If you are a fan of the 'Back to the Future' trilogy you will recall Marty McFly's (portrayed by Michael J. Fox), glowing pair of self-lacing Nike Mag sneakers that he was wearing when transported from 1989 to the year 2015. Now, over 20 years later, the sneaker manufacturer has released an exact replica of the fictional sneaker.
The 'Air Mags' designed in collaboration with Tinker Hatfield who came up with the original idea, look exactly like the one that Marty McFly donned, with a one major difference - They do not magically self-lace and fit snugly around the owner's feet. However, they do glow for a full four hours just like the fictional sneaker without a wire dangling down the leg and a battery pack. That's because all the electronics are built into the shoe, a feat that the company says was one of the most technologically challenging things they have ever done and, the main reason it took them four years to develop the shoe.
However, don't expect these cool shoes to appear in your neighborhood Footlocker anytime soon. That's because Nike has made only 1,500 pairs and is currently auctioning 150 of them every night until September 18th on eBay. Whilst the list price is just .99cts, eager fans are bidding them up rapidly, with each pair selling for between $3,000-$4,000USD.
The best part, is that all the proceeds, which are being matched in kind by Google founder, Sergey Brin and his wife Ann Wojcicki, are being donated to the Michael J. Fox foundation established to fund research for Parkinson's disease. To read more about this super cool footwear go to www.back4thefuture.com.
Resources: Huffingtonpost.com, pcmag.com, dailymail.co.uk