Nike Auctions Off 1,500 Glowing 'Back to the Future' Shoes for a Cause

Trust Nike to go back to the future when it chooses to do so, and for a good cause at that.

Nike has created the 2011 Nike Mag, a limited-edition pair of sneakers, which is almost the exact replica of a glowing pair of shoes in the 1989 film "Back to the Future II."

As a replica, the 2011 Nike Mag features on its strap a glowing Nike name, which can illuminate up to five hours. The only thing missing, however, is the modern sneakers' ability to lace themselves.

Nike will release 1,500 pairs of the 2011 Nike Mag for auction on eBay. All proceeds will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research. Fox earned fame as Marty McFly in the "Back to the Future" time-travel films. Fox himself wore the glowing shoes during a time travel to the year 2015.

"It hasn't gone unnoted by us that there is something special about that shoe and, of course, the movie," said famed Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield, who helped design the original shoe and worked on the latest version.

"This is the biggest thing that has happened to sneakers since Michael Jordan, hands down," said Matt Halfill, an avid shoe collector who runs the website nicekicks.com and flew from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles for the unveiling of the shoe on Thursday.

Halfill told the press Nike had contacted him about the release, and he did not think twice about flying.

"Other than the birth of one of my children, I wouldn't have missed this for anything," he said.

Nike decided more than four years ago to create the shoe, but unlike the shoes in the movie, the real-life versions had to be designed for day-to-day use by ordinary humans. Given the technology in the past, the design used in the film required Fox to wear a battery pack with wires running down his pants.

Illuminating Shoes Gained Support

Hatfield told the Associated Press the Nike Mag has been difficult to develop and the electrical systems, which illuminate the shoe for up to five hours, have been one of the most challenging things the company has ever done in footwear.

Nike has also gained support from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki, who have offered to match all donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation up to $50 million through the end of 2012.

"The project is exciting to me because it brings together three very passionate audiences: the Parkinson's community, sneakerheads and 'Back to the Future' fans," Fox said in a statement. "With their support we can accelerate our objective of finding a cure for Parkinson's."