We chat to Offspring Community member Chris
Tell us about yourself
Yo! My names Chris, people call me Marshall, you might know me from Instagram as @_marshallahsram_ (yea, I can see that stare as you try to pronounce it) – its Marshall and then Marshall backwards. I’m 34, from a well-known place called Salisbury (can see that stare again) and I’m a carpenter by trade.
How long have you been into sneakers and how did you get into them?
I’ve loved sneakers since I can remember, back in my school days we would tag our pairs just so they were different to everyone else. The uncontrollable urge to buy sneakers started when I got my first job, had my own money and every pay day the first place I would go to was my local(ish) sneaker store.
Do you have any early sneaker memory?
One of my first memories is back when I was about 10, I was in my local town, now we're talking about a quiet country town not a fashion capital like London. We walked into to the sport shop and BANG I saw the sickest silver Nike sneakers my 10-year-old eyes had ever seen. I wanted them so bad, but with 2 younger brothers, new sneakers just because I wanted them never happened. Luckily enough that day, I was blessed and had the pair bought for me.
Do you have any sneaker regrets and what is your sneaker grail?
I think my only regret would be throwing away all my pairs from years ago, yea most of them were beat but for pure nostalgic reasons I wish I would have kept them. As for my sneaker grail, whoa! I’ve always thought of a grail as the pinnacle of a collection, the unicorn that could never be found. I’m a massive Air Max 1 fan and my grail pair is the Air Max 1 Albert Heijn. You know there was only 24 pairs given to friends and family back in 2005. I had never seen my size in these, not even close to my size… I wasn’t sure they existed!
Crazy enough earlier this year the stars aligned, I found someone who had that mythical pair in my perfect size. So, I flew out to Amsterdam to make the deal. I felt like Cinderella putting her foot in the glass slipper when I put those on foot for the first time.
Weve seen you have a couple of Air Max 1s, and some pretty rare ones... and on top of this, doubles of some pairs. At this point you’re just showing off! Tell us about your most prized pair and how you acquired them.
I do have a few pairs of Air Max 1. Amazed myself getting hold of some of them, one of them being the Hyperstrike Kid Robot. Surprisingly I was crazy happy to get hold of a pair of bright pink sneakers. I wish there was some elaborate story behind getting them. It was through conversation with a collector and the Kid Robot come up, he had always wanted a pair in his size but could never find them. Little did I know the pair he had were my size, then yeah it ended really well for me.
A lot of these pairs have started to crumble now, what's your feelings on this? Have you sole swapped any or your happy to see them slowly slip away?
You know I look at some of the pairs crumbling away in the box as a pieces of art that change every time I open the lid haha (I’m hoping it’s not just me) I’ve got some pairs from the early 90’s that are still DS and never been removed from the box. The midsole is pure dust and still sat perfectly in place. But, I have swapped a few pairs to be able to wear them, even some of my 1987 pairs are soleswapped and fully wearable.
A lot of these grails are being retro’d by Nike, most recently the Patta Chlorophyll – a welcome move seeing some old heat return?
Yes and no… lol! It is a good opportunity for new collectors to get their hands on some of the grails that have been stashed away in collections and now carry heavy prices. Patta done a great job with the new insoles and box for the new Chlorophyll, giving that 20th anniversary touch. But also a missed opportunity to switch it up with a fresh design or bringing back those unreleased samples from way back.
You’ve done some incredible IDs – whats been your favourite
One pair I made last year, I went wild with the colours. On the screen they looked horrendous, I ordered them anyway. Glad I did as they were 100x better in hand!
What sneakers are in your rotation currently?
I do like to have a bit of a variety in my rotation even though my feed is AM1 heavy. Recently it’s been the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low Black Phantom, HUF x Air Max 1 Pink Pow, Off-white x Nike Air Presto, Trophy Room x Air Jordan 1 Low, and my trusty beaters which are the Anniversary Red and Blue AM1.
QUICK FIRE ROUND
If you could colour up an Air Max which one would it be? (Cant choose AM1)
Air Max 90.
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If you could bring back any AM1 which one would it be?
Eminem Big Proof.
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What AM model should Nike bring back?
Bringing back the TL2 would be pretty sick.
Aside from sneakers what else are you into?
I’m a big family man, outside of work and sneakers I love creating new memories with my family. I enjoy photography and creating content, if I’m at an event you might see me with my camera in my hand. My wife would say hats and jackets is my other obsession, but I would have to disagree with that. Ok… I like hats and jackets too.
What does the Offspring Community mean to you?
It means a lot, seriously! I’ve created friendships and memories that will last a lifetime and they would never have happened if it wasn’t for the OS Community. Its more than just sneakers, everyone is there to support each other, the community pull together. Big shoutout to the OS Community.
Check out more from Chris on Instagram @_marshallahsram_
