The Shoezeum
August 2, 2011 4:34 PM Subscribe
Eleven minutes of the most mindblowing personal collection of Nike shoes, themed rooms, backwards walking and decorations you'll ever see. Jordan Michael Geller's Shoezeum.
I see the sneakers. Where are the bodies?
posted by mike_bling at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by mike_bling at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2011
There's a back story to this. The guy (obviously) loves Nike and has been a longtime, profitable seller of Nikes for profit. The museum is in part his attempt to get a hob at Nike. The execs have come to visit but I didn't actually care enough to dig in and find out if anything came of it.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:53 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by DarlingBri at 4:53 PM on August 2, 2011
Ok I made until:
"And next to the Playboy is a tribute to the adult depot. Shoes inspired by the birds, bees, flowers and trees...and some sex displays underneath."
Before I started giggling uncomfortably.
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:57 PM on August 2, 2011
"And next to the Playboy is a tribute to the adult depot. Shoes inspired by the birds, bees, flowers and trees...and some sex displays underneath."
Before I started giggling uncomfortably.
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:57 PM on August 2, 2011
My mind was blown. I mean, how can you care so much about Nike shoes?
posted by GuyZero at 5:15 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by GuyZero at 5:15 PM on August 2, 2011
Wait his first and middle name is Jordan Michael? Really? Really??
posted by nathancaswell at 5:23 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 5:23 PM on August 2, 2011
My favourite part is the bit where he shows all the Nikes he bought his wife while they were dating.
I almost suspect the whole Shoezeum is just a futile attempt to prove that there were in fact much uglier shoes he could have picked out.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:24 PM on August 2, 2011
I almost suspect the whole Shoezeum is just a futile attempt to prove that there were in fact much uglier shoes he could have picked out.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:24 PM on August 2, 2011
He has far surpassed Emelda Marcos. I used to feel vaguely guilty about buying so many shoes--shoes I actually wore, I might add, but not any more.
posted by Anitanola at 5:27 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by Anitanola at 5:27 PM on August 2, 2011
Obscene.
posted by ZaneJ. at 5:42 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ZaneJ. at 5:42 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
This guy has it all figured out.
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2011
I've got one of those friends who can look at a shoe [Nike and Addidas are his specialty] and say "That is model blah blah from 1983. But that shade of blue didn't exist in the initial release it was a special celebration re-release from the year 2000 when sponsored athlete Blah Blah won the blah blah." Amazing.
I've duly forwarded this thread to him.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 6:00 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've duly forwarded this thread to him.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 6:00 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ugly Duckling, singular.
posted by humboldt32 at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by humboldt32 at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2011
I was okay about all the stains on the floor all over the warehouse until he showed us the lockable room with the sex displays on it... which had more stains on the floor. I had to turn it off, though. It's cool, man, it's cool, I just have something else to do now.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:12 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:12 PM on August 2, 2011
What a great way to honor underpaid, overworked foreign laborers.
posted by punkfloyd at 6:46 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by punkfloyd at 6:46 PM on August 2, 2011
The fact that he went out and bought the shoes that constituted the original, rare shoes used in the even more-rare, limited-edition patchwork shoes had me agog. "That's 50 grand worth of shoes right there," he says with pride. More like, "that's two ex-wives and three kids that won't talk to me worth of shoes right there."
Seriously, though. That's Imelda-Marcos-crazy.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:51 PM on August 2, 2011
Seriously, though. That's Imelda-Marcos-crazy.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:51 PM on August 2, 2011
In related collector news: A thousand outfits, but not a thing to wear.
posted by ericb at 9:55 PM on August 2, 2011
posted by ericb at 9:55 PM on August 2, 2011
I got the new Air Force Ones in obsidian. They're really a dark navy including the swoosh. (Isn't obsidian black?) Anyway, some guy at least twenty years younger said "Nice shoes, man" at the supermarket. That never happened to me before. I must have ordered the right ones.
posted by longsleeves at 12:09 AM on August 3, 2011
posted by longsleeves at 12:09 AM on August 3, 2011
I have been cornered by this guy, or one of his analogs, at many a car show.
posted by maxwelton at 12:25 AM on August 3, 2011
posted by maxwelton at 12:25 AM on August 3, 2011
They make Easter-themed Nikes?
Truly, the second coming is at hand.
posted by jrochest at 12:33 AM on August 3, 2011
Truly, the second coming is at hand.
posted by jrochest at 12:33 AM on August 3, 2011
Although his delivery (it seemed to me) teetered between genuinely-excited tour guide and skeezy huckster (and that non-sequitur ¿sex display? was straight creepy)--I can relate.
I do work for Nike, at the Oregon headquarters, and actually develop shoes... these days, I make skateboard shoes, but I've worked on plenty of other stuff as well. I guarantee that he's got some of 'my stuff' in there, for what it's worth.
For anyone my age or younger (I'm 39), it's hard to imagine Nike as anything but a dominant omnipresence in the world of athletic stuff. But the company truly keeps a very reverential view of its past, mis-steps and all, and nearly every employee can tell you stories about the early, humble beginnings... even though they weren't there (or born yet).
Anyway, my eventual point is: there is a whole department at Nike dedicated to preserving our own history, (much larger!) warehouses charged with retaining samples of everything we've ever done... and this dude's got stuff we don't. Recently I was trying to find a sample of a particular shoe we did 10 years ago, and the archives couldn't find it. This guy's got it shrinkwrapped with a pile of props behind it... I'm truly impressed by the depth of his passion for it (and I'm more into it than the average Nike employee).
From the link DarlingBri posted, however different the rest of our lives (hopefully) may be, we shared a similar beginning that maybe accounts for our shoe fetish... my dad was a good runner back in the late 60s/early 70s. One of my dad's high-school rivals (who was much better) went on to the same college, and there they became friends. The friend went on to become one of Steve Prefontaine's notable rivals in the early 70s. After college, the friend opened a small chain of running stores, selling Prefontaine's 'Nike' brand of shoes... some of my earliest memories are playing around on the floor in his store, with what-were-then-new models like the Cortez and Waffle Trainer.
**obligatory CYA employment-related post disclaimer: I'm speaking for myself, not Nike, etc.**
posted by rodeoclown at 12:50 AM on August 3, 2011 [7 favorites]
I do work for Nike, at the Oregon headquarters, and actually develop shoes... these days, I make skateboard shoes, but I've worked on plenty of other stuff as well. I guarantee that he's got some of 'my stuff' in there, for what it's worth.
For anyone my age or younger (I'm 39), it's hard to imagine Nike as anything but a dominant omnipresence in the world of athletic stuff. But the company truly keeps a very reverential view of its past, mis-steps and all, and nearly every employee can tell you stories about the early, humble beginnings... even though they weren't there (or born yet).
Anyway, my eventual point is: there is a whole department at Nike dedicated to preserving our own history, (much larger!) warehouses charged with retaining samples of everything we've ever done... and this dude's got stuff we don't. Recently I was trying to find a sample of a particular shoe we did 10 years ago, and the archives couldn't find it. This guy's got it shrinkwrapped with a pile of props behind it... I'm truly impressed by the depth of his passion for it (and I'm more into it than the average Nike employee).
From the link DarlingBri posted, however different the rest of our lives (hopefully) may be, we shared a similar beginning that maybe accounts for our shoe fetish... my dad was a good runner back in the late 60s/early 70s. One of my dad's high-school rivals (who was much better) went on to the same college, and there they became friends. The friend went on to become one of Steve Prefontaine's notable rivals in the early 70s. After college, the friend opened a small chain of running stores, selling Prefontaine's 'Nike' brand of shoes... some of my earliest memories are playing around on the floor in his store, with what-were-then-new models like the Cortez and Waffle Trainer.
**obligatory CYA employment-related post disclaimer: I'm speaking for myself, not Nike, etc.**
posted by rodeoclown at 12:50 AM on August 3, 2011 [7 favorites]
DarlingBriMe: There's a back story to this. The guy (obviously) loves Nike and has been a longtime, profitable seller of Nikes for profit. The museum is in part his attempt to get a hob at Nike. The execs have come to visit but I didn't actually care enough to dig in and find out if anything came of it
This is possibly the most illiterate thing I have ever posted anywhere on the internet. I feel compelled to clarify that I was in fact not drunk, but lacking coffee. So sorry!
posted by DarlingBri at 8:15 AM on August 3, 2011
This is possibly the most illiterate thing I have ever posted anywhere on the internet. I feel compelled to clarify that I was in fact not drunk, but lacking coffee. So sorry!
posted by DarlingBri at 8:15 AM on August 3, 2011
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posted by ericb at 4:45 PM on August 2, 2011