While some kids were trading baseball cards and rummaging through the attic for vintage records, Justin Jarrett (junior-film and video) was starting a different kind of collection.

"I've been collecting sneakers for a long time. I have no idea how much I've spent," Jarrett said. "I collect Air Jordans and the older Nike basketball shoes I like."

Jarrett is a member of a growing group of footwear enthusiasts that are known as "sneakerheads." The trend owes its growing popularity to specialty stores and publications like Sneaker Freaker and Sole Collector magazines.

"I started collecting because I am a huge Michael Jordan fan, and there is a big market out there for his shoes," Jarrett said.

According to www.sneakerhead.com, sneaker collectors want only the rarest, most interesting sneakers on the market, and just like with other kinds of collections, sneakerheads protect their investments.

"I have around 70 or 75 pairs of sneakers. I have probably like 50 pairs still in their boxes," Jarrett said. "My favorite shoe is the Air Jordan 11's from 1996. They're red, black and white. I have a couple different pairs of them, and so I do have one pair that I wear."

Most sneaker collectors shell out tons of cash for limited edition sneakers. Jarrett said he had to come up with a system to fund his shoe collecting habit because each pair can cost about $180.

"I started a small company on eBay where I buy and sell shoes and that covers the cost of the shoes that I want to keep" said Jarrett.

Others go so far as to compete with each other using their shoes. Sneakerheads can even show off their collections and compete for a place in the Sneaker Hall of Fame at the 2008 International Street Culture Expo in Los Angeles. Sole Collector magazine said the best collections are based on quantity, with the top collections coming in at 500 pairs per person.

For Vincenzo Barba (sophomore-civil engineering), having a unique collection of shoes is his goal.

"My favorite shoes are these black-and-white polka dot sneakers by Supra. They're my favorite because they are the most unique, and no one has anything like them," Barba said. "I really want these lime-green, flat-bottom, high-top old school kicks by this obscure company that no one really knows about, called Greedy Genius."

Shaggy Pheifer, owner of the skateboarding shop Skate Penn, 209 W. Calder Way, sells some of the brands that Barba collects. However, Barba said he doesn't buy most of his shoes in stores, instead opting to purchase them online or via catalogue. Pheifer said he doesn't see a big demand for his store's sneakers in State College.

"We haven't sold a lot -- maybe three pairs since we carried them," Pheifer said.

Internationally, the sneaker-collecting trend has become so popular that it has prompted the launch of a social networking Web site for sneaker lovers, www.sneakerplay.com. Collectors can discuss, view and trade shoes using their Sneakerplay accounts.

Whatever the demand for sneakers is, die-hard sneaker collectors like Barba and Jarrett said they collect for their own enjoyment.

"I've got nothing on big sneaker collectors, but people still think it's abnormal for a guy to own so many pairs of shoes," Barba said. "I don't care. I like it and if I see a fresh pair, I'm asking for them for Christmas or my birthday."

Jarrett said even the negative attention his habit generates would not make him stop his hobby.

"People think I'm crazy or I'm a girl," Jarrett said. "It doesn't really bother me in the end though."