Wayback Wednesday...... Return of the STARTER.....

They say time waits for no man…. It obviously doesn’t wait for fashion either…. 

While gracefully browsing the internet looking for some Air Max BWs or 91s (if anyone knows a legit source, please let me know) I started thinking back over all of the “gear” over the years that I had purchased, sold, lost, given away, etc.

I remember the first pair of “buddies” my mom bought me and sent me off to school in…. they were called Hoops…. They looked like the 90 Jordan’s but were far… FAR from them. I found an old ad for Hoops on the DevyNewYork blog. 

<==== I mean look at that mess. If you look closely, you see the instead of the Jordan Flight Logo, you got some dude pulling a jumper with another dude trying to block his shot!!! What were they thinking... 

I got tired of getting ripped. I was already skinny, dark-skinned, with glasses.... and we all know that was the recipe for a daily roast session. With that being said, I started to hustle… but no, not drugs... people at my school would remember me as the “Candyman” and I had it all: Resees, Butterfinger, Snickers, M&M’s, 3 Musketeers, Hersheys…. but I made my loot from those Jolly Ranchers @ 1 for .25 or 3 for .50. 

I had teachers, students, bus drivers, coaches all buying from me, until the school got smart and loaded the vending machines with name brand candy….  At that time, the “Candyman” had to hang up his hustle.

Anyways, I used that money to up my style with only one item in mind…. The Starter Short Sets….  And did I get them. I had the L.A. Kings, Miami Hurricanes, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Braves, and Colorado Rockies. 

But my two favorites were my Oakland A’s Green with White Pinstripes and my Florida Marlins White with Blue Pinstripes. (Rest In Peace to my Florida Marlins starter short set… My cousins and I were going to White Water Park to kick it for the day but my Uncle Sylvester made us work on a flower bed in that Red Georgia Clay before we left and the shorts never recovered.) 

The hook was that these items were NOT CHEAP. Some shirts went for anything from $59 to $79. The shorts and the hat were separate… but in 91 and 92 YOU HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!! 

So now that I have a little bit of income….  I have made the decision to recoup some of my lost Starter shirts. Match those up with some of the retro Jordan’s that my man D.P. Cliff  keeps finding and I’m gonna be fresh just as I SHOULD HAVE been back in the day. (Check out my man's Kick Deals community on Facebook.)

Oh – for all of you that don’t know about the Starter gear, please reference the following videos that served as walking Starter commercials…

Kris Kross – Jump

If these kids were smart, they could have made serious money simply from market placement. They have on Starter apparel in every scene.

Fresh Prince – Summertime

This summed up the epitome of the Starter Jersey…. Barbecue’s, Car Show’s at the park, and Starter gear. That Eagles Starter Shirt was one that I always wanted.

I wanted the Georgetown Hoyas set so bad… but please believe if I decide to get it now, there is no way I’m doing the shorts. Even I'd laugh at my own-damn-self if I was walking around in any type of short set.

Picture courtesy of ForAlltoEnvy

- Slim….