I wish I could have said I “grew up” wearing all the latest sneakers to hit shelves but unfortunately I was raised by my grandma and I worked with what she bought me. It never bugged me since I knew we weren’t in the best of situations to indulge in all the latest trends. I was happy none the less. I did however go bezerk when the new Eastbay magazine would come in the mail with all the new shoes available to the public. I use to salivate with each page and day dreamed of me wearing some Nike Air College’s or some Penny 2′s. How I wish I could just have a credit card and just pick up the phone and place an order. (yup, back then you could just call most catalogue retailers and order your pair. This is way before the campouts and hype.) I use to also make a collage of all the shoes I wanted and placed in my 3-ring binder for me to look at and daze out in class. I told myself when I got a little older I would purchase all the shoes I wanted for my grandma and I. It all started with my first little paychecks that I earned from having 4 paper routes. As I got older my jobs got better the more shoes I would buy.I’m not going to lie but some shoes just did not look good on my feet or were uncomftorable but I still I purchased them. I was however considerate that I was living with my grandma so I helped out with groceries and minor expenses. The amount of shoes a month I would buy every quarter would stun some. It was a never ending appetite to be fresh. Getting older now a days I limit myself to my sneaker expenses due to a mortgage payment, country club fees, and other pesky expenses. Sneaker prices are going up and I totally understand due to material cost and transportation of goods. It’s not easy anymore dropping $200 every other week. Maybe I just feel like I am just getting older but trying on these new released retros (re-re-re retros for some models) maybe its because I once had them and that was that. I feel I grew out of certain models as the years kept rolling. Another factor that maybe just me but some shoes are plain un comfortable. Jokingly I told some people I can’t rock Jordan’s as much anymore because they are not the most comfortable shoes in the world. We also have to understand with these retros that the materials might have changed slightly but overall it’s old technology inside. It could also be that new models dropping just don’t catch my attention that much. It’s like cars for me, I feel back then most car manufacturers pride themselves by adding small details and body design. Most shoes nowadays have too much of a minimalistic approach with pop colors. There are however models that really do catch my attention and I would love to add to my collection but the road block of camping out comes out and I just can’t do it anymore. Sleep is important to me now! Resell asking prices have also gone astronomical that in most cases the price of the shoe goes up 150% + overnight. In most cases I am able to work a deal with some friends for them to get them for me for retail and a bit more for them to get them for me. If they are unable to get them for me its easy for me to move on to the next one. It’s not worth for me to to lose sleep or pout over. I feel now that I get more of a joy documenting and witnessing the growth and evolution of the culture. I love going trough constant old magazines and researching older models, I also love staying current and reading about the new releases just to try to stay in the loop and seeing everyones reaction of newer models. This is just me though. Everyone is different. I respect everyones opinion and views.