Why This Ultra-Rare New Balance Sneaker Only Drops Once Every Five Years
StyleBack in the 1990s, the New Balance 1300JP helped invent retro sneaker culture as we know it today.By Tres DeanApril 16, 2025Courtesy of New BalanceSave this storySaveSave this storySaveSneakerheads are used to scarcity. Whenever beloved silhouettes and colorways make their way back to shelves, it’s often with the understanding that there’s no telling when we might see them again. It’s what drives hype. It’s why the Air Jordan ‘Bred’ sells out every time it sees the light of day. Beloved shoes, be they industry icons or cult classics, might not be back for seven, eight, even ten years. It’s what makes the New Balance 1300JP—one of the greatest entries in the New England sneaker stalwart’s back catalog—so unique.The 1300 (minus the JP) debuted in 1984 as a ludicrously luxe running shoe. Back then it retailed for $130, which comes out to about $300 today (one ad for the shoe simply read “Mortgage the house”). This wasn’t a superfluous upcharge, mind you—the original New Balance 1300 was as premium a runner as the sneaker world had seen at the time. For a brand that made its name in part on its made-in-USA bona fides, the 1300 served as the pinnacle of that attention to craftsmanship.The New Balance 1300JP Courtesy of New BalanceThe New Balance 1300JP Courtesy of New BalanceHandcrafted in the brand’s Maine facilities, the shoe’s performance edge came via its ENCAP sole, which blended an EVA foam with a polyurethane outsole. Quality tech and quality craft made for a quality shoe. It also helped that the silhouette itself was a stunner. Built from neutral grey suedes and accented with bursts of muted blue, it was an everyday shoe, the kind that went with just about any outfit you could put together.Keep in mind that this shoe dropped in the pre-hype era. Brands like New Balance hadn’t taken to incorporating retros into their business models. A shoe was often either in constant production or gone once it sold out. The 1300 fell into the latter category—and then a funny thing happened. The shoe took off in Japan, a market with a history of deep appreciation for products that prioritize craft over flash. The sneaker scene as we know it today didn’t quite exist back then, but the 1300 inspired religious devotion overseas. For real tried-and-true New Balance heads, this silhouette was the brand’s crown jewel.A 1985 print ad for the New Balance 1300. Courtesy of New BalanceShinichi Kubota, vice-president of New Balance Japan, tells GQ that the idea of reissuing a performance sneaker didn’t really exist in the ’80s and early ’90s. But a few years after the 1300’s initial drop, New Balance developed a lifestyle branch and began to consider bringing back older silhouettes. “Back then, we didn’t think to bring back any Made in USA models,” he says, “But after the lifestyle business was established globally…this is when we saw the opportunity to look into bringing the 1300 back.”The first reissue of the 1300 finally came in 1995, a decade after its original release. It began a now-traditional five-year cadence, a rare thing in the sneaker world. Every half decade, the brand puts the 1300 back out into the world, each time with marginal tweaks to endeavor to improve on perfection. The shoe maintained its cultlike status for years largely thanks to the first few reissues being exclusive to Japan, hence the addition of the ‘JP’ suffix to the silhouette name. Releases went global in 2010, though the fervor surrounding the shoe for those in the know remained steady.The latest crop of New Balance 1300JP sneakers being constructed in the brand’s Maine production facility. The five-year cycle allows for the brand’s team to take their time in figuring out what, if anything, there is to improve on. Kubota reveals that when the shoe was originally brought back in 1995 there was no intended target date for release, the brand instead opting to find the best way to reproduce the shoe as accurately as possible while incorporating improvements in the tech and craftsmanship behind the silhouette. Eventually they settled on the five-year strategy, allowing anticipation to build between releases and plenty of time for them to gauge where to take the silhouette for its next release. “Our mindset with this model is that there are no compromises,” he says.For 2025, the shoe is going through the same line of production in Skowhegan, Maine, that it did 40 years ago. Thirty-six craftsmen work the line and put every single piece of every single shoe—from the Horween leather of the upper to that classic ENCAP midsole—through multiple points of quality inspection to ensure the standard set in 1985 is carried into the modern day. After all, there’s only one chance to get this right before the next drop in 2030.You can buy the New Balance 1300JP for $330 on May 10 in Japan. A global launch comes later in the month on May 30.
Sneakerheads are used to scarcity. Whenever beloved silhouettes and colorways make their way back to shelves, it’s often with the understanding that there’s no telling when we might see them again. It’s what drives hype. It’s why the Air Jordan ‘Bred’ sells out every time it sees the light of day. Beloved shoes, be they industry icons or cult classics, might not be back for seven, eight, even ten years. It’s what makes the New Balance 1300JP—one of the greatest entries in the New England sneaker stalwart’s back catalog—so unique.
The 1300 (minus the JP) debuted in 1984 as a ludicrously luxe running shoe. Back then it retailed for $130, which comes out to about $300 today (one ad for the shoe simply read “Mortgage the house”). This wasn’t a superfluous upcharge, mind you—the original New Balance 1300 was as premium a runner as the sneaker world had seen at the time. For a brand that made its name in part on its made-in-USA bona fides, the 1300 served as the pinnacle of that attention to craftsmanship.
Handcrafted in the brand’s Maine facilities, the shoe’s performance edge came via its ENCAP sole, which blended an EVA foam with a polyurethane outsole. Quality tech and quality craft made for a quality shoe. It also helped that the silhouette itself was a stunner. Built from neutral grey suedes and accented with bursts of muted blue, it was an everyday shoe, the kind that went with just about any outfit you could put together.
Keep in mind that this shoe dropped in the pre-hype era. Brands like New Balance hadn’t taken to incorporating retros into their business models. A shoe was often either in constant production or gone once it sold out. The 1300 fell into the latter category—and then a funny thing happened. The shoe took off in Japan, a market with a history of deep appreciation for products that prioritize craft over flash. The sneaker scene as we know it today didn’t quite exist back then, but the 1300 inspired religious devotion overseas. For real tried-and-true New Balance heads, this silhouette was the brand’s crown jewel.
Shinichi Kubota, vice-president of New Balance Japan, tells GQ that the idea of reissuing a performance sneaker didn’t really exist in the ’80s and early ’90s. But a few years after the 1300’s initial drop, New Balance developed a lifestyle branch and began to consider bringing back older silhouettes. “Back then, we didn’t think to bring back any Made in USA models,” he says, “But after the lifestyle business was established globally…this is when we saw the opportunity to look into bringing the 1300 back.”
The first reissue of the 1300 finally came in 1995, a decade after its original release. It began a now-traditional five-year cadence, a rare thing in the sneaker world. Every half decade, the brand puts the 1300 back out into the world, each time with marginal tweaks to endeavor to improve on perfection. The shoe maintained its cultlike status for years largely thanks to the first few reissues being exclusive to Japan, hence the addition of the ‘JP’ suffix to the silhouette name. Releases went global in 2010, though the fervor surrounding the shoe for those in the know remained steady.
The five-year cycle allows for the brand’s team to take their time in figuring out what, if anything, there is to improve on. Kubota reveals that when the shoe was originally brought back in 1995 there was no intended target date for release, the brand instead opting to find the best way to reproduce the shoe as accurately as possible while incorporating improvements in the tech and craftsmanship behind the silhouette. Eventually they settled on the five-year strategy, allowing anticipation to build between releases and plenty of time for them to gauge where to take the silhouette for its next release. “Our mindset with this model is that there are no compromises,” he says.
For 2025, the shoe is going through the same line of production in Skowhegan, Maine, that it did 40 years ago. Thirty-six craftsmen work the line and put every single piece of every single shoe—from the Horween leather of the upper to that classic ENCAP midsole—through multiple points of quality inspection to ensure the standard set in 1985 is carried into the modern day. After all, there’s only one chance to get this right before the next drop in 2030.
You can buy the New Balance 1300JP for $330 on May 10 in Japan. A global launch comes later in the month on May 30.
