Back in my younger days, I was really into sneakers. At one point I owned about 120 pairs of sneakers at one time and overall in my shoe “career,” I’ve handled at least 200 pairs. I’m over all that now though. Grown up, on to bigger, more grown up things. I decided to sell all my shoes like a kid sells his comic book collection when they grow up. I bought a set of turntables, records, a DSLR, a new iMac and new clothes with the money I made off of it and here I am today.

But every sneakerhead had a pair of shoes they fell in love with. One shoe that defined their entire collection. A pair that (if) they had that one pair, they would no longer want or need any other pair. I recently was able to acquire my grail.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with my grail, the Nike Air Force 1 Mid “Virtual Mo” edition. The detail is spectacular on these and the quality is second to none. Why they’re so special is because they’re Oregon-specific and of such high quality. On the uppers, the laser artwork depicts Oregon’s Sauvie Island and Mt. Hood. On the inners of both, it’s laser inscribed with Mt. Hood and Sauvie Island (see pics). On the midsole, there are laser inscribed thoughts. Very nice touch. These came out in 2005 and back then I tried getting my hands on a pair but couldn’t find a pair I could afford at the time (I would’ve been a senior in high school, being broke and about to goto college). But with patience and time, I got hooked up with this pair (at a special price, might I add).

And they couldn’t have come at a better time. I just got my camera’s sensor cleaned and picked it up today from the camera repair shop. I also built a lightbox out of foamcore, tape and work lights. This is my first time taking it for a spin. Enjoy the pictures (click for full-size). And I apologize for the lighting, I was playing with the lights a lot.