Joshua McKee, 27, a CT technician at Auckland Hospital, is a father of two and had to convince his partner to look after their children while he waits.
"You see a lot of judgmental people looking at us sitting on the side of the street waiting for a shoe, and you can see why people are like that - it's a shoe, a bloomin' shoe - but it's our passion.
"Some people like to collect cars or stamps or ornaments, but ours is sneakers."
The shoes are named after NBA star LeBron James. The Miami Heat forward is known as one of the game's living legends.
"He's such a prime, strong player and the top of his peak," said Mr McKee. "It's Nike that does this, it's supply and demand and they're only releasing 12 of each shoe so everyone wants to own it."
The coveted kicks were also subject to waits overseas. Recently in Atlanta, Georgia, a man was killed when he tried to rob a group of people waiting for the denim version of the sneakers. One of his would-be victims pulled a gun and shot him, the Huffington Post reported.
Mr McKee said that the shoes were such hot property he could make a sizeable profit selling them.
"They are selling for up to US$800 ($1022) on eBay at the moment."
However, he planned to keep his in their box, wearing them on special occasions.
The group of men the Herald spoke to belong to a club of like-minded collectors who formalised their footwear fetish by starting the New Zealand Sneakerheads club in 2011.
