Fan acquires 29 pairs of Roger Federer shoes, says the unique collection 'will never be for sale'
Roger Federer owns a very special place in the hearts of millions of fans around the world. The Swiss is easily one of the most loved sportspersons of all time; wherever Roger Federer goes or plays, his fans flock in large numbers to get a glimpse of their hero.
Some of Federer's supporters find unique ways of paying tribute to their hero, which stand out for the amount of dedication they entail. And that is the case of one Brazilian businessman named Edson Balbinot.
Balbinot is not only a die-hard fan of Roger Federer, but also possesses a great affection towards his shoes! The Brazilian, in a recent interview with tenisbrasil, revealed his unique and priceless shoe collection - all of which were models worn by the legendary Swiss himself.
My big dream is to go to Wimbledon and get a pair signed by Roger Federer: Edson Balbinot
Over the course of his career, Roger Federer has sported countless different outfits and shoes. Most of them have been sponsored by the American sporting brand Nike.
Federer's shoes and outfits are often very difficult to procure, and making a collection out of them is even trickier. But Balbinot didn't let that come in his way; he has focused all of his time and resources to collect 29 models of shoes worn by Federer.
The Brazilian believes that his is the largest collection of such shoes in the entire world.
Amongst those 29 pairs, Balbinot's most prized possession is the ‘Nike Zoom Vapor RF287’ series, which was specially produced by Nike to commemorate Roger Federer’s 287 weeks as World No. 1. Of course, that figure from July 2012, when these shoes were launched, has now gone up to 310 weeks.
The reason why Balbinot considers this shoe as the most valuable of his collection is that only 287 of them were produced. To make it even more unique, each pair was personalized to mark every one of the 287 weeks that Roger Federer was World No. 1.
Balbinot revealed that his was the one which marked Federer’s 63rd week at the top of the rankings.
"All pairs are unique and personalized, each corresponding to one of Federer's 287 weeks (so far) at the top of the ranking. Mine is the 63rd week, in the ranking released on July 16, 2012,” he said.
Balbinot reinforced his love for Roger Federer when he turned down a big money offer for his collection. For him these shoes are priceless, and they will ‘never be for sale’.
“The collection will never be for sale. There was already an interested party who offered me R $ 138,000 last year,” he said.
Despite having an enormous collection of Roger Federer memorabilia, Edson Balbinot is not done yet. For him, his collection still has one missing piece - a pair signed by Roger Federer.
Balbinot highlighted his ‘big dream’ of watching Federer in action at Wimbledon and then getting a pair signed by the eight-time Wimbledon champion.
"I have already watched Federer games, but my big dream is to be able to accompany him once at Wimbledon and maybe even get signed shoes," Balbinot said.