Community Collections swings south to put the spotlight on a sneaker enthusiast who has to find his pickups in at least a size 15. Boston native Nathan Valencia resides in Phoenix with his stellar stock of large-sized shoes, which includes a list of exclusives. Originally hooked by the Air Jordan 5, Valencia has grown his collection to feature mostly Nike LeBron silhouettes, including every single generally released pair of the Nike LeBron 8. On top of his King James gems, this nearly impossible to find collection of 15s and 16s includes many other notable sneakers, including his own personal customs.
Scroll and click through the following pages to see highlights and commentary on Nathan’s entire sneaker stash, including his Oldest Pair and Most Frequent Wear. Record your thoughts on his collection in the comment section at the bottom of the page, and keep streaming Nice Kicks for everything sneakers.
Profile:
Name: Nathan Valencia
Instagram: @neight21
City: Phoenix, Arizona
Started: 15/16
Sneaker Story:
“Growing up in the early 90s, I was a huge Michael Jordan fan. I was born outside of Philadelphia and grew up outside of Boston. As a young basketball fan, MJ came first, everything else was second. When my older brother got a pair of Air Jordan 5s, I was hooked on flashy shoes. I had all the hype shoes back then. I destroyed every pair of kicks I owned on the courts, and none of them survived. After college, I moved to Phoenix where I started to play less and own more kicks. Being a true size 15.5, finding kicks was never easy. My collection is themed around LeBrons. My first pair was a LeBron 2 Low in all-white, which are no longer with me. It wasn’t until I bought my first 7 that I went crazy for the LeBron line. Realizing I would never get every color of the 7, I made it a goal to get every 8, no questions asked. Luckily Nike did not release as many 8s as 7s. I accomplished my goal, not counting PEs, I got them all. The hardest pair for me to find was the PS Finals edition, it took me two years to hunt it down. As the LeBron line went on, I liked the silhouettes less and continued buying doubles of 8s so that I could stock DS pairs and customize as many as I could. Finding my size has gotten harder than ever these days, and more expensive, so I continue to hunt down old pairs and work on getting my customs brought to life.”
