I picked these up from Flight Club Los Angeles over the weekend, after first trying to pick them up the weekend before, but they were unable to find the pair that was on display, just the shoe that was in the box.  I left my info, and they said they were gonna call me when they figured out where it was.  So sometime during the week, sure enough I got a call, but with some bad news.  The shoes were “maad yellowed”.  I was kinda sad, because this is a personal grail for me, as well as a lot of other Vans collectors out there.  These were in my size, and were completely deadstock.  Plus, they came with the extra accessories, including the dope steel shank plate insoles!  After the initial shock, I thought about it, and decided to purchase them anyways.  I’ve seen many Jordan collectors repair oxidized soles, and I figured since this is vulcanized rubber, it’s much more harder to mess it up.  I’ve started cleaning them up a bit, with Jason Markk, and surprisingly, it took off the “surface layer” of oxidation, and lightened up a bit.  At least, on the sidewall it did.  I’m not looking forward to the toe-cap at all.  My next step is to get my hands on some seaglow, and try that out.  After all this rain, hopefully I can get a few good sunny days to test it out with.  Maybe even a lightbox method, we’ll see.  Stay tuned for new progress, as I work on these babies!  You might ask why the hell did I buy these?  Well, cause I got them for less than what I paid for a used pair of sz10.5s which I was hoping I could fit without insoles, but they were just way too small.  By the way, I will be selling those ones, so email me or contact me on the forums, if you are interested.  Enjoy a few pics after the jump, of the comparison shots, and first steps of progress.  Also, what’s the moral of the story?  Don’t price your kicks so high, in consignment shops, that they’ll never sale!  I am sometimes guilty of that too.

more pics after the jump Continue reading →