Sneakerheads compete for rare Nikes

CATHERINE TSAI
Associated Press

DENVER - Some people collect baseball cards, some collect cars. Ruben Santamaria collects shoes - Air Jordans, to be specific. He spends about $2,000 a month adding to a collection that already takes up three-fourths of his bedroom. There's just enough room left for the bed and path to it.

"Sometimes I go without eating or toilet paper. Even my girlfriend, she wants to kick me out of the apartment," said Santamaria, 27. "It's kind of ridiculous, I know."

This week, he drove nonstop for two days from San Antonio to Denver for a contest coinciding with the NBA All-Star game. The prize for the best collection of rare, pristine Nikes - from Air Jordans to Air Force 1s - was a one-of-a-kind pair lasered with the winner's name.

Ten competitors, chosen from dozens of applicants nationwide, displayed a total of 150 pairs of shoes. The collection was worth $70,000 to $80,000, said Steve Mulholland, publisher and editor of Sole Collector magazine, the contest sponsor.

Santamaria garnered bragging rights as Friday night's winner.

"I got a lot of respect from sneakerheads. I'm glad I made it out here," he said.

For collectors, such contests are a chance to gauge how their kicks stack up to the competition, and to connect with others who understand the passion for sneakers - a phenomenon linked to the hip-hop scene of the early 1980s and former NBA star Michael Jordan.

Jordan signed with Nike in 1984, and introduced the world to Air Jordan shoes.

Lany Bru, who flew from New Jersey for the Denver contest, said he was about 10 years old when the first Air Jordans came out.

"At that age, you basically want to wear the phat sneakers. I wanted to have those sneakers when they first came out. My parents couldn't buy it for me for that Christmas," Bru recalls.

"Maybe that's what sparked the whole thing. I couldn't have 'em."

At 29, Bru has roughly 200 pairs in his collection. He wouldn't say how much he spends.

"I don't even want to discuss it. It'd probably make me sick," Bru said.

Santamaria's love of Nikes started young, but it wasn't until about three years ago that he began seriously collecting.

This year, his girlfriend missed out on getting a diamond bracelet for Valentine's Day after Santamaria spent $2,500 on eBay for a rare pair of Jordans.

"He made it up to me, but I was disappointed," Dee Sisneros said.