State of the Sneaker Industry...let's discuss.

[mrdozo]

Please, the materials garbage' now, I just paid 155 for some 95s for Xmas' . Now in the spur of the moment my boys wanted to play roughhouse. 2 games to 21 and the bubble part of the shoe and sole ripped...I had to crazy glue it. Yea their running shoes,not ball ,But they still shouldn't be made like the variants we used to see when the shoes were made with REAL material.

And thats how this thread came about.
But I agree with you 100% They shouldnt have broken so easily

We got a bit of suckers out here.. Quality has been at its lowest for a while, hitting a plateau over the past few years. But prices continue to rise? Most should get out while they're ahead

I
Oh I have my fellow NT'er. Im making part time $ selling older Jordan retros and Lebrons.

 

[superblytrife]

There have been so many retro releases over the past 4 or 5 years that I've passed on due to poor quality.  If I was young, I probably would've bought all of them.  Now that I'm older though, I like seeing my money go further and prefer to get what I pay for.  I'm not paying almost $200 for some replicas that resemble variants from the early 2000's.  Just can't do it.  

As far as the newer shoes, I love what Nike is doing from a technical standpoint.  Aesthetically, a lot of their newer designs do nothing for me though.  I feel like sometimes they go overboard with tech and the design ends up being too cluttered and busy.  

On a related note, the whole sneaker culture has turned corny.  You still have your pockets of people in it for the right reasons, but they're becoming far and few between.  I'll always be into sneakers, but I'm slowly beginning to tire of all the IG photo shoot, Twitter link only madness that is associated with the culture now.  

 

[PRIME]

New shoes suck outside of Nike running and New balance.

Cats take shoes too seriously nowadays. Just buy the shoes. If you can't acquire them, move on or pay that resale price.

Quality ain't what it used to be, but whatever. If you're going to cry about it every week, shut the hell up and stop buying the shoes. You know what you're getting before you pay. So don't act like its some sort of surprise. There's so many people who cry over it, when they can do like a lot of others and just not buy them.

**** doesn't even matter to me, honestly. I wear these shoes a couple hours a week. Its no big deal. I'm not dropping much more than retail on my shoes anyways.

There have been so many retro releases over the past 4 or 5 years that I've passed on due to poor quality.  If I was young, I probably would've bought all of them.  Now that I'm older though, I like seeing my money go further and prefer to get what I pay for.  I'm not paying almost $200 for some replicas that resemble variants from the early 2000's.  Just can't do it.  

As far as the newer shoes, I love what Nike is doing from a technical standpoint.  Aesthetically, a lot of their newer designs do nothing for me though.  I feel like sometimes they go overboard with tech and the design ends up being too cluttered and busy.  

On a related note, the whole sneaker culture has turned corny.  You still have your pockets of people in it for the right reasons, but they're becoming far and few between.  I'll always be into sneakers, but I'm slowly beginning to tire of all the IG photo shoot, Twitter link only madness that is associated with the culture now.  

I agree with this

 

[miketysonthekiller]

only if you're in high school and younger imo

otherwise j's are only worn for bball although there are better quality sneakers out there for sure

Are you serious m8?

I think majority of people would wear their precious Js on the court once their beyond best.


Then go o eBay and post them as "VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVNDS only used once. Inside the house with pillows on the grown. Serious buyers only."

 

[blkrstr21]

 
As far as the newer shoes, I love what Nike is doing from a technical standpoint.  Aesthetically, a lot of their newer designs do nothing for me though.  I feel like sometimes they go overboard with tech and the design ends up being too cluttered and busy.  

i was never an avid 'sneakerhead' but i always like having new shoes every couple months. i had a nice little stock pile of shoes back in hs 

but now, idk if its cause im getting older or what, its really hard for me to find a pair of shoes i like, nikes in particular. all the neon colors and weird designs dont do it for me. 

i did recently buy the nike freeknit trainers and racers, but only because i got a good deal on them. ill probably keep these for a looonng while 

 

[miniojw]

I wear sneakers for function not fashion. I only buy what's on sale and I don't care what brand they are. I don't really know what's going on with the quality nor do I care. I think the last pair I copped was the DMPs. So did the quality go down and price skyrocketed?

 

[supermanblue79]

Great points.

I can see how the use of synthetics is great from a corporate standpoint considering production costs and profit margins. But as a consumer the price points aren't justified by the product.
The first major price hike with the Brand Jordan 13 gave us the highest quality shoe since the Italian made Jordan 2. High Quality leather and suede throughout the entire shoe. Since then, every other price hike has come with diminishing quality. I know that times change, but it's hard to accept what we are getting when we've seen so many amazing products from Nike Inc, and others.

These days I am looking for value. I spend my money on dressier shoes that I can wear to the office, and casually. Even though you have to pay for quality, they last forever and can even be repaired and resoled. I still do love and buy sneakers from time to time, but it's usually Adidas, New Balance, or Rockport. For the winter, I buy Winter Boots which gives the shoes that I buy now last even longer.

 

[ccookielover49]

NIKE has always been a luxury item. Most athletic sneakers at that time weren't even close to what nike was putting out.

Jays have always been a top of the line athletic sneaker with high quality leather and materials.

People always say nike will never go back to this state but I see a shift in the Ricardo Tisci collab.

Also if Nike would just use a captcha with online check outs it would make online checkouts fair.

Since thats really where the game is going if you dont have alot of stores around you, or you live in a highly populated area and you run into sketch raffles or super limited numbers.

 

[darthdeezy]

Speaking on quality, I think it has gotten better.
Example. A few releases from last year, my Fear Pack 4, Glow 4 and Bel-air 5's havent creased one bit after wearing them 4-5 times each already and I drive stick shift (aka automatic crease on left shoe)
My original Fire Red 5's and Military 4's creased with the first step I took.

Kobe 8's FTW though. Them shoes dont crease no matter how you bend them. You payin for quality? You got it. The stuff they can do with sneakers now.

 

[ryda421]

ummmm....just cop from da grey market. it's da same thing. da proof is in da pudding b

 

[Sir San Diego]

If it's not an very basic Air Force 1 or a very basic pair of Air Maxes, then I don't care about sneakers anymore. I wear some Lunars to work out in, but other than that I'm slowly changing what I wear. I would rather wear some clarks honestly. The materials, for the most part, on nikes are cheap. I haven't had any recent pairs break on me, but my first pair of Huarache LE's broke on me back in the early 90's fresh out of the box after wearing them on a basketball court, so I don't know if the quality has ever been as good as we re-imagine it to be.

All of that loud crap I see today looks corny ESPECIALLY when I see dudes in their mid 30's walking around dressed like men in their 20's with the "swaggy" look.

I can't remember the last time that I bought something "limited" and I won't stand in line and never have for shoes. Food, maybe, not shoes though.

 

[yotk13]

I'll be the first to say it: Retroes >>>> OGs

I mean how many retroes have you seen where the sole came apart or cracked?

Exactly

Retro quality >>> OG

 

[jjs]

I'll be the first to say it: Retroes >>>> OGs

I mean how many retroes have you seen where the sole came apart or cracked?

Exactly

Retro quality >>> OG

hit me up when your retros are 10-20 yrs old.



must be trolling.