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As the arena of basketball sneakers pushed forward and turned the corner into the 90′s, the competition was absolutely fierce. Today, Nike owns more than 90% of the basketball market share in America, but that story was much different two decades ago. There was no unrivaled dominance or alpha-dog of any kind, but a level playing ground in which brands of all kinds had their hands in the pot. Reebok Pump was one of the big players of that time, with numerous super-star endorsements, media publicity, and a large consumer following helping its cause. With a lot of hype and excitement surrounding Reebok’s new technology, Nike responded to the introduction of the first Reebok Pump shoe in 1989 was the Nike Air Pressure, a shoe that looked too futuristic, weighed too much, and cost too much for its own good. The Air Pressure – at the risk of redundancy – was just too much.
Some fine-tuning and slimming down was obviously necessary and in 1991, Nike unveiled the Nike Air Force 180, which featured the 180-Air unit and a high ankle with a similar Air-integrated ankle apparatus – but the shoe was considerably lighter and much more ‘wearable’. Older sneaker heads may be able to recall The Admiral David Robinson wear the Air Force 180 and also appear in a commercial for the shoe. The Air Force 180 you might recognize today – the model attributed to Charles Barkley – is actually the Air Force 180 Low, but with the Air-pump technology becoming a thing of Nike’s past, the Low version became the flagship and discarded any height-designation. Regardless of how quickly it might have been forgotten at the time, the Air Force 180 is remembered today as one of Nike’s greatest designs of all time. Coming across a pair of the Air Force 180 – let alone a deadstock pair – is a rare occurrence so take a look at the detailed gallery after the jump and check out the auction of this DS pair from the.kicksologist on eBay.
| Page 1 | 2 |28 Responses to “Nike Air Force 180 – David Robinson Signature | Available on eBay”
October 14th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
i luh this sneaker. i hope they retro it.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Those are sex. Literally.
October 14th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
WOW, although i was not old enough to be into these in '91. I would give my first born for them now!
October 14th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
whats that button?
October 14th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
bit of Air Mags (MC Fly)
October 14th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Pump release putton.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
The button is for the air release. You can turn the valve to select where you want the air.
My pair are busted to shit but the pump still works great.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
sick nike should release these
October 14th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
NIKE please rerelease these. They would be insanely priced but I need these again. These and the Pressures have been on my Must buy grail list for the last 10 years. Lol. I never find my size. Congrats to whoever wins these. Solid pair.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
I wish Nike would retro these and the Command Force!!!!
October 14th, 2010 at 9:51 pm
the button is to relese the air after pumped up, and it turns to pump up differnet sections of the shoe
October 14th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
The black part is a valve that turns an allows you to pump air into different chambers inside the shoe. The blue button is a release valve to release air. I had these when i was in high school back in the day.
October 14th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
its a dial that determined which chamber you were pumping up. teal button in the middle is the release valve…
October 14th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
yo im sry but these are the ugliest shits i ever seen in my life…maybe if u cut them in half they would be alright….but these look like they go up all the way to ur calves
October 15th, 2010 at 12:09 am
That midsole is INSANE. Nike, please put some focus on the Air Force 180 Barkleys and release some clean colorways…
October 15th, 2010 at 12:24 am
Yo these are straight fire instant classics that need to be revisited, all other retro styles are coming back anyway lol
October 15th, 2010 at 1:32 am
That Corey guy is a punk, and be frontn’ like he got sum heat wit kicks, u Dnt know shit, and Dnt even have a pair of those still, lil punk, u Lyin lil punk, eat one, fuck des ugly ass shoes, and you lil punk and I’m out.
October 15th, 2010 at 1:42 am
SICK! NEED THESE NOW
October 15th, 2010 at 1:58 am
these are in my size but you wont catch me paying $1500 for shoes unless they are michael jordan game used/ autographed lmao
October 15th, 2010 at 3:23 am
These are great….release these n the air command force
October 15th, 2010 at 9:22 am
I feel you on that one homie. $1500 is pretty steep. Lol. I also would only pay that for some MJ game worn autographed joints other than that they can kkep them.
October 15th, 2010 at 9:57 am
1700usd price is SICK. lol
October 15th, 2010 at 11:41 am
ROBINSON PUMPS
October 15th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I had a pair of these in 1991 in a sz 10.5. My mom was able to buy me a pair for $100 right before the start of my seventh grade school year, because the seller wanted to unload his plast pair fast!!! That might have been the happiest day of my life. Sadly, I no longer have the sneakers. I wish I knew then what I know now, as that pair would be the centerpiece of my collection. Unfortunately, Nike will never be allowed to retro this model because they lost a lawsuit to Reebok for the rights to the Pump technology. I would give up just about ahything to own another pair of these though….It's on my wish list
January 14th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
man i need these ASAP.. Nike need to get on it.. & bring these back..
May 24th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I have a pair of these NIKE Air Pressure 180's
where can i find replacement parts ?
eg.
All the air units are popped and the pumps bearly work =(
the shoe has been taken apart and is awaiting rejuvination.
Please Email :
sales@pierreleslie.com
if you have the answer =D
SOMEONE HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 5th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
They need 2 drop these again . I would fuck with these
May 1st, 2012 at 7:27 pm
Vintage Air Mags