In the spring of 2015 the Jordan Brand will be celebrating its 30th anniversary. Along with the epic milestone, the brand will be remastering the entire retro line of shoes made famous by Mike himself, starting with the Jordan IV, VII, and X. The remastered Jordan Classics will be re-released in a completely different manner with an emphasis on quality construction and materials as well as a focus on producing a product that is more accurate in appearance with the original design.
This announcement has only affirmed the dismay of many collectors and sneaker heads alike, who already questioned the quality of retro releases in the past decade. There have been numerous complaints of the increasingly poor quality of Jordan Brand shoes, along with the continued price increases over the years. Complaints about poor quality and craftsmanship are one thing, but to have a shoe completely fall apart or bottom out altogether is a whole different story. See for yourself as just last year in a Philadelphia 76ers game, Tony Wroten wearing the Air Jordan 10 'Varsity Red' has the sole of the shoes completely come off in the middle of a game.
Perhaps, the remastering of these Jordan Classics will prevent any future mishaps. Along with such major changes in quality will obviously be further price increases, which we have already seen this year in the $190 range. The 10% - 15% price increase doesn't have many people surprised, as the Jordan Brand has already been seen of one driven by hype, supply and demand. Nonetheless, consumers still continue to line up in the mornings or flood the internet on release dates to get their hands on a pair of Jordan Retro Classics.
What do you think of this remastering concept? Is this just another great marketing tactic from Jordan or is this an attempt to right the wrong and address the consumer complaints? Will you be spending another $10 - $20 more for a pair of these classic retros? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
For an inside look on the new concept from the Jordan Brand, read the exclusive interview from Sole Collector with Dave Schechter, VP of Jordan Footwear, and Jeff Atienza, Jordan Brand Product Line Manager.
