As part of the inaugural World Basketball Festival – brought together by Converse, the Jordan Brand and Nike Basketball – recording artist JAY-Z will take the stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Thursday August 12, 2010, following an on-court showcase featuring finalists for the 2010 USA Basketball World Championship Team.

In addition to his performance, JAY-Z has joined forces with Nike to create an iconic collection of Air Force Ones – the All Black Everything collection inspired by the World Basketball Festival. Nike has donated the shoes to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation who in turn have linked up with eBay on a charity auction that begins on August 12th at www.ebay.com/jayznikewbf. Only two pairs of each of the five designs will be created, one for the winning bidder and one for the man behind the design, JAY-Z.

The entire Radio City Music Hall basketball and musical performance will stream live on http://www.facebook.com/wbf beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT until its conclusion.

Check the FAQ on these auctions after the jump… these are truely going to be a rare shoe… T he auctions are live you can veiw all 5 at http://stores.ebay.com/Auction-Cause-Charity-Auctions/WBF.html

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Join us this Wednesday (8/11) from 11am-7pm here at 21 Mercer to take part in the early release of the Country Pack Air Force 1′s. There will be WBF ticket give-a-ways to the first 4 purchasers of each country along with LE customization available throughout the day. All shoes will be coming with a special box & tissue paper
available exclusively here at 21 Mercer. We will also have the Lazer machine in-store Wednesday offering lazer customizations on-site as well. Raffle tickets will also be given away with each purchase for a chance to win the full Country Pack and custom box kit. Check out some more pics. of the shoes below… via 21mercer

Nike is going on on AF1 collectors.. more pics after the jump!

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Nike is doing a bang up job at staying current (sorta) when it comes to collaborating with the “up & coming”. For the World Basketball Festival Nike put together a block party, a 5 Boro-Pack AF1 release, and some really dope videos of the inspiration behind some of these projects. This one is directed by BBGun & features Bronx native Cory Gunz.

The faces behind Queens BMX Bike shop FORMAT (one of which is Nigel Sylvester) got together with Nike in celebration of their World Basketball Festival.

For Fall 2010 the Nike Air Force 1 returns in a premium all 3M version. The entire upper features the reflective 3M material, including the Swoosh. The sneaker is now available from West NYC. via HS

When Nike Finally take notice of a material that a sneakerhead may like or be a sucker for.. they exploit us for everything we have.. With several models back to back using what we may love. In this case its 3m. I honestly dont know anyone who doesnt have a weak spot for a dope 3m or 3m accented shoe.. sigh.. Doesnt change the fact that these are an instant cop!