Nike and ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ Are Reportedly Collaborating on One of the Character’s Favorite Air Max Sneaker
An unsanctioned Nike tribute from the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” manga issue published in 1997 is going to become a real-life sneaker collaboration nearly 30 years later.
The “Yu-Gi-Oh!” x Nike Air Muscle 95 will release in two colorways as a callback to the Air Max 95-inspired Air Muscle sneaker, as reported by Sneaker News. That shoe was a clear homage to the Air Max 95 “Neon,” only without any Nike branding, and Katsuya Jonouchi (aka Joey Wheeler) would regularly wear another pair of Air Muscles throughout the series.
In “The Poison Man,” published in 1997 in Japan and 2003 in English, Jonouchi goes to buy a rare Air Muscle at the Junky Scorpion shoe shop. Jonouchi has to convince the owner to sell them and is able to purchase the sneakers at half price by putting his feet into one of the shoes with the proprietor’s scorpion said to be inside, which wasn’t actually true.
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After leaving the store, Jonouchi is jumped by the Muscle Hunters and has his shoes stolen from him. He and Honda find the gang and beat them up, only to find out the owner had paid them so he could take back possession and sell the shoes again. Dark Yugi confronts the owner and wins back the shoes in a coin in sneaker game. Although one of the sneakers is damaged, Jonouchi considers it a battle scar.
The “Yu-Gi-Oh!” collaboration, Nike’s first, comes amid the 30th anniversary for the Air Max 95, which is being celebrated through the release of numerous colorways including the original “Neon” edition with its “Big Bubble.”
No images have been shown of the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” x Nike Air Muscle 95, which will release in the fall, so it’s not yet clear how the sneakers will be tailored to the collaboration. Both will be priced at $200 and will be accompanied by the an apparel collection that includes a Destroyer Jacket and two T-shirts.
