Josh De Vaney lives in Perth, Western Australia, about as far from the center of sneaker and basketball culture as you can get, and he has quietly built one of the most complete collections of Michael Jordan toys and figurines on the planet. Not the shoes. The toys. The stuff most of us ripped open as kids and never thought about again.

It started with a Christmas hoop in 1994 and turned into an eleven-year hunt that led Josh to a figurine Ohio Art says was never sold or released, a twelve-page feature in Sneaker Freaker, an unplanned meeting with Howard White at Nike, and a moment where Michael Jordan's own grandson ended up playing on a toy hoop that came out of Josh's collection.

We get into all of it. Why the toys matter more than anyone realizes, how being remote became the advantage instead of the obstacle, and the very simple thing Josh does to get almost anyone to say yes. This is one of my favorite conversations we've done, and Josh says himself we only scratched the surface. Headphones on for this one.

Tell someone you like their kicks today. You never know how far a compliment will take you.

Find Josh:

Instagram: @joshua.devaney (Michael Jordan Toy Historian) Try it yourself: Google "Michael Jordan's rarest toy."

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