About two or three years ago, the sneaker trend began to spread. With the emergence of sneaker boutiques, new designs & styles from companies like Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, it got crazy. People everywhere jumped on board to get the freshest and dopest kicks around. The downside to this of course, was the spotlight being taken off the original sneaker heads, who had been collecting for years. Being from the Chi, you would run and get a pair of Jordans every first of the month…now this for me was around the early to mid nineties. Also, there was Fila, New Balance, and other brands. And of course, everyone rocked every shade of Air Force 1. All of this was way before the sneaker boom. Now its hard to tell the real sneaker heads from the fake. I had a talk with a close friend of mine, who is a true shoe collector. He stated that if you had not been collecting shoes before 2006, then you aren’t a sneaker head, you just love shoes. He is a avid Jordan & Nike fan, he collects everything involved around those two, either being shoes , cards, or magazines. He also claims that a real sneaker head is knowledgeable about a certain shoe that is his or her favorite. Pretty much, you don’t buy everything you see, just so you can have every shoe number wise. Being financially well off doesn’t make it better either, unless the passion is there. Because its not about the number, its about that special shoe. Now we are not saying you aren’t real, because you just started collecting shoes. We only want you to be honest with yourself and others. Don’t engage in deep conversations on shoes, or show pics, like your shoes are cats, when there isn’t really anything special about them. They need to tell a story, other than you just buying them. Are you doing it for the love, or because you were a lame in high school? You figure it out.
