I slept on these, I was not at all interested in some banana shoes. How wrong I was though, when I got these in hand... 

"*Why* *Johnny Ringo you're no banana, you're no banana at all*..." 

* The unboxing was definitely underwhelming for such an iconic shoe. For something that for so many folks was grail status, I would have thought some kinda something special would be here, a nod to the store in Tokyo maybe? NOTHING?? Like for real? "*Shut-up Ryan, this is a faithful retro!!*" Fine. Garbage bag plastic black paper and a cardboard shoe divider it is.
* The shoes come installed with worst sneaker laces ever invented, the thin waffled polyester black kind. It's the quickest to lose any sort of high end appeal or premium finish, why Jordan!? "*...Ryan we said faithful retro*" Right, also it comes with some white alts of the same lace type which, is nice, I guess? Just curious does anyone wear these with white laces? Kind takes something away doesn't it?
* The materials and the build however, are gorgeous. The nubuck gives the yellow depth and a sporty race jacket type look. It's just nice to run your fingers against the upper, definitely some of the best materials I've seen on 5 or really, well, any Jordan brand shoe. The hairs aren't as long as the [Cactus Jack 4s](https://www.reddit.com/r/Sneakers/comments/1sva97y/jordan_4_retro_x_travis_scott_cactus_jack/), I drew a smiley face with my finger on those... but it's JUST as nice.

I swapped some flat black cotton laces in here (*not waxed*). I think the cotton supports the sporty colorway of the sneaker and wax would probably be ok but I just didn't think this shoe was trying to be luxury... it presents as sporty and edgy to me. 

TLDR; I slept on these but have woken up in time for the price to drop quite on the resell market enough to make a purchase under $400 a reality. These are gorgeous shoe built with impressive materials that's a most own for most collectors. There's no story to tell here or hype to experience... this is just a sneaker to be worn and admired.

Jordan 5 Retro x Tokyo T23 :: Unboxing and Lace swap