SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Knowing thousands of sports and sneaker enthusiasts were in town for the NCAA East Regionals, Eric Brush hosted the second annual CNY Sole Jam Sunday at the Oncenter.
About 400 people attended the 2014 CNY Sole Jam. This year, at least 600 "sneakerheads" attended the annual convention.
"Being a sneakerhead is just appreciating good quality shoes," said Brush. "It's kind of like women with their Louis Vuittons... It's an expensive hobby but it's also very satisfactory if you like the different designs and the different players who put out shoes."
Brush always loved Air Jordans and Nike sneakers as a kid. He began the Sole Jam after he started coaching high school sports.
"I noticed kids were still into sneakers," he said. "I did a little research and realized everybody still collects shoes but there were no markets in Upstate New York. I decided to just do it myself."
Sneaker conventions like CNY Sole Jam are common in larger cities like New York, Philadelphia and Miami, Brush said. But CNY's convention is growing, with more than 40 vendors this year, double last year's amount.
As The Sound Garden's manager, Brush noted many of Sole Jam vendors also work 9-to-5 jobs and spend their weekends collecting shoes as a hobby.
Jameal Hawkins, for example, works as a security guard at RiteAid.
Wearing his favorite Nike "WHAT THE" Lebron 11's, Hawkins spent all day at the CNY Sole Jam selling shoes with Fly Prospectz Clothing.
"Growing up, I didn't really have enough money to buy sneakers so when I finally got my first job I just started going crazy," said Hawkins, of Syracuse. "I love shoes. I love how they look."
Hawkins owns about 125 pairs of sneakers.
"The majority of them are at my mom's house because they don't fit in my apartment," he said.
DJ Bill "Da Chef" Wilson blasted R&B, rap and hip hop while sneaker collectors of all ages browsed the tables, looking to sell old pairs or buy new ones.
Some sneakers went for $70. Others, like the Nike Lebron X Corks, were marked at $700.
A.J. Henty of Sole Nation hosted this year's sneaker convention. Between announcing raffles onstage and mingling with the crowd, Henty showed off his custom Nike Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg sneakers. He designed them himself with NIKEiD. Another vendor sold Buzz Lightyear-inspired kicks for $600.
Henty is the vice president of sales and business development at Medisource Management, but he's also an avid collector with 150+ pairs of shoes at home. He remembers the first time his grandfather asked him why he had so many shoes.
"I said, 'Papa, why did you collect coins like you did?'" said Henty, of Liverpool. "It's like stamps and baseball cards. It's just how the culture is changing."
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