« Is This The End or Beginning of the Jordan Craze? | Home | NEW SCHOOL VS OLD SCHOOL »

Pet Peeves in the shoe world…by ijapino

By admin | March 28, 2007

written by : ijapino ( www.niketalk.com moderator)

[WARNING: if you're NOT a shoehead, shoe freak, or kicks enthusiast, you will probably have NO idea what I'm talking about....so read another blog, please.]

Being in somewhat an obscure hobby, you tend to pick up on little things that bug you. For some it may be the fact that things aren’t quite made like they used to be, or the fact that you can’t get what you want when you want. We all have little peeves, but for me being a moderator on a major sneaker message board, I come across many nuances. But one thing seems to stick out more than others. I cringe whenever I see people using some wacked out nickname to describe a shoe. However, because I am a moderator, I have to swallow my pride and be forced to act professional…But since this is a blog where I can vent out some frustration, I’m going to open this can of worms…

Any time someone calls an Air Jordan by one of their dumb nicknames…BREDS…LASTSHOTS…PLAYOFFS…QUICKSTRIKES….NUBUCKS…I shake my head. These are all dumb nicknames that someone once said, and people ran with it. Lemme break it down…

“Breds”….refrerring to any black/red Jordan. Usually the XI’s though. I hate this name because it sounds like people are talking about a loaf of bread…or a wheat colored J. When people outside of Niketalk, ask me about some “breds”, I wanna slap them. Not in a disrespectful way. Just to say “Hey, don’t say that.”

“Last shots”…referring to the black/red AJXIV. Whoever called these J’s this, needs to be shot. And here’s why. Even in 1998 when MJ hit the “last shot” against the Jazz to win the championship, people then didn’t even call these the “last shots”. It wasn’t until the dumb-nickname phenomenon that these were dubbed the last shots. Now it just sounds lame because technically they weren’t his last shoes he took his last shot in. And speaking of the XIV’s, you ever come across those people that say the roman numerals? Like “yo, I just copped dem ex-eye-vees’….” I remember that being a kick in the nuts back in 1998.

“Playoffs”….usually referring to the black/white AJ XII or XIII. Why call one or two particular shoes the “playoffs” when MJ wore countless shoes during playoff time? This name was probably given because someone already coined the black/red Jordans something retarded. Instead of calling them the black/white XII or XIII people insisted in creating another dumb “aka” for these shoes. Guess what? He also wore the black/white XII and XIII in the All Star game.

“Quickstrikes”…referring to the white/black/red XX. Someone said this was dubbed the “QS” from Nike itself. Wrong. Quickstrike is a term that has recently lost all meaning. It used to mean a shoe that suddenly dropped out of nowhere with NO or very little knowledge of said shoe. People knew about these MONTHS in advance, hence deflating the “quickstrike” ambience about them. Within the last two years it seems like many of the Jordan releases have been given the “limited to urban account” title…This is crap because most of these shoes were available everywhere. This “limited to urban…” is just another way for the hype beast to get bigger….and you know what, it’s working.

“Nubucks”…referring to any black/carolina Jordan…mostly the XII. I hate this name because it’s obvious its a material NOT a colorway. Yet people insist on calling them “nubucks” when a certain shoe doesn’t even have nubuck material on ‘em. You’ll see this on alot of photoshop renderings…OR ANY SHOE having black/carolina in ‘em. Someone even called the black/carolina Jordan UNC jersey a “nubuck” jersey once.

Don’t get me wrong, some nicknames are tolerable. I can understand the UNDFTD’s, Laser IV’s, Stealths, Aquas…Carmines…etc..It’s just some people take it too far and deserve a quick strike in their bred with a last shot of my playoffs. Ask most Jordan heads who have been around since the mid 90’s if they call these shoes by any of the nicknames I’ve listed above and you’ll probably get the same answer. HELL NO. These terms were all created within the past 5 years because some kid…who probably isn’t even in the shoe game anymore, decided he’s rather write “bred” than black/red.

Another thing I’m getting irritated at, is the over usage of such terms as: HOLY GRAILS…DEADSTOCK…STEALS….

Again, lemme break it down on why these terms sometimes bother me….

“Holy Grails”…This is supposed to be the one shoe that can complete your collection so you’ll never have to buy another shoe again. A “grail” is nearly impossible to get, because it’s either OLD or it’s extremely rare…some cases BOTH. The over usage is becoming ridiculous to the extent that people have like 5 Holy Grails. And most of the times they’re aren’t even “grail” status…they’re just shoes they want. Now I understand I don’t have a right to say what people’s holy grails are because everyone wants something different, I just think that the whole term has lost serious meaning when someone says’ their grail is the Air Jordan XVIII black/royal blue….So you’re telling me out of every shoe ever made, that the ONE shoe that would make you feel complete is the AJXVIII???? c’mon now.

“Deadstock”….This term should mean ‘NEVER worn’. Fresh out the box. Why do I see eBay auctions stating that shoes are deadstock, and have only been worn inside 5 or less times? That’s no where near deadstock. Even the term “Near Deadstock” is losing all meaning. This SHOULD mean that a shoe has maybe been tried on or walked around in the house…It should still show no sign of wear. Yet I see countless times people advertising shoes as VVVVNDS, and the shoes have friggin creases, and sock lint all over ‘em, and dirty soles. If people can’t use this term right, their kicks vocabulary should be revoked and they can revert using the 1-10 scale system to describe thier shoes, because it’s clear they don’t understand.

“Steals”…$180 isn’t exactly what I consider a steal for some Air Jordan XI’s. Yeah, the price may be a little lower than what market value has taught us, but you’re still paying OVER retail for the shoe. Steals should mean getting something so ridiculously low that you actually pay more for the shipping. Of course you’re gonna find a steal every now and then…that’s how auctions work. Just be sure that it IS a steal.

I understand the shoe game has changed drastically over the past five years, but what was once underground and special to “us” has now developed into a world wide commercial beast. It really is a double edged sword. On one hand we have our special little hobby growing bigger and bigger with each release, but at the same time we’re forced to see it be ruined and watered down by people who have hopped on the bandwagon. Many of these nicknames probably wouldn’t have been a problem to me 8 years ago, but when I see ‘newbies’ using these terms with no regard to the actual meaning behind the shoes, it bugs me to death.

Topics: Jordan Brand News & Info |

© 2010 | UpTempoAirBlogs.com is Powered by WordPress & Uptempoair