Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 10:42AM | By Roe Nike SB Is Dead - A Sneaker Fiends Reflection
I guess it has been about 7 years since Nike released the first SB. I have to admit that I didn't start following until two years in. I am by no means a skateboarder, so I can't speak from that perspective, but I am a sneaker nut, so the first time I heard about these I was intrigued. I was mostly enamoured by the look of the Dunk Low's and the FC's in crazy colors that I had not seen before. I was never really a fan of the Air Force 1, but I did like Dunks, but the SB's kind of fueled my passion for them in ways that I would never fully realize until looking back several pairs later.
I was all over the internet searching for SB Dunks and FC's, only to find that no one had the ones that I wanted to buy. This is bullshit, i thought, until I found out that they were released in limited numbers in skateboard shops (wtf?). Now I love exclusives, but I was mad as hell that they were sold out. That was even before I found out that some of them were so limited and/or so hyped up that people camped out for them, causing them to be sold out within days, or even hours of being stocked. To make things worse, there were no release dates... only months of hype about what month they would release, only to find out afterward that they came out on some random day of the month, when I had to work, albeit, nowhere near a skateboard shop. I had a few annoying experiences with trying to acquire these elusive items. I kept combing the net, and I called all over the world. I even ordered a pair of medicoms, and a pair of shanghai's off of eBay, only to find out that they were Chinese knockoffs. (I kept them because the price was right.)
The first time I actually was able to cop some SB's was around Feb 2005. I remember, a friend of mine worked around the corner from Fairman's, a skateboard shop in West Chester, PA (I lived in Philly) frequented by Bam Margara. I even got my friend into them. I was salivating over the black rayguns, when he called me and told me that they had a couple pairs left. Yes! I was so excited about it, that I actually copped 2 different pairs of SB's, the rayguns, and those plush grey FC's with the red swoosh.
I kept seeing some that I liked, but many were too wild for my taste, or they just passed me by. I was pretty much done with Jordans by then because everyone had them, so my quest was to find something slick, that no one else in my circle had. That's the gift and the curse of exclusive shit, you are ecstatic when you are the only one rocking something and everyone else is asking where you got them... but its a whole different story when you ARE that person asking and you have been looking for them or waiting for the release for months.
Long story short, I didn't get to cop as many as I would have wanted to, but I did get my fair share of opportunities. The last couple pairs I did get were the White/Varsity Red P-Rod II Highs (sadly missed the Jordan P-rods) and the Dunk High Premium Dark Army/Team Red. However, to me, it seems that Nike SB's have lost their luster. Maybe they are beginning to suck, or maybe I am getting older. I do see some glimmers of hope here and there, and just over the past couple years I got into the Dunk Highs and Mids. There are some forums where people get crucified for even mentioning SB's, and some where people get equally bashed for not liking them. So I ask you, are you an SB fan, and if so, do you see them getting better or worse?
PC: Nike SB
Reader Comments (2)
c'mon folks, we can do better.. let's take back our title!
Thanks for you share it!!!!!!!