Nike Air Griffey Max 1 Cincinnati Reds is Back

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Nike’s red, white and black Air Griffey Max 1 comes back on October 9 for the first time since 2011, still carrying a number Griffey never wore in Cincinnati.

The ankle strap gives the story away. On the Air Griffey Max 1 “Cincinnati Reds,” returning October 9 under style code JA1091-100, the strap carries a 24, the number Ken Griffey Jr. wore through 11 seasons in Seattle. He never wore it in Cincinnati. When the Reds acquired him in February 2000, the club was preparing to retire Tony Pérez’s No. 24 that season, so Griffey took 30, the number his father had worn for the Big Red Machine, and later switched to 3 in 2006 as a nod to his three children.

Signal. What happened: Nike is reissuing the Air Griffey Max 1 “Cincinnati Reds,” a team-themed colorway of Griffey’s first signature shoe that has not been at retail since 2011. Exact object: Nike Air Griffey Max 1 “Cincinnati Reds,” style code JA1091-100, colorway White/Varsity Red-Black, in men’s and grade school sizes. When and where: October 9, 2026, through Nike and select retailers in the US, with US retail most widely reported at $180; a Japanese release date has not been announced. Source: a Japan market release notice and multiple US release calendars for the date, code and colorway, with model specifications from Nike’s own Air Griffey Max 1 list. Why it matters: it is the third Reds-themed Griffey Max 1 and the first to bring back the original home-colored pair, landing in a year when Nike has kept the model in steady rotation.

That gap between the shoe and the uniform is easy to miss, because the palette is unmistakably Cincinnati. The colorway pairs red and white panels with black accents, matching the red, white and black of the Reds’ home look rather than the grey road uniform. Nike already covered the road side on March 30, 2023, when a Pure Platinum, University Red and White pair (FD0760-043) sold for $170 and, as Hibbett’s launch notes pointed out, swapped the strap’s number for oversized Nike lettering.

before

Griffey’s connection to the city runs older than his trade. He grew up in Cincinnati while his father played outfield for the Reds, and in 1989 the two became the first father and son to play in the majors at the same time. When he asked Seattle for a trade after the 1999 season, the deal sent him to the club he considered his hometown team, where his father was by then a coach. His first year back produced 40 home runs and an All-Star selection, and he returned to the All-Star Game as a Red in 2004 and 2007.

The years in between were defined by injuries, which is why the milestones stand out. He reached 500 home runs on Father’s Day, June 20, 2004, in St. Louis, with his father in the stands. On June 9, 2008, he hit his 600th off Mark Hendrickson of the Florida Marlins, becoming only the sixth player to get there and the first to do it in a Reds uniform. He needed 2,439 games, the fourth-fewest of anyone to reach the mark. By the end of July he had been traded to Chicago, and in 2009 he went back to Seattle to finish his career.

Numbers followed him around Cincinnati. In April 2007 he briefly took a third, calling the commissioner for permission to wear Jackie Robinson’s retired 42 on the 60th anniversary of Robinson’s debut, a gesture Major League Baseball then opened to players across the league. He left the Reds with 210 home runs, ninth in franchise history. His own 24 was retired by Seattle in 2016, the year of his Hall of Fame induction, at a ceremony the club rounded out by bringing in Tony Pérez as another Hall of Famer who had worn it.

one

The shoe itself predates all of it. The Air Griffey Max 1 debuted in 1996 as Griffey’s first Nike signature model, a cross-training take on his on-field footwear that arrived a year before his 56-homer, unanimous American League MVP season in 1997, and Nike’s own listing for the model still describes the same core build: synthetic leather and textile upper, a hook-and-loop strap across the ankle, a foam midsole and Max Air units in both the forefoot and heel.

The original “Cincinnati Reds” colorway arrived in 2011 under style code 354912-106, at a retail price archived listings put at $140, and resale listings for that pair name its colorway White/Black-Varsity Red, an order the 2026 version flips to White/Varsity Red-Black. Nike reissued the first Seattle colorway for the model’s 25th anniversary in 2021 at $170, and the 2023 road pair held that price. For 2026, US retail is most widely reported at $180, matching what Nike charges for this summer’s navy Griffey Max 1 (IV6299-410), which prints “Hall of Fame Class of 2016” on the tongue as a nod to the suit Griffey wore at his induction, though a handful of release calendars still list $170.

extend

Japan has its own pending question. The Japan market release notice that lists the October 9 date gives no domestic release date, so it remains unclear whether the pair will reach Japanese shelves on the same day or at all. The model does have recent form there: atmos sold a navy Griffey Max 1 through its online raffle in July at ¥26,730, with Japanese coverage of that drop leaning on Griffey’s Seattle years and on Ichiro, who is widely said to have looked up to him.

fin

The October 9 launch covers men’s and grade school sizes through Nike and select retailers, 15 years after the colorway last sat on a shelf and 18 years after Griffey last wore a Reds uniform.