Weekly Instagram recap: 3/27/23 - 3/31/23
Monday, March 27 2023:
I absolutely HATED seeing every single blog pick this up with those 'reimagined AJ3's' the other day. I must've saw it 22 times and every time I saw it I just muttered to myself 'who cares?*'
I don't know. A neat feature? Sure? I don't know. I don't care. Whatever.
They're assembled by hand. How difficult would it be to have someone swap out a tab real quick in hopes of going 'viral'?
Just...whatever. And all these sheep in the comments saying 'oh it's worth so much money like that other pair of Jordan 1's with the upside-down swoosh' (did anyone actually *buy* those or was it just the headlines that have people thinking that shoe was 'worth' $125,000?)
*(obviously I care if I'm posting about it...)
Top comment: @pappy_power_hour: With how many damn releases there are every day no one has time to “remember” the error shoes. They’ll be forgotten as soon as ever LeBron special colorway. That is if those 3s were even real, which I doubt.
Tuesday, March 28 2023:
IG sneaker news? Or…just some news that is tangentially related to sneakers?
To the surprise of seemingly NO ONE WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT SNEAKERS, Adidas’ partnership with Beyonce didn’t work out.
Why?
Could it be that there is not a single image online of Beyonce in Adidas sneakers (let alone ANY sneakers) before the launch of this product?
Could it be that she really doesn’t care about sneakers and her fans don’t either?
I mean…if you’re trying to find someone to represent your product, you should probably find someone who would actually *use* your product…if you find someone who would actually *use* your product and that person has a fan base, there’s a greater chance that person can actually convince their fans to buy in. It's kinda the reason you don't have Michael Jordan endorsing tampons or whatever.
If Beyonce were selling heels or sandals or even some slides, I could understand it. But sneakers? Nah.
Top comment: @dunk_and_disorderly: Unfortunately she was paid a yearly salary instead of a royalty deal where she made her money off of items sold. No incentive to hustle the product when you get paid regardless 😆🤪 the guys at adidas definitely got hustled 🤣
Wednesday, March 29 2023:
thesneakersavant: One of the ‘storybook’ pairs that I own, the original 1987 Air Max 1’s, were a pair that I found in a storage unit in Hawaii. And as you already know, they just re-released in retro form - big bubble and all. I had to sole-swap my originals ( as the sole had crumbled to dust), but big bubbles weren’t available at the time, so I had to go with a retro bubble.
When I heard these big bubbles were dropping, I made a mental knee-jerk note…’I gotta get those’. It’s been a conditioned response for the past few years. Just a habit I’ve gotten into that have had trouble breaking (probably thanks in large part to the psychologists that work for Nikes marketing department).
But…now…the cool thing is…after seeing 759,387 pictures of them, and creating my own cards OF them, I no longer feel the need to own them. Not really because of anything they are or aren’t, but just the fact that I know what’s going to happen with them if I actually *do* end up buying them: they’ll end up on my wall of sneakers for a year or two…gathering dust. Maybe I’ll wear them once or twice…and then I’ll probably just end up selling them when I admit to myself that I'm just never going to wear them. White and red shoes, although they elicit an emotional reaction…am I really going to wear some white and red shoes again? AGAIN?
So if I…buy them…then let them sit…then try to sell them in the future…maybe I’ll make $20. Or lose $20. Or maybe it’s $100. Who knows. Who cares. What would be a good reason for me to put myself in that position again? $20? $100? Nah. I think I'd rather focus on what I have.
@sonsofblackmaria and By shoef and I have made the tribute cards…the retro, the pineapple, mango, dragonfruit, jackfruit AND of course the 2023 card…AND I still have the OG (albeit with a different bubble)... do I really need to go through this process again?
Top comment: @dillon_sloth: In September I made a conscious decision to stop over consuming. That rush of dopamine is tempeeoray.. time to find value in non tangible things? 🤷🏻♂️
Thursday March 30, 2023
thesneakersavant: I know we’ve all see these celebrity ‘sneaker rooms’ or ‘sneaker closets’ and, to me, I don’t know if I could find anything more uninteresting than looking at some rich dudes closet that’s FULL of nothing but hype shoes. I remember seeing @lilyachty closet and that one was actually really cool cuz it was fully of a bunch of completely random and obscure shoes…but…DJ Khaled’s sneaker room? 175% meh.
I think it’d be cool to see something like @pgknows AF1 collection… or @mr_unloved1s AJ1’s… @scottrenus has a crazy collection of OG’s, as does @sneakerpreservationsociety. But these are all people that are a *part* of the community that I can at least relate to...
Celebrity-wise…I think…I’d like to see MJ’s sneaker room. If he’s managed to keep a good portion of the stuff that’s been created in his name, I think he’d have some of the wildest shoes in existence…right? I don’t know if I’d care all that much about the sig’s or the team J’s (even if they were game worn)…but…to see the samples and the stuff he’s actually decided to keep would be interesting…why would he choose a court low over a flight 45? I think that’d be a very interesting conversation to have.
Or…to a lesser extent…for the new generation…it might be interesting to see what @kingjames deems worthy enough to hold onto. He obviously has his pick of anything that has ever come out…plus…at this point…his sig line is dropping ~200 unique color ways every season…which pairs do(es) he *actually* care about, If any?
As I get older, I keep asking myself…what is worth holding onto? Why? I’ve gotta assume these guys have also asked themselves these questions from time to time…’I’ve already accomplished so much…what is actually *worth* holding onto and why?’
What do you think MJ or Lebron would choose to keep and why?
Top comment: @sneakerpreservationsociety: I prefer to hear the stories of how collections organically came to be. We all know guys like @migdallion has combed the earth for his blue tags and 80-90’s Nikes. You know about @airrev and how he would go attic/basement hunting. That stuff is way more intriguing. A big collection of all the new stuff readily available on Grey Market just means dumb luck, gifted, or a ton of money. Anything inside of the last 10 years is pretty much available on the Grey Market. The real gems are the stuff that define #organicScarcity.
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With respect to Michael, if it had to be a sneaker convo, I’d probably talk Trainers or Challenge Court with him because there are some legendary shots of him in non-AJ and whatever became of them? I know he used to gift his game pairs to folks (possibly equipment managers and such?), so after shoot around, warm-ups, and practices, what became of those LWP’s or Attacks? 🤔
Friday March 31, 2023:
thesneakersavant: Speaking of strange pickups...check out this one. Yes, ONE. I copped a *single* LEFT shoe (bag) a few weeks back from my spot @thecavestores for $45. Couldn't pass it up, even though I know it's largely useless (beyond just looking and marveling at). It actually kinda reminds me of that sports illustrated shoe phone from the early 90's (that I also had and never actually used).
It's called the 'Way of Wade IX "Paper Bag"', even though it's not paper (it's Tyvek).
Li-Ning and a bunch of these Way of Wade concept shoes are pretty cool...in a completely extemporaneous sort of way. I know I talked a lot of sh*t about that CPFM hairball shoe and these aren't all that far off...
Y'all ever see something like this?
Top comment: @ slothdoesntmakemusic: Reminds me a lot of the Tom Sachs mars yard overshoe’s 🤔
Be on the lookout for next weeks posts!