1993 Air Jordan Sneaker Display
APPRAISER:
You've brought in this wonderful Air Jordan sneakers display. Where did you get this?
GUEST:
My grandmother gave it to me.
APPRAISER:
Ah, all right, Grandma. Where did you get it?
GUEST:
Well, when my kids were small, when they were babies, I took them to one shoe store. And years later, the shoe company store went out of business, and they were throwing away a lot of stuff. And this was one of the things that I thought was great and not to be thrown away. So, I got this.
APPRAISER:
How much did you pay for this?
GUEST:
I didn't have to pay anything for it. I just kind of saved its life 'cause I thought it was pretty cool.
APPRAISER:
So, what year was that?
GUEST:
That was probably about eight years ago.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so why did you think about this as a gift for Miles?
GUEST:
His mother played basketball.
APPRAISER:
Ah.
GUEST:
She was four-year scholarship, basketball college. His uncle, my son...
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
...was a basketball star in high school, and now he's a basketball star. And I thought this would be great to put up in his room.
APPRAISER:
How old are you?
GUEST:
Seven.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And how long been playing basketball?
GUEST:
About since I was five.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so a couple of years. And your mom taught you. So, what, what did your mom teach you?
GUEST:
She taught me how to dribble, shoot, and pass.
APPRAISER:
Dribble, shoot, and pass-- that's all you got to do. What do you know about Michael Jordan?
GUEST:
I know he's a good player. (chuckles):
APPRAISER:
There you go. Well, you know, Michael Jordan was not just a good player. Michael Jordan is one of the greatest players of all time. And he came out of the University of North Carolina, led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. Michael Jordan signed a deal with Nike for $2.5 million, which was a ton of money in 1984-- it was five-year deal, and they started making shoes for him. And all of a sudden, overnight, they became famous as he became famous. So, you got this great display. This display is from 1993. How do I know that? Well, that was the year of Air Jordan 9. They decide to take words that were most associated with Michael Jordan. So here are the words here in English, "Skill, creative, sport, grace, freedom, intense, power, and dedication." Because they were expanding globally, they put them in all different languages, whether it was Japanese and German and Spanish and Italian. And those are on the soles of the shoes. So every year, they would do something like that. And that's what they did in 1993. So the shoe would go here. What do you think, Miles, something like this would be worth?
GUEST:
Hmm, about... $500.
APPRAISER:
If I was going to put an auction estimate on this, I would put about $500 to $700 on it.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's a pretty cool gift.
GUEST:
That's really good.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.