The byproduct of Nike’s legendary Concept Japan program from the 2000s, the Air Force 1 “Linen” is a fitting lead-off to any Air Force list. Exclusive to Japan, many American and European collectors flew to Japan in 2001 for a chance to scoop up a pair. Sure, the sneaker’s rarity (sizes bigger than US 10.5 are incredibly rare, as with most early-’00s co.jp releases) has contributed to its mystique, but the Linen’s true appeal lies in the exquisite colour execution. The beige, pink and white color combination is simply perfect.

When Ronnie Fieg’s KITH opened a new outpost in Miami, they marked the occasion by re-releasing the Air Force 1 Linen with Nike and legendary graffiti artist Futura. It was a testament to the shoe’s impact on the culture, and the release offered a new generation of sneakerheads an education in how iconic the Linen was, even to the modern-day king of collaborations, Fieg.

If you ever happen upon a pair of “Linens” from 2001 in decent condition, do yourself a solid and give the seller whatever they’re asking for—it’ll be a bargain in the long term.

Arguably the most limited Air Force 1 of all-time, the Supreme SB x Air Force 1 isn’t even a pure-bred Air Force.

Legend has it that the Frankenstein-like creation—fusing a Nike x Supreme collaboration SB Dunk Low upper on an Air Force 1 sole—was made in a sample room when the Nike SB team was visiting the factory. Considering that the original Supreme collaboration sneaker (which dropped back in 2002) was already hard enough to score at the time as a New York and Tokyo in-store exclusive, this incredibly rare combination is something of a unicorn in the Air Force 1 timeline.

The original SB team members would be the only six people (along with noted Nike superfan DJ Clark Kent) to receive the shoe. While it’s been said many times that the shoe will never be produced, Air Force collectors still hold out hope this version would drop. That would be something special.

In December 2006, at Nike’s One Night Only event, the Nike x Stash Air Force 1 High was voted the greatest Air Force 1 of all-time. That sentence alone should justify the shoe’s inclusion on the list, but since you’re here, we’ll wax poetic about the 2003 release.

Stash is a great in the NYC graffiti scene, and one of the most well-versed sneaker aficionados around, so it comes as little surprise that his collaboration featured an original mesh side-panel and a colorway that harkened back to the original options for the early Air Force 1. The spray can nozzle all-over print on the upper set the shoe apart from its contemporaries and made it instantly recognizable. Oh, and the fact that this release swapped in suede as an upper accent made these an even more luxurious alternative to the OG. Limited to just 1000 pairs, the sneaker released in three cities: New York, London—both received 250 pairs each—and Tokyo—who scored 500 pairs. Each pair was packaged in a suitcase, but the shoe had slight graphical tweaks that differed based on where you bought the shoe.

Stash reignited his relationship with Nike earlier this year, reissuing a all-white version of his 2003 classic for Nike’s AF100 celebration at ComplexCon 2017.

What makes the NikeLab x ACRONYM Lunar Force 1 so special is that there is absolutely no reason for it to exist. Errolson Hugh had already been tapped to helm Nike’s legendary ACG gamut a year earlier—this project wasn’t an introduction to the masses. Nor did the shoe require re-invention to survive. The Air Force 1 was doing relatively well, and its cousin—the Lunar Force 1—had enjoyed good success to that point. Rather, it was a labor of innovation for both Nike and ACRONYM, challenging what the Air Force 1 had been and what it could become.

Inspired by sneaker prototyping, the ACRONYM Lunar Force 1s look like hacked versions—and that’s exactly what they are. “We just took [normal Lunar Force 1s], cut it open, experimented with a zipper and tested it by walking around the studio,” explained Hugh to i-D in 2015. Nike, notoriously protective of its heritage models, was surprisingly receptive to the design because it was still instantly recognizable as an Air Force 1, despite the major aesthetic changes. The result: a trio of Lunar Force 1s] that featured zippers on the lateral panelling, and a vac-tech finish at the heel counter.

The shoes landed at Nike Tier Zero retailers in 2015, with the black suede version being the most limited, the white-and-orange being the most sought after, and the black-turbo green-court purple pair being the true connoisseur’s favorite.

We’re going to try and conspicuously slip this entry into the middle of the list and hope that nobody notices that it’s not an official Nike shoe. Rather, the Menthol 10s were the result of an “art project” by Ari Saal Forman. Ari saw two things dominating the inner city: Newports and Air Force 1s. He also saw that the Nike and Newport logos were oddly similar to one another. Was it a coincidence? “There’s a conversation that either happened somewhere, or it never happened, [but] I was trying to create that conversation,” he reminisced.

His goal with the 2006 pair was to make a “social statement” about the power of marketing, and the ubiquity of two products with almost identical logos among the same demographic. Ari played on his name and the “AIR” branding, and replaced the Nike Swoosh with the Newport “Spinnaker” logo. Only 252 pairs were produced, with each coming in a numbered box that mimicked a Newport Menthol box, which Ari claims cost more than the shoes themselves. While the limited quantity and the stellar execution have helped push the Menthol 10s to cult status, the fact that Nike hit Ari with a cease and desist solidified the shoe’s grail status.

CLOT are no stranger to hitting collaborations out of the park, and tend to give their projects an Asian-inspired tilt, given that they’re based in Hong-Kong. The 2009 CLOT x Air Force 1 Supreme—released as part of Nike’s 1World project alongside the likes of KAWS and Michael Lau —featured a transparent window at the back heel and a custom red silk upper with embroidery details that fuse the store’s branding with nods to the notions of luck and prosperity in Chinese culture. Most impressively, the upper is made with CLOT Royale Deluxe Silk and can actually be peeled, or burned off to reveal a bottom layer made from dark brown leather. The red outsole, white midsole, and black leather swoosh gave the shoe character to match the subtle details.

The sweetest part? The shoes came in a red Chinese-style candy box, a reference to the Chinese custom of exchanging confections around the Lunar New Year to bring a “sweet” year. Released exclusively through two outposts—Hong Kong’s Juice location and Shanghai’s ACU —the CLOT Air Force 1 Supreme is among the silhouette’s most limited releases.

The Nike x Sony Playstation-themed Air Force 1 is so garish that it would be a collector’s item, even without being a collaboration. Patent leather on the front and side panel, a white swoosh, a blue-to-purple fade on the rear panel and PlayStation’s logo at the rear quarter make this a clear head-turner of a sneaker. The ostentatious colour-blocking and patent leather sheen are a style relic of the mid-aughts, it’s both a nod to the literal design of the Playstation console series, as well as a looking glass into what sneakerheads sought 10 years ago.

Originally a “friends and family” exclusive for Sony employees, this special shoe was given out throughout the year in the lead up to the November 11, 2006 unveiling of the Playstation 3. With only 150 numbered pairs released—including a pair for then-video game cover star Kobe Bryant—these are truly special and incredibly rare.

There had to be an all-white Air Force 1 on this list, and the Roc-A-Fella joint was pretty much a no-brainer. The clean, crisp white leather makeup make these nondescript, if not for the tiny Roc-A-Fella logo embroidered on the heel. Jay-Z, Dame Dash and Kareem Burke were de facto ambassadors for the Air Force 1 in the early-’00s, so when Nike announced co-branded Roc-A-Fella Air Force 1s through Training Camp in 2004 it came as little surprise.

It brought together the two things that were dominating New York in the early-’00s: white Air Forces and the Roc. But, the original concept might not have become as iconic, if not for Jay-Z’s intervention. Drew Greer, the Nike employee who was responsible for the project, along with Training Camp owner Udi Avshalom, originally pitched a colourful Air Force 1. “Jay-Z came back and said ‘We only do white/whites,’” Greer recalled to Complex.

That the original idea was shot down didn’t make them any less special, nor any easier to come by. If someone had these, it was a sign that they were in the know. The fact that Nike is re-issuing these, with slight alterations, in 2017 might dampen their allure, but a pair from 2004 is still among the all time Air Force 1 grails.

Mark Smith is a legend in his own right, but his 2003 Laser Air Force 1 is equally iconic. The upper was made of a single piece of leather; it was an intentional choice to help showcase the potential of Nike’s laser etching technology (with the fringe benefit of being easier to etch and design on). Taking cues from the linework more commonly related to tattoo design, all the signature Air Force 1 details are present even with the experimental process. The Swoosh was clearly outlined, as were the three distinct panels that comprise an Air Force 1, without a single stitch being sewn. The resulting shoe was strikingly delicate — something that seems hard to fathom for an Air Force 1. Limited to only 200 pairs, they were hard to come by in 2003—only available through New York’s now-defunct NORT—and they’re even harder to find today.

In many respects the “Sakura Ueno” is the lovechild of the aforementioned Mark Smith Laser and Linen Air Force 1s.

Named for Tokyo’s Ueno district, the pair featured a colour palette reminiscent of the Linen Air Force 1 and laser-etched Sakura flowers on the toe-box and tongue. The Japanese-exclusive was limited to 500 pairs when it dropped originally in 2005—each coming in a custom wooden box, which was a novelty at the time, but set the tone for special edition packing in the years that would follow. Perhaps most interestingly, the shoe was originally a women’s release, but that didn’t stop it from being voted the greatest Air Force 1 of all time in 2008 by Baltimore’s Air Force fans. Since the original release the style has dropped in very limited quantities in select cities, but don’t expect this one to pop up for sale on the cheap with any regularity.