The Rarest Nike SB Dunks Ever Made Are Making A Comeback

Back in 2003, years before the original Nike SB Dunk craze blew up with collaborations like the Staple Pigeon Dunks and the Diamond Dunks, Nike SB teamed up with eBay for a once in a lifetime collaboration. In order to raise money for new skateparks in Portland in the name of a young skater, Tim Braunch, who passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 25. The limited edition nature of the eBay x Nike SB Dunk is special on its own but the full story is unlike any other in sneakers.

The plan was to auction off a pair and use the funds for the aforementioned skateparks, but the crazy part of the story is that eBay and Nike SB literally cut up one of the pairs to show that the winning bidder would have one-of-a-kind, incredibly unique pair. Look close and you may notice that on the inner ankle area the shoes are stamped as "Sample" and not for resale. The auction raised $26,000 for charity and at the time, was one of the most expensive sneakers ever sold at auction. The cut up pair stayed with eBay and the one-of-a-kind pair went to an anonymous bidder that happened to be located in Beaverton, Oregon, the home of Nike.

The story became legendary throughout the sneaker community and the cut up pair made its way around the world through sneaker events for a few years before fading into history. Then, in 2018, Sandy Bodecker, one of the most important people in the development of the Nike SB brand, was spotted wearing a pair. Sneaker blogs speculated, but it took weeks before it became known that "someone" from Nike gifted Bodecker with the pair. Sandy Bodecker, who friends at The Swoosh would say the "SB" name in Nike Skateboarding stood for, passed away a few years ago after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Today, the Boedecker Foundation, a charity organization that was founded in his name, revealed that they are working with Nike SB and eBay to release a new version of the eBay x Nike SB Dunk. No details have been revealed but from the photo, it appears that the color way is true to the original and features details throughout the outsole that tie in with the original pair and the cut up variation that helped put Nike SB on the map. Stay tuned for more info.