John Kim 
Long before the Air Jordan XIII Premio was this unreleased sample of the Air Jordan XIII in a similar color-combination of White, Desert Clay, and Team Red. You might assume that these are just a sample pair of the AJ13 from the Bin 23 Collection, but this pair had an initial production date of Spring 2005, long before the ball got rolling on the Premio collection. Although unreleased then, that idea stayed fresh in the Jordan Brand Camp, as the colorway was in fact resurrected for the Premio release earlier this year; however, there’s more to this sample that meets they eye.
This particular pair is unique in a number of ways; for one, they’re two completely different colorways. Both are designated as ‘Team Red’, but one pair is undoubtedly a lighter shade on the upper 3M panel. Other differences are evident in the bottom soles, where the brown trim on the side is darker than the other, and on the branding on the upper, where the Jordan tab on the base of the lace placket and the Jumpman on the tongue are different shades as well. However, both ‘mismates’ of sorts feature a pearloid finish on the upper white leather, and being that this colorway never released, the differences could just be the result of various sampling and colorway experiments – as seen on the scribbled notes around the shoe. This particular pair is surely one of the most interesting pairs every produced (if, in fact, these were meant to be paired together), so take a look at the detailed images after the jump and check out the auction from davemilo10 on eBay.
