Some of today’s middle-aged fathers or who were born in the 60-70s were fortunate to have owned at least a pair of this shoe brand which was then the most popular in the local market and worn by some of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) greats.
Long before Nike Lebron and UA Curry in the National Basketball Association (NBA), there were the Black Superman shoes.
Made by Grosby, the Black Superman variant was probably the first and richest marketing endorsement contract between a basketball player and a shoe brand in the history of Philippine sport.
Grosby made the shoes specifically for ex-NBA player-turned-PBA import Billy Ray Bates, then nicknamed Black Superman who conquered Asia’s only existing professional cage league for his high-flying acts.
Then there was the Grosby Mythical Five made for basketball legends Robert Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz, Mon Fernandez, Bogs Adornado, and Atoy Co.
Grosby and Adidas were the top shoe brands at that time because both are manufactured locally by the Philippine licensee, Rubberworld. Nike joined the market fray a little later.
And let’s not forget Grosby’s RB23 for Ricardo Brown.
Quick Brown Fox
Brown, nicknamed The Quick Brown Fox, was a Filipino-American player who played for Great Taste and San Miguel from 1983 to 1990. He won nine PBA titles and became MVP in 1985.
He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 2009 and named one of the league’s 25 Greatest Players.
Now living in the United States, Brown is still proud of his PBA exploits.
In his recent Christmas post on his Facebook page, he posted a photo of his Grosby Limited Editions shoes that aroused memories of the brand among Filipino netizens, especially those who have followed the pro league in the 80s.
“Wow, that’s a classic retro wishing you have a Merry Christmas idol RB23. Once I am back home got to have one of that shoes,” said Allan Cruz Santiago.
Christian Michael said the post brought back memories of his brother who had the Billy Ray Bates version
One Ark Matig said, “I miss that brand of shoe, Grosby.” And Patrick Carvajal also recalled his brother wearing the shoe brand during his varsity years in Cebu while playing alongside former PBA Presto player Peter Jao.
Grosby left the country in the 1990s and returned in late 2008 and made a re-release of the Black Superman shoes which were a hit until 2017.
Just when the brad was slowly making a smooth comeback, it was unknown why it suddenly faded again.
Its last official post on its Facebook page, Grosby Philippines, was on June 14, 2019, selling Bruiser Sneakers variant for the Father’s Day celebration.
To make matters worse, the Covid 19 pandemic began in January 2020 that caused a lot of businesses to fold up, including the shoe industry.
In the mid-1990s, Kaypee became the next hottest local brand endorsed by the next generation of PBA superstars like four-time MVP Alvin Patrimonio.