Nah. I give Ye a lil credit for putting more of the masses on but I personally remember seeing hype long before the royals and Ye popped up in various colorways.
Hell I had trouble copping bred strap 1s at one point. I think end of the original sb dunk hype kinda left a void and the Jordan 1 filled that void really well, plus we got improved height, og colorways and nike air.
I know what you are saying about that release being “difficult” but It wasn’t hyped then bro.
stop it
probably around 2012/2013 is when it started
before that Jordan 1s were pretty much going for retail or pretty close on the resell market or you could pick up most things on sale/easily when they released
09 shadows,that Celtic/bulls pack that was 224 you could’ve caught for $175, 09 metallics, ajko’s I remember regular ty making hype on some Vegas colorway that was like $70 on sale
it was pretty easy cops. No one cares about 1s unless you cared about 1s
hell, even the 2011 banned 1s I was able to get a couple hours after my outlet store opened (I know some cities were a lot more hyped/difficult, but in 2013 that release would have been trouble EVERYWHERE!)
They wouldn’t let one person buy multiples but I should’ve had my girl get me an extra pair. Beat my one pair to the ground. They had a ton chilling when I went. One of the easiest cops ever
Maybe that was the start, but once they reintroduced with the Nike air and everything you seen a little hype but even then most were easy pick ups if you went morning of to HOH or footaction Assuming you couldn’t pick up on nikestore (only stores getting the “OG” 1s at that point)
id say kanye definitely affected things.
but hey.Most posters weren’t around or checking for Jordan 1s at this point
Also SB “dying” down had no affect on Jordan 1 hype at all. I was in and around the SB craze. No one was looking for a void to be filled. And if they were it wasn’t for a Jordan 1. At least not in 2010/2011