Orlando Magic. So they should have actually not even be called “Space Jam”. Of course, but at that time, the film had not yet been released. The „Space Jam“ nickname therefore did not stick until the publication of the movie. This fact made the Jordan model even more iconic, since everybody is nowadays associating the AJ XI with MJ‘s great performance in the battle of good vs. evil, dream team vs. mean team, Looney Tunes vs. Nerdlucks.
After its first release in 2000, sneaker fans had the chance to cop one of the iconic pairs once again in 2009. Since then, the arrival of the AJ XI „Space Jam“ has been highly anticipated. This year marks the end of the long “Space Jam”-drought and the third overall retail release of the legendary Js. Compared to the former models, it does have some minor – to sneakerheads MAJOR – changes in its silhouette though:
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE AIR JORDAN XI SPACE JAM
1. In spite of Michael wearing the „23“ in Space Jam, this year‘s XI features the „45“ on the heel. As you can imagine, the reactions to this modification have been quite vehement – smoothly speaking – in the sneaker scene. Most of them were puzzled, frustrated even mad with Jordan Brand since its designers stated that they were intending to bring an exact replica of the Js, His Airness was wearing throughout the movie.
2. Compared to previous retros, this AJ XI Space Jam features a notably larger and higher mudguard. This time, Jordan Brand fulfilled their intention and created a silhouette that looks much like the pair His Airness wore during the intergalactic battle.
3. Since 2006, nearly every retro release has the Jumpman logo pointing to the right. Not with the AJ XI Space Jam. This one‘s left shoe comes with a Jumpman logo pointing to the left.
4. Another change was made with the insoles of the shoes. They feature the “Nike Air“ instead of the typical Jumpman logo. The return of the Nike Air had quite some enemies though.
5. Last but not least, the Space Jam XI comes with a Looney Tunes Packaging. This special packaging will display the the number 45 on the tissue paper while Bugs Bunny and the MonStars‘ hands interlink for MJ‘s famous number 23. The plastic insert shows a dotted XI while the official branding of the Looney Tunes is seen on the bottom of the box. Quite a thrill to unbox the Js.
It’s the shoe, why major sneaker releases of the Air Jordan Brand had to be moved to Saturday in order to stop kids from skipping school for the icon’s arrival. It’s the shoe, why sneakerheads started camping out in front of stores in order to even have the chance to cop one of the legendary Js. It’s the shoe, why people started fighting and overrunning each other in order to get their hands on a pair. It’s the shoe, that changed the sneaker game forever.
Jordan Brand finally gives the fans what they want. Be part of the hype and get your pair of the AJ XI „Space Jam“ at KICKZ.com. The Space Jam XI will release in adult, kids, pre-school, toddler and crib sizes. Time‘s a wasting, cop the famous Jordan and rock it together with your whole family:
http://kickz.cc/AJXISpaceJamRetro
