Virgil Abloh Archive "Alaska" AJ1s Already Flipping for $1,400

The global Nike SNKRS launch has been delayed from March 28 to April 3. No reason was given for the change. Everything else about the shoe remains the same: $230 retail, SKU AA3834-100, the all-white deconstructed design with the “V.A.A. for Nike” medial panel replacing “Off-White for Nike.”

For anyone who missed our earlier coverage, the Alaska is a reimagining of the 2018 “Euro,” a European-exclusive Off-White AJ1 that most of the world never had a legitimate shot at. It’s the first major drop under the Virgil Abloh Archive’s banner following the estate’s separation from Off-White after LVMH sold that brand to Bluestar Alliance in 2024. The VAA x Air Jordan 1 “Alaska” is, in short, a significant shoe on multiple levels.

While the global drop waits for April 3, VAA has been running a series of small-scale city raffles through EQL’s Run Fair platform. These are local-only: you need a verified address in the area to enter, and winners pick up in person. There’s no shipping option.

The Los Angeles raffle has already closed and pairs have been distributed. Six more are scheduled for Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Chicago. Entry details for each city are being released closer to their respective dates via the EQL raffle platform.

The Chicago raffle is framed as a “WORLD FAIR: Notre Chicago” event on March 20, tomorrow, running from 11 AM to 8 PM at 118 N Peoria St. In addition to the standard EQL raffle entry, local entrants can donate art supplies to receive raffle entries. Donated supplies go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago for their summer and after-school arts programs.

VAA has not clarified whether raffle entries scale with the amount donated or whether there’s a minimum or maximum. The requested supplies include canvases, watercolor and acrylic paints, brushes, sketchbooks, clay, pastels, crochet yarn and hooks, fabric markers, sewing machine thread, and graphite sets.

As with all city raffles, the Chicago event is final sale. Winners pick up at the venue.

Around 100 pairs from the LA raffle have already traded on StockX, and they’re moving right around $1,400. That’s roughly 6x the $230 retail price and broadly in line with where we expected the market to open. For a size 10, that’s about $1,246 after StockX’s roughly 11% fee, or just over $1,000 in profit on a $230 buy-in. That’s a very healthy flip.

It’s still early. LA pairs represent a small fraction of total supply, and the market will shift once SNKRS drops on April 3 and significantly more pairs hit the secondary market. Whether prices hold at $1,400, compress to the $700-$900 range we estimated previously, or land somewhere else depends on how competitive the SNKRS draw is and how many pairs Nike allocates. The production estimate of roughly 20,000 units globally hasn’t changed.

The early data is encouraging, but don’t use $1,400 as your exit target for an April 3 cop. Use it as a ceiling and price accordingly.

For most people, the path to retail is still the Nike SNKRS app on April 3. Enter early, have your payment and shipping info locked in, and accept that this will be one of the most competitive drops of the year. There’s no strategy that meaningfully improves your odds on a drop this hot other than having multiple accounts (which Nike’s terms prohibit) or getting lucky.

If you’re in one of the remaining raffle cities, the EQL raffles are worth entering. They’re free to enter, run fairly, and locals get a boost in the draw. Keep an eye on the VAA site and EQL for Chicago, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo entry windows.

One thing to keep in mind on all fronts: this shoe is final sale everywhere. Nike SNKRS does not accept returns on limited releases, and the city raffles are explicitly final sale. If you win and can’t flip it, you own it at $230.

The delay to April 3 doesn’t change the calculus much. The Alaska was always going to be a raffle game, and now there’s live market data to back up the demand. Pairs from LA are trading at $1,400, the cultural weight behind this release is real, and there’s no sign of the market cooling before the global drop. If anything, April 3 should be marked on your calendar in pen.

Chicago locals have a genuinely unique entry opportunity with the art supply donation raffle tomorrow. Even if the entry mechanics aren’t fully spelled out, it’s worth showing up with a sketchbook and a set of brushes to find out.