There’s something strange in your neighborhood: It’s Ghostbusters sneakers with parts from the actual movie gear. Who you gonna call? Josh Pell, owner of Australia-based Nookiee and the man behind some bad-ass geek-wear.
According to Josh, it was a lot of fun making these sneaks –he just didn’t get to have as much of said fun as he would have liked. “The studio pulled the Ghostbuster uniforms out of storage so we could color match the canvas,” he said, “but I was still in Australia at the time.” Even though he didn’t make the trip stateside to meet with Columbia reps, he determined that this would be one crazy set of shoes in honor of the 1984 classic. Everything on the Ghostbuster’s Suit Sneakers is a nod to the movie memorabilia, from the names and styling to the materials themselves.
For instance, the uniform sneakers are color-matched to the uniforms from the movies. Each shoe bears the name patch of a Ghostbuster (Stantz, Venkman, Spengler, or Zeddemore). The brass shoelace tips are engraved to match the external name patch. The brass is actually the same as the zippers from the suits in the movies. The gray heel pad is the elbow pad, and the shoes’ eyelets are the same steel used on the belts in the films.
No, the Stantz sneakers didn’t actually grace Dan Aykroyd’s feet (we must acknowledge they wore boots in the movie). These are more like what the team would wear in their off time. For the average person, wearing these is more accessible than a full Ghostbuster’s coverall (although much respect goes out to the guy that replaces his uniform with a something as hilarious as a Ghostbusters suit).
Nookie does other Ghostbusters sneakers, too (not the full suit); the classic “No Ghost” in both white and black (because you ain’t afraid of no ghost), and the Gozer with a lightning print of the Gozerian in action. The No Ghost says “Who you gonna call?” on the heel, while the Gozer’s have the classic “No-Ghost” icon on the back. All Nookiee sneakers come with a soft carry bag for protection and an antibacterial leather lining, to keep them from collecting spores, molds, and fungus (much to the late Spengler’s dismay).
For added nerd cred, you can get one of the Stantz Suit Limited sneakers. Josh says he’s only making eight. The lucky eight will have their names embroidered on the inside of the tongue, along with the shoe number. They go for $448. Hefty, but since they’d be only one of eight in the world, a cool collector’s item. The regular Suit shoes are $100 for men and women. The No Ghosts and Gozers are $120.
All the shoes are up for preorder on Nookiee’s website, and are expected to close in about a month. After that, anyone who didn’t order is out of luck.
