Pure excitement quickly turned to sheer disappointment recently when it was announced that Nike was going to release the MAG, the actual self–tying sneaker that Michael J. Fox‘s Marty McFly character wore in Back to the Future II, BUT that they would only be releasing a limited 1,500 pairs of the shoe via auction (which, on the first day, were running many thousands of dollars per pair) and they would, sadly, not be self–lacing.

But that does not appear to be the end of it. Legendary shoe engineer Tinker Hatfield, the man who designed this brand new Nike MAG and invented the original Pump sneakers, was on hand at the release party for the MAG and had some encouraging words for those saddened by the lack of self–lacing.

It’s very much likely that we all at one point or another have dreamed of those crazy fictional things from the “future” we’ve seen created for movies, TV shows, comics, and video games somehow being made into a reality some day. And perhaps the movie that presented the most fun and intriguing futuristic goodies to bring to life, was of course Back to the Future II.

The most iconic futuristic item shown in the movie would have to be the hoverboard””a skateboard without wheels that hovers a foot or so above the ground””which hasn’t been mass–produced…yet…though one artist did build his own working hoverboard a while back.

But after that, it’s all about the self–lacing shoes that Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) wore in the movie, called the Nike MAG. And now those very shoes are a reality…sorta. A reality for those of us with a lot of money sitting around, anyway.

Continue reading to learn how you can try and get your own pair of the sneakers, and to see a couple of videos””one of which has none other than Christopher Lloyd returning to the role of Doc Brown!