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Real McFly 2015 Prototype Shoe from Back to the Future, Part II Available on eBay
Posted by Adam Frucci at 7:01 AM on July 12, 2008
While Nike is releasing some half-baked Back to the Future "inspired" shoes, purists know that they aren't the real deal. Sort of looking like the shoes from the movie isn't enough. They need to be the shoes from the movie. Well, here you go: the original prototype shoe built for the movie. It doesn't get much more authentic than this, and it's actually available now on eBay. Oh baby.
Unfortunately, it's just one shoe, not the full pair, making wearing them down the street impossible. However, this one shoes was worn by Michael J. Fox and was used to build the final pair that he wore in the movie. Check it:
This is IT. The one and only original prototype of the Nike shoes Michael J. Fox wore in the movie Back To the Future II. You are bidding on a single shoe, not a pair. The shoe was designed as a working model, not a practical shoe, although it can be worn. It was worn once to the premiere of the movie in Beaverton, Oregon, and again by Michael J. Fox in Hollywood at a test fitting.
Back in 1989 I worked in the Nike Sport Research Lab as the Electronics Technician. The original BTF2 shoes for the movie were built by hand in the Nike Sample Room, and I was the one who designed and installed the electronics for them.
The lights in the side of the midsole and the Nike logo on the ankle strap are electro-luminescent panels, and there is an array of six randomly flashing LEDs on the side of the heel that were never visible in the movie
They were originally called "Slamball Shoes," and that's what most people called them around Nike. There was supposed to have been a scene in the movie in which Marty plays Slamball, a game like 3D racquetball where the participants wear magnetic shoes which allow them to climb up the walls. That scene was never shot because the cost of building a huge room on gimbals to create the effect was too great.
The REAL name of the shoes in Marty McFly's world of 2015 was the "Nike Mag" because of their magnetic properties, and that's what is molded in the back of the heel.
The shoe is in "good" condition for what it is, but since the polyurethane midsole and fabric body of the shoe were simply spray-painted in the suggested colour, some of the paint has flaked off over time. The LEDs, the E-L panel on the ankle strap, and one of the two E-L panels on the midsole still work. The other midsole panel comes on if you flex the shoe slightly. I originally thought I could get away with a rigid connection between those two panels, but it turned out that the flexing of the shoe during wear broke the connection. It might be fixable with some delicate surgery, but I never had the guts to try it.The included power/electronics pack is hard-wired to the shoe, and requires two 9 volt batteries to operate.
I believe the shoe was built as a men's size 9, although I couldn't swear to it. It is whatever size Fox was at the time.
The shoe comes with a colour photocopy of the original design drawing by Nike's Tinker Hatfield (the designer of all of the Air Jordans, among many other things).
Bidding starts at a cool US$1,000, and the auction ends in 9 days. Get them credit cards ready. [eBay; Thanks, Michael!
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
CarsonB
Posted 7:55 AM 12/7/08
The shoes were made with a rigid circuit? I guess the Parkinson's broke it.
CarsonB
Mondoz
Posted 7:53 AM 12/7/08
It's amazing how many people out there really think that Nike has been sitting on the technology to make these things, and that they're just refusing to produce them until the year 2015.
I've actually seen a petition to try to convince them to release the shoes 'early'...
It's just some strings being pulled by an FX guy under the fake concrete the shoes are mounted on...
There's no real hoverboards, either, people!
Mondoz
luckybastard
Posted 7:52 AM 12/7/08
@drigo02:
on IT. theres only ONE shoe.
luckybastard
drigo02
Posted 7:49 AM 12/7/08
I'm bidding on them right NOW!!!
drigo02
impreza
Posted 7:44 AM 12/7/08
@luckybastard:
I bet he's gnomish too.
impreza
luckybastard
Posted 7:29 AM 12/7/08
Woah -
"The shoe comes with a color photocopy of the original design drawing by Nike's Tinker Hatfield"
a designer named "Tinker"?
that's awesome.
luckybastard
Joseph
Posted 7:21 AM 12/7/08
@Joseph: I am corrected... it's only 1 shoe.
Joseph
Joseph
Posted 7:19 AM 12/7/08
these things are gonna go for multiple thousands of dollars. Although you could probably get em replicated for 2 bucks at a sweatshop.
Joseph
aperryz
Posted 7:18 AM 12/7/08
that's amazing
aperryz
praevalesco
Posted 7:16 AM 12/7/08
Dip those dragging back bits in gold and you've got a ghetto superstar shoe.... foe real.
praevalesco
sonburn
Posted 8:33 AM 12/7/08
Hoverboards are real!!!! Man that was like saying there's no Santa to a 5 year old.
sonburn
MrDo
Posted 8:20 AM 12/7/08
The real hoverboard from the movie is going up for auction soon at Profiles in History Not to mention a whole buttload of other geektastic crap. Alas, I don't have 50k for the opening bid.
MrDo
justinsane
Posted 8:10 AM 12/7/08
@CarsonB: You're so going to hell.
justinsane
Jimbuck
Posted 8:10 AM 12/7/08
@CarsonB: Pretty low man. Marty's my boy.
Jimbuck
Parapraxis
Posted 8:38 AM 12/7/08
@sonburn:
what's this about santa I'm reading?
Parapraxis
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
Posted 9:10 AM 12/7/08
Unfortunately, it's just one shoe, not the full pair, making wearing them down the street impossible.
I thought having only one shoe was bad until I met the man with one leg. He seemed fine with it. But alas, he was missing his right leg, so a single right shoe pissed him off.
Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy
ZeeBeeEss
Posted 9:55 AM 12/7/08
Oh man, I have wanted this shoe to be a reality for years now. I still think its a great idea, though I'm sure it will have some kind of firmware glich that tightens too much and cuts off circulation to your feet.
ZeeBeeEss
Cordfucious
Posted 10:15 AM 12/7/08
@Git Em SteveDave is a poor substitute for LindsayJoy: you sir have been awarded the Cordfucious Award for Humanitarian Awareness Quotes
Cordfucious
markarian
Posted 11:19 AM 12/7/08
I really don't see why Nike couldn't just make the shoes from the movie. Even if they didn't power-lace or light up. Jesus...Marketing people.
markarian
KJA
Posted 1:03 PM 12/7/08
If I had to money to buy this, I would give it back to Nike and demand them to put this shoe in full production.
WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY
KJA
elislider
Posted 2:22 PM 12/7/08
No way! These shoes are located really close to me, like a few miles away. I'm not a giant fanboy so I wouldnt care to go "visit" them but thats still pretty funny. Wonder how they got them... at the moment bidding is up to $1600
elislider
Ariel_Wollinger
Posted 2:17 PM 12/7/08
@ZeeBeeEss: Instead, nike scams everyone by selling a repainted existing model...
Ariel_Wollinger
DeadWriter
Posted 4:58 PM 12/7/08
@elislider: Wonder how they got them...[?] I would guess a time machine.
DeadWriter
ProSeven
Posted 9:46 PM 12/7/08
Here is a custom BttF2 shoes commercial:
+ Watch video
ProSeven
fluf
Posted 2:17 AM 13/7/08
@ProSeven: All right! Power laces... Wha? Power laces not included? Perfect! Just perfect!
fluf
djdare
Posted 9:01 AM 14/7/08
@Mondoz: dude, seriously apple made the iPhone a reality (sarcasm), but I mean we have the technology to make a god damn shoe that can lace itself, it wouldn't even be hard... it might weigh a bit more than a normal shoe, but seriously ever heard of Li-ion batteries? All it would take is a couple electric motors, and some sensors... we're not talking rocket science, just shoe science.
@luckybastard: Tinker is actually a very highly regarded shoe designer, he designed quite a few of the Air Jordan's... most notably the 3, which is considered by some one of the biggest steps forwarded in basketball shoes ever.
djdare