How Victorian sneaker addict Michael Fan gets his kicks from million-dollar collection
A sneaker addiction has turned into an all-consuming passion for one Victorian man, now hailed as having one of the top-five best collections on the planet.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Berwick basement is home to one of the world’s best sneaker collections and the Holy Grail of Air Jordans valued at nearly $1m.
What started off as a teenage basketball hobby has turned into an addiction for Michael Fan, and he now lays claim to what’s hailed as the top-five best sneaker collections on the planet.
Stored away in his Berwick family home basement is what sneakerheads describe as the Mona Lisa of shoes, a pair of Air Jordans valued at just shy of a million dollars.
“My love for sneakers came because of basketball. I love this game and I used to see players walking onto the court wearing Air Jordans and I thought they were really cool,” Mr Fan said.
“I started tracking how to find exclusive pairs. I began tracking them online around 2004 trying to find these exclusive sneakers on eBay or Instagram and make connections with sellers and collectors.”
Mr Fan is a god among sneakerheads. He has more than 15 million global followers who rave about his rare “game worn”, “player exclusive” collection on his YouTube videos.
He describes the home he shares with his wife and two young children as a sneaker museum, with the 700-odd meticulously looked-after shoes kept in display boxes, each with their own hand made plaque, telling the story “or narrative” behind the shoe.
Sneakers are not a pair of shoes to Mr Fan, or the growing subculture of sneakerheads worldwide, they are works of art.
His Mona Lisa is a dual signed pair of Air Jordan Chicago’s game worn by Michael Jordan during the 1985-86 NBA season. The left shoe is a size 13 and the right a 13.5 to fit the icon’s famously mismatched feet.
Mr Fan, 36, says a similar but inferior pair was recently sold at auction for $745,000.
“They are kind of priceless, it’s hard to find another pair,” he said, adding he purchased them back in the day for about 11 per cent of the current marketing value.
For the first time Mr Fan is showing off 14 pairs from his “priceless” collection at the eBay Museum of Authentics in Brunswick this weekend.
eBay sneaker expert Alistair Low said the sneaker addiction has exploded in recent years with a pair of kicks sold every two minutes on the online marketplace.
After launching the “authenticator guarantee” last year for safety from fakes and counterfeits, the sneaker category has grown in triple digit figures on eBay in brands such as Nike, Jordan and Adidas Yeezy.
Low likens it to the Wall Street stock exchange with buyers and sellers trading in sneakers worth tens of thousands of dollars.
A signed game worn Nike LeBron 2 James PE All Star sold on eBay last year for $125,000.
The eBay Museum of Authentics sneaker show will be at Melbourne’s Neon Parc from April 29 to May 1.
More Coverage
Allan govt ‘shamed’ on Suburban Rail Loop as feds announce conditional funding
The Albanese government has signed off on a $2.2bn rail loop commitment with strict conditions as the state opposition calls for the project to be paused.
Bolt: Sam Kerr trial shows we’re losing power to race baiters
Kerr’s comments that a policeman was “stupid and white” were rude at best but was her angry abuse racist? The jury said no, but it’s not that simple.