Dear Nike
Who knew one release could tell so much about a company??
It's a funny thing about sneakers. Everyone loves to hate on them, and the fact that everyone is copping them, but no one ever takes into account who releases them. Nike, you released the first Air Jordan XI's in 1995. It was crazy because Michael Jordan himself got fined $5000 a game during the playoffs for wearing them. That fact only served to hype the sneakers up even more. The original Space Jam XI's were released in 2000, to even more hype, with sneaker collectors lining up for days to get their hands on a pretty nice colorway. Today, Twitter, the blogs and every mall in America were filled with 'sneakerheads' all looking for the same thing: another shot at those Space Jams. Therein lies the problem: another chance.
Nike, for the past decade, you've been giving people 'another chance' to get all of your more popular releases from the previous decade. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I relish the opportunity to get a sneaker that I was too young, or dumb to see the value in, or even afford. However, Nike, it is a HUGE problem when EVERY hot release you guys come out with is a retro. Think about it. What was the last sneaker you guys came out with, that people were lining up for, that WASN'T a retro?? I racked my brain for about 20 minutes trying to find one original sneaker from the past ten years. I couldn't find anything. Dunks and Uptowns are from the 80s, all the Jordans after XVI suck and Air Maxes stopped being hot after 2000. Even the Nike Basketball sneakers get rehashed. Penny's, KG's and other signature kicks are getting retroed too.
Here is some simple economics, Nike: rarity drives prices up. If you can't get something, that makes its value that much more for you. That said, I can understand why you guys keep retro-ing sneakers. You won't see a cent of the value of OG sneakers after retail (eBay and sneaker forums killed that profit), which is why you guys keep re-releasing them. Even so, you guys are tarnishing your legacy like that. 1/2 Cents and Sharkleys suck, as do the rest of your recent releases. Maybe you should focus more on R&D, and less on recapturing the magic of the past. Yeah, the Jams are a good sneaker, but how many times can you re-do a good thing before it gets (gasp) old???