Nice to see some old heads in here.
In the summer of 2001 I had just finished my freshman year of high school. I had purchased my first pair of Jordans (Laney V's at Footlocker for $70) andafter I bought a pair of Huaraches in the white/royal blue/scream green colorway from John Gotty (who is still my dude) my parents put me on "shoelimit" for a short time
They took the limit away when they realized my passion, that itwasn't some momentary obsession. I knew about Niketalk for several months before joining in August of '01.
I definitely agree with whoever said they miss the days when you knew everyone who posted on NT, it was a smaller community, whereas now there's so manypeople and so many new people that it's hard to have any name recognition for the vast majority of members.
I really think the whole "team" idea has been a bad one and really strange. It seems divisive to me although I'm sure it has brought certainpeople together. I am known for AFIs but I also love Air Maxes, and yet I don't belong to any "teams." Being in a team on a messageboard justseems odd to me.
To answer the question at hand, I think the shoe game and Niketalk itself kind of made some of the older members want to leave. The community getting so bigand full of stupidity (although there is usually some good stuff there too, heck I'm still here) plus the sheer amount and low quality of product beingpushed with manufactured rarity is a real buzz kill. I think shoeheads will always be shoeheads; a lot of the heads that don't post anymore are stillsitting on massive heat, at least I like to think this is the case.
I think there is some good stuff going on here today, I really like the Sneaker Showcase forum...the New Era thread, AFI and AM threads....really nice vintageshoes being posted regularly and a very positive sense of camaraderie flowing through the posts. With that said, I did and still do spend entirely too muchtime on Niketalk. A year ago I wasn't even posting or viewing anymore but it's funny how you end up coming back. I came to grad school and have waytoo much time on my hands; go figure.