Would you stand in the rain for shoes? Or be locked out of a mall waiting for shoes? That's what people did Friday morning for the newest version of the Nike Air Jordan.
NBC Bay Area caught up with shoe lovers so young at Nike Town in San Francisco, that they have never even seen the namesake basketball great Michael Jordan play.
"People feel cool in them," Nick Odom of Newark said. "I think they are beautiful."
Still, fans said they all were dying to own the new Air Jordan 11 Retro Black/Red or Bred, and they're fully prepared to pay $195 for it.
Like a fine restaurant, most had to make a reservation to buy the trendy shoe. Some even signed on ahead of time online.
At NewPark Mall in Newark, there were at least 300 people in line at one point, that managers decided to lock the doors for a while, and police were on stand by just in case. In San Francisco, shoe fans stood in line for hours for a crack at them. That's better than what happened in Huntsville, Ala., where police had to pepper spray some unruly customers.
Why? Some want to try and sell them for a profit. Others say they just love the shoe: They collect them, even though the shoes will never see a basketball court. Instead, the trophy sneakers will remain in the closet.
"It’s hyped up that’s all it is," Mitchell McDonald of Sacramento told NBC Bay Area. "People try to sell them for like $400. But me I cop and rock…cop and rock. I mean I’m going to buy them and I’m going to wear them.”
