Ultra-Rare Apple Sneakers Could Fetch $30,000 at Auction

A genuine pair of Apple-branded sneakers will go up for auction later this week courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries, and according to those in the know, the ultra-rare set of circa 1995 tennis shoes — tastefully emblazoned with Apple’s original rainbow-clad Apple logo — could fetch somewhere in the ballpark of $30,000.

The sneakers will represent a cornerstone piece in Heritage Auction’s upcoming “The Future is Now” event, which will be held on Sunday, June 11, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California, and will be featured alongside a variety of other historic memorabilia including other sneakers, street art, surfboards, skateboard decks, and more, according to the auction house’s website. Bidding starts at $15,000, but it’s estimated the sneakers could be sold for as much as $36,000.

Apple had weathered a somewhat stagnant period of growth in the mid-1990s, prior to Steve Jobs returning to the helm of his empire in 1997, during which the tech-giant experimented in a ton of different categories — creating, marketing, and attempting to sell (unsuccessfully) a variety of products from video game consoles like the Pippin, to digital cameras like the Apple QuickTake, television sets, audacious clothing and, in this case, sneakers, which were a collaborative effort between Apple and Adidas at the time.

For whatever reason, Apple ultimately decided to scrap its footwear project before it even had the chance to get off the ground running (no pun intended) — and the few pairs of prototype footwear that had already been created were then sold off to interested Apple employees. It’s not currently known exactly how many pairs of these are floating around out there, but the ones being auctioned off by Heritage Galleries on Sunday are apparently in pristine condition — and will likely fetch a whopping sum to match.

Worth noting is that if you’re financially sound enough to throw heaps of hard-earned money on these kicks, a portion of the proceeds from the sale will directly benefit the Greater Los Angeles area chapter of the Make-A-Wish foundation, whose mission is to provide terminally ill and hospital-dwelling children in the area with hope. You’ll also get a free pass to toot your horn for all to hear, as the proud owner of this darling pair of retro sneakers.. Although for $30k, we wouldn’t particularly recommend leaving the house wearing them!

To learn more about other noteworthy Apple product fails, be sure to check out the top 10 quirkiest Apple products and concepts — or if you’re feeling like it’s high-time to bone up on your knowledge of Apple history, then be sure to also check out our 41 fast facts about Apple you likely didn’t know.