Confessions of a Sneaker Addict – Part 4
Everyone who collects sneakers or just has a desire to always have the latest kicks knows about multiple trends that are evident among the sneaker culture. Whether they are the hotness or the wackness is up for debate, but the reality is that they are apparent among many people today whether it be the casuals, the shoe collectors, the heat rockers, the celebrities, the kids, the adults, just about anyone you can think of.
Now, without any further ado, does the following confession apply to you?
Being devoured by the HYPE
Now this is something that really effects shoe people around the world, whether your friends, family or acquaintances have been devoured, it is very common.
Flashback, couple of months ago, I’m just hanging out with a friend from class and I notice he is wearing the Neon AM95’s. Not being the biggest AM95 fan (Sorry Bigfoot) I just take a glance at them and carry on with my day. Fast-forward two days later I start seeing them on people’s feet on Campus and at regular malls and stores. Just seeing them so many times makes them look fresher and fresher by the minute and it begins to drive me CRAZY. I NEED THOSE ON MY FEET.
I rush to the nearest Footlocker ASAP and try a pair on. Start thinking to myself, “Man, these are just too MAD. No way will I pass on these; they will probably sell out in a few days.” One thing leads to another and they are bought and I leave feeling amazing. I keep taking them out of the box thinking “these are FIRE.” Days pass, weeks pass, and finally months pass and I can honestly say I have only worn them once for the multiple months I have had them. Do I think they are still dope? Meh. Are they still fresh? Kind of. My take on these shoes has SEVERELY dropped ever since I picked them up.
This my friends, is not being caught in the hype, it’s being DEVOURED. It’s an unfortunate thing that happens to shoe fiends everywhere time to time. Whether it is you think they will sell out quickly, you see everyone wearing them, or you see they are just a limited run, it’s a terrible thing to be a part of. To this day I wish I would have passed on these. The good news is that it made me develop a new plan in future pick-ups, IE seeing a shoe then waiting a week to buy it to make sure I actually want it and not just buy on impulse.
You ever get lost in the hype?
Written by: JediJumpHigh
Category: Confessions of a Sneaker Addict
Im almost always lost in the hype. Just in terms of a sneaker being limited. ill go for that first before i buy GR. in toronto everyone rocks the same stuff. But i have limits. I never went for the louis Vs. and i never copped the infrared pack. I still cannot tell the difference from varsity red and Infrared from a few meters away. That was the biggest waste of a release to me.
true story if you bought the infrared pack ur a doush
In the beginning I did, but a couple months of buying shoes that I lost interest in made me realize to go about shoe buying differently. Now, every shoe I purchase I absolutely know I’m going to love it timelessly.
Believe it or not not really cause I really don’t cop retros from this year for ill cop ogs that later on get retroed
I buy what I like. I might get hyped up into liking it sometimes but I buy what I like
I make sure everything I buy I will absolutely love forever.
When the ’09 Eggplants Foams came out, they were sittin on shelves collectin dust mites. The 2010′s ‘Plants debuted & were gone in the swiftness. I procured both versions….did hype played a role? You damn skippy!! & I have 0 regrets. lol
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As usual, good job Jedi.
I have a really awakward tattoo on my ankle from the mid-90′s when a) People got tattoo’s on their ankles (smh) & b) They got looney tunes cartoon characters as tattoo’s (keep smh)… HYPE that I can’t easily do away with… unless I get argyle socks tattooed as a cover-up
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My Jordan XX3′s “may” be my best example. I’ve got the stealth pair… NOT the black pair (annoying sneaker nickname FAIL) so go read the box… the white/stealth GREY pair that was the 3rd GR. The first two GR’s did sell-out rather quickly and though I wanted the black pair… it was too late. It took a little longer for those to sell-out but I think there was a more warranted HYPE to the XX3
@jcappy imma douch
Good confession!!! But I can’t say that I’ve ever been ” devoured ” by the hype… Real talk I only buy shoes that I 100% want… if I’m not 100 with it I won’t buy it no matter how many of my friends n fam are all over them…. Same reason why I don’t own a pair of foamposites… They’re cool to me don’t get me wrong but not to the point where I’d go stewie trying to get a pair. I don’t play into hype if I like them fom the jump I end up getting them… Kicks that I’m iffy on don’t usually end up getting copped
hype=triple price rape by resellers
HMMM this happened to me a few times,at first I was gonna pass on the jordan powder blue 9s,but i wanted to buy a pair of kicks.so I just kept convincing myself that i didnt need them.they kept looking better and better and i bought them wore them twice and lets just say I havent wore them since.
Copper Foams. Nuff said.
I sold infrared wack pack.
I can admit that yes I’ve been devoured by the hype many times. I credit this mostly to my impulsive nature. this is especially true when it comes to very limited releases since you don’t always have the luxery of thinking over the purchase. if I have a shot and it’s limited and I kind of like it….I’m copn! I’d rather regret pullin the trigger on the purchse then regret not jumpin on it when I had the chance. I hate to fuel this fire, but I can always resell If i decide i don’t like them.
@Backroad lol same wit me, Copper Foams
I was a victim with the Spiz’ike….and a victim when my uncle told me he wanted to show me a “snake in the woods”….little did i know.
4drumz I wanted those black/stealth 23s so bad. They sold out over here in like an hour!
Yo BRIGHT I guess I’m “Douching” it right along with you player!
Only sneaker I could ever say had me “Devoured by the hype” I’d have to say the AM 90 infared..
Only because I ordered them off East bay thinking they were gonna be infared, but when I got them it looked infaorangepink!
Hahahahah
Owell at least their comfortable.!
“Jedi, the force is Strong with this Post” Hahahahah
Good work, keep them coming!
LA2THEBAY “Snake in the Woods” hahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahaha out loud right now!
i was devoured by the hype on the tennis ball hypermax i copped 2x and one was befroe they hit the states that got me 4 $300. that pair is signed by bun b and dj clark kent the other i dnt ever wear SMH.
Eh, I’m not into fads myself. I’ve always bought what I liked. I don’t really buy Jordans anymore unless it is a rare colorway that I have been waiting years for. But the quality of the retros these days sux. I find myself coppin/collecting other players kix of the 90′s like the Jason Kidds, Pennys, Pippens, Grant Hills, Iversons, Barkleys, Griffeys etc… basically all the kix I wanted or had in my younger years that I can now afford to buy and put on ice until I feel like rocking them. Colors are very important to me as well, nike has been coming thru with some sick colored retro air max designs. Been grabbing a lot of those at THE RACK. That’s my spot now! Can’t go wrong with $49.99 instead of $99.99+…. but now I have a son that will be born anyday. My collection is full tho… it’s now time to start on my lil mans. Already got a few matching pairs…lol.. Here we go again!
i still think the A/M 95 neons are super dope.one of my fav kicks ever..and yes a little but never so bad i truly regreted it..usually just end up moving on to something else and thats why i look back and am like damn i shuda saved my money and bought somehting else.
Since JediJumpHigh mentioned it I really do now want some neon am95′s. those are probably my favorite am95′s . how long ago did they come out.
you’re tripping. am95′s are probably one of my top 5 sneakers of all time. how could you not like them?
Welll im in the same boat about the neon 95s … I bought them , worem maybe twice and put the up now the collectin dust
i have no idea what your talking about…the 95 Air Max’s are straight fire! (depending on colorway)
But yes i have definately been causght up in the hype on several occasions. why else whould i have a bunch of shoes in my closet ive only worn once or twice…The chase of finding shoes is part of what we love about collecting sneakers
i would love to say that i ALWAYS buy what i like but sometimes i may buy shoes for other reasons. most times i buy because i like, sometimes i buy because of what a shoe means to this culture which i love, and sometimes, though rarely, i even buy from hype. Sometimes i even buy shoes because of hype and then end up havin an even more appreciation for that shoe once i wear it. shit i have even passed on a pair because i didnt hear enough about it and fell in love with it a year later(kobe 4)
it’s certainly happened to all of us but the thing that gets me is alot of stuff that I jumped on early, because I am an impulse shopper, is if the jointz go on SALE. But, I’m a little more savvy about that now I don’t worry about it so much. Other shoes that I’ve bought because I was hype on ‘em never lose that zeal. It’s more so I haven’t put together enough outfits to match an odd colorway that just can’t get rocked very often. I mean, how many times can I wear my Stussy SBs or De Las or Net/Net Yeezy’s, etc? …but I definitely get what you mean … which is why I SALE those shoes that aren’t getting rocked… I don’t get off on quantity by any means. If it ain’t gettin rocked … I lighten the stock. #POW!
Dayum, Jedi need to have a permanent post on TSG this is hot! I identify what most of the stuff you write, keep it up.
i used to in my early days, but as u get older u start to realize that u gotta do u. i started buying kicks that i like, not what everybody else has. i never get caught up in the hype like i used to. to all u people out there that are hypebeasts, please STOP!! buy kicks for u not to appease others. do ur style, not somebody else’s style. stay true, not a copy cat.
@ Royal swag u can get em at the nikeoutlets now my dude the got em on sale glad I got mine with a Nike town discout…
Know that feeling but all too well…only time it devoured my mind, body, soul and wallet was with the Yeezy’s. *SIGH* Never again! I cop only what I like, what I think is different. Hate to see the same kick on 10, 20 if not 30 other peeps feet while stompin’ about town…
Definitely has happened to me. I still have a couple of kicks posted in the closet. These days, definitely buy what I want. The last shoe that got me consumed were the doerbecher vi’s, which I later fllipped. This definitely happens to the best of us.
To me It can happen either 2 wAys, yeah sometimes I was like damn why did I buy these. But for like jays, it’s like YES months ago/ a year ago eeeevery1 I knew had these jays on. Now they wore there’s out, now I’m the only1 with a fresh pair in the box. “Now it’s time to rock”
Yea im gulity of buying the hype as well, I NEVER, I mean NEVER liked the am 95′s. Now I find myself scopin them out more and more and I cant really understand why.
LOL GOOD STORY JEDI……
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I ALMOST GOT CAUGHT IN THE HYPE ON THE COPPER FOAMS, BUT THANKFULLY MY ANGEL OF HYPE CAME ON MY SHOULDER AND GAVE ME THE STRENGTH NOT TO FALL INTO IT FULLY AND DIDNT GET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!! WHICH IM SO THANKFULL FOR CUZ I THINK THERE SO WACK AND UGLY BUT THE HYPE ALMOST GOT TO ME AT THE TIME AND I ALMOST ACTUALLY CONSIDERED COPPING A PAIR…..
I did this with my space jams. i mean i liked them and all but after i got them i just didn’t really see what was so special about them. they looked so good on the computer and people were talking about them for so long i eventually just fell in the hype. plus it was whack because everyone in my school had them and started acting like they were sneakerheads. I did rock them once though. it’s a nice sneaker but i could have used that money for much better things.
GUILTY,GUILTY,GUILTY!!
yep, those Nike RT1′s (AKA poor man’s Yeezy) looked like a good idea at the time. Never again tho.
to be honest im guilty of this. BUT, i learned my lesson. this happened to me while i was younger i bought a pair of kicks for the same reason i saw everyone with them. and i wore them twice lol. but never again if im not full on the shoe i might as well pass on it i want to rock my kicks not have them catching dust
THE YEEZY.. ALTHOUGH IT IS A GREAT SHOE IN MY OPINION I SOLD BOTH PAIR I BOUGHT.
^@am95.. And u made about 1400$ off selling the pairs… Lol
ppl is crazy…
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come to think about it, i feel like that w/ alot of my Nike Dunks bein’ that i absolutely do not wear em’ no more
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i don’t feel like this when i buy Air Jordans though, i kn0 all the colorways i want already.
great post. i think that even people who swear to “only buy what they like” are victims to hype from time to time. i know i am. sometimes, though, seeing more and more people rocking a shoe will turn me OFF of a shoe. case in point: the infrared am90′s. i was loving all the shots online, loved it on the shelf at footlocker, but decided to pass. then i saw them EVERYwhere and just couldn’t look at them the same.
Have definitely been there and I’m 33. Probably because I couldn’t get any of them growing up and I decided to make up for lost time. Such as the countdown packs. I could have done without most of them and have ended up giving 8 pair of brand new jordans to a good friend of mine.
I haven’t fell prey to the hype as my shoe buying has slowed considerably. I see a great deal that I like but not so much that I must have. To get what I really want will run me about $1200.
Still debating though. But yeah have definitely been there.
LOL i wouldnt even wait a weeek…..Ill buy it, and then if I dont like it I’ll return it
I fall into the hype sometimes too. The last sneaker that got me on the “hype” was the Varsity Blue Air Max 1
Yea I’ve got caught in the hype but the thing you gotta do first is research. Sneakers like the AM95 would never sell out depending to your size, but I just seen a pair that I was gonna get on ebay and they ended at $93.00. But shoes like Jordans or Dunks you gotta jump on. I was undecided to get the Air Jordan Bin 23 XIII’s but I woke up at 4am copped em still haven’t worn them or tried them on but I know that if I decided to give em up I could always sell them and get my money back. Shoe’s like the 95′s you can find again and at a lower SRP. Hola at me if anyone needs a size 9 Bin 23 XIII.
Yeah I’ve been lost in the hype before. Sneakerheadz will disagree with me, but I gotta keep it real. The airmax 90 infrareds stole my soul from the get-go, I saw many pix and seen peepz rockin the heat pretty good. I couldn’t wait for that day, But when I tried them on, I was just flat-lined and thrown off completely. I guess the neon red (Infrared) was just too much of an eye-sore for me. what really threw me off more, was the fact that these 2 chicks were trying them on next to me and talkin about how the Red goes well with there skirts and shizz like that. It’s a classic shoe with history, but ya not feeling it then, you’re never gonna fall for it later. The Lazer-Blue AM90 looks real with much more ‘ballz’ which fellas should always feel while rockin & sportin anything
this applies to me very much because over here in md everyones rocking air wavys and after seeing them soooooo much im thinking about coppin. I mean all the different colors and styles i want them even more each time i see them.but then imagining them on my feet i always say easy pass
^^^^^@Hamburga….Say my man how much you asking for the BINS? Let me know.