Nike ‘moon shoes’ and ‘Back to the Future’ sneakers up for auction

A rare pair of Nike “Moon Shoes” could fetch as much as $160,000 in an auction held by Sotheby’s.

The New York auction house is allowing collectors to bid on an array of rare sneakers in a digital lot, dubbed “Stadium Goods: The Ultimate Sneaker Collection Online.”

The “Moon Shoe” is estimated to reach a price between $110,000 and $160,000, with the starting bid set at $80,000. As of Friday morning, no bids had been placed – but bidding closes on July 23.

According to Sotheby’s, the rare sneaker is “one of the most significant artifacts in the history of the multi-billion-dollar athletic brand,” and the pair up for sale is “one of only a handful of pairs known to exist.” The design, which features a “waffle sole,” got its name as it resembled the pattern left on the moon’s surface by astronauts in the 1969 moon landing.

Two replicas of Marty McFly’s famous self-tying Nike sneakers from the movie “Back to the Future Part 2” are also being sold, one pair made in 2016 and the other in 2011. The 2016 pair is expected to reach the auction’s second-highest price, with Sotheby’s expecting the bidding to reach somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000.

According to Sotheby’s, the 2016 sneakers are more coveted because Nike released just 89 pairs, compared to the 1,500 pairs released in 2011. The later version also featured real power-lacing technology.

A total of 41 designs are being sold, with the collection including vintage items as well as rare shoes designed in collaboration with celebrities – such as an Adidas sneaker designed by rapper Kanye West.

“Once the domain of a dedicated core of collectors and connoisseurs scattered in select U.S. cities, the culture of sneaker fashion has exploded to become a worldwide phenomenon, a new universal language of cool,” Sotheby’s said on its website Friday.

The auction is being held on behalf of Stadium Goods, a premium footwear marketplace. An exhibition of the collection is being held in New York every day until bidding closes.