{"id":6556,"date":"2019-07-25T14:25:25","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T12:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/52.30.207.235\/why-nikes-moon-shoe-just-sold-for-e400000\/"},"modified":"2019-07-25T14:25:25","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T12:25:25","slug":"why-nikes-moon-shoe-just-sold-for-e400000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/why-nikes-moon-shoe-just-sold-for-e400000\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Nike\u2019s Moon Shoe Just Sold for \u20ac400,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget about your Wotherspoons, your Yeezys and even your stupid-limited friends & family Hyperstrikes. If you want to make some serious money in the sneaker scene then you need to get your hands on an original pair of 1972 Nike<\/a> Moon Shoes and fast!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Nike<\/p>\n

This week, one such pair of the ultra-rare Swoosh runners sold at auction for the mind-blowing sum of USD $437,500 (or almost \u20ac400k!), setting a new record for the highest price ever paid at auction for a single pair of sneakers. The sum shatters the previous record, held by a pair of self-lacing Mags, by more than double! So, with that in mind, we thought we\u2019d take a moment to dissect just why this vintage pair of kicks sold for such a seemingly ridiculous amount.<\/p>\n

From Humble Beginnings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First things first, we should probably give you a little background on exactly where the Moon Shoe came from. In 1964, long before Nike came into existence, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight established Blue Ribbon Sports as an Oregon-based distributor for footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger (the very same brand that would later evolve into ASICS<\/a>). Originally, the venture was solely concentrated on peddling the Japanese brand\u2019s then-cutting edge sneakers to serious runners looking to improve their times \u2013with the crafty duo making most of their sales out the boot of Knight\u2019s car at local track meets.<\/p>\n

As the years wore on, BRS grew into a successful nationwide retail venture \u2013 thanks in no small part to Knight\u2019s MBA focus on the marketing of athletic shoes \u2013 but Bowerman\u2019s curiosity eventually got the best of him. He began tinkering with Onitsuka\u2019s designs to cut down on weight and improve shock-absorption, eventually combining the best components of two existing Tiger designs to create a new runner branded the Cortez as a sly jab at adidas\u2019<\/a> Azteca Gold. This original Cortez model was originally produced by Onitsuka, who were impressed with Bowerman\u2019s hybrid design, but this experiment only further fuelled his desire to create the best running shoes on the planet.<\/p>\n

Cortez Controversy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With a solid market presence thanks to their chain of Blue Ribbon Sports stores, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman began toying with the idea of creating their very own sportswear brand in the late 60s and early 70s. They eventually settled on the name Nike as a nod to the Greek goddess of victory. The Swoosh, designed by Carolyn Davidson, was chosen for the brand\u2019s logo. Unbeknownst to Onitsuka Tiger, Knight and Bowerman had the Japanese brand\u2019s signature striped logo removed from their Cortez inventory and replaced with the Swoosh as a sneaky way of getting Nike runners out on to the market. Obviously, this didn\u2019t last long and Onitsuka were pretty peeved when they uncovered what Knight and Bowerman had been up to. The matter naturally went to court where both brands were given approval to the Cortez design. Nike kept the Cortez name, while Tiger went with the similar name \u2018Corsair\u2019 for theirs. While the first Swoosh-branded Cortez were, on the surface, some of the first Nike shoes in history, they certainly weren\u2019t the first to be built from scratch \u2013 enter the Moon Shoe.<\/p>\n

\"Nike<\/p>\n

One Giant Leap<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bowerman, inspired by his time as a track coach at the University of Oregon, got to work developing a revolutionary new runner to bear the Swoosh. His eureka moment had arrived in 1969, courtesy of his wife\u2019s waffle iron. He began experimenting with the device and the tread-like pattern it produced as a means to create rubber outsoles. Dismantling the device and reversing the iron plate, so that the pattern produced mimicked that of the iron itself, proved the perfect sole pattern for the revolutionary runner Bowerman envisioned. However, while the pattern proved remarkably comfortable, early rubber tests only withstood five minutes of pavement pounding before falling apart. Over the next three years, he would continue to refine the concept, experimenting with different rubber compounds, before finally arriving on the Moon Shoe in 1972. The shoe \u2013 so-called because the imprint it left in the ground was said to resemble the shoe prints left on the Moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission just a few years prior \u2013 is commonly regarded as the root of Nike. It was the first shoe to feature the iconic Waffle sole, the brand\u2019s first true innovation, predating the legendary Waffle Trainer by two whole years.<\/p>\n

Short Supply<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Moon Shoe made its official debut in 1972 at the US Track & Field Olympic Trials \u2013 held in BRS\u2019s hometown of Eugene, Oregon \u2013 ahead of the Munich Summer Games. It was a move to ensure Nike\u2019s presence was noticed by America\u2019s running elite. Each of these original pairs, while fully functional, predated any form of Nike mass-manufacturing. Each pair was cobbled together by Geoff Hollister, under the direction of Bill Bowerman. The shoe\u2019s nylon uppers were air-freighted in from Japan and the rubber soles were cut by hand. Telltale signs of the shoe\u2019s prototype status were evident on the outsole, which was both glued and stitched to the upper to prevent detachment. Due to the Moon Shoe\u2019s handmade construction, only about a dozen pairs are said to have been made. All but one of these original Moon Shoes was worn during the Olympic Trials. That remaining pair, which has reportedly never even been tried on, was the very shoe that went to auction this week: the only deadstock 1972 Moon Shoe in existence.<\/p>\n

\"Nike<\/p>\n

Eye of the Beholder<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, is the Moon Shoe worth almost \u20ac400k? Well, the recent Sotheby\u2019s auction suggests so. the auction house\u2019s own high-estimate put the value of the shoe at\u00a0 <\/span>USD $160k, but funny things can happen when you put an extremely scarce \u2013 and not to mention significant \u2013 item up for auction. In a surprising move, Canadian businessman Miles\u2019s Nadal had managed to purchase every other pair up for auction early, offering to pay the high estimate for each. While all other shoe owners in the Stadium Goods-arranged auction were more than happy to accept Nadal\u2019s offer, the owner of the Moon Shoe, Jordan Geller (aka Shoezeum), wanted to see the auction out to the end. It was decision that well and truly paid of. Surprisingly, this is not the first pair of \u201872 Moon Shoes that Geller has owned. Back in 2016, he auctioned off a heavily aged pair owned by Bruce Mortenson that managed to pull just USD $11,200 on eBay before later being relisted and reportedly sold in private. While we can\u2019t be sure exactly just how much that other pair sold for, we can be sure that it was a whole lot less than this most recent pair has changed hands for.<\/p>\n

The Moon Shoe is a significant piece of history from the biggest sportswear brand on the planet. More than that though, it is one of the most revolutionary shoes in all of sneaker history. The final sales price is a perfect example of supply and demand, and is a testament to the impact of Nike. While we are sure there are many of you out there that would much rather buy 100 other sneakers (and a car and a house…) for the same money, its importance can\u2019t be overlooked. While it is highly unlikely that you\u2019ll ever be able to find a Moon Shoe of your own \u2013 even recent retros are a tough find \u2013 you never know what other significant sneakers are out there just waiting to be found. After all, it wasn\u2019t that long ago that one of Bill Bowerman\u2019s original Waffle-soled prototypes, predating even the Moon Shoe, was discovered buried in Bowerman\u2019s own backyard!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forget about your Wotherspoons, your Yeezys and even your stupid-limited friends & family Hyperstrikes. If you want to make some serious money in the sneaker scene then you need to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,63],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[4,7,5,6,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-6556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-noticias"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6556"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.footdistrict.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=6556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}