Dodgers Blue Heaven: I Recently Bought some Nomo's -- Nike Air Max NM

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

I Recently Bought some Nomo's -- Nike Air Max NM

I'm not much of a sneakerhead, but I do know what I like... And what I really like... No... What I'm really lovin' right now is a pair of pre-owned sneakers I recently snagged on eBay. Check it out above and below.

What you see is a pair of Air Max NM -- better known as the Air Nomo Max 1. These were specially branded training shoes made for former Dodgers starting pitcher and Japanese sensation Hideo Nomo starting in 1996 - a year after winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award. The pair I have is a retro version that was released in 2011 -- nearly ten years ago. They had also renamed the shoe from Air Nomo Max 1 to Air Max NM that year.

As you may have noticed, the design of the shoe is meant to reflect the nickname Hideo Nomo had -- The Tornado. The pattern on the upper has solid blue leather with numerous triangular cutouts on each side. This is meant to look like wind swirling around like a tornado.

BTW, I ran across an original Nike television ad on YouTube and thought it would be fun to share it. This commercial is from 1996.

(YouTube Link)

As some of you may know, I've been an active thrift store shopper and sneakers are one of the things I love to chase after. Over the years I've found everything from Air Force 1's and Dunks to Adidas Superstars and Puma Easy Riders at Goodwill... But there are certain styles that I never run into. One of those are these Nomo's -- Oh, and Jordan's... I've never seen Jordan's.

So, a few weeks back, after once again failing to find anything good at thrift stores, I decide to cruise through eBay, and on a whim decided to search for some affordable Hideo Nomo sneakers.

Low and behold, I found a seller seeking $20 for a blue colorway in my size. Best yet, it was in very good wearable condition. I would not have to spend much time cleaning them. So, being the frugal shopper that I am, I made an offer to the seller at $15, and he took it. A week later they were at my doorstep.

As a side note, these Nomo trainers used the exact same midsole as the Nike Air Griffey Max 1 -- also released in 1996, but before the Nomo shoes. So, folks often regard the Nomo Air Max's as a homage to Griffey's Air Max. To see what I mean check out the two photos below.

Nike Air Max NM Nike Air Griffey Max 1

In my brief research of these shoes I ran into several articles I thought worth pointing to. The first two links below are from Roberto Baly's blog Vin Scullt is My Homeboy, and the last link is from sneaker blog Eastbay.