Vintage Jerseys

Whatever happened to Starter and Champion? It’s like once New Era, Mitchell & Ness and Nike came into the fitted/jersey business they forgot to step their game up. Granted their quality was trash with jersey's barely lasting a year on the playground. That dreaded peeling off numbers and logos was always a reason to avoid them. Still I love going to the local "bohemian used clothing" market in the city and finding jerseys from the early 90's.  My first jersey was a Penny Hardaway black away jersey from Starter.  I absolutely loved it because Penny was my favorite player, since MJ was still playing baseball. 

I had gotten the jersey with a pair of Orland Magic shorts, which really looked nice (and not cheesy).  I can’t remember what eventually happened to my jersey, other than I grew out of it and must have thrown it away.  Today I don’t own many jerseys but I can still appreciate them, especially one’s from the NBA of the late 80’s to 90’s.  A website that I like to visit that is filled with an appreciation of all those vintage jerseys is straightcashhomey.net.  Besides the jerseys worn by people on the street, I like how they show random player jerseys as well.  It’s nice to see something besides the superstar players all the time.

Website:

http://straightcashhomey.net

Air Jordan III Retro 2011 white/cement

The Air Jordan III white/cement has been a sneaker I have been waiting for years to be re-released.  It is a sneaker with much history, style and technology that represents the Air Jordan brand the best.  The history that it represents is the time when Michael Jordan wanted to leave Nike, but decided to stay after Tinker Hatfield showed Michael a sample of the sneaker.

The history it also represents is when Michael wore the white/cement III’s to win the All-Star Slam Dunk contest in 1988.  The style that it established was the first time that an Air Jordan used the Jumpman logo, and also the famous elephant print.  The technology that it provided was the use of a visible Air-Sole unit.  To this day I am still amazed by this technology created by Frank Ruby; being able to see through the shoe, and also wondering how the Air unit doesn’t pop.

Besides the joy I feel for being able to buy these sneakers, I am also happy that Jordan Brand also added some additional special features such as a retro box, paper, pamphlet and hang tag.  When I was a kid, wearing the hang tag or key chain (that was included) on your sneakers made them look super official.  Besides Nike; Ewings, Fila, and Reebok all came with hang tags.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say these retro’s are identical to the original release, but nevertheless they are made better than what we’re used to from Jordan Brand retros.  The minor (or major as you may wish to focus on) differences from the original are the thickness of the leather, the lack of the Nike Air logo on the back heel and bottom sole, and the type of paint that is used on the outsole.  Rather than complain about these issues, I’m just glad that I have these sneakers.  I have been buying Air Jordan III themed t-shirts for years waiting for these sneakers, so I am just happy I can now wear them with my t-shirts.  This groundbreaking sneaker is worth its weight in gold.

Jordan Brand:

www.jumpman23.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v59FAp3I8qk

Lego Minifigures: Maraca Man

This toy is from series 2 of Lego Minifigures and was released in 2010.  Maraca man’s accessories include 3 maracas, a green sombrero and a poncho.

Lego:

www.lego.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO6vWxhyaeo

Lego Minifigures

I never had a chance to own or even play with Lego’s as a kid.  I know the daycare I used to go to had the blocks, but they just didn’t interest me.  All my attention was focused on action figures.  Can you really blame me when the action figures that were popular around that time were Ninja Turtles and Thunder Cats?  Later on in life I discovered that Lego also made Lego minifigures, and then eventually even a licensed line (such as Star Wars and Batman).  Yet despite all these great releases I still wasn’t buying any Lego.

All that changed for me in 2010 when Lego decided to release a line of Minifigures that would come with distinctive characters, and that would be in a blind bag (meaning you couldn’t tell which character you had by just looking at the bag).  Of course there are ways around this mystery bag by either feeling around for distinctive accessory parts or using a barcode decoder to find the figure you want (link to the decoder is provided below).  What I like about this toy series is how unique each character is to one another.  

Most of the figures are of yellow flesh tone, come with a few accessories and cost around $3 here in Canada.  With at least 3 series already released and many more on the way there is bound to be figures that speak to each person that will make them want to collect them.  I’m more of a pop culture collector so I usually go for fun and modern figures such as the Spartan Warrior, the Mime, the Rapper, etc... and the list can go on and on.  Although minor complaints can be made about the figures (such as minimal paint on the back), these toys are still a great collectable and will standout when displayed.  Here’s hoping Lego will keep up the good work!

Lego Minifigures website:

http://minifigures.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx

Lego Barcode decoder:         

http://www.itsalltrue.net/?p=5750

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2eNWnujfrs

Puma Clydes

Puma Clyde’s are another classic sneaker that I love.  The sneakers were first introduced back in 1973 and were named after Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who played for the New York Knicks.  It’s amazing to think how far back sneaker endorsement deals go, especially when the money involved wasn’t even that much compared to today’s standards.  It’s also amazing to even think the Puma Clyde was once a basketball sneaker.

To start off with they’re mostly made out of suede or thick leather, and are low cut sneakers.  Besides Kobe Bryant you don’t see many other basketball players using low cut sneakers (a few years ago they were unheard of in the NBA).  Though I grew up in the 80’s, I started to love Clyde’s in the early 90’s when they were much more available.  The version I am showing is made from suede and comes in turquoise (or some kind of powder blue) and white.

There’s just something about suede sneakers that makes me go wild.  These sneakers were released in late summer 2006 to a certain number of sneaker boutiques and were part of Puma’s “taste the rainbow” series.  Puma basically decided to open up its archive and release some amazing colourways from the past.  Besides the version I have Puma also released them in colours such as forest green, purple, pink, orange, and yellow.  Comfort wise Clyde’s can feel pretty good for many hours, especially for people that have wide feet (since that’s what Clyde Frazier wanted in a sneaker).  As far as looks nothing beats a classic like this, they can match with jeans or shorts, they can be worn with thin or thick laces, and will always get people’s attention when you wear them.

Puma:

www.puma.com

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqP5-xWqMYc

Hello Panda

Today I was craving something sweet, so I looked in my desk for something to eat.  Yes, I like to hide snacks in my desk, lol.  Most of the time they don’t last very long because I like to eat them as soon as I get them.  However this time I was lucky because I found a box of Hello Panda cookies.  Also known as Panda cookies, these things taste pretty good, salty and sweet.  They are a cookie that is filled with either chocolate or strawberry filling.  They are made by a company called Meiji, and are usually sold in Chinese supermarkets for around a $1 each.  Another thing I like about these cookies are how they put drawings of a panda on the cookie, pretty cool.  These cookies get two thumbs up from the snack-loving-piper.

Buy your own:

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/product/meiji-hello-panda-choco-2-0-oz