Sneaker Retirement

[thegamekg]

This day is inevitable for most. We can either accept it or avoid it. For the last 7 years I’ve avoided it. Today is the day I retire from the sneaker game. No more raffles, no more 6:57 wake ups on a Saturday. Sadly, no more camp outs which was one of the greatest experiences as a sneaker head (I hate the term sneakerhead, let’s go with sneaker enthusiast).


A lots changed in the last 7 years since the last Concord 11 release that changed the sneaker game forever. Mortgages have been originated, IRA’s have been started, and daughters have been born. I guess you can say I grew up. No sneaker enthusiast ever wants to grow up. We all have a little Peter Pan in us (no homo) and we want to stay forever young ala Hov.

I blame this addiction on my parents for having a sports shop growing up. I couldn’t wait for the Nike rep to come thru and preview what’s coming. I would always run and tell my friends about the next and best. It was dope. And addicting. Then I stumbled across a message board called Niketalk. Nothing was ever the same after that. Dial-up modem or not, Niketalk was a daily habit back in 2001. The hey day’s in the sneaker game.

Now can I tell myself that I’ll never come back? Mike showed us twice that you can never say never. I’m sure I’ll catch an episode or two of Sneaker Shopping with La Puma. A weekly Celebrity Sneaker Stalker visit is for sure. And Niketalk was, and still is forever. We influenced the culture and that’s something that can never be taken away.

I know another day will come in the near future. The day my daughter walks into my “office” and ask why I have so many shoes. I know I’ll be smiling because I’ll get to tell her how and why I fell in love with sneakers.
And maybe, just maybe, that’ll be the day the legacy continues.

 

[hovkid]

 

[eastbayrudy007]

This day is inevitable for most. We can either accept it or avoid it. For the last 7 years I’ve avoided it. Today is the day I retire from the sneaker game. No more raffles, no more 6:57 wake ups on a Saturday. Sadly, no more camp outs which was one of the greatest experiences as a sneaker head (I hate the term sneakerhead, let’s go with sneaker enthusiast).


A lots changed in the last 7 years since the last Concord 11 release that changed the sneaker game forever. Mortgages have been originated, IRA’s have been started, and daughters have been born. I guess you can say I grew up. No sneaker enthusiast ever wants to grow up. We all have a little Peter Pan in us (no homo) and we want to stay forever young ala Hov.

I blame this addiction on my parents for having a sports shop growing up. I couldn’t wait for the Nike rep to come thru and preview what’s coming. I would always run and tell my friends about the next and best. It was dope. And addicting. Then I stumbled across a message board called Niketalk. Nothing was ever the same after that. Dial-up modem or not, Niketalk was a daily habit back in 2001. The hey day’s in the sneaker game.

Now can I tell myself that I’ll never come back? Mike showed us twice that you can never say never. I’m sure I’ll catch an episode or two of Sneaker Shopping with La Puma. A weekly Celebrity Sneaker Stalker visit is for sure. And Niketalk was, and still is forever. We influenced the culture and that’s something that can never be taken away.

I know another day will come in the near future. The day my daughter walks into my “office” and ask why I have so many shoes. I know I’ll be smiling because I’ll get to tell her how and why I fell in love with sneakers.
And maybe, just maybe, that’ll be the day the legacy continues.

I ditto this post...I too am in the same situation and can’t help but feel the end is near. Not quite there yet. Slowly but surely lol

 

[vood99]

thegamekg How did you manage to guess the password to this old NT account? You claim to be an 'old head' yet you're fixated on 7 years ago and the XIs, when you should in theory be having multiple OG pairs and not give a damn about raffles or re-re-retros.

Then there's only 31 posts in 16 years...

 

[headdetective]

Nicely written post.

“Sneaker retirement” is corny though.

Ain’t no pension coming.

 

[thegamekg]

thegamekg How did you manage to guess the password to this old NT account? You claim to be an 'old head' yet you're fixated on 7 years ago and the XIs, when you should in theory be having multiple OG pairs and not give a damn about raffles or re-re-retros.

Then there's only 31 posts in 16 years...

Damn I just got legit checked like a mfer! Yea in theory I should have some Og pairs to show for it all but the Zen XI lows and Columbia colorways are all I can show for. And yeah I am fixated on 2011 because after that it’s been hard af to get shoes. Re-release or not my guy I attempted to buy what I liked. And yes 31 messages in 16.

 

[kingsrborn]

You’ll never fully retire from it 100%. When I think of someone really not caring about kicks anymore, is someone not wearing any heat anymore, and not buying any for a long period of time. You’ll most likely scale back to maybe 1-4 pairs a years at minimum. Nothing is wrong at buying that amount. I’m in the 3-5 a year range now. But I had a big problem a few years back.

I was the one in line on almost every release. I stopped that along time ago, once I noticed I wasn’t wearing any of the shoes that I bought over a long period of time. If your not a reseller, it’s literally a waste of money, unless it your just a genuine shoe collector, which I’m not. Buying what you like every couple of months is not bad. If your just buying out of boredom (not pairs that you really liked or was going to wear) like I was, then it is.

 

[tbhova]

You’ll never fully retire from it 100%. When I think of someone really not caring about kicks anymore, is someone not wearing any heat anymore, and not buying any for a long period of time. You’ll most likely scale back to maybe 1-4 pairs a years at minimum. Nothing is wrong at buying that amount. I’m in the 3-5 a year range now. But I had a big problem a few years back.

I was the one in line on almost every release. I stopped that along time ago, once I noticed I wasn’t wearing any of the shoes that I bought over a long period of time. If your not a reseller, it’s literally a waste of money, unless it your just a genuine shoe collector, which I’m not. Buying what you like every couple of months is not bad. If your just buying out of boredom (not pairs that you really liked or was going to wear) like I was, then it is.

THIS.

As someone that contemplated retirement on multiple occasions, you really never retire from purchasing sneakers. You only make purchases you deem are necessary for your collection and that you will actually wear. As stated above, I only maybe buy 1-4 pairs of shoes out of the year. Been this way for the past 5 years or so. Find myself still enjoying "On Feet" and "Un-boxing" videos in circulation on YouTube of new and past releases . Passion is still there for sneakers, but money becomes allocated towards more important things in life.

 

[jwilly31]

^ I agree. Said I’m done after the Concords, but we shall see.

 

[ninjahood]

as long as you got feet, you'll need kicks.

 

[5o'clockShadowBoxer]

I’m 42, military, married with a 21, 15 & 13 y/o. I’ve evolved from say 1997. Priorities, responsibilities change. Impulse buys are done. I buy to wear, some out of necessity, but mostly for casual purposes. I never said, “I’m done with all this.” I just scaled back from how much I used to buy tremendously. Never a camp out, never been in a raffle, usually don’t buy on release day. I’ve got 5-6 sneakers from the early 90s I still wear, but I won’t enshrine them. End of the day, do you. If it ain’t hurting anyone..........

 

[Korofi]

I just have more shoes now that I no longer need or care for

 

[KHUFU]

Interesting topic. I gave up kicks after working in corporate America for about ten years. I didn't need them as much, with two or three pairs to ball in. Once I left that sector of the workforce, I created my own business. I began to ball much more frequently, work out with more intensity, so I bought more kicks. Having the lifestyle to rock kicks casually really does eliminate the question of when one will supposedly retire. At the age I am now, I am not, actually never have been in competition with anyone in regard to what I wear. The turnoffs of dealing with resellers and bots, plus limited runs on shoes that I really want may have an effect on what I am willing to deal with, but that wont force me to retire either. I will just find something that I find hot, something that hardly anyone else will want.

 

[JetsfanQ]

good read by everybody...im agreeing with people who talk about not impulse buying this is my last yr of doing so...cant say il ever fully be done with kicks ( will be consuming certain brands ..& like 1 dude said around 3-5 a year)..but imma start drifting & experimenting more with shoes rather sneakers

 

[nikekid6]

Andre Johnson does not approve this message

Interesting topic. I gave up kicks after working in corporate America for about ten years. I didn't need them as much, with two or three pairs to ball in. Once I left that sector of the workforce, I created my own business. I began to ball much more frequently, work out with more intensity, so I bought more kicks. Having the lifestyle to rock kicks casually really does eliminate the question of when one will supposedly retire. At the age I am now, I am not, actually never have been in competition with anyone in regard to what I wear. The turnoffs of dealing with resellers and bots, plus limited runs on shoes that I really want may have an effect on what I am willing to deal with, but that wont force me to retire either. I will just find something that I find hot, something that hardly anyone else will want.

 

[thegamekg]

I’m digging the responses. It’s cool to see different peoples perspectives on this topic

 

[Addisonz123]

Agreed. Really puts it into perspective. I don't think I'd say I'm retiring but I think after a heavy year 20 plus pairs... This year for sure will be a lower amount. I only see 1-2 in the pipeline that I want to get. Its time to work through the stacks and begin to wear them.

 

[i am a myrmidon]

Serious questions, why did you feel the need to announce it? Why not just do it and get on with the retiring? I'm just having trouble getting the point of the display.

 

[thegamekg]

Serious questions, why did you feel the need to announce it? Why not just do it and get on with the retiring? I'm just having trouble getting the point of the display.

To get other peoples perspectives on the topic. Positive or negative. Something different I guess

 

[a blinkin]

To be honest, a lot of us who are active in General have been out the collecting game for years. Quite a few of us have been on NT for well over 10 years. A lot of life happens in that amount of time.

With sneakers becoming more difficult to obtain (what with bots, raffles, and an influx of hypebeasts), it was an easy decision for most to say “I’ll pass on standing in line for hours, for the mere chance to spend $200 on some kicks that I probably won’t wear and get their true value out of.”

I’d imagine a lot of us can remember earlier days when it was a rush to get your hands on a pair of kicks you’d been waiting on for the longest. But folks have found new joys in life. ****, you just mentioned having a daughter (congrats)! I’m sure that feeling outweighs securing any Saturday release.

I was able to recently get a swoosh account. 16 year old me would have been beside myself for one... 30 year old me is just like... it’s cool I guess.

It helped me get the concords for the low, and that was a great come up after my incident at their last release. But other than that, I’m pretty cool on buying sneakers.

 

[thegamekg]

To be honest, a lot of us who are active in General have been out the collecting game for years. Quite a few of us have been on NT for well over 10 years. A lot of life happens in that amount of time.

With sneakers becoming more difficult to obtain (what with bots, raffles, and an influx of hypebeasts), it was an easy decision for most to say “I’ll pass on standing in line for hours, for the mere chance to spend $200 on some kicks that I probably won’t wear and get their true value out of.”

I’d imagine a lot of us can remember earlier days when it was a rush to get your hands on a pair of kicks you’d been waiting on for the longest. But folks have found new joys in life. ****, you just mentioned having a daughter (congrats)! I’m sure that feeling outweighs securing any Saturday release.

I was able to recently get a swoosh account. 16 year old me would have been beside myself for one... 30 year old me is just like... it’s cool I guess.

It helped me get the concords for the low, and that was a great come up after my incident at their last release. But other than that, I’m pretty cool on buying sneakers.

Thanks bro! Becoming a parent definitely outweighs that Saturday score. Man if I had a swoosh account 10-15 years ago! Serious damage would have been done. Definitely feel you that once shoes became harder to cop it was easier to pass and move on to something else. Good stuff