Nearly 2,000 Pair Of Nigel Sylvester x Jordan 4s Stolen In Train Heist
Nearly 2,000 Pair Of Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s Stolen In Train Heist
Source: Nike / Nigel Sylvester
As if Nigel Sylvester‘s collaborations with Jordan Brand didn’t have enough of a story behind them, some brazen thieves have added to that lore.
According to the Los Angeles Times, about $2 million worth of Nike sneakers were stolen from freight trains traveling in California and Arizona just last year. Within that seven-figure total weren’t just a bunch of general releases but also 1,985 pairs of the yet-to-be-released Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4, which was spotted in a load worth $440,000.
The robbers have devised a whole system of stealing the freight trains’ merchandise, which begins when they’re tipped off about a high-value shipment or target ones with high-security locks. Once they spot specific loads, they follow them to their destination and wait for them to make a scheduled or emergency stop. During the said stop, robbers hop aboard, take all the valuables, and either load them into their trucks or hide them in the brush nearby for someone else to pick them up.
The LA Times says the intricate process is usually conducted by Mexicans from Sinoloa.
Hopefully, now that Sylvester Jordan 4s have been confiscated, they’ll eventually end back up in Nike’s hands and be available for sneakerheads to buy once they release on March 15 with a $225 price tag.
Dubbed the “Brick by Brick” colorway, the 4s are draped in vibrant orange suede, a tonal pebbled leather mudguard, and a mini white swoosh for contrast. The typical Nike heel tab is swapped for “Bike,” a nod to Sylvester’s BMX roots.
As a longtime Jordan Brand fan, the Queens native took a special liking to the Jordan 4. In 2024, he helped introduce a low-top version of the model to the world, dubbed the RM.
The model became one of the biggest breaths of fresh air in the classic Jordan line, and Sylvester used storytelling to create two colorways. First was the “Grandma’s Driveway” style, which paid homage to where his love of biking was honed. The second was “Fence Green,” which signified the fence that wraps around the home to this very day.
“I was presented with the opportunity to do two colorways, so I wanted to take the challenge on and pull from different elements of this driveway for inspiration. Of course, the green was a no-brainer. The fence is a core childhood memory for me, because between the fence and the house was where all the action went on. And that action also went down on top of the concrete,” he told Hypebeast last summer. “I feel like if this driveway could speak, it would say so much, so it was very important for me to symbolize that on the ‘Driveway Grey.’ It also nods to the Air Jordan 4 ‘Bred,’ so between the driveway and the ‘Bred,’ we came up with this. Together, both colorways tell the complete story.”
