Kick Locker

Matt Halfhill’s Top 25 Sneakers of All Time

1st Edition of “Who’s Kickin It”

History of the Nike “Swoosh”

Vol. 1November 2010Published By:Ballah Boakai

Fake Kicks:How To Tell What’s Real

The $1 Million Dollar LogoBy: John Brillant

CounterKicks caught an interesting slice of unre-ported news made by Nike Chairman and co-founder Phil Knight at Nike, Inc. most recent an-nual shareholders meeting on September 20th, 2010. The current price tag of the original Nike Swoosh logo designed by Carolyn Davidson? $1 million dollars. Continue reading for the full story behind the $1 million dollar Nike Swoosh logo.

During a question and answer session at Nike, Inc. annual shareholders meeting last month, Phil Knight divulged what to date had been previously undisclosed information: the exact amount of Nike stock shares given to Carolyn Davidson for creating the original Swoosh logo.

From the Nike annual shareholders meeting transcript on Sept. 20th, 2010:

Question: “I am a new shareholder, what does the swoosh mean and where did it originate?”

Phil Knight: I remember that. That was 38 years ago, and we were coming out with a NIKE line and we had to have a logo.

And we hired a graphic art student at Portland State University, and told her to come up with something that connoted speed, and we gave her $75.00 for what she came up with. When we went public in 1980, we called her back up and gave her 500 shares of stock, which she has never sold, and is worth close to $1 million this day.

We learn two things from this exchange.

First, a somewhat minor historical discrepancy worth noting. Knight states the original fee for the Swoosh logo at $75 where all previous accounts of the story, including in the book “Swoosh: The Story of Nike and the Men Who Played There” list Caro-lyn Davidson’s price for the logo work at $35.

Second, and more importantly, after Nike went public on the New York Stock Exchange, Knight gave Davidson 500 shares of NKE stock which she has yet to sell, amounting to an equity stake of around $1 million dollars today. Through various stock splits over the past two decades, we can roughly assume Davidson’s original 500 shares have grown to somewhere in the neighbor-hood of 12,000 and 15,000 shares based on NKE trading prices when Phil Knight made the original disclosure on Sept. 20th through today. Not to mention, Nike’s stock currently yields a $0.27 cent dividend per share, yielding Davidson a cool extra few thousand dollars in cash each quarter payout she keeps her total share amount.

Not a bad take for a logo originally invoiced under-neath $100. Now whether we can reconcile David-son’s $35 or $75 logo fee is for another story…

Now live it...

You’ve seen history...

Identifying and Avoiding Fake Sneakers and Fraudulent Web sitesBy: Sneakerhead.com

One of the most important questions you can ask is “Are my sneakers the real deal? Are they authentic?” Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast ways to tell the fakes from the real, but here are a few tips to help keep you from getting fooled even if you don't know a lot about the shoes. First, here are a few definitions to help you un-derstand the lingo that websites will use.

These are fake. Variant is just another way to say that shoes were not made or autho-rized by Nike and never have been.Samples

"Samples" come in Size 9 with no box, and are used to road test different looks for a shoe. You can come across some unusual samples, some of which are valuable, but these can be very rare. Anything else is fake.

Lookalikes can be found in department stores, are made by an anonymous brand and are very cheap replicas.CustomsAny shoe in a non-original color-way, it is a sample, a fake or a ‘custom.’ Customs are shoes that have been hand detailed in some way usually by one of the few well-known custom designers. These individuals take a legitimate pair of shoes and custom detail them for you, in which you case, you know what's happening and fakes are not a worry. Some websites call their shoes ‘customs’ but they are fakes. Anything that has been structurally altered is fake, including the Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry Air Force Ones.

Always buy from a reputable merchant. Reputable doesn’t mean a huge

corporation, but it does mean that they provide a mailing address, an email ad-dress and a phone number to contact them. Their business hours should be clearly posted and when you call, a trained, professional customer service representa-tive should be available to help you. Here is our advice for buying sneakers on the Internet.

Webpages for reputable, reliable mer-chants should look clean, professional, and be functional. Product images should look like they were taken in a professional stu-dio instead of someone's living room or a warehouse. The company should have its own domain name instead of a website hosted on a free service like Geocities (e.g. www.sneakerhead.com versus www.free-website-service.com/~sneakerhead/index.html). Registering a domain and creating a business website with an original design takes both time and money.

Note: The appearance of a website is not always the best way to judge the authen-ticity of a merchant. There is powerful soft-ware available that will create very profes-sional webpages, and sometimes, website selling fakes or websites pretending to sell products to steal your money will simply steal the design and images of a more fa-mous (and usually legitimate) website. This tactic is to deceive customers into believing their website is legitimate and related to the legitimate company.

When you go to Google, Yahoo, or an-other webpage to search for something, the results you get are ranked by order of importance. This ranking is determined by variables set in place by the companies that own the search engine. The rank or where it appears on the results is tells you how well that website is doing. Legitimate merchants will usually be located within the first three pages for specific words like "Nike Shox Lethal" and within the first four or five pages for more general searches like "running shoes".

Note: One excellent way to know how a website ranks is to download the Google toolbar from Google.com. Next to the search features and Google news icon is a small icon labeled "PageRank". This feature ranks websites on a scale of 0 to 10 with zero meaning that the page isn't ranked by Google and 10 meaning that this is one of the most important pages on the Web. Legitimate web merchants will usually rank between 3 and 5. Five is a very good rank-ing for Google because only household names like nike.com, msn.com, google.com etc. can score higher. Lesser known names like RunnersWorld.com and Men-shealth.com may score a six or a seven, leaving most merchants ranking between 3 and 5. Sellers of fakes will generally, but not always have a low page rank score on the Google toolbar. There is at least one exception to this rule that we are aware of.Method of Payment

Authentic websites should accept credit cards either directly through their website or with Paypal. Paypal should only be for very small companies. Merchants should follow all credit card processing regulations including having the cardholder name and address. In order to accept credit cards directly, you must apply for a merchant account which often requires a company to file as a corporation. These two methods are the most generally accepted meth-ods of processing credit cards over the Internet. Other payment processors may be available. If any company only accept money orders, don't bother. More than like-ly, you'll never see your money again and quite possibly, you may never even see the products you paid for. Always pay with a credit card. At least with a credit card, you have the protection of knowing that your card issuer can reverse the charge. With a money order, you may as well hand over your wallet with all its cash. The money is gone and you can count on never seeing it again. But even with credit cards, we rec-ommend that you use with care. Anyone

can set up a legitimate looking shop for the purpose of stealing your credit card information. Use with care. For more in-formation on shopping online with your credit card, please visit Important Things You Should Know about your Credit Card & Shopping on the Internet.

Come Join The Team

Come Join The Team

Who’s Kickin’ ItBy: Ballah Boakai

In this weeks version of “Who’s Kickin’ It” I’ve chosen to spot-light Ms. Erica Blackburn, a sophomore broadcast journal-ism major from Upper Marlboro, MD. Now nor-mally most sneak-erheads are males, but she is one of the few female collectors I’ve come across and have been im-pressed by her colletction.

KickLocker: When did youstart collecting?

Erica: I started collectingwhen I was 11. My mombought me the blue and white 18’s and I started collecting from there. Butmy first pair of Jordans were the 13’s when I was 7.

KL: How many pair of shoes do you have?

E: Well here at HamptonI brought 14 pairs, but backat home I have no idea.(LOL)

Erica’s collection here at Hampton.

KL: What makes your collection different?E: I think my selection is different be-cause I don’t just have one brand. I have Jordans, the I have air max, also new balances along with polo. So I would say my collection is very diverse and I don’t strictly rely on one brand.

KL: Favorite pair?E: Air Max 97’s

KL: What releases are you anticipating and which pairs would you like to see return?

E: I’m anticipating the cool grey 11’s that are coming out right before Christmas. And I’d like to see the 16’s come back. KL: Any words of wisdom to people just starting a collection?

E: It’s very important to keep them nice and fresh. That’s one rule to collecting.NEVER dog your shoes.

KL : Well thank you for your time and your shoes Ms. Blackburn.

E: No problem Mr. Boakai.

ConverseThe Game

Starts Now

Matt Halfhill’s

Top 25 Sneakers of ALL-TIME

By: Complex

25.Air Jordan

XIII

“MJ’s last moment may have happened while he wore the Air Jordan XIV, but the XIII was the shoe money rocked all season leading up to that memorable mo-ment. The pods resemble panther paws, a great look with shorts or with denim.”

“The Fab 5 were the gang-stas of college basketball. Black socks, long shorts, attitude, and the best kicks on court. More memorable than Chris Webber’s timeout.”

24.Nike Flight

Air Huarache

23. Nike Dunk

“Nike tapped into school spirit with the ‘Be True To Your School’ cam-paign and got its shoes onto the feet of its most elite college basketball partners. Nike really kicked off team-match colorups, and the con-cept of team shoes hasn’t been the same since. The Dunk returned from a decade of hibernation in 1998 and has been going strong ever since.”

“There are very few Huaraches that I don’t like, but the Air Huara-che is without a doubt my favorite. The rubber cage on the back holds your heel in place and the neo-prene boot provides a super-snug fit. A flexible heel and solid com-fort makes this one of the most-worn shoes in my lineup.”

22. Nike Air Huarache

21. Air Jordan XX3

“Tinker came out of retirement for the final numbered Air Jordan. This shoe featured Nike Considered stitch work on the upper to reduce the amount of glue, but one of the most unique fea-tures of the shoe was the outsole and covered midsole. MJ’s thumbprint (slightly altered for his identity protec-tion) formed the outsole of the shoes so that we all knew he gave the stamp of approval.”

“Neon Deion took his show West and his sneak-ers up another level with the DT II. Hey Nike, put this in the ‘Great Sneakers That Need to Return’ column. Seriously, what are you waiting for?”

20. Nike Air Diamond Turf 2

19. New Balance 1500

“The 1500 stands out from the rest of the NB lineup with sharp lines and corners that shape its upper. The 1500 has also been the focal point of a number of heavy hitting col-labs with UNDFTD, Solebox, and Provider.”

“Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The two legends both wore the Weapon in the midst of their rivalry, and the shoe is one for the ages. The sneaker was great-looking too.”

18. Converse Weapon

“Andre Agassi had some great sneakers, but my favorite pair were these ones that he wore towards the end of his storied career with Nike. Wilson Smith, a legendary footwear designer you might not be familiar with, pushed the limits of design with an asymmetrical lacing struc-ture and tongueless design. The shoe holds your foot snug like a glove.”17. Nike Air Assailant

“Many of the Bos were great shoes, but if I could only have one pair of Bo Jacksons for the rest of my life, it would be these. The shoes had a snug fit and 360 degrees of com-fort.” 16. Nike Air Trainer

Max 9115. Nike Air Max 98 “The Nike Air Max 98

doesn’t get nearly the shine that the 97 received, but I personally was more of a fan of this one out of the gate. I would not be mad if these returned.”

“The Air Force STS was the fourth of the Air Force series, which is why it earned the nickname from many as the Air Force IV. The young David Robinson was crash-ing boards and dominating the paint in these sneakers way back when. One of the many great high-tops of its time, the shoe also featured a little touch of elephant print on the side.”

14. Nike Air Force STS

“The 3M upper and metal mesh caught my eye and made me ex-tremely envious of my friend who had these shoes way back when. Full-length Air Max was a definite added bonus, but for some reason this shoe eluded me for years. Ev-eryone has that sentimental pair, but the Air Max 97 was what I talked about to a girl I met who became my wife and mother of my kids. Thank you, Nike.”

13. Nike Air Max 97

“What in the world material is that?! Nike had everybody turn-ing heads once again with the release of the Nike Air Foam-posite. I am sure there is at least one Mid-Atlantic city that rec-ognizes the introduction of this shoe as an official holiday.”

12. Nike Air Foamposite One

11. Converse Aero Jam “Converse’s PR and mar-keting campaign for Larry Johnson proved that a big man can sell shoes. All you need to do is dress him up like a granny and get him on Family Matters!”

10. Nike Air Max IV“The Nike Air Max IV has one of the wildest up-pers from its era, but it also happens to have my favor-ite fit. I have hunted high and low for these for ages and have not been able to re-up for nearly six years. I need another pair!”

9. New Balance MT580

“For years, getting a hold of this shoe was neither easy nor cheap. The MT580 only released in Asia and was very limited in larger sizes. Thankfully the shoe finally made its way to the U.S. in 2008.”

8. Air Jordan III“Though money didn’t win a ring in ‘88, he let the whole league know he was out for blood. MJ took an-other trip to the All-Star Game, won a second consecutive Slam Dunk title, and he grabbed his first MVP honors. Though the Jordan 1 may have ‘started it all’, the Jordan III will forever be the game-changer in design of not just the Jordan line, but of all basketball shoes. Elephant print for a touch of style, a mid-cut ankle, and big branding on the tongue and heel let everyone know who the greatest in the game was, and is.”

7. Nike SB Dunk Low “Nike did wonders with the Dunk when it was brought back in 1998, but when the skate kids got a hold of it, the shoe became legendary for a new generation. Creative con-cepts, colors, and retooling to make the shoe skate-friendly made this updated classic a classic.”

Yeah...we know

Yeah...we know

We like the shoes too

6. Reebok Court Victory Pump

“The Omnis were dope, but I always liked the clean look of the Court Victory Pumps a little more. The shoes were brought back cor-rectly in the early 2000s in the O.G. colors, and then the epic collab se-ries with ALIFE reminded everyone that these were TENNIS SHOES.”

“The 95s were one of the first shoes I remember returning to stores in what felt like only a year after their initial drop. Nike knew it had a winner! The shoe brought Air Max to the forefoot and heel, but it also had a unique system of chambers with differ-ent PSI pressures. Like with the 90s, the colorways set this shoe off and gave it a casual-wear appeal like no other.”

5. Nike Air Max 95

4. Air Jordan IV

“MJ didn’t have to wear this shoe to make it one of the great-est. The design was dope from the get-go, and was unlike any-thing ever made. Tinker created some great shoes in ‘87 and ‘88, and he continued his winning streak with the Air Jordan IV.”

3. Air Jordan XI “Yeah, yeah, I know. Of course the Jordan XI is on the list. Be-yond the dope look of the shoe and the incredible 72-10 season MJ had while wearing these sneakers, this shoe was hands down the most comfortable Jor-dan shoe for casual wear. It fea-tured full-length Air cushioning and a very soft midsole. While many Jordan shoes crossed over into pop culture, these could be considered an icon on their own.”

2. Air Jordan V“Clear rubber, a reflective tongue, a molded ankle collar—these three things made this shoe unlike any other. To this day, the Air Jordan V is my favorite Air Jordan ever.”

1. Nike Air Max 1

“1987 was the year everything changed, period. Tinker took the reigns and developed the Safari, which helped kick off ACG; the Trainer 1, which revolutionized train-ing footwear; and the Air Max 1, which showed the world the greatness inside Nike running products. There were many great Nike runners before the AM1, but this model changed the line forever.”

Will you be ready?