Question #1: What are your thoughts on female sneaker heads? Do you respect them for their collections or do you feel like they're just collecting for attention? Are they misrepresented in the community? What are your experiences with them?
As most have said, I'm indifferent. I'm a curmudgeon anyway; I SMH at 98% of the people involved in the hobby anyway, regardless of sex. It's foul though that women are often accepted in this hobby or not on the basis of their looks and not their passion or knowledge.
Question# 2: With sneakers being such a big part of your life, have sneakers ever influenced what women you've dated? Has sneakers ever gotten a woman to become interested in you romantically? Stories?
My biggest kinship comes with a friend's wife. She's not into sneakers, but into clothes and fashion in general. Her husband doesn't really care about any of that stuff, so she's always telling him how I'm the only one of his friends who understands her. But, basically, I've never dated a woman who cares about sneakers. My wife puts up with me and the fact that we basically have an entire bedroom full of racks of shoe boxes and bins of gear. The one thing that we do that I find kind of funny is that she loves 80s and 90s TV, so she'll always pause an episode at some point when you can see somebody's shoes and call in me in the room like, what are those - what year, etc.
Question #3: If you had to give away all but three pairs of the sneakers in your collection, what 3 would you keep and why?
Geez. This is really tough.
a. 1995 black/white pebbled leather NYC AF1 highs
b. '99 White/red Jordan Vs
c. probably an AM95 - maybe '97 Neons - but even with 4 pairs, they'd only last a combined few months before they all disintegrated.
I'm reinterpreting this as having to wear only these 3 pairs. If I had to actually give anything I didn't pick away, then financial value would have to play into the equation - there's no way I'd give away stuff like OG metallic 1s, "45" sample XIs, etc.
Question #4: What's a sneaker that is SUPER HYPED now, that you remember releasing and passing on or copping with ease? What makes it SO hyped now, and do you think it's justified looking back?
There are so many answers here. I remember 1994 1s, 2s, and 3s sitting at all kinds of retailers for 29.99 - 49.99. I remember Infrared VIs in 2000, or whatever, getting marked down. And, of course, you have stuff like Laneys, Toro Bravo packs, etc. But, I'm actually going to say something against the grain - I don't think OG and first gen retro Jordans are hyped enough!!! I mean, if you go by what the market says, you can get more for a pair of 3M-less 2010 Flint 13s than a pair of OGs. That's insane. My dude from a consignment store told me that literally he presented some kid buying Flint 13s with the 2010 and 2004 pairs at the same price, and the kid chose the '10s. "They're whiter," he said. MIND. BLOWN. We've actually reached the point of the tail wagging the dog - today's "sneakerhead" actually prefers crap to quality. It's downright insane. So, I would love to see the OGs and high quality early retros reclaim the relative standing they deserve, as far superior to today's trash releases.
