Official Jordan XI Thread

They look pre-yellowed on the white parts. Pass 🏀
I think it’s just bad white balance from warm lights in those pics, but I had the same thought. They look fine in the official pics

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I think people are confused and we’re using mink oil on those too. How long before we see someone’s username “MinkOil”? Where do these rank on all time XI lows?
 
Story time for y'all. Be prepared to read if you have time because I got a story to tell like Slick Rick does in his raps.

I'd like to share a gang of details about how I got the original Black/Red XI back in April 1996 for $80 plus tax since this thread has now existed for 5 years.

I took advantage of the price match guarantee that Sport Chalet had. I don't care about divulging it now because it was three decades ago and that company folded nearly 10 years ago.

I saw they had them at the Sport Chalet in Torrance on the same street as Del Amo Fashion Center on a Saturday afternoon sometime in April 1996. So I drove home to borrow money from my mom to buy them. But I didn't divulge to her about my scheme.

I previously pulled off the same scheme in February of that year at that same store when I got the original Nike Air Max 95 White Slate Blue for $80 plus tax. I had a friend come with me and had him wait at a payphone in that same parking lot to front as a fictitious store to fabricate the $80 price when they called that payphone's number that I provided to verify the lower price when I claimed to the cashier they were cheaper elsewhere as I was checking out. They matched the fabricated $80 price that my friend stated after she called that payphone number.

So I assumed it would be the same easy result when I plotted to get the Black/Red XI for a lower price.

I called a loser who I counted as a friend to help me out. But he spurned it. I'm glad I eventually stopped dealing with him the following year in 1997 as I was maturing because I finally realized he was legitimately stupid. One time, he actually said he wanted to go to Princeton University. But he was so dumb he didn't know the difference between smog and fog. How the F is he going to attend an Ivy League school when he lacked basic knowledge like that? He was also a stupid uncivilized loser because he opted to walk barefoot in public when he wasn't homeless. He never changed because I last saw him walking barefoot at a local park in spring 1998.

So I called another friend. She was down with it after I told her about it. She was so bold with it because she allowed me to use her home number just because she didn't feel like leaving home to use a payphone to go along with the scheme! She was also bold with coming up with the $80 price when I thought it should have been a little higher predicated on the fact they were Jordans.

I drove back to the store to get them. But I encountered trouble when I mentioned I saw them for a lower price at a another store as I was checking out. The female cashier told her male co-worker about it. Both were skeptical. The male employee told who I assumed was the store manager. The manager guy called my friend's home number I provided to verify the lower price. She replied with the fabricated $80 price during the call. He was skeptical. During the call, he asked her the store's location and hours and gave her grief by stating it wasn't legal to sell them for a lower price.

After the call was finished, the male employee told the manager guy that he couldn't verify the existence of that store. I assume he called 411 for reference. But the manager guy relented and honored the $80 plus tax price match.

I'm going to remember my friend forever despite last talking to her in the early 2000s because I was able to get these original Jordans for under regular price back in 1996 thanks to her idea and going along with my scheme.

I admit these Black/Red XIs have sentimental value to me because they were the first Jordans I got almost 5 years apart since I last got a pair of Jordans. The first and only Jordans my dad ever bought for me was the Black Infrared VI back in late summer 1991. He never got me any Jordans after that because he couldn't afford it. And my mom didn't work. He probably shouldn't have even got those Black Infrared VIs for me in 1991 because he was unemployed during that time after he got laid off earlier that year during the Gulf War. Perhaps my dad not buying Jordans for me anymore motivated me to find ways to get deals on them myself as I got older. So I'm not mad at him for that.

Although photos of these were posted in the initial post of this thread, I decided to post photos again after taking recent pictures of them yesterday evening. Can you believe these are from 1996?
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I still have the box for them.
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I got these from Sport Chalet as I mentioned. But thankfully at $80 plus tax with having the will to figure out a way and help from a friend.
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I just noticed the name of the box manufacturer is printed on the interior of the box lid after damn near 30 years!
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They even printed the production date of these! So these were made in Taiwan in fall 1995 and ended up at a now-closed store back in spring 1996 before ultimately ending up in my possession for nearly 30 years now.
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The XIs are what got me back into Jordans.

Thanks to any of y'all who chose to read this one.
all of the black Air Jordan 11 boxes from 95 are made from that year. My Concord 11's Air Jordan box from 95 have that same production date stamp.

Also, the black air jordan box for the Playoff 11's are rare. Nike switched to the Orange and black swoosh box by then.


I was able to cop this size 13 OG Concord 11 from Ebay. Thank God I know how to restore sneakers, I was able to get rid of 30+ years of oxidation and yellowed ballistic mesh
InShot_20260212_110141460.jpg
 
all of the black Air Jordan 11 boxes from 95 are made from that year. My Concord 11's Air Jordan box from 95 have that same production date stamp.

Also, the black air jordan box for the Playoff 11's are rare. Nike switched to the Orange and black swoosh box by then.


I was able to cop this size 13 OG Concord 11 from Ebay. Thank God I know how to restore sneakers, I was able to get rid of 30+ years of oxidation and yellowed ballistic mesh
InShot_20260212_110141460.jpg
Get out the heat gun for those wrinkled midsoles. Otherwise, great job!
 
YMMV but they didn’t immediately come back for me on any of the 10 pairs I’ve restored 🤷‍♂️

Granted I replaced the busted air units with foam, but midsoles still look great after wearing em a few times
Same here, I use EVA foam to replace every cooked internal air unit. I do use heat for my reglues and remove the wrinkles on the phylon, I just prefer to not expose them to too much heat for long periods of time. It has a tendency to deform and shrink especially around the edges where it comes in contact with the upper.
 








I thought I should share this since it coincides with what confidance confidance previously posted regarding the price of XIs back then. This is how things were with the Jordan XI back in 1996 in general. I sure do recall they normally had matching apparel for originals of the signature models back then. Here's an image of the original Columbia XI on a page of an old Eastbay catalog.
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Great story! Still have some OGs from back in the day that I originally purchased as well.

Please do share the originals you still have on here, particularly any XIs since they are the shoe topic that this broad thread is specified for. Any contribution from you with photos of any original XIs from 1995 to 1996 will help maintain and grow this thread.

all of the black Air Jordan 11 boxes from 95 are made from that year. My Concord 11's Air Jordan box from 95 have that same production date stamp.

Also, the black air jordan box for the Playoff 11's are rare. Nike switched to the Orange and black swoosh box by then.


I was able to cop this size 13 OG Concord 11 from Ebay. Thank God I know how to restore sneakers, I was able to get rid of 30+ years of oxidation and yellowed ballistic mesh
InShot_20260212_110141460.jpg

Thanks for notifying me about all that regarding the details with the shoe boxes for the original XIs. I assumed all the boxes for the XIs from that time were identical to the one I have. I wasn't aware they changed the box for the Black/Red XI by 1996. Perhaps I got an earlier production pair and they were still using that box.

Great job with restoring that old original pair.

The suggested retail is what got me. Man I wish.

Bet no one imagined back then that they would PROUDLY borrow $125 today from moms to cop a new pair of 11s.

I truly never realized the original XI mid were $125 back then. I was just happy to get them for under regular price as I detailed in that previous post. And that Black/Red XI was the only pair I got from that period.
 
how deep of discount we think these unc lows will hit? already $30 under retail on the resale platforms. I think i need to grab these because I regretted not keeping the 2017 pair
 
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