The point of grading shoes (or any collectible for that matter) is to distinguish between the condition of one vs. the condition of another.
In several cases - there are *peerless collectibles. Meaning it’s very hard to find anything to compare them to. Maybe...these collectibles are one of a kind? Or maybe there are extenuating circumstances surrounding this collectible?
I have a handful of these...just...super random pairs of shoes or whatever that there is nothing I can really compare them to. The grade behind them really doesn’t matter. The story behind them matters.
The Sonny Vaccaro ‘Cameltoe VI’s’ that are being auctioned off is one of those pairs - a pair where the grade doesn’t really matter. The story as told by @sportico : “Hobbled by a sprained big right toe before Game 4 of the 1991 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan improvised. He cut a slit in the front of his right Air Jordan VI, thereby reducing the sneaker’s pressure on his foot.” For all intents and purposes - any shoe with a huge slit down the middle of the toebox is going to get you pretty damn close to the lowest grade in the book. Most likely a 1...or maybe a 1.5 if everything else is good.
Or...the @zionwilliamson ‘Blowout’ shoe...as told by @popularmechanics: “Duke basketball superstar Zion Williamson was taking on North Carolina Wednesday night in one of the most-viewed college hoops games ever aired on ESPN when, just 33 seconds into the game, his shoes came flying apart.” Again - likely a 1 on the TSS grading scale. Assuming Zion pans out - I’d be willing to be bet we’re gonna see that pair pop up in a collectors auction over the next 25 years and they’re gonna sell for an obscene amount. And again - the grade just doesn’t matter.
So when y’all see me grading these pairs a TSS Certified 1/10 - just know, that’s the nature of the beast. The grade doesn’t matter. These *pairs* tell a story...And that story is worth more than any grade.