Most Air Jordans are made in the hundreds of thousands. The pairs on this list were made in the tens, sometimes the single digits. They were auctioned for charity, hidden in cities, handed to friends of the brand or raffled in one store on the other side of the world.
This is not a list of player exclusives that never left the locker room. Every pair here was available to the public at some point, through an auction, a raffle or a store, even if the odds were close to zero. We have ranked them from the rarest up, and where an original is out of reach, we have added the closest pair you can actually buy.
1. Eminem x Carhartt x Air Jordan 4
Year: 2015 · Pairs: 10 · Released via: Charity auction
Eminem has worked with Jordan Brand for more than two decades, and most of his pairs never got anywhere near a shop. The Air Jordan x Eminem 4 Retro Carhartt is the most extreme case. It was a friends and family pair with a workwear canvas upper, chrome eyelets and Shady Records branding on the tongue. Ten pairs went to auction in 2015 to raise money for a music school at Michigan State University, and they have barely surfaced since.
2. Air Jordan 10 'Grimm Gala'
Year: 2016 · Pairs: 10 (5 black, 5 white) · Released via: Charity auction
Tinker Hatfield designed this pair for the Grimm Gala, a fundraiser for Doernbecher Children's Hospital tied to the TV series of the same name. Inspired by the show's light and dark sides, it came in one black and one white version, five pairs each, with unique detailing on the collar. Every pair was signed by Tinker and by Michael Jordan himself, which is about as complete as provenance gets.
3. Air Jordan 3 'Legends of Summer'
Year: 2013 · Pairs: 14 per model · Released via: Scavenger hunt
For the 2013 Legends of the Summer stadium tour with Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake was given all-red editions of the Air Jordan 1, 2 and 3. Only 14 pairs of each were made. Instead of a raffle, Timberlake hid them in the tour cities and posted clues on Instagram for fans to chase. The Air Jordan III Retro Legends of Summer already has its page on KLEKT, so you can follow it there if one ever comes up.
4. Air Jordan 1 'What The Doernbecher'
Year: 2021 · Pairs: 17 · Released via: Gala and online charity auction
The Air Jordan is always the most anticipated pair in the yearly Doernbecher Freestyle collection, and in 2021 Nike combined all of them into one shoe. The 'What The Doernbecher' mixes graphics and colours from every Doernbecher Air Jordan up to that point. One pair sold at the reveal gala and the other 16 went to online auction, together raising a six-figure sum for OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital.
5. Air Jordan 5 'Fresh Prince' Gold Satin
Year: 2018 · Pairs: 23 · Released via: Charity prize draw
When the 'Fresh Prince' Air Jordan 5 released in 2018, a gold satin version was made alongside it as a prize in a charity campaign around Will Smith's 50th birthday. Only 23 pairs exist. If you want the look without the luck, the regular Air Jordan 5 NRG 'Fresh Prince' (2018) is available on KLEKT.
6. Eminem x Air Jordan 4 'Encore' (2005)
Year: 2005 · Pairs: A small friends and family run · Released via: Never sold at retail
The blue suede 'Encore' is the Eminem Air Jordan most collectors picture first. It was made in 2005 for friends and family only, and a second run of just 23 pairs followed in 2017. The original Air Jordan x Eminem 4 Retro 'Encore' (2005) has its page on KLEKT. For everyone else, the upcoming Air Jordan 4 x Eminem 'Encore' (2027) is the first time the shape and colour will be widely available.
7. Air Jordan 4 'Wahlburgers'
Year: 2018 · Pairs: 46 to 76 · Released via: Friends and family, charity raffle
Made for Mark Wahlberg's restaurant chain, the green suede 'Wahlburgers' is a pair nobody can count exactly. Wahlberg has said 23 pairs went to him and 23 to Michael Jordan. Another 30 were later raffled to support victims and first responders of the 2018 California wildfires, which puts the total somewhere between 46 and 76.
8. Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 (2005)
Year: 2005 · Pairs: 72 · Released via: In-store raffle
This is where the modern Jordan collaboration started. Undefeated based its Air Jordan 4 on the MA-1 flight jacket, with an olive upper, black and an orange flash, and released 72 pairs through an in-store raffle. Twenty years on, almost any olive and orange sneaker still gets called an 'Undefeated'. The Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Undefeated' (2005) has its page on KLEKT, and the anniversary Air Jordan x Undefeated 4 'Deep Green' (2025) is available now.
9. Spike Lee x Air Jordan 1 'Fort Greene'
Year: 2017 · Pairs: Fewer than 100 · Released via: Spike Lee's studio in Brooklyn
Spike Lee's character Mars Blackmon is a big part of why the Air Jordan became a cultural icon, starting with the adverts that followed his film She's Gotta Have It. For the film's 30th anniversary, Lee released a black and navy Air Jordan 1 with nods to Mars, sold only at his 40 Acres and a Mule studio in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The run is believed to be under 100 pairs.
10. Air Jordan 4 'Manila'
Year: 2020 · Pairs: 150 · Released via: Jordan Manila store, Philippines
Few countries love basketball like the Philippines, and when the first Jordan Brand store opened in Manila, it got its own Air Jordan 4. The design draws on the country's thousands of islands, and only 150 pairs were made. The Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Manila' (2020) already has its page on KLEKT, so you can follow it there.
11. Air Jordan 1 Charlotte Hornets Foundation
Year: 2019 · Pairs: 300 · Released via: Charity auction and raffle
Every pair on this list is rare, but only one was designed by Michael Jordan himself. For the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, Jordan created a black Air Jordan 1 in quilted leather to raise money for the Charlotte Hornets Foundation. Of the 300 pairs, many went to friends of the brand, 65 were auctioned and just 10 were raffled.
12. Eminem x Air Jordan 2 'The Way I Am'
Year: 2008 · Pairs: 313 · Released via: Jordan Flight Club members
Named after one of his best-known songs, the Air Jordan x Eminem 2 Retro 'The Way I Am' (2008) was limited to 313 pairs, a nod to Detroit's area code. It was only offered to members of Jordan Flight Club, an online programme for the brand's most loyal customers, and came with a matching T-shirt that is arguably even harder to find today.
13. Air Jordan 5 'Tokyo 23'
Year: 2011 · Pairs: Fewer than 1,000 · Released via: Jordan Tokyo23 store, Shibuya
Released for the opening of the Jordan Tokyo23 store in Shibuya, this yellow Air Jordan 5 has a reflective 3M tongue, an icy outsole and a '23' logo on the heel built from negative space. Getting a pair in 2011 meant contacts on forums or a flight to Japan. Today it is much easier: the Air Jordan 5 Retro 'Tokyo' (2025) is available on KLEKT.
14. Dior x Air Jordan 1
Year: 2020 · Pairs: 8,500 (High and Low) · Released via: Online raffle via Dior
At 8,500 pairs across the High and Low, the Dior is the least limited shoe here, but few releases have been chased harder. It was Jordan Brand's first real step into luxury fashion: grey and white Italian leather with the Dior Oblique pattern inside the Swoosh. Millions entered the raffle and very few won. Both the Air Jordan 1 Retro High 'Dior' (2020) and the Air Jordan x Dior 1 Retro Low (2020) are available on KLEKT.
Finding Rare Air Jordans on KLEKT
Most of these pairs change hands privately, a few times a decade at most. When they do surface, condition, box and provenance matter as much as the shoe itself. Every original on this list that has a page on KLEKT can be followed there, and the retros give you the look without the auction.
Browse the full Air Jordan range on KLEKT.
Images: Nike / Jordan Brand
