OT: Any Sneakerheads?

[Fryowa]

It's the slow time of the year so I'll post this here.

Lots of middle aged guys here who grew up in the 80s/90s....are any of you guys sneakerheads or have any collections? Not sure why I never thought to ask before.

I'm a Jordan guy myself but have a bunch of other stuff on the wall as well. Most of mine are Jordan 1's, but have some others too. Air Maxxes, Dunks, some Terminators, some older retro Reeboks, NB, etc.

Anyone else?

 

[Northside Hawk]

It's the slow time of the year so I'll post this here.

Lots of middle aged guys here who gre up in the 80s/90s....are any of you guys sneakerheads or have any collections? Not sure why I never thought to ask before.

I'm a Jordan guy myself but have a bunch of other stuff on the wall as well. Most of mine are Jordan 1's, but have some others to. Air Maxxes, Dunks, some Terminators, some older retro Reeboks, NB, etc.

Anyone else?

No but my youngest probably owns two to three dozen pairs. He's a fanatic about them.

I had a tennis shoe rotation. A break-in pair would rotate down to walking pair then down to running pairs 1 and 1A, then would be demoted to casual pair, then yard work pair, then off to shoe heaven. It was like a star going through its five billion year life cycle in five to ten years.

Still occasionally patronize Steve Schmitt's Shoe Box in Black Earth Wisconsin, about 1 hour ten minutes away and a stopping point for many rendez-vous to Madison, the Dells, AAU and club athletic events, or the Castle Rock Lake area near Necedah Wisconsin. He's got his ways of keeping his costs reasonable and everyone of them that you've heard about him is probably true.

 

[Fryowa]

No but my youngest probably owns two to three dozen pairs. He's a fanatic about them.

I had a tennis shoe rotation. A break-in pair would rotate down to walking pair then down to running pairs 1 and 1A, then would be demoted to casual pair, then yard work pair, then off to shoe heaven. It was like a star going through its five billion year life cycle in five to ten years.

Still occasionally patronize Steve Schmitt's Shoe Box in Black Earth Wisconsin, about 1 hour ten minutes away and a stopping point for many rendez-vous to Madison, the Dells, AAU and club athletic events, or the Castle Rock Lake area near Necedah Wisconsin. He's got his ways of keeping his costs reasonable and everyone of them that you've heard about him is probably true.

I started collecting years ago and got into Jordan 1's which are retro reissues of the original Jordans. I always wanted them when I was a little kid but my folks couldn't afford them. I got generic K-Mart shoes which is totally fine (my parents were great and I had a good childhood), and once I got older and they started making the retros again I said screw it I'm buying some because I can afford it. That started an obsession un fortunately.

Trust me...if you aren't in the sneaker game already, don't do it. It'll kick your wallet's ass.

But with your son you probably already know that.

 

[Northside Hawk]

I started collecting years ago and got into Jordan 1's which are retro reissues of the original Jordans. I always wanted them when I was a little kid but my folks couldn't afford them. I got generic K-Mart shoes which is totally fine (my parents were great and I had a good childhood), and once I got older and they started making the retros again I said screw it I'm buying some because I can afford it. That started an obsession un fortunately.

Trust me...if you aren't in the sneaker game already, don't do it. It'll kick your wallet's ass.

But with your son you probably already know that.

He can get his own now. He's 20.

Online shopping helps in any case.

 

[hawkinn3]

I buy a pair of all black under armor shoes every 6 months. Old ones get shuffled to lawn duty.

 

[DrKnipe]

I got a pair of Reebok Pumps just last year

 

[Fryowa]

He can get his own now. He's 20.

Online shopping helps in any case.

My kid (17) is the same size shoe as me…I have some fairly hard-to-get Jordan highs that are black and gold, paid $400 for them from a reseller and I very, very rarely wear ‘em. Mainly just the odd Hawk game or tailgate with buddies.

Came home one day and they were gone, and after thinking for a couple days I got robbed I saw pictures of my kid on Instagram wearing them at prom. I was out of town the night they took pictures at his mom’s house so I had no idea. Part of me was mad, part of me thought it looked badass repping the Hawks with a tuxedo.

Just friggin’ tell me you wanna wear ‘em next time instead of stealing me blind, dude…

 

[Fryowa]

I got a pair of Reebok Pumps just last year

I know that was a troll post, but Shaq Attaqs (the Orlando Magic blue Reebok pumps Shaq wore) were always something I drooled over as a kid. I remember coming back to school one fall and like three of the rich kids in my grade had them. Reebok did an awesome reissue a few years ago and I bought two pairs. One I wear, the other is in the box still.

The hobby is expensive, but the nostalgia I get from being able to buy some of the cool stuff I wanted as a kid is both awesome and ridiculous at the same time. Can’t describe how funky it is to be 43 years old and put on Reebok pumps from the early 90s that make me feel like I’m 12 years old again and walking downtown to the sports card store with $10 bucks that my mom gave me.

I know very well it’s dumb, but it’s my dumb. On the flip side I know guys who blow $700/month on booze and smokes, so there’s that…

 

[DrKnipe]

I know that was a troll post, but Shaq Attaqs (the Orlando Magic blue Reebok pumps Shaq wore) were always something I drooled over as a kid. I remember coming back to school one fall and like three of the rich kids in my grade had them. Reebok did an awesome reissue a few years ago and I bought two pairs. One I wear, the other is in the box still.

The hobby is expensive, but the nostalgia I get from being able to buy some of the cool stuff I wanted as a kid is both awesome and ridiculous at the same time. Can’t describe how funky it is to be 43 years old and put on Reebok pumps from the early 90s that make me feel like I’m 12 years old again and walking downtown to the sports card store with $10 bucks that my mom gave me.

I know very well it’s dumb, but it’s my dumb. On the flip side I know guys who blow $700/month on booze and smokes, so there’s that…

Not trolling. I got the reissue

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Long gone are the days of these bad boys. Anybody remember them? Were they exclusive to K-mart?

Trax shoes

 

[kicker22]

Not necessarily a sneakerhead, but I was the guy growing up that absolutely hated breaking cleats in so I'd find some I liked and then and never get rid of them. Knowing though that the current pair wasn't going to last forever I'd continue to buy them and break them in as well. Then of course because I was all about performance lol I'd have to have soft ground, hard ground, and turf as well so at any given time I'd probably have 15-20 pairs of cleats on hand.

Looking back I definitely see there was a problem with my logic. But I now I probably have 20 pairs of shoes as well so I realize the only thing that changed was my current pairs don't have as much traction lol.

 

[CP87]

Long gone are the days of these bad boys. Anybody remember them? Were they exclusive to K-mart?

Trax shoes

View attachment 10622

A tall kid moved into our school district in 8th grade. Big family (7 kids), not a ton of money to go around. He got made fun of for his Payless basketball shoes (the XJ 900s, starting at $12.99), though not so much by me, I was also doing my shopping at the Kmart/Shopko level. Anyhow, he kicked all of our asses in those $13 shoes.

 

[Gibsonian]

Long gone are the days of these bad boys. Anybody remember them? Were they exclusive to K-mart?

Trax shoes

View attachment 10622

Back in the 70's I was into these. I bought several of this design, blue suede shoes. They don't look so great to me now but they did then. Also coveted the Converse all stars, the white leather version. Mom never had enough for these though, never scratched that itch. The blue suede tennis shows could be found at low enough price points I scored several of those. No way I'm getting a show fetish now - no need for that.

 

[oldhawk12]

Been looking for a pair of black and white canvas pony shoes for years and cannot locate any. Fav shoes of all time. May or may not have been turf shoes but were low cut. Also, the spot built football shoes were worn in high school. Man the memories with those

 

[Grady]

Not a sneakerhead, but I like all white tennis shoes and my aversion to seeing brand names splattered all over the side of 'em led me to old-school style 'Stan Smith' low cut, all whites (Adidas). I'm hooked now. They must be somewhat distinctive, because soon after getting my first pair I was standing in line at a Hy-Vee pharmacy, and a disheveled, mid-20ish dude who was all tatted up walked by, stopped, looked down, and said, "Dig your shoes. Stan Smiths." Which gave me a chuckle.

 

[Fryowa]

A tall kid moved into our school district in 8th grade. Big family (7 kids), not a ton of money to go around. He got made fun of for his Payless basketball shoes (the XJ 900s, starting at $12.99), though not so much by me, I was also doing my shopping at the Kmart/Shopko level. Anyhow, he kicked all of our asses in those $13 shoes.

The collection part of my shoes started with Jordan 1's and it morphed into roughly 30 or so pairs of that model in different colors and styles. I bought the first pair because I wanted 'em so bad as a kid but my folks couldn't afford them, and then after that eventually I got Shaq Attaqs, different model Jordans, and so on and at present I'm at about 60-70 total various pairs in the collection outside of my normal beaters, running shoes, etc. After I had my childhood wish list mostly crossed off I started having fun with it and getting some of the classics like Air Maxes, Reebok C80's, etc. I never got into the ridiculously expensive $1,000+ reseller market at all, my stuff is all accessible and everything gets worn on my feet. No wall queens.

But the whole thing started from me thinking a pair of Nikes was cool and wishing I had some. Envy when I was a kid started a fun hobby 20 years later.

 

[Fryowa]

Not a sneakerhead, but I like all white tennis shoes and my aversion to seeing brand names splattered all over the side of 'em led me to old-school style 'Stan Smith' low cut, all whites (Adidas). I'm hooked now. They must be somewhat distinctive, because soon after getting my first pair I was standing in line at a Hy-Vee pharmacy, and a disheveled, mid-20ish dude who was all tatted up walked by, stopped, looked down, and said, "Dig your shoes. Stan Smiths." Which gave me a chuckle.

If you like old school white sneakers, get you some Reebok C80s for some fun variety. They're inexpensive if you look online. I remember my PE teacher had those when I was in elementary school.

He wore an overly tight polo tucked into maroon BIKE brand "coach shorts," white tube socks halfway up his calves, and white Reebok C80s. Classic 1980's PE teacher/coach outfit.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Been looking for a pair of black and white canvas pony shoes for years and cannot locate any. Fav shoes of all time. May or may not have been turf shoes but were low cut. Also, the spot built football shoes were worn in high school. Man the memories with those

Iowa wore Pony for football prob in tghe early 1990's I think, or maybe late 80's. I remember they wore them though.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I try to only buy sneakers made in the USA or Japan, but that is getting very costly and it limits me to New Balance, Asics and a style of Mizunos that I have only seen in Japan. I did break down last year and buy a pair of Pumps on the re-release.

I used to work with a dude who played ball at Northwestern and who was on the Taiwanese national team back in the '90's. This dude is short and he wears a size 9. He has every single pair of Jordans and Kobes ever made except for two pairs, all in size 9 (he technically doesn't have all of the new Jordans since they split the brand out and denigrated it into a mass market operation, so he avoids all the broad, cheap releases that they do now). He was family friends with some folks who owned one of those "urban apparel" stores in Chicago and so in addition to the general releases he has dozens and dozens of pairs of stuff that was extremely limited release, all for display models where stores only got one pair. He posted a portion of his collection on some shoe forum and got a million dollar unsolicited offer to buy the entire lot, which he rejected as "too low." This dude spends enough per annum that he is on the invite only list at the Nike store in Chicago and when they do those 200 pair releases and crap he gets every single one of them. This guy views it as an investment and he considers his shoe collection as part of his portfolio. He probably makes ballpark $2 million a year and I wouldn't be surprised if he spends over $100k a year on sneakers.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I try to only buy sneakers made in the USA or Japan, but that is getting very costly and it limits me to New Balance, Asics and a style of Mizunos that I have only seen in Japan. I did break down last year and buy a pair of Pumps on the re-release.

I used to work with a dude who played ball at Northwestern and who was on the Taiwanese national team back in the '90's. This dude is short and he wears a size 9. He has every single pair of Jordans and Kobes ever made except for two pairs, all in size 9 (he technically doesn't have all of the new Jordans since they split the brand out and denigrated it into a mass market operation, so he avoids all the broad, cheap releases that they do now). He was family friends with some folks who owned one of those "urban apparel" stores in Chicago and so in addition to the general releases he has dozens and dozens of pairs of stuff that was extremely limited release, all for display models where stores only got one pair. He posted a portion of his collection on some shoe forum and got a million dollar unsolicited offer to buy the entire lot, which he rejected as "too low." This dude spends enough per annum that he is on the invite only list at the Nike store in Chicago and when they do those 200 pair releases and crap he gets every single one of them. This guy views it as an investment and he considers his shoe collection as part of his portfolio. He probably makes ballpark $2 million a year and I wouldn't be surprised if he spends over $100k a year on sneakers.

.......and what's his address?