Full circle

It was 1997, I was in 5th grade, and it was time to put my Air Jordan XIIs in the shoe closet of things we were gonna give to relatives in the Philippines when we go on vacation. I begged for the newest air jordans, because it was christmas break and thats when Im able to ask for things that wasn't for my birthday. Funny enough, when we got to it was either a finishline or a footaction, while I was looking one of the salespeople asked what I liked and if I liked "Jordans" I looked at my mom and said "YEAH!". The guy takes the 13s off the shelf and says "these are the latest we just got some more in (those were the days weren't they?), you wanna try them on?" again I looked at my mom and I said "Yes". 

Flash forward 21 years and I finally have this model and colorway back in my possession. To most it's just a shoe, to me it brings back childhood memories of actually wearing them and beating them down to shit. On the playground at recess playing basketball, family trips, holidays, I wore them everywhere all the time. Oh yeah, I was also the only kid at school with these 13s on my feet, so you could say I was pretty cool...no? just me? well I thought i was cool. The real reason why these are so special to me is because of the nostalgia, these 13s would be the last Air Jordan on my feet after 6th grade. Times got rough, money was a little tight so back to school shopping was at outlets or on base only, but I always remembered the feeling of putting on my favorite basketball player's signature shoe. Having these again in my collection is truly full circle for me.

2018

About 5 years ago Jordan Brand announced they were going to do something called "Remastered", this is when they retro the shoes but in a way that closely resembles the original models of Air Jordans, emphasis on closely. In the span of the past 5 years and JB remastering several J's, there's been more misses then there were hits, these 13s might just be the best remastered retro that they came out with (depending on your pair, my pair came out great).

The Breakdown:

- Suede panels and midsole

- quilted tumbled leather panels on the medial and lateral sides of the shoe

- stiff tumbled leather toe box

- suede / tumbled leather tongue 

- orthlite insole

- full length zoom air

- rubber outsole with herringbone traction

- holographic MJ logo on lateral side of the heel

- thin rope like lace

- carbon fiber shank place for torsional support

Overall, the shoe is pretty close to the original, minus the leather cuts and quality. I'm happy with them I hope everyone that wanted a pair got one and are happy with theirs too. 

Michael Jordan highlights from the 97-98 NBA season.