Official Reebok Kamikaze II Thread AKA "Reignmans"

Ha, I love it, you sent them an email, I wish it was that easy. The Ragin was a great sneaker, unfortunately we will never see a retro.
 
....  Shawn Kemp, Iverson, Glenn Robinson each got theirs retro'd why not the Ragin's worn by Nick the Quick, John Crotty & Andrew DeClercq????
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Because Reebok are done, simple as that. We are beating the dead horse here, but even all the models that were initially announced over an year a go got scrapped, the lost the contracts with all the major retailers and all they have left is more of the same, Questions in same kicks but with the Pump treatment.
 
trentbg said:
Because Reebok are done, simple as that. We are beating the dead horse here, but even all the models that were initially announced over an year a go got scrapped, the lost the contracts with all the major retailers and all they have left is more of the same, Questions in same kicks but with the Pump treatment.
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.......that is a shame, but we can hope....

"The Wall Street Journal reported in October that a consortium of investors from Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi launched a 1.7 billion euro ($1.9 billion) bid to buy Reebok from Adidas in a move that, if successful, would unwind an eight-year marriage of sneaker makers that has shown disappointing results."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adidas-wont-sell-reebok-says-ceo-2015-05-03
 
midd44 said:
.......that is a shame, but we can hope....

"The Wall Street Journal reported in October that a consortium of investors from Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi launched a 1.7 billion euro ($1.9 billion) bid to buy Reebok from Adidas in a move that, if successful, would unwind an eight-year marriage of sneaker makers that has shown disappointing results."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adidas-wont-sell-reebok-says-ceo-2015-05-03
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My dude, we discussed what's in that article when it was first posted. Adidas is one giant cluster $& - they can't even get their own act together, let alone manage a co-brand.

I was for Adidas selling Reebok but I think they are just holding onto them as CrossFit is probably generating a lot of income.
 
The ragin always reminded me of the answer 1

For me the kamikaze were a bit snug with my 11.5 in the all star mid so i went a 12 on my lows

But id stick to my 11.5 in the mids like the snug feel
 
trentbg said:
Because Reebok are done, simple as that. We are beating the dead horse here, but even all the models that were initially announced over an year a go got scrapped, the lost the contracts with all the major retailers and all they have left is more of the same, Questions in same kicks but with the Pump treatment.
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Not true. 
 
Meaning? Eastbay, Foot Locker, Foot Action, HOH and Champs are going to continue to carry they retro products? 
 
trentbg said:
 
Meaning? Eastbay, Foot Locker, Foot Action, HOH and Champs are going to continue to carry they retro products? 
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Do you remember when Footlocker did not carry jordan or jordan retro for a year sometime in the Mid 2000's? There are business approaches to things... 
 
rodrigofresh said:
 
Do you remember when Footlocker did not carry jordan or jordan retro for a year sometime in the Mid 2000's? There are business approaches to things... 
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That has nothing to do with it, mid 2000's were no glory for any brand, Jordan brand was never at the stage Reebok is, not to mention the fact the only FNL left at the moment that are selling Reebok and not that well to be exact. Unless we are all some how tricked by Reebok and they are planning a striking comeback and are going to "kill" it, I dont think the future looks bright. 

No mater how much I love Reebok, and trust me, there is probably no one around, even at Reebok headquarters, that love it as much as I do, I can't continue to lie to my self and dream about good times, they lost the momentum and are no beyond the point of return. The sneaker hype is on a decline in general, I see more and more sneakers sitting on shelves and less people being excited about every new release, so if that is true for the top brands, its double true for Reebok and the rest of the smaller brands. 
 
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... i even sent Reebok an email yesterday asking if there's any plans on re-releasing the Ragin's.
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here's the reply i got:  "At this time that item is not scheduled for relaunch. Please join our email team as any relaunch would be advertised via email group. I will forward your request to the correct department for consideration. I apologize for the inconvenience."
 
trentbg said:
That has nothing to do with it, mid 2000's were no glory for any brand, Jordan brand was never at the stage Reebok is, not to mention the fact the only FNL left at the moment that are selling Reebok and not that well to be exact. Unless we are all some how tricked by Reebok and they are planning a striking comeback and are going to "kill" it, I dont think the future looks bright. 
No mater how much I love Reebok, and trust me, there is probably no one around, even at Reebok headquarters, that love it as much as I do, I can't continue to lie to my self and dream about good times, they lost the momentum and are no beyond the point of return. The sneaker hype is on a decline in general, I see more and more sneakers sitting on shelves and less people being excited about every new release, so if that is true for the top brands, its double true for Reebok and the rest of the smaller brands. 
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Those Blasts dropping to $20 was painful to watch. Reebok's in a tailwind.
 
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trentbg said:
 
...The sneaker hype is on a decline in general, I see more and more sneakers sitting on shelves and less people being excited about every new release, so if that is true for the top brands, its double true for Reebok and the rest of the smaller brands. 
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couldn't agree more.. i see alot of similarities between the sneaker industry & the baseball card craze of the 90's.

Here's an interesting article on the sports card collapse.

http://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-sports-card-collection-market-collapse

"Looking back, it's really sad what happened to the market once the manufacturers started building dozens of sets, introducing scarcity, and trying to squeeze the full profits out of the original point of sale. "
 
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That is an interesting article. One of the commenters makes a good point too, that sports cards died when they betrayed their core market (ie - kids who wanted to collect cards). I think you could make an argument of that sort when it comes to shoes. The goal now seems to be to sell to the "influencers", and Instagram hype-beasts, rather than the people who want to buy the shoes and wear them. Those of us with a long connection to a brand (eg - us here with Reebok) get screwed over in this scenario, as Reebok (or Adidas if you prefer) are looking for the quick buck, rather than any long-term process.

It's hard to argue against that from an economic point of view, and the profit-motive is the driving force in our capitalist world, but I think, if they'd handled it properly, there would've been a middle-ground that could've built a better foundation for their business.
 
Phil32 said:
That is an interesting article. One of the commenters makes a good point too, that sports cards died when they betrayed their core market (ie - kids who wanted to collect cards). I think you could make an argument of that sort when it comes to shoes. The goal now seems to be to sell to the "influencers", and Instagram hype-beasts, rather than the people who want to buy the shoes and wear them. Those of us with a long connection to a brand (eg - us here with Reebok) get screwed over in this scenario, as Reebok (or Adidas if you prefer) are looking for the quick buck, rather than any long-term process.

It's hard to argue against that from an economic point of view, and the profit-motive is the driving force in our capitalist world, but I think, if they'd handled it properly, there would've been a middle-ground that could've built a better foundation for their business.
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Its not really hard to argue from an economics mic perspective though. This is happening in other markets too. People are not thinking long term and are just trying to cash out.
 
Reebok played their hand terribly. First, they issue terrible rematers of shoes people wanted. They constantly restocked the dee brown omni lites instead of making the actual shoe he wore. When they did get instant sell outs with the Shaq line and Shawn Kemp line, they immediately flooded the market with colorways that should've been for kids only. They release stuff without warning while the announced stuff is no where to be found. And they give little to no back story about the shoes that they are dropping in the first place. Not to mention the countless colabs. They have over saturated the market with them. Its like Mr Mcgoo is driving the clown car. And what makes it worse is my anecdotal evidence. Every time I wear one if my Reebok retros I get quizzed about them. Friends, family, even strangers. From my experience, the retros look good to more than just the few of us here. Sadly, nobody even knows when this stuff releases. The only time I've seen Reebok in store was on sale at FNL in the back. So, I know its not the OGs.
 
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lildwell said:
Reebok played their hand terribly. First, they issue terrible rematers of shoes people wanted. They constantly restocked the dee brown omni lites instead of making the actual shoe he wore. When they did get instant sell outs with the Shaq line and Shawn Kemp line, they immediately flooded the market with colorways that should've been for kids only. They release stuff without warning while the announced stuff is no where to be found. And they give little to no back story about the shoes that they are dropping in the first place. Not to mention the countless colabs. They have over saturated the market with them. Its like Mr Mcgoo is driving the clown car. And what makes it worse is my anecdotal evidence. Every time I wear one if my Reebok retros I get quizzed about them. Friends, family, even strangers. From my experience, the retros look good to more than just the few of us here. Sadly, nobody even knows when this stuff releases. The only time I've seen Reebok in store was on sale at FNL in the back. So, I know its not the OGs.
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Agree 110% with you and some of us have beaten this topic to death. Adidas are incapable of managing their own brand yet alone a co-brand with solid 80s to early 00s history like Reebok. I would like for Reebok to be sold to an independent company but with the sneaker fad fading (and fading fast) I highly doubt that anything new will be released apart from what's already out there.
 
Reebok didn't jump into the retro game fast enough like what has been stated. As far as the marketing is concerned for the retros. I don't think there could have been much to do with what players they have or used to have in their stable. To this day, Allen Iverson remains the most relevant player they had with Shaq a few feet behind. Shawn Kemp,Glen Robinson and Van Exle are not that relevant because their careers didn't end good and they had issues. Emmitt Smith was a Cowboy, you either love him or hate them. Frank Thomas played baseball, not a lot of interest there. Dee Brown, Mugsy Bogues, etc weren't that popular to begin with. Anyways, most of the players are ONLY relatable to kids that grew up in the 80's and early 90's. If a kid was born in the late 90's and early 2k, they don't know who the f@ck those players are. It's the truth. It would have been a waste of advertisement for shoes that would go to the clearance racks regardless. Peace
 
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With the proper presentation and advertisement, I think they could have had a good success, unfortunately they chose not to do anything, not even hint anything they are preparing. They could have explained the technology, the history, the materials and ultimately make them cool again for the kids, but all that didnt happen...when was the last time they even seeded to any of the popular YouTubers, never...and that is the easiest form of advertisement and hype building.     
 
WhathehadasSole said:
Reebok didn't jump into the retro game fast enough like what has been stated. As far as the marketing is concerned for the retros. I don't think there could have been much to do with what players they have or used to have in their stable. To this day, Allen Iverson remains the most relevant player they had with Shaq a few feet behind. Shawn Kemp,Glen Robinson and Van Exle are not that relevant because their careers didn't end good and they had issues. Emmitt Smith was a Cowboy, you either love him or hate them. Frank Thomas played baseball, not a lot of interest there. Dee Brown, Mugsy Bogues, etc weren't that popular to begin with. Anyways, most of the players are ONLY relatable to kids that grew up in the 80's and early 90's. If a kid was born in the late 90's and early 2k, they don't know who the f@ck those players are. It's the truth. It would have been a waste of advertisement for shoes that would go to the clearance racks regardless. Peace
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Yes agreed on the above, I stated in the Shaq Attaq thread that Adidas should've tapped into Reebok's retro catalog as soon as they purchased them in '04-'05. They missed the boat by damn near a decade and you now have a deep back catalog of shoes that are simply not relating to sheep-like consumers who only want what the next man (or boy) has.
 
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