Jordy Geller, the Guinness Record holder for the largest collection of sneakers owned dishes on personal favorites and just how much he’s spent on his greatest finds.
NUMBER OF PAIRS: “At its peak, the Shoezeum [I opened in Las Vegas in 2012] had 2,504. It’s now down to fewer than 500.”
BRANDS: “Nike. It’s sneakers or barefoot, and sneakers are always Nike.”
FIRST PAIR: “The first Air Jordans I ever owned was the Air Jordan 11s. I always wanted them as a kid, but my parents would never buy me the most expensive models.”
PAIR YOU’LL NEVER GET RID OF: “It’s a single shoe, not a pair, and it was buried in Bill Bowerman’s yard. It’s a handmade Waffle prototype — one of the first Nikes ever.”
SNEAKERHEAD’S CLOSET YOU’D LIKE TO RAID: “Mark Parker, CEO of Nike. I’d rather raid his office — the guy is surrounded by Nike artifacts and relics that are very rare.”
MOST YOU’VE PAID: $11,100. “It was a collaboration between Nike and the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. The shoe called What the Doernbecher, is a one-of-a-kind. It’s made of a bunch of different shoes designed by patients.”
LEAST YOU’VE PAID: “I bought 1,800 pairs of Converse Chuck Taylors for $1 each. I took them all to a swap meet and sold them for $5 a pair.”
FAVORITE TREND OF TODAY: “Nike is doing a great job telling the stories behind the shoes. And the shoes that they’re retro-ing are more like the original ones than before. If you pick up an original Air Max 90 and compare it with the most recent Air Max 90, they’re spot-on.”
MOST LUXURIOUS PAIR: “In 2007, Nike came out with two pairs of Air Force 1s that were made of real crocodile and anaconda, with accents of 24K gold. They retailed for $2,000 each and just screamed luxury.”
MUST-HAVES FOR SNEAKERHEADS: “You’ve got to have an Air Jordan 1, maybe an Air Max 1 or an Air Max 90. Everyone should have a pair of Waffles. The Air Jordan 3 is the first one that Tinker Hatfield designed and the first one with the Jumpman logo, so that’s a must. And the Air Jordan 11, [which is] my favorite Air Jordan.”
