I purchased probably around 30 pairs of sneakers this year. A lot were purchased for the purpose of making profit and others I kept. Here are my top 5 sneaker releases of 2009 along with a brief description about the shoe...

5. Nike "Kriptonate" Foamposite Lite
This sneaker was originally a P.E. (Player Exclusive) for Nate Robinson, which was worn during the 2009 All Star Dunk Contest. I fell in love with these shoes the moment that I saw them on Nate's feet. Nike ended up surprising us by releasing these on St. Patrick's day, unfortunately I was away at school and I was unable to pick up a pair.

3. Nike Foamposite Pro “Pearl”
I have never owned a pair of Foamposites, so I was souped as hell when I found out these were releasing. Originally slated for a May 23rd release, Nike screwed me over when they pushed the release a week earlier. According to my boy "A" from Harlem there were 700 pairs and there were also 700 people lined up waiting for these to release. The police had to shut the block down and forced House of Hoops to close early so that all the people could leave. Out of all the releases this year this was the one that I slept on the most. Hopefully someone gets me these for Christmas.

2. Mr. Cartoon "Livestrong Edition"
Earlier this year Nike teamed up with Lance Armstrong to re-release classic Nike sneakers in a Livestrong colorway, with all profits going to the Lance Armstrong foundation It gave me more of an incentive to pick these up. The original Mr. Cartoon Air Force 1 was a Hyperstrike meaning less than 50 pairs were released, most of them going to friends and family. The spider web laser etching, suede in the back and full grain leather all over made this one of my favorite releases this year. This was the first of many sneakers I copped at the Harlem HOH.


1. Nike Air Yeezy
This had a long time coming. The first time I heard of the Nike Air Yeezy was in February 2008, I saw sketches done by Tinker Hatfield and I thought the whole concept was amazing. The first pictures were captured showing Yeezy himself wearing them at his "Glow in The Dark Tour". Throughout the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 the sneaker community continued to give this sneaker negative reviews. In January, Kanye West posted a list of stores that would be receiving these through his blog. Suddenly when the first colorway was released in April everybody and their mothers ended up wanting a pair. The hype on these was strong, the second colorway released in May, and the third one in June. I managed to pick up every color, but ended up selling them as a set for $1900.