Nike Teases Self-Lacing Shoes in Honor of Back to the Future Day

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Nike's really toying with our emotions on Back to the Future Day. Yesterday, in advance of the day Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in 1989's Back to the Future II, Nike posted a cryptic tweet to Michael J. Fox. It read, ".@realmikefox see you tomorrow."

The speculation is that Nike could make Marty's self-lacing sneakers a real thing you can buy in stores. It's not so far-fetched. Tech Insider reports that Nike filed a patent at the beginning of this year and announced that a shoe with a "power lace" was in the works. Famed Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, who designed the shoes for the movie, said back in January that his team was working as hard as possible to roll out the Nike MAG in 2015 with Power Laces. Here are the tweets that are fueling speculation:

.@realmikefox see you tomorrow.

— Nike (@Nike) October 21, 2015

.@Nike @realmikefox wait... are you saying....? pic.twitter.com/gA0r1dvped

— BuzzFeed Sports (@BuzzFeedSports) October 21, 2015

A Nike PR director tweeted:

We’ll find out tomorrow if self-lacing shoes will be part of the future. https://t.co/X1NxgqRmAR

— Heidi Burgett (@heidiburgett) October 21, 2015

A reporter from CNBC tweeted that the first pair of the self-lacing Nike MAGs are in New York City.

This is major: A source at Nike confirms to me the first pair of self-lacing Nike Mag shoes are in NYC. $nke #backtothefuture #mag

— Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) October 21, 2015.

In 2011, Nike auctioned off 1,500 pairs of limited edition 2011 Nike MAG shoe replicas on eBay, raising $4.7 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Meanwhile, there's an archived WWD story that appears to reference a Nike Mag release, but did WWD pull the trigger too quickly? The story is no longer online, but here's the Google News screenshot:

Others are speculating on the exact time of any Nike news:

Do the right thing Nike , 4:29 21st of October 2015!! #BTTF #NikeAirMag pic.twitter.com/ngYIMlyizS

— Eoin Healy (@eoinhealy95) October 21, 2015

Update: Here's Michael J. Fox's tweet with a letter from Tinker Hatfield, telling Fox he'll be the first to receive a pair of Nike MAGs and that more will be auctioned off for Fox's foundation.

The letter I received from Tinker today. Thanks @Nike pic.twitter.com/UIolXrkUVC

— Michael J. Fox (@realmikefox) October 21, 2015

Update: Nike put out a press release this afternoon about the Nike MAG and its power laces, calling it the first iteration of an "individually responsive system that senses the wearer’s motion to provide adaptive on-demand comfort and support." The release reads:

The 2015 Nike Mag is a limited edition release. It will only be available via auction, with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The specific details on the auctions will be posted to Nike News and via Twitter @Nike in spring 2016.

Here's a video of Fox trying out his new Nikes.