One of my all-time favorite basketball players is Anfernee Deon “Penny” Hardaway. I never had the chance to watch him play live in his prime, but thanks to all the highlight reels that are uploaded on YouTube I get the opportunity to watch his game. On the court this guy was like no other, a 6’7-point guard that’s able to do it all from driving down the lane, scoring, passing, it’s exciting to watch him. Getting to watch documentaries about Penny also added to the admiration that I have for him, but this coincides with my interest in Sneakers as well. All the Nike Lil Penny commercials are so iconic, the loud and trash-talking sidekick was the polar opposite of who Penny Hardaway was. (Fun fact, the voice of Lil Penny is Chris Rock.)
I absolutely love the Air Penny line, which led me into the rabbit hole of collecting his signature shoes such as the OG 1997 Foamposite Pearls and Volt, OG 1997 Air Penny 3’s (Varsity Royal), Air ½ cent (Green Sparks), The Miami Heat & Atlantic colorway for the Penny 2’s and a few other Foamposite Colorways. A pair that has always caught my eye is the Sole Collector x Air Penny 25th Anniversary which was in 2008. At that time, Sole Collector also had the opportunity to interview Penny Hardaway for the cover story of their 25th Issue. The inspiration behind the colorway was the Forum’s original colors of Black/Anthracite-Volt, ISS facilitated sneakerheads to connect and just talk and share their interest/love for kicks. The Volt accents on the outsole, liner, Swoosh, upper eyelets, and Sole Collector logo stitching on the heel make this colorway special. Only 10 pairs were made which explains why I don’t see pairs floating around social media. This isn’t the first time Sole Collector had done a collaboration with Nike, they had worked on a few designs before and after as well, such as the Penny Signature Pack.
If you’re interested to talk about your passion for sneakers or would like to request a free appraisal to sell your sneaker collection, email me at ArmanS@ha.com