We’ve all had that conversation; talking to a non-sneakerhead, seeing the confused look on their face as you talk about sneakers with terrific abandon. people collect baseball cards, stamps, happy meal Toys, but why can’t people get their head around sneaker collecting? What’s so odd about a passion for something you wear on your feet every single day? There are so many facets to enjoy; comfort, style, history, colourways, collaborations, sentimentality, nostalgia… the list goes on. Ok, maybe the odd bit is the fact we own ones that sit on top of the wardrobe at home, collecting dust for years on end before we finally pluck up the courage to put them on feet, that is, if we end up wearing them vôbec.

When it comes to collectors, there are two ends of the spectrum; some collectors have just 5 to 10 pairs, and carefully curate their sneaker rotation, but there are also collectors who just have to have everything. Miami Heat’s P. J. Tucker, generally accepted as the NBA’s biggest sneakerhead, has accumulated over 5,000 pairs of sneakers. Bear in mind, he is now in his 15th NBA season, so he can afford it.

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The love of Sneakers

We recently took to Twitter to ask our followers “Why do you collect sneakers?”, and the answer was clear with almost 80% responding with “I just love sneakers”. we all have our reasons for loving sneakers, but collecting them is a different kettle of fish.

I’ve been into sneakers since a very young age, and being the youngest in a family of nine (all of whom played basketball) there were plenty of hand-me-downs. I grew up seeing my sisters play in LA Gear, Cons Aero Jets, and the Air Jordan 7 “Olympics” in the ’80s and ’90s, and then my brothers in their Reebok Pump Omni 2’s and Air Jordan 5 in the early ’90s. Needless to say I was surrounded by pals and teammates showing off their latest pick-ups on court too. To show how deep the passion runs, I can still vividly see the kid at high school who had the Air Jordan 12 “Taxis”. I remember exactly where we were in school, and that I stared straight at his feet from the end of one period, until he walked off to his next class. I thought they were incredible. I still remember that, and that was 1996.

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Nostalgia

So, although I’ve always had a love for sneakers, I feel it has gotten stronger over the years as retro models are released and they bring with them fond memories and flashbacks to the glory days. These glory days for me aren’t just feelings of sentimentality, seeing sneakers released year after year that my older siblings rocked decades ago; for me it also goes back to ’90s NBA, heralded as one of the best eras in basketball – not just the game itself, but the sneakers worn on-court.

From the Shaqnosis to the Air Uptempos, there was serious heat in every game. And, seeing new releases of pairs like the Reebok Pump Omni Lite 2 takes me right back to 1991, Dee brown pausing to pump his tongues just before his alley-oop double-pump reverse in the dunk Contest. and the re-release of the Kamikazes; I can close my eyes and see Shawn Kemp flying high in the 1996 NBA All-Star Game. and of course, any Air Jordan from 1 to 14, I can picture countless games with MJ reaching new heights, breaking records, and taking apart opponents in whichever incredible model was released that year.

For some of us, we like to be able to own what we couldn’t when we were younger, whether that be financial reasons, or in the case of my 2018 Air Jordan 3 “Black Cement” purchase, pairs that were released when we were too young to buy them at the time (original release was 1988… when I was seven years old).

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Flex Appeal

Some collect simply for the street cred, or to flex with the ultimate fit on Instagram. and that means having the latest and greatest, most hyped, most elusive pairs of Jordans or Yeezys. Although you can be in to Jordans and Yeezys without doing it because they’re hyped, there are also a lot of sneakerheads who simply want the most expensive, most limited pairs to simply to show them off. and some just like the feeling they get lacing rare sneakers up, knowing there’s something extra special about their pair.

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One to Rock, One to Stock

This then brings us to the “One to rock, one to stock” dynamic of the sneaker game. When a sneaker is released, some sneakerheads try to pick up multiple pairs, so they have one to wear, and one to keep “on ice” or “DS” (deadstock). There can be many reasons for this too; some plan to wear the second pair once the first are worn out, but for some, the second pair may genuinely never leave the box – usually for sentimental reasons. Others plan on reselling the second pair to make up for, if not completely cover, the cost of the first pair. With the price of sneakers ever on the rise, it’s hard to blame them.

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The full Set

Another reason for collecting is the satisfactionZhromažďovanie úplného súboru. Samozrejme, musí existovať počiatočná láska k teniskám, ale pre niektoré tenisky to môže začať jedným párom a potom snehová guľa hľadať každú farbu alebo model určitej tenisovej línie.

Austrálsky zberateľ to urobil, keď začal svoju jordánsku zbierku s 1 a 2, len aby to vyrastalo v zbierku 27 párov. Teraz má 1 až 23 (s niekoľkými dvojitými balíčkami). Povedal, že akonáhle mal 1 a 2, len sa pozrel na dlhú cestu hľadania, skúmania a zhromažďovania a páčilo sa mu, čo videl. Držal precíznu tabuľku svojej zbierky, spolu s fotografiami pre každý pár a so všetkými pármi, ktoré sa nezúčastnili v pôvodných škatuliach. Povedal tiež, že jediný čas, kedy premýšľal o predaji, bude obchodovať iba s veľkosťou 7,5 za 8. Akonáhle to urobí, bude sa cítiť kompletne a potom premýšľa o tom, či si tenisky nechá navždy alebo ich predá ako Celá súprava.

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Predajný

Niektorí jednoducho zbierajú na predaj a predaj predbežného predaja, je hlavným hnacím motorom tenisiek, ktorý sa v týchto dňoch zhromažďuje, či sa nám to páči alebo nie, dokonca prichádzajú ako druhá najvyššia reakcia v našom prieskume tenisiek. Trh s predajom tenisiek mal od roku 2019 za neuveriteľných 4,2 miliardy GBP a rastie. Je to lukratívny trh, z ktorého mnohí ľudia žijú viac ako slušné. Dokonca aj niektoré tenisky, ktoré nakupujú s najlepším úmyslom, sa niekedy rozhodnú, že zmenili názor, a musia vyťažiť viacero párov svojej zbierky a predaj je cestou von.

Dokonca aj Jordan Geller, zberateľ amerického tenisky, ktorý vytvoril svoju Shoezeum, aby predviedol svoju neuveriteľnú zbierku, kde nazhromaždil viac ako 2 500 párov Nikes a Jordans, ich nakoniec začal predávať. Povedal, že sa stala nezdravou posadnutosťou a rozhodol sa rozdeliť cesty s niektorými z jeho najobľúbenejších predmetov; Najslávnejšie s dvojicou podpísaných, jordánskych hier 1, ktoré spoločnosť Sotheby’s odhadovala, aby predali za 150 000 dolárov, ale nakoniec predali za 560 000 dolárov prostredníctvom svetovo preslávneho aukčného domu.

Bez ohľadu na dôvod zbierania, vždy to začína vášňou pre tenisky. Aká počiatočná forma, ktorá má a ako sa to vyvíja v priebehu rokov, je na jednotlivcovi. Úžasná vec je, že si udržuje tenisky okolo. Aj keď sa veľa ľudí pozerá dolu na predaj predaja, znamená to, že zrazu budete môcť kopírovať, že spárovanie ste vynechali pred rokmi. A to, čo určite robí, je, aby vás držal na love, niekedy pre konkrétnu tenisku, niekedy pre niečo, čo ste nikdy nevedeli, že potrebujete, ale buďte si istí, vždy bude ďalší pár.

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