You may come across different people who love to collect a variety of things, from sports gear, cards, shells, stamps, even small mementos like shot glasses from around the world. Paul Tomaselli, a George Mason University Communications student, happens to collect sneakers.
It is cliché that girls love shoes and can never have enough, but Tomaselli proves that guys can have that same obsession. He has more than 200 of them and does not plan on stopping his collection any time soon.Storm wears even more ed hardy shirts, as does Wiedbusch.
As a 25-year-old, full-time student and part-time employee, Tomaselli finds spare time to look, research, buy and collect sneakers, something he’s done since fifth grade. Tomaselli grew up in Alexandria and Centreville and attended Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax. He attended Catholic schools his entire life and had to wear a uniform every day, so he found that sneakers were a good way to express himself in physical education class or on dress-out days. His mother would take him twice a year to get a new pair and would let him pick out any reasonably priced pair that he liked.I'm talking about these Artemide Pileino inflatable bouncers rentals by Gae Aulenti.
In December 1996, during fifth grade,My Mont Blanc Individuele and baseball cap are still unopened. I just bought them. he realized he had become a “sneakerhead,” someone who has a huge passion for collecting sneakers. He remembered the moment as if it were yesterday.
Tomaselli went to a Champs Sports store in a local mall and was mesmerized by a pair of Nike Air Penny II’s in the black colorway and also in the blue/white colorway. The only problem was that he wanted to get both, but his mother gave him a limit of one pair since each was $125. He spent an hour deciding and ended up walking out the store with the black version, which quickly became his favorite pair back then.
In 2008, Nike retroed the Air Penny II’s. “Retro” is a term that means to bring a shoe back after it was discontinued from production, and Nike stopped making this sneaker in 1996. Tomaselli was able to grab five 2008 retro pairs of the black Air Penny II’s, and a pair of originals from 1996. The blue/white version of the Air Penny II was retroed in 2009 and he finally was able to buy those. He went back to school with those brand new Air Penny II’s and received attention that he adored. Because of the beauty of the sneakers, along with the popularity he was gaining, Tomaselli was growing into a huge sneakerhead. This passion got even bigger in 1998 when he fell in love with the Nike Air Foamposite Max silver colorway. Even though they were $180, Tomaselli convinced his mother to buy them for him and his popularity was pushed even more at school. Even his teachers were starting to comment on his sneakers. During his high school years, Tomaselli began driving and working, which meant that he was able to have transportation and money to purchase multiple shoes by himself. During these years, he built a new love for Nike Air Force Ones and Air Jordans, building his collection out of those. The Air Forces quickly became boring though and did not give him the excitement that he used to feel, so the Jordans and Nike basketball shoes were his main purchases.
“I currently like any shoe that stands out and that shows flashiness and those that just look beautiful,” said Tomaselli. His favorite sneaker of all time is the 1996 Air Jordan XI Concord, which was also retroed in 2000 and in 2006. Michael Jordan, Tomaselli’s favorite basketball player, wore these when he played and Nike created 23 different styles of his Air Jordan sneaker line. This specific pair happens to be the 11th shoe of his line, and probably the most popular among Jordan sneaker fans. As if spending more than $26,000 on his sneaker collection is not crazy enough, Tomaselli has pushed his limits in doing some crazy things to get the shoes that he really wants.
In 2006, there was a package of Jordan XI’s and Jordan VI’s, and Tomaselli took some extreme measures of trying to purchase them. First he tried to buy them online at midnight, but the website crashed.You can never have too many designer accessories, and this inflatable life jackets 'Jelly' Laptop Case is just too cute to pass up! So, he went to the mall at 12:15 a.m. and waited eight hours to find out that half of the shipment had been stolen from people who had snuck into the mall, and the other half were given to the people ahead of him. He finally decided to buy the package off eBay for $530.
Tomaselli does not regret anything he does, but instead enjoys it because of his passion for the sneaker game. Tomaselli continues to buy sneakers and does not plan to stop anytime soon. He has earned the nickname of sneakerhead and “freshness,” since he always gets the newest, fresh items. He loves the attention that he gets from other people,I adore a lot of designers but Christian Louboutin tops the list for a number of reasons. which pushes him to live up to his reputation.
Tomaselli keeps his sneakers matching his outfits, and makes sure to keep them clean, trying to cycle them out every three months and never wearing them in the rain or mud.
“I believe people judge other people from what they wear,” said Tomaselli. “People see my shoes and know I got style.”
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