Collecting (not) Game-used: What a Croc! But I had to see ...

These were too weird to not grab -- and the bigger the better.

My latest item in this Collecting Game-used series is not game-used and they're a bit of a mystery, too, despite coming from a reputable source and straight from an NBA team.

The image above? Well, that kind of says it all -- it's a pair of Detroit Pistons Crocs made for the NBA Paris Game in 2023 -- but to put this one in perspective, well, just see the next image.

The sports cards help show this one to scale ... 

THE BASICS ...
Team-issued Crocs (Fanatics Authenticated): A pair of size-17 Detroit Pistons NBA Paris 2023 (game played on Jan. 19, 2023) with a pair of Jibbitz charms -- team logo and NBA Larry O'Brien Championship Trophies.
Watch it in action: Not this time -- as far as I could tell at least (for any player). 

What's Buzz-worthy: This is not my realm of footwear -- and not my size, either, for the record -- but this find out there from Fanatics was just too weird for me to not add to my stash of game-used (and not game-used) stuff. In this case, I have no idea if any players actually wore these -- I have my doubts -- but with its price less than a lot of those retail card boxes out there (and then a small rewards discount) I grabbed one of these pairs -- with the biggest size possible -- anyway. Game-used? No. Team-issued -- and the authentication screen is below. Game-used NBA shoes? Not cheap and out of my casual dabbling price but these? Well, It seemed more interesting than an under-delivering blaster box or mega. These are branded to that event and the size is outrageous but the Eiffel Tower and Pistons logo as the main texture makes it unique. Crocs apparently are made with NBA colors -- at $59.99 a pop via the company with a max size of 12 for the public -- while the Jibbitz (think "pins" for Crocs) are $5 a pop. Are Crocs collected? Well, it seems like everything is to some degree -- and some eBay sales out there show some are buying sports-branded ones -- and there are some even weirder ones on the way this year. Meanwhile, the 2023 NBA All-Star Game had it own release, too, as part of a different line. What will I do with these? Well, they're in a box like a lot of my odd finds and, well, they'll stay there as one of the oddest ones for sure. I'll put this one right by my game-used Gatorade bottle ... once I figure out where that went.

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