According to Michelle’s Instagram post, these shoes should have released on “Wednesday,” but no specific Wednesday was specified. Will have to keep watching for them.

Nike and Jordan Brand are taking us back to the beginning where it all fatefully began with the release of the Air Jordan 1 Chicago colorway.

This shoe is the one that birthed a new genre of sneakerheads with a young MJ redefining the shoe game on the hardcourt.

I’m pretty sure I picked up my unexpected pair at Arakawas in the heart of Waipahu. Yes, Arakawas by the sugar mill smokestack.

I don’t remember much about the store anymore except that it had lots of odds and ends and a weird store layout (I remember stairs to the second floor??), and amongst the oddities, I found the white pair of Air Jordan 1s. I’m pretty sure the cost was $60 or $65 which at time was a lot to pay for shoes. Fortunately, I got a pair though it might have been too big with not all sizes available.

So fast forward to November 19, 2022 with Nike timewarpping us back to 1985 with a re-imagined Air Jordan 1 that’s supposed to mimic the original shoe found in the depths of a storeroom, forgotten all these decades. And if Arakawas were still here today, I have no doubt this situation could actually happen.

While generally available to the public on November 19, Nike is giving long time members a chance at an early purchase:

Exclusive Access will provide some of our most dedicated SNKRS Members the opportunity to purchase the Air Jordan 1 ‘Chicago’. The offers will go out to a selection of Members who have entered and lost at least 20 different Air Jordan 1 High releases on SNKRS.

While nothing is guaranteed, I’m hoping my Nike membership since 2001 offers a slight advantage.

I know all those items are out of stock, but that checkout queue is/was seriously busted.

But…

If you try to buy other pre-order items, Hawaii residents will most likely get this warning.

In that particular cart, I had shorts. But if you buy a single tee (or a cap), it does ship to Hawaii using USPS at $5.90. However, if you only want these lighter-weight items, then buy them individual up to $40 in total shipping because if you have two tees in cart (for example), shipping changes to UPS at $40.

So you could buy six individual light items can still be below the multicart checkout shipping rate.

Now the big question is – if a Hawaii resident wins the Travis Fragment AJ1 Low, will these heavy items ship to Hawaii?

Please stop trolling Hawaii residents, Mr. Scott.

There are two Air Jordans with a metallic gold color, one in the OG high silhouette and the second is a mid with lots more gold accents. Adidas and Kanye West, on the other had, are re-releasing the Yeezy 500 in Utility Black. Not sure how that’s “cyber” but regardless, a well received shoe.

After the initial attack to the crotch not finding the Flint 13 on SNKRS app, word spread that you needed to try the Nike SNKRS website. For a shock drop?! That’s totally unheard of in today’s day and age of mobile apps. Anyways I headed to Nike.com/launch, saw the shock drop, and luckily snagged a pair.

My favorite detail is the back logo and color.

But this week, the mighty Foot Locker didn’t come through with an order of the Air Jordan 1 UNC to Chicago. I managed to get my size (US10 Men or 11.5 Women) and got a confirmation email. Cool.

Then a few days later the downfall began with this email. From my past experience, this delay is how Footaction cancellations started. Not a good sign.

Not hearing anything for the next few days was somewhat promising (I think) so I checked my online order and saw that the shoe had a status of “SHIP FROM STORE.” That was definitely a red flag since all cancelled Footaction orders had the same status. You see, the Footsites ordering system is flawed for Hawaii (and Alaska I take it). Their system will allow consumers to buy products including in-demand sneakers. However, as inventory in their shared main warehouse is depleted, the orders are farmed out to a secondary warehouse or retail stores to fulfill using their stock. Now here’s the flaw. These other locations cannot ship to Hawaii (for whatever reason). So while the shoe may be availalbe, they simply cannot ship it to the Aloha State. And if they try to reroute order fulfillment back to the main warehouse, odds are the hyped shoe will be out of stock.

This morning Brutus (aka Foot Locker Customer Care) delievered the lethal strike:

Thank you for your recent order. We regret to inform you we were unable to fulfill some or all items from your recent order number ####### due to lack of product availability.

So Footaction, Champs Sports, and now Foot Locker betrayed me with confirmed then cancelled orders, seemingly because I’m in Hawaii and their ordering system cannot accommodate this location.

And Nightwing of WearTesters approves as well.

I don’t think these are official LEGO bricks but instead similar plastic bricks, but in any case, making your own Air Jordan must be fun.

I mean I knew I was taking a chance ordering from Footaction since none of my orders have ever shipped. I just keep hoping that one day they get it right. I mean they are part of the Footsites family (aka Foot Locker, Champs, Eastbay, etc.) and all the other stores can ship to Hawaii, so it’s really odd why FA fails time and time again.

For my satin Jordan cancellation, I did receive a call from a Footaction rep who went into great detail about their warehousing system and online orders and how the the overloaded ordering system tries to fulfill orders. Yeah, I get it, and it makes sense, but in the end, it’s still a failure. That false hope and promise is probably the worst part. Maybe this time, they’ll ship. Maybe this time, the correct warehouse has it in stock. Maybe this time, they fixed the ordering system. Maybe, maybe… no, canceled yet again.

For this cancellation, I didn’t call to complain nor did I receive any kind of notification. I did tweet them, continuing our conversation from the last time. But I do believe it would be best if Footaction simply stated they do NOT ship to Hawaii (or Alaska). Sure, that admits preference to the 48 contiguous states, but I mean really that is the truth based upon personal experiences – Footaction dislikes Hawaii.

All my past orders with FA have ALL been cancelled. Yes, all of them. Granted, I only go for the sought after shoes on Footaction, so experiences may differ with general release sneakers. My most recent Footaction cancellation was the AJ1 Women’s Satin. But I think I have another cancellation coming up with the SBB3.

After an email confirming my order, I got the first warning signal a few hours later with a follow up email that said this:

It’s taking a bit longer to complete your order. We’re trying to track down your item.

Hang tight and we’ll let you know when we have some news. Don’t worry, we haven’t charged your method of payment yet.

Yeah… my SBB3 order is a goner, and I think I’ll get official word tomorrow. It’ll go something like this:

Thank you for your recent order. I am sorry, but one or more of your items are shipping from an alternate location and cannot be shipped outside of the 48 contiguous United States. Therefore, we are unable to complete the order.

Yes, technically Footaction does ship to all states within the US, but Hawaii and Alaska has to pay a little more as seen on this cost chart.

The main takeaway is that Footaction says they ship to Hawaii. But this has never happened to any of my orders to date.

So imagine being a shoe fiend in Hawaii and only getting cancelled orders from Footaction online.

But…

Travis’ online store only sold sizes 10.5 and above. What happened to the smaller sizes (which were available on SNKRS)? My theory is that they are being held in reserve for a Houston milestone. As a Houston native, Travis likes to add some hometown significance to his sneaker drops. And since the Houston Astros are now going to the MLB World Series, Houston has another shot at something big. If all goes well for the ‘Stros, the World Series could be over on Saturday, October 26, 2019. So I’d ready that day in case if the Travis Scott Air Jordan 6 shock drop after an Astros sweep. If not, game 5 is on Sunday, Oct 27, game 6 on Tuesday, Oct 29, and game 7 on Wednesday, Oct 30.

Release dates vary so plan out your buy to secure your gifted pair:

1. Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Fearless” Release Date: October 22nd, 2019
2. Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Shattered Backboard 3.0” Release Date: October 26th, 2019
3. Air Jordan 1 Flyease Release Date: November 1st, 2019
4. Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Fearless” Patent Release Date: November 2nd, 2019
5. Blue The Great x Air Jordan 1 Mid Release Date: November 9th, 2019
6. Ghetto Gastro x Air Jordan 1 Low React Release Date: November 14th, 2019
7. Melody Ehsani x Air Jordan 1 Mid Release Date: November 15th, 2019
8. Facetasm x Air Jordan 1 MidR elease Date: November 22nd, 2019
9. Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG “Bloodline” Release Date: November 29th, 2019
10. Maison Chateau Rouge x Air Jordan 1 Mid Release Date: November 30th, 2019
11. Edison Chen x Air Jordan 1 Mid Release Date: December 7th, 2019
12. Air Jordan 1 Retro High Zoom Release Date: December 7th, 2019
13. Air Jordan 1 Mid “Come Fly With Me Releasing Holiday 2019

I was wrong. Rage still swelled within and released after getting a pair of these Air Jordan 1 mids. Yes, an AJ mid and in women’s sizing. But the Travis Scott-like tones drew me in, and my final rage cop was complete.

For the record, this shoe is BQ6472-030 in Black/Trooper-Sequoia and was purchased from Oneness.

Will Travis Scott’s online store restock with Air Jordan 6s? Size 10.5 is a little too big, but I’d make it work. Did you manage to snag a pair?

This Starbucks Nitro with Pumpkin foam was my first rage cop.

While this Nitro helped overcome the 4am wakeup call for the TS6 SNKRS draw, it wasn’t enough. So rage cop number two is a (discounted) three-year subscription to Disney’s new streaming service.

It had to have been obvious that the Footlocker mobile app updates its Hawaii store data on Hawaiian time. I mean in the beginning of the week, the Footlocker app showed reservations for the upcoming Air Jordan 1 Retro First Class for Hawaii locations. Oddly, the reservations for adult sizes were at Footlocker Ka Makana Alii, Kapolei. While the GS sizes were reserved at the Waikiki House of Hoops and nowhere else.

Odd right? Nonetheless, I signed for the reservations to see what could happen. The following day, I checked the Footlocker app on another device and sure enough, those reservations were changed to first come, first served (FCFS) for Ala Moana and sweepstakes/raffle for Waikiki. The app must have updated on that relaxed Hawaiian time..

Today’s mood after fighting through the release of the Air Jordan 1 OG Black Toe aka “the Satins.” These highly coveted sneaks launched at multiple sites with the Footsites, aka Foot Locker, Foot Action, Champs, and Eastbay, being the most plentiful. But because of the demand, each site lagged as users made their purchases.

I’m still not certain if I managed to get a pair from Foot Action. Surprisingly, right at release time, I got in quickly, made my size selection, and checked out without a glitch. But… I haven’t received any kind of confirmation for this purchase.

So I can’t tell if I cooked with fire or am a chipmunk trying to get an acorn.