Newsletter 3/28-4/3/22
Somebody in my comments suggested I do a weekly newsletter (in addition to the weekly blog post) and this dude even bothered to break down the whole structure. Gold. Thanks @antamm23!!!
I started this early in the week and just started typing. Before I knew it, I was just writing and writing and writing and I still wasn’t done. I was thinking ‘this was meant to be simple and straight forward' but it was anything but that. So…I slept on it for a couple of nights and think I came up with a sustainable format…I broke it into 4 sections…
‘Sneakers of the Century of the Week’ - where I show a few upcoming releases for the current week
‘Investments of the Century of the Week’ - where I show a few things I bought and/or sold in the past week
‘Lifetime Achievements of the Century of the Week’ - where I talk about the things I accomplished in the past week
‘Classics of the Century of the Week’ - where I talk about some of the content I consumed (in the past week)
S/O to the hardest working dude on the squad (for the banners) @sonsofblackmaria
S/O to some more behind the scenes work from @byshoef
(So the thing about sneaker release dates…I’ve found most of them to be notoriously unreliable. If you do a search of ‘upcoming sneaker releases’, you’re going to see all kinds of misinformation all over the place. I mean, I guess it’s not really ‘misinformation,’ but it’s pretty unreliable. Some shops will release today, some will release tomorrow, some will release next week. I’m going off ONE calendar that I have had (at least marginal) success with in the past, so save the pitchforks for someone else. I’m just going off of that other calendar until someone sends me a better one.)
3/30-4/1 - New Balance 2002R Protection Pack 'Mirage Grey', 'Dark Navy', 'Vintage Orange'
I have no idea if any of these are really, actually releasing (they’re supposed to release on AFEW, but who knows). I saw them on the calendar and had to mention them. I finally managed to secure a pair of 2002R Protection Pack (in the ‘Phantoms’ colorway via Tradeblock a few weeks back) and I gotta say it’s a much nicer shoe than I anticipated. Strong Virgil vibes. Super dope.
4/1 - Nike Air Max 90 'Siempre Familia' (W)
I think these initially dropped MONTHS ago, but I hear there might be a restock on NDC. I really like these ‘Siempre Familia’ 90’s…especially with what looks to be a ribcage on the toebox. Almost all of these Siempre Familia shoes are sick IMO. I’d rock these in a heartbeat.
3/31 - Air Jordan 36 'Black Infrared'
I feel like LIKING Jordans after the 23 is just an unpopular opinion…I have a lot of interest in seeing new Jordan models. I do STILL consider them to be signature silhouettes, even though most of the rest of the world has moved on. I made a post about this idea a while back and going through the comments I certainly seemed to be in the minority. But all that to say…I think the 36 is a great-looking shoe and the Infrared colorway solidifies it even further for me. The first pair of Jordans I ever owned was in 1991 and it was a pair of Jordan VI Infrared, so these hit me right in the feels. I bet it’s great on court, too.
I’m not really like giving financial advice, just sharing a few of the things I’ve bought/sold this past week…if not for you, the reader, then myself, the writer.
Sold:
A bunch of boxes of Air Max Pax (but still not enough). Thank you to all that bought some. I’m gonna be giving out a surprise gift here to those that purchased some before the end of March.
2021 Dunk Low ‘Michigan’. Copped for $180 with intent to wear, but they were just too tight. Pocketed $186 on the sale. With taxes, that’s a massive L. Terrible flip.
Yeezy 350 Yecheils. Copped for $160 with intent to wear, but they were too big (Yeezy 350 sizing is just so off - why am I a 10 in all Yeezy’s and a 9 in almost all other Adidas shoes?). Sold for about $180. Another L.
Blackout Kobe V’s for $225. Bought them in 2010 for $64.99 and dogged the hell out of ‘em in my intramural leagues. No capital gains on this one. Banger of an investment.
UNDFTD x AF1. Basically a wash.
Air Max 95 ‘Just Do It’. Double what I bought it for.
Bought:
I copped these Nike Cortez Laser SAMPLES for $380. For the vault.
Phygital:
Punks Comic #1 physical finally came the mail…I totally forgot about this…a cool physical corresponding to the digital. (Months and months and months ago on my @1tstock IG account I was talking about Punks Comics NFT’s and I’d say they’ve more than paid off):
This came in, too. #IYKYK. I have a bit of a soft spot for Damien Hirst ever since I showed his movie to my Social Studies students before actually realizing it was fake.
And I bought a ‘Flying Formations’ NFT for a project idea I have…not sure if it’ll pan out, but…I dunno…we’ll see.
Digital:
$APE coin airdrop. Bored Apes are just the gift that keeps on giving. ‘Nuff said.
I copped another ‘The Wild Bunch’ NFT (far right) - I’m tryna stack my ‘clean cuts’. I don’t know if these are gonna pan out, but I think they’re kinda cool:
And on one of my trips to my favorite shops I saw these up on the wall…my size too, I shoulda copped:
As most of you know, I have two kids and I’m their primary caregiver throughout the week. In between wiping butts and making food and arguing about Pokemon consumption, I still try to get other things done. For fun, of course.
I’ve been trying my damndest to market the Air Max Pax cards for Air Max Day…but I’ve been having some trouble. This release - even though it still came out great - was a bit of a stress-filled experience. Maybe we rushed it? I dunno. I think it’s time to move on to the next set. I’m pretty good at creating stuff, but I’m not all that great at marketing it. But. I think we came up with an interesting idea that we’ll be rolling out soon.
I submitted final artwork for The Sneaker Savant comic book #1 - written and illustrated by @sonsofblackmaria . It should be coming sooner than I’ll know what to do with it.
I dyed a bunch of clothes this past week - including some Yeebra 350’s and a couple of clothing items that were just *too light* for my pasty skin. Everything came out pretty well IMO. And only $6 in Rit Dye.
(putting out this newsletter)
In addition to the crap I manage to try and do, I watch or listen or read things to try and decompress…these are a few things I dabbled in this past week:
Podcasts: I just found this podcast called ‘The Bridge’ hosted by Nas where he sits down and talks with any and everyone in hip hop. I burned through all 21 episodes in less than a week. Gold.
TV/Movie: Over the course of like 3 nights, I finished ‘Sorry to Bother You’ again and I think that movie is just great. Seriously a great movie. I heard so many bad things about it before watching it, but having worked the corporate grind and having lived in Oakland for a significant period of my life, this movie is on par with Bamboozled. And we can’t forget that this movie was brought to us by the dude who crafted this masterpiece from my childhood:
And we can’t forget these gems from Politically Incorrect:
Music: Growing up, I was so focused on other rap that I didn’t think sounded corny that I didn’t make any time for 3-6 Mafia. When I listened to the Juicy J episode of Nas’ The Bridge (above), I decided to give some old 3-6 albums a spin. ‘When the Smoke Clears’ (how have I never discovered this album before this week?)
Books/Articles: I don’t want to talk about things before I finish them, so I’ll wait until I finish them. But I don’t think I’ve read or shared any good articles this week. I’m knee-deep in a couple of books that I’ll discuss once I finish them.
This took me WAY longer than I thought it would take. But it was fun. Follow me on the socials and talk yo shit…lmk what you think of the newsletter in the comments.