Nike SB Dunk Low 'Grateful Dead Bears - Green'

The bears on the back cover

The Grateful Dead's bears first appeared in 1973, on the back cover of History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice), a live album released July 13, 1973, on Warner Bros. The bears were designed by Bob Thomas. They are usually called the Dancing Bears, but they are in fact marching, not dancing.

The album's nickname honors Owsley 'Bear' Stanley, the band's soundman, who recorded the shows at the Fillmore East in February 1970, chose his favorite tracks and compiled the record partly as a tribute to keyboard player Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan, who died during its production. Along with the 'Steal Your Face' lightning skull on the front cover, the bears became some of the most widely used images in the band's iconography, on everything from official merchandise to fan-made goods.

The bears stand for more than a cartoon. 'As the band's benefactor, Bear was an incredibly huge part of the Grateful Dead's ability to become who they were,' said Grateful Dead archivist and historian David Lemieux at the shoe's launch. He tied that independence to Sandy Bodecker, the late Nike SB general manager behind some of the label's most important shoes.

A shoe that looks like a bear

The shoe is an interpretation of the bears themselves. The Green Bear wraps the toe, side panels and heel in green faux fur, with tonal suede overlays on the forefoot, eyelets and heel. The Swoosh is blue and cut in a jagged edge that mirrors the jester-style collars the bears wear. Blue Nike embroidery sits on the heel, and the tongue carries a small emblem with a marching bear and a Swoosh.

Inside, a multicolor bear pattern covers the insole. The best-known detail is hidden: a zippered stash pocket built into the tongue, printed with the band's 'Steal Your Face' skull, which reporters at the time connected to a certain recreational habit associated with Deadheads. The Green Bear sits on a green midsole and a blue rubber outsole.

Release coverage lists the colorway as Green Spark/Soar. The style code, CJ5378-300, is consistent across every source and is the surest way to confirm the pair on a box label; its siblings are the Orange Bear, CJ5378-800, and the Yellow Bear.

Three bears, two dates, one city

Leaks ran for weeks. Early images surfaced in May 2020, and on May 27 the music magazine Relix reported yellow, orange and green versions with bear insoles and a secret stash pocket, priced at $110. Nike SB officially unveiled the collaboration on July 14, 2020.

The rollout began in San Francisco. The Orange Bear released on Saturday, July 18, 2020, exclusively at a single skate shop in the city, steps from the Haight-Ashbury house where the band got its start. The Green and Yellow pairs followed on July 24 at $110 each. Release coverage disagrees on the channels: some reports say the Green Bear went to select skate shops while the Yellow Bear dropped on Nike's SNKRS app, while another says both came through SNKRS and select skate shops.

The three-color pack echoed an earlier Nike SB release, the 'Three Bears' Dunk pack of 2006. A San Francisco television station summed up the 2020 trio simply: psychedelic sneakers in hot shades of yellow, green and orange, with faux fur, suede and a hidden pocket for things Deadheads would be into.

A Dead shoe in a year without shows

The shoes arrived in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when concerts had stopped. Relix noted that once live music returned, Deadheads might see the shoes onstage, and guessed that John Mayer, a well-known sneaker collector and guitarist in Dead & Company, would get a pair.

They also arrived in the middle of Nike SB's revival. 2020 brought a string of SB Dunk collaborations that reached far beyond skateboarding, from Travis Scott to Ben & Jerry's; one resale retailer describes the Grateful Dead trio as heading that year's lineup of new SB designs.

Six years later, deadstock Green Bears still list well above their $110 retail price. On October 1, 2026, the lowest asking price at one resale retailer was $1,055 for a men's size 5, with other sizes listed between $1,265 and $1,783; on another resale marketplace the lowest ask across all sizes was $508 before fees. The gap between the two venues is a reminder that an asking price is not a sale.

The numbers

Release date

July 24, 2020

Retail price

$110

Style code

CJ5378-300

Pack

Green Bear (CJ5378-300), Orange Bear (CJ5378-800, July 18, 2020, San Francisco only), Yellow Bear (July 24, 2020)

Production

Not published

Timeline

1. Feb 14, 1970

   Owsley 'Bear' Stanley records the Fillmore East shows that become Bear's Choice (February 13 and 14).

2. Jul 13, 1973

   Bear's Choice is released; Bob Thomas's marching bears appear on its back cover.

3. 2006

   Nike SB releases the 'Three Bears' Dunk pack.

4. May 10, 2020

   First images of a green-and-blue Grateful Dead SB Dunk circulate online.

5. May 27, 2020

   Relix reports three bear colorways at $110, with bear insoles and a hidden stash pocket.

6. Jul 14, 2020

   Nike SB officially unveils the Grateful Dead collaboration and its release plan.

7. Jul 18, 2020

   The Orange Bear releases exclusively at a San Francisco skate shop near Haight-Ashbury.

8. Jul 24, 2020

   The Green Bear (CJ5378-300) and Yellow Bear release at $110.

9. Jul 30, 2020

   The Orange Bear appears on Nike's website after its exclusive launch; a wider release is not confirmed.

10. Oct 1, 2026

    Lowest asking prices for deadstock Green Bears range from about $500 to $1,055 depending on venue.

The world in 2020

• Jan 26, 2020

  Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others die in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

• Mar 11, 2020

  The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic.

• May 30, 2020

  SpaceX launches the first crewed Dragon flight, the first crewed launch from U.S. soil since 2011.

• 2020

  Protests over the murder of George Floyd spread across hundreds of U.S. cities and around the world.

• Aug 4, 2020

  An ammonium nitrate explosion devastates the port of Beirut, killing at least 218 people.

• Nov 18, 2020

  Pfizer and BioNTech complete trials of their COVID-19 vaccine, reporting 95 percent effectiveness.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Nike SB Dunk Low 'Grateful Dead Bears - Green' is number 50 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (53 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Grateful Dead's famous 'dancing' bears are actually marching.
• The bears come from an album named for a sound engineer: Owsley 'Bear' Stanley, who compiled Bear's Choice.
• The tongue hides a zippered stash pocket printed with the 'Steal Your Face' skull.
• The jagged Swoosh copies the collars the bears wear.
• The Orange Bear launched at a single skate shop in San Francisco, near the Haight-Ashbury house where the band got its start.