A TRUE collector....

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/22/walking-on-air-his-shoes-made-the-man/?icid=main

A lot of people in today's culture don't really have a true love for what they are doing. They buy and wear items for a variety of reasons, I've posted this stuff before.

Every once in a while a story comes along that shows what TRUE sneaker collecting is.

I never knew this guy, I wish I had.

Busy, busy, busy....

I haven't posted anything in a while because I've been busy on a couple different "projects".

The first is a 1/32 scale A6M2 Zero model from Tamiya. If you know me, you know that my other passion in life is model building.

I built models as a kid and started again as an adult to help relieve stress from work. I've gotten pretty decent at it. I've been considering starting a blog about scale models.




The second "project" I've been working on is finding a job. I've sold off most of my collection and I'm ready to start the new one. Only problem is there ain't no money for sneakers.


That sucks!!!


The models I work on I've been sitting on for a number of years, so I don't have to buy anything. I made enough to get buy from selling the old collection. But now, I'm getting bored. My bedroom is almost completely empty, there are almost no sneakers anywhere.


I know it might sound like a stupid reason to go back to work, but I do have other reasons.


Bob, I still owe you $40, I haven't forgotten.


Seems to be a fulltime job looking for a fulltime job now a days. I wish I could get paid for it.

WOW....

I don't usually do this, but I had to post this-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270604754422&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

They are not PE's. Nike made most of their shoes in half sizes up to 13.5 back then and you could regularly get them at most retail stores. Penny wore a size 14.

This is a GREAT old school find. Unfortunately, I can't afford them right now. If I could I would end up with them. I hope someone that is reading this ends up with them.

One of the few shoes I'd like to see retroed some day.

Out

Lets get back on track....

The sneaker world seems really boring to me right now. Pics of the Lebron VIII just came out and it looks like a boring shoe. Very similar to the VII. I guess Nike had to do a basic design, not knowing where The King was going to end up next season. There are a lot of possibilities for colorways on the VIII.

There just seems to be nothing coming out that interests me. Makes it hard to start a new collection when there's nothing out there to buy.

I think I've posted some of this before, I just get frustrated when I start looking for some kicks and all I find are retros or shoes based on retros. I don't want old shoes anymore. I want new, never seen before kicks.

Maybe I'll step away from collecting for a year or so. I did this once before. Seemed to help with the boredom that comes along every couple of years.

There needs to be more sneaker lines. Legit sneaker lines. Reebok needs to make a comeback. adidas needs to leave the Team Signature crap alone. More of the Chinese brands need to start selling here in the states. And1 just up and disappeared. Converse is starting to comeback, very slowly.

Still, it's all just so boring. Maybe I need to get a life.

I could jump higher if I.....

There is a lot of bullshit in this culture. We all know that. Anyone reading this has either experienced it or knows someone that has.

The newest thing, I guess it's actually an old thing remade (retroed if you will), companies saying shoes will help you preform better or tone up.


APL(Athletic Propulsion Labs) says their new shoes will help you jump higher. Then instantly follow that statement with results may vary, blah blah blah.

Reebok says Zig Zag will improve you performance, then had a video out with a bunch of high school kids wearing the shoes and talking about "how much better they performed while wearing the shoes".

Skechers have shoes that they say will help you tone up just by walking. All you have to do is walk, yo!!!

And it's all BULLSHIT!!!

Shoe CAN NOT improve you performance! People are so brainwashed into thinking rubber and foam can make you run faster or jump higher.

The only thing that will actually make you run faster or jump higher is to get off you lazy ass and work out! Hell, for the $300 price of the APL's, you could get a membership at a gym and gain a few inches on your vert after a couple of weeks of work.

The Skechers are $100 a pop! For Skechers??? Yeah, $110 for a pair of Skechers! I know, that's some bullshit!!! All you get is a pair of shoes with soles that look like they belong on a pair of kicks for little kids. In fact, these soles have been on little kid shoes for a long time now. All they really need is to light up when you step in them. I'm pretty sure that's the next step. You can walk in the dark, so no one will see who you are and make fun of you for wearing Skechers!

Reebok is saying their Zig Zag tech returns energy or something, I really don't read much of the crap these companies release about their gimmicks. It's usually just that, crap. And the gimmicks, especially Reebok's, never do anything and are usually gone after a while. Remember DMX? Remember 3D Ultralite? In a short time I'll be asking if you remember Zig Zag.

Nothing any company has improves performance. Not Zoomair, not A3, nothing! Your feet might feel better, but you are not jumping higher. You are not running faster. Your ass is not getting smaller!

1 down, too many left to go....

I counted my collection. I think, not sure, but I think I'm down below 100 pairs.

My collection hasn't been below 100 in 10+ years. Probably closer to 12-13 years. I can see the walls in my bedroom!!!!

Weird.

Sometimes I wonder how I was able to amass such a large collection.

It took me almost a year of constant selling to get to this point.

I think my collection was actually larger then I thought it was.

Funny how things work out sometimes.

Assholes and elbows.....

So, as I've mentioned here a few times, I am selling off a majority of my collection. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and I intend to start a whole new one in the very near future.

I am using eBay to sell most of it. We all know how horrible eBay is. Well here's yet another tail for ya!

I sell my OG Carmines to this guy. I pack them up and send them on their way. Kind hard to see them go, but it was time.







So I see the guy gets them through the tracking number. Doesn't leave feedback, not a big deal. That shit happens all the time.

I get a message on Monday from the buyer. He says the shoes are damaged and are falling apart. Me, not being a newbie to all this eBay crap, ask him for pictures of the "damage", thinking he would just be complaining about the cracks in the soles and foam. Damage that I mentioned in the auction. He's just being a typical modern sneakerhead and trying to get some of his money back, so I figured.

He send me this, if you have a soft spot in your heart for beat OG's don't read any rather-






ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He claimed they came straight out of the box like that and wants a refund.

I reply there is NO WAY IN HELL they could have been that damaged while being shipped. I call bullshit!

We go back and forth for a while. Then he states that the soles fell off when he went to take out the laces. Still wants a refund, only now he wants all his money back.

Wait, which is it? Did they come like that or did they fall apart when he handled them. I call bullshit again!!! I tell him that the ONLY way you could get that type of damage on an old shoe like this is to wear them.

He starts saying that it's my fault and he never wore them. I didn't put in the auction that they were not wearable. He makes a big deal out of that. The whole "soles have started to crack and uppers have several holes in them" line AND the "these shoes are 18 years old" line don't mean anything I guess.

Wait, why is he making a big deal out of that? By this point, he's told me several times that he never wore them. He keeps telling me that he never wore them.

Let me be clear on this, I've been in this sneaker thing for over 20 years! I know more about this shit them most people will ever know. When I see damage like that, I know it's from wearing them.

I share this with him.

He tells me that his 22 month old daughter got a hold of them and did this to them.

WAIT, now I have 3, THREE, 3 different stories from this guy!!!

So I point out that he's told me 3 different stories. I also point out that he just admitted that they were damaged while in his possession.

He still wants a refund.

I finally tell him I'm not doing anything. 3 different stories, admission of damage and assholeness leave me feeling like this is my only option.

Assholes like this need to get elbowed in the mouth.

Assholes and elbows!!!



Edit june 11-

So the idiot finally filled, but with eBay and not Paypal.

And there is a FORTH story about how they got damaged. He's claiming the extreme temperature diffences during the shipping process may have lead to the damage.

..........

I'll let you decide on that one. Personally, I call bullshit for a forth time.

Guy just can't own up to his mistake.