Air Jordan 12/Air Jordan XII

The Air Jordan 12 was released in 1996-97 and were the first Air Jordan shoes in the Jordan Brand line.

In this season, Jordan lost the MVP by the narrowest margin in NBA history to Karl Malone as he helped lead his Jazz to the NBA Finals only to fall to Jordan and the Bulls. Jordan wore the Air Jordan 12's while he took home his fifth NBA title and fifth NBA Finals MVP.

Love for Japan

The Air Jordan 12 featured something very unique in terms of design. The Air Jordan 12 upper was stitched to resemble the Japanese Rising Sun flag. The Air Jordan 12 also was the most durable shoes out of the whole Jordan shoe series. In addition to this, the Air Jordan 12 provides the most ankle support which was great for keeping Jordan on the floor for the whole season.

Jordan Brand is Born

In September, 1997, Nike decided to launch a new sub-brand of Nike called Jordan Brand. The Air Jordan 12 was the first Jordan shoe to be part of the Jordan Brand collection and also did not have the Nike logo anywhere on the shoe - not even the insole. The shoes did come in a Nike box, but these were the last.

Retroed to Death

Many Air Jordan heads were happy to hear the news that the Air Jordan 12 was going to be retroed; however, many collectors started to get irritated as more and more kept getting released. The original Jordan 12's were released in only 5 colorways, but there were 10 colorways retroed when counting the women's colorways.

On November 28, 2003, Jordan released the first of its kind - an online exclusive shoe that was sold in a package. The Black/Carolina "nubuck's" were $200 and came with a matching hoody and hat. Many fans were happy to pay $200+ just for an exclusive shoe, but collectors were far from happy when news got out that Nike released this supposedly "limited" and "online exclusive" shoe to retailers to be sold at only $135 or less. Some pairs ended up at designerathletic for only $99.99 angering Jordan followers even more.

The Nubucks were not the only Air Jordan 12 release that angered Jordan collectors. Originally, the White/Carolina was a women's colorway only made up to size 15W and in limited numbers in large sizes. These of course sold out opening day and hit the $200+ mark in a hurry. More were released as a general release only 2 or 3 months later making these shoes nothing special at all.

Air Jordan 12 / Air Jordan XII

The Air Jordan XII (12) was released in 1996/1997.

In the 96/97 season Jordan saw himself being bounced off the MVP throne by Karl Malone, who won the honor with the slimmest margin one can think off. Jordan got his revenge in the finals though, and led the Bulls past Malone's Utah Jazz and also picked up the Finals MVP honors for the fifth time (out of five tries!).

Original
White/Black-Taxi
White-Varsity Red-Black
Obsidian-White-French Blue
Black-Varsity Red
Black/Varsity Red-White-Metallic Silver

Retro
Black-Varsity Red
Black/Varsity Red-White-Metallic Silver