On Aug. 22, sophomore Alex Martin won a pair of shoes through a contest on Twitter that are currently being sold for up to $7000. Nike worked in conjunction with the ParaNorman movie, which was released in the United States on Aug. 17, to create a rare pair of sneakers that could only be obtained through the contest. The movie’s theme, “you don’t become a hero by being normal,” inspired the contest, which asked participants to tweet a picture of his or herself “being weird” as a child (#Weirdwins). Only 800 pairs of the shoes were made.
Alex first came across the contest while he was kickonfire.com in early August.
“I thought ‘I was a pretty weird kid,’” Alex said. “Maybe I could win.”
He immediately went to his mother, Julie Martin, who whipped out the baby albums and started to search.
“Alex is a huge ‘sneakerhead,’”Julie said. “He collects and wears many rare and limited Jordan shoes, so having an opportunity to win these shoes was a dream come true.”
So Alex posted a picture every day, as the rules required, until he was informed that he’d won after photo number four. The shoes, black and green foamposites with the words “weird wins” on the back, arrived at the Martin’s house on Sept. 20. They were packaged with a seal so that anyone who wanted to sell the shoes as “dead stock” or at full value wouldn’t even be able to look at them first.
“I couldn’t believe it at first,” Alex said. “It took two minutes to sink in. I was so excited–it was amazing.”
Alex has been interested in shoes ever since eighth grade, around when he got a pair of Air Jordan Take Flights for his birthday. He now has an entire collection, and each pair has a different story.
For example, the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon lets three patients design a pair of shoes every year, which are then made by Nike. Alex owns a pair of black, green and blue Nikes from this program, with the signature accent being a Superman logo. Julie likes that people are able to “get to know the story behind the shoe.”
The new Nikes are Alex’s latest additions to his extensive collection, but they are probably not his last. Alex follows other websites such as nicekicks.com, and he is constantly on the lookout for new shoes.
“I like the fact that you can plan what you’re going to wear based off your shoes,” Alex said. “If I’m wearing a really cool pair of shoes I just feel better and more confident.”
