The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 132 — Crypto Kickin' it
NBA Top Shot is exactly what's about to happen to your favorite kicks
Good morning, family! Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a fantastic week. Mine has been snowy.
We’ve got a special KYW coming on Monday! We’re going to finally have our very first DEEP DIVE! LFG!!!! The subject? Authentication. I cannot wait. It’s gonna be fun.
Alrighty, let’s get it.
Prepare to be digitized
(Photo by Will Breen on Unsplash)
The news about the NBA’s new digital basketball cards had me thinking a lot this week about the way collectibles are going.
For those of you who missed it, here’s what’s happening:
There’s been a lot of discussion about NBA Top Shot, which is a blockchain-backed digital platform where fans buy, sell and trade numbered versions of officially-licensed video highlights.
The program was launched in October 2020 and has already seen more than $65 million in goods move around, per ESPN.
That’s just wild as a concept. You’re essentially purchasing a player’s YouTube highlights for thousands of dollars at times.
But here’s the thing: They’re a commodity in the same way their paper counterparts are. There’s a market for this. And where there’s a market, people will spend. And that’s the more interesting part about this. People will spend their money on anything — even digital goods that they may never see.
And it’s not just an NBA thing. It’s already happening with sneakers and you didn’t even realize it.
Think about Aglet, where all the work you do and the steps you take are to get digitized, hyped sneakers.
Or think about Nike’s Cryptokicks program that they’ve still yet to make a real move on. That’s coming. And probably soon.
This opens lots of doors. Digital tokens to authenticate kicks, digital currency to actually buy them. Hell, even just straight digital kicks themselves. That’s the future of sneaker commerce.
It works out perfectly for the brands. There’s less waste, less development, and less money spent. Brands can make however many “pairs” they’d like and people will still have people buying into the hype.
This is the future that’s coming. And, for the consumer, this poses a question that Russ Bengtson so poignantly noted in this Twitter thread. What do we care about more?
We’ll figure that out one way or another.
So much for the year of the Dunk
(Photo by Alin Surdu on Unsplash)
I must say, fam, the “Year of the Dunk” is off to an absolutely dreadful start. Thursday’s drop feels like a sign of things to come.
Turns out what that meant was that there’d be more colorways available and they’d still be hard to get.
There were lots of pairs available!…but they were rumored to be all spread out between different retailers. So no one was getting more than a few thousand pairs at each spot.
On top of that, instead of a straight up SNKRS drop, they were turned into a drawing. Which is normally great! But that also means the product was super scarce. This shouldn’t be super scarce.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Hyping these two-toned SP Dunks feels like a bubble waiting to burst. Trends say the Dunk is still cool, but at some point these simple colorways just won’t be worth it for people. They’re non-SB joints, they’re only two colors and are extremely simple in design.
It’s like chasing a simple ice white Air Force 1. Yeah, that’s clean. But is it worth stressing over? Absolutely not.
By the end of this year, I bet people come to that same realization with these Dunks.
The Bok is officially selling
It’s happening. Reebok is really on the market now. At the end of 2020, it was rumored that Adidas was planning on selling the company after its struggles last year.
Adidas is planning on divesting Reebok as part of a new five-year plan, per Reuters.
“Adidas said on Tuesday it had decided to begin a formal process aimed at divesting Reebok as part of a five-year strategy it plans to present on March 10, when the company will also publish 2020 results. It will report Reebok as a discontinued operation from the first quarter of 2021.”
We knew this was coming, but now it’s here. The only thing left to see is who has an actual interest in the company.
VF Corp was among the potential suitors for Reebok. They’ve got a huge umbrella to work with.
Master P and Baron Davis were also reportedly putting together a group to make a bid, which would be amazing to see.
This is a huge opportunity for Reebok as a brand. As retro styles swing back, it has lots of history to pull from. If someone can tap into it correctly, they may have a hit on their hands.
Y’all done lost y’all minds
Fam. Let me know who is spending $1,000 (one whole thousand dollars) on Trophy Room’s blue AJ1 laces on eBay. PLEASE let me know.
Y’all really be out here wylin with the bread, man. I have a bunch of other stuff you can spend that on. Hit me up, fam. I am begging you.
#TheKicksWeWear
YALL KNOW THE VIBRATIONS. LET’S GET IT.
First, the homie Vasilios kicked us off with the Chlorophyll 3’s.
Then the homie Storm kept us pushing with the Kyrie vibes. Shouts to the Nets.
My dude Rich came through in the 270’s with some heat. No, like, literally. It’s hot in California. These kicks are too, tho.
The homie John popped out in these NES Future Riders and these joints are official.
The homie Matt popped out in this incredible Vapormax colorway. My goodness, that red.
The homie Uncle Stan popped out clean in these 350’s. MAN.
The homie Hardly Clerkin popped out in the Demin 3’s with the PS5 present, as always.
Then the homie Linebacker Barbie followed up with more vibes from the AJ3. My goodness these are clean. Y’all gonna make me cop.
Then the homie Parker popped out in the Carhartt AF1’s down in Texas where who knows what is going down with the weather. Stay safe, Texas fam.
My dog JBlock popped out in the ISPA Joyrides and I KNOW these joints are comfy as hell.
Then the homie JD pulled out the classic of classics. Y’all know what it is man.
The homie David popped out and sent us home in the Alternate 8’s. GOOD GOD this design is so pure.
SMOKED. THAT. Good stuff, y’all.
Thank y’all so much for rocking with your boy! I appreciate your time!
See you on Monday for our first deep dive! It’s going to be a treat. Let’s get NERDY. Talk to you then.
Peace. Be safe. Be easy. Be kind. Peace and love.
Signing off.
—Sykes 💯