6 Reasons Why Reebok Stays Losing

When I was growing up, Reebok was a worthy adversary to the almighty Nike when it came to sneakers and apparel. They found ways to keep up with Nike in terms of innovation (Pump, Hexalite, DMX) and style (Kamikaze, Shaq Attaq, Questions, etc).

However, since the turn of the century, Reebok has had quite the fall from sneaker grace. I never expect any brand to go toe to toe with Nike/Jordan forever, but I do expect competitors to find their niche and maintain a level of success the way Adidas and New Balance have. Reebok has tried gimmick after gimmick in trying to out do Nike and now they've dug themselves a hole that they may never climb out of.

Reebok is a struggle brand. Here are six reasons why:

6. Bad Storytelling/Execution

Pictured above is the Reebok Kamikaze retro in the Sonics and Thunder colorways. I get that Shawn Kemp played for the Sonics and that the Sonics moved to Seattle and became the Thunder. I like the effort to tell a story, much like the way Nike/Jordan does with countless releases. Memories and stories sell shoes more than the shoes do themselves in today's sneaker world. However, the execution on these non OG colorways is FUCKING ATROCIOUS.

 (Update: 3/23/13: I take back everything I said about the Sonics colorway above being trash. This pic doesn't do the shoe justice. You can't tell that there is a rain drop effect on the green portions of the upper that looks insane in person. You also can't really see the yellow speckles on the midsole or the nice texture of the white leather on the upper. This is a great shoe. That Thunder colorway is still absolute trash though.)

They butchered the Shaqnosis with a "Orlando vs. Miami" pack as well:

The stories are lazy, at best, and the execution is just awful. Enough about these, on to the next issue.

5. The ZigTech Bust

John Wall was a huge signing for Reebok when he came out of Kentucky as the top pick in the NBA draft. They had plans for a signature line but for his rookie season they had him be the face for Reebok Basketball and their new ZigTech basketball line. These shoes were not only hideous, but many suspect that they've helped cause some of the injuries that have hindered Wall's promising, career. 

Reebok went all in with the ZigTech. The brand also had Chad Ochocinco as the face of the ZigTech training shoe... 

The ZigTech hoops shoe was such a colossal bust that Reebok has rebooted their entire performance basketball line and let Wall join Adidas while Reebok basketball goes on an indefinite hiatus. 

4. No One Gives A Fuck About Tyga And Swizz Beatz

I kind of get why Reebok brought Swizz Beatz on board. He was their answer to Nike working with Kanye West. Swizz is basically a poor homeless man's Kanye to Reebok. In any case, he deserves some props if he's the one that convinced them to finally retro some of their classic 90s Basketball designs. Everything else he's done, however, has been complete trash.

And I still can't fathom how you give up on making performance basketball shoes, and then turn around and give a signature shoe to FUCKING TYGA! Look at this trash:

These shits look like lego man shoes. Is Tyga the first weed carrier/rapper to get his own signature shoe? Birdman Lugz and Game's 310 Hurricanes were better than this bullshit.

People don't even download Tyga's music for free, so why would they buy his sorry ass shoe?

3. No New Hoops Shoes = No Future Retros

Since Reebok is currently out of the performance hoops biz and they haven't had a retro worthy basketball shoe since the Answer IV (which are currently sitting on shelves everywhere), they have about a ten year window where they didn't produce a single shoe that they can retro. 

Nike, Jordan, and Adidas have made a killing off of retros because they have continuously produced quality shoes over the years. The well has been dry for Reebok and in a year or two they'll be in desperate need of a real brand ambassador and a classic design in order to continue the momentum that their recent retro binge has created.

2. Losing The Exclusive NFL License to Nike and New Era

I have no concrete numbers, but I think it's a safe bet to say that the vast majority of Reebok's apparel sales came from their exclusive licensing deal with the NFL. As soon as Nike and New Era took over in April, they hit the ground running. They brought fresh ideas, designs, and marketing strategies that Reebok was sorely lacking in. The gap between Nike and Reebok will only become more apparent as Nike begins to overhaul some of the poorly designed team uniforms that were made by Reebok (Cardinals, Vikings) and update some of their pre-Reebok designs (Broncos, Buccaneers) that Reebok was too lazy to change during their tenure as the NFL's exclusive license holder. You can also see Nike's superiority in how much better they have integrated cleats and gloves into team uniforms.

1. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

This is Reebok's signature shoe for MMA Fighter, Rampage Jackson. This is the worst shit ever. First off, you discontinue basketball shoes to make a shoe for an athlete who plays a sport where you don't wear shoes? What the fuck?! I get that these are trainers, but that doesn't change the fact that the way athlete's shoes get sold is consumers seeing the athlete wear them in action. 

I guess this shoe could be a success if Reebok's target market is dudes who wear Affliction shirts and beat their girlfriends, but they aren't going to attract the common consumer or sneakerheads with this bullshit. 

It makes me sad to see Reebok struggling so hard. I hope that they are able to hire some fresh thinkers and up and coming designers to kickstart the brand. Maybe even poach someone from Nike with a huge offer. I'm down for anything that keeps Reebok from putting this kind of garbage out.

Nike Solarsoft Rache Woven

WOOO SHIT! MOTHERFUCKER GOT DAMN!

If you know me or have followed this blog at all, you know I'm a sucker for weird woven shit like this that incorporates Nike's more innovative tech.

This is that wake up early and jog on the beach with your dog type of shoe. I fucks with this.

This is that doin' the dougie on the playa in a dust storm at Burning Man type of shoe. I'm bout it.

Matter of fact, this is that naked high five to the moon (pause) at Burning Man type of shoe. Gotta cop.

In case you haven't noticed, I like weird woven shoes almost as much as I like Burning Man.

FUCK YEAH!!!

WHAT THE SHIT?!

YOOO! What the fuck is this? These camo foams are atrocious. Gentry Humphrey can't be serious with these shits. Who is in Gentry's ear?

This looks like some shit Master P would rock in the late 90s, bruh. Stupid ass paintball camo shoes, man. Man if they're gonna make Master P-camo Foamposite, why not make a Foam with one of those ugly ass Master P album covers on it?

Nike sportswear puts out some real garbage from time to time. Fix this shit, Gentry.

The Shoezeum

This past Friday, I started a road trip that will take me from L.A. to Miami, with stops in Indiana, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, and a bunch of other places of interest. While I was in Vegas, I stopped by the Shoezeum. Some of you might remember last year, when Jordy Geller started the Shoezeum in San Diego. If not, here's a vid:

Well now he's moved his amazing Nike collection to Las Vegas and I recommend that anyone who loves Nikes and Jordans take the time to check it out.

The pic above details the different displays in the Shoezeum. A lot of them are themed, while some are simply organized by shoe, like the Foams, Air Maxes, etc.

One of the first displays is the "Back To The Future" display. You got your Delorean 6.0 Dunk Lows, Air Mags, McFly Hyperdunks, and McFly Hypermax. 

This was a pretty impressive collection of Jordan Retros. This wasn't all of them, but it was pretty dope to see the way these were set up.

A display featuring different variations of the Nike Air Max 1 and Nike Air Safari, two of my favorite shoes of all time. Notice the CLOT Air Max 1 in the lower right hand corner. This is the only shoe with see thru panels that I've ever liked.

They had pretty much every Nike Tennis shoe with historical significance, including the Nike Air Oscillate. The Air Oscillate was Pete Sampras' signature shoe during the prime of his career. This is a forgotten classic, as most of today's sneaker community tends to ignore any non-Agassi tennis retro. 

The 'Posite collection was very dope. They had more than just Foam Ones and Pros. They had Flightposites, Clogposites, etc.

They had the Converse x Jordan Brand pack, commemorating the 30 year anniversary of Jordan hitting the jumper that won the national championship for North Carolina. This is 1 of 30 in the world. It's tough to see in the pic, but the pack also includes an autographed Carolina jersey.

There was plenty more, but this is the last pic I'll leave you with. The Air Max 97s. My favorite shoe of the Air Max series and a very underrated shoe in the US. These are much more popular in Asia. They know what's up.

The Shoezeum is a must visit for Nike/Jordan lovers. I only have two complaints, the first being that the Shoezeum is pretty much only Nikes and Jordans. I remember seeing maybe three non Nike related shoes in the entire place. I would have liked to see Adidas, Reebok, and New Balance get some shine also. 

My second complaint is that there aren't any plaques or signs detailing the significance of each display. I knew everything, but I found myself basically giving a tour to my fiancée. Any non-sneakerhead would have no real way of knowing the significance of some of the very rare shoes on display, like UNDFTD Jordan IVs, or Paris SB Dunk Lows. Jordy, the owner, and the very cool staff are around to chop it up and answer any questions, but I feel like it could be a better experience for the non-sneakerhead if there were plaques with information on each display case.

In any case, I had a great time at the Shoezeum and they're open until midnight in Downtown Las Vegas, so go check it out when you're in town.

No Thank You

"Handle The Wood Or Ride The Pine."

What the fuck?! I know "ride the pine" is a reference to sitting on the bench, but "handle the wood"? Is that some kind of baseball reference that I'm unaware of? This shirt is suspect as hell. Shit sounds like an ultimatum that a pedophile youth coach would give to one of his players. Who came up with this shit, Jerry Sandusky? Too soon? 

Nike iD Air Max 1 "Poor Man's Robots"

I always encourage other sneaker lovers to make Nike iDs. To me, Nike iD is one of the best things Nike has going and they're a great alternative to consumers who want something that few others have, but don't want to deal with the hassle that comes with limited releases.

A lot of people get nervous with iDs, because you aren't ever really sure how the shoes will look until you have them. It does take a leap of faith, but I have made a bunch of iDs and they've all come out great. Ask anyone who has used Nike iD and they will swear by it. Even if you don't like your shoes or there is a defect, you can always return them to any Nike location (outlets included) or just ship them back for free.

I also believe people have a hard enough time keeping up with Nike releases that they never feel like they have the extra cash to do an iD. I would suggest those people pass on the 278th colorway or the Kobe, LeBron, or KD, and be an individual and make something no one else will be rocking.

In any case, my newest iDs just came in and I couldn't be happier with how they came out. I've always wanted a pair Kid Robot Air Max 1s, but I ain't trying to pay $1,000 plus for a pair.

Nike "Kid Robot" Air Max 1

 So I took to Nike iD and made my own twist on the Kid Robots. The AM1 on Nike iD doesn't offer leather as an option, so I went with the denim option. I also added some yellow just for shits and giggles and I like how it came out. Excuse the pics, I'm not much for photography, so I take all my personal pics with my iPhone. Sue me. Yes this is my kitchen. Here are the pics:

The denim on these is pretty nice. The suede is different from anything I own. It's almost like a short cut  felt material. Overall, Nike generally puts some pretty good quality materials on their iDs and these were no exception. The Air Max 1 iD also offers corduroy as a material, so you can really mix it up if you're thinking about doing an iD of this Nike classic. 

I'll be doing posts featuring some of the iDs I've done in the past, so stay on the lookout for those. I'm still considering which laces to go with, so please tell me what you think in the comments, or hit me on twitter, @juicemanji. Thanks for peeping the blog. 

Quality Cop: Nike Flyknit Trainer

The Nike Flyknit is the newest, super hi-tech, future shit to come from Nike. Nike spent four years developing the technology and creating countless samples to make this shoe. Basically, Nike created computerized machines that can sew a durable, lightweight, one piece upper. There's pretty much zero physical labor involved in building the Nike Flyknit. Aside from the performance and cost advantages that this new technology creates, Flyknit technology also offers design capabilities we've never seen in a shoe.

Aside from the comfort, what sold me on this shoe was the insane detail. The knit upper allows for a type of design intricacy that we've never seen on a sneaker. There are tons of crazy patterns on this shoe. I took a couple of up close pics to try and give you an idea, but you have to see it in person to really appreciate the detail.

The shoe is beautiful and exceptionally comfortable. The only downside is the $150 price point. If you plan on wearing the shoe to run, work out, etc., I would imagine that the shoe is worth every penny. I usually would suggest that you wait for these to hit sale racks, but I'm not so sure they'll last. I checked Nikestore.com two days ago and they still had plenty of sizes in all of the colorways, but now there are only scattered sizes. Niketown San Francisco still had plenty, and I imagine most Nike stores will have plenty of sizes. 

If you're someone who generally likes to have trainers and runners in your collection, the $150 price tag shouldn't be a deterrent. Cop these shits. If you spend $160 on some plastic leather Jordan retros and can't appreciate these, I don't know what to tell you.

WDJWT

Nike Air Max 97

Live From World Foot Locker: My Pops Vs. Laser

In the first post on this blog, I mention that my Dad was a Manager Trainer for Foot Locker when I was a kid. My love for kicks was born on the many days I spent going to work with my Dad, running around Foot Locker stock rooms, climbing the ladders, and looking at kicks. Shit was so much fun to me.

The best part of having your Dad work for Foot Locker is obviously the sneaker-related perks, but one of my other favorites were the wild stories. Stories about theft, crazy purchases, and Jordan lines were all common but my favorite recurring stories were always about when celebrities would show up at the store. My Dad was always assigned to the high volume stores in the L.A. area, so it was pretty common to see celebs come in, but this story tops them all.

It was some time in the early to mid 90s, and my Dad was working at the World Foot Locker in Thousand Oaks California. For those of you who don't know about World Footlocker, this was the specialty Foot Locker before there was House of Hoops.

As you can see, these stores were massive. It was real cool to me when he was working this store. They had big screen TVs and the Thousand Oaks mall was real dope at that time, so this was my favorite Foot Locker that Pops worked at.

Well one day at the store, Laser from American Gladiators came in. If you don't know about American Gladiators or Laser, here is a pic and video:

Well anyway, Laser came in wanting to return a pair of shoes (I wish either me or my Dad could remember what shoe it was. They were definitely Nikes). No big deal, except the shoes had been worn and he didn't even have a receipt. I guess he rocked them all day even though they didn't fit him right. He tried to play the whole "don't you know who I am?" angle with the employee and then got rude with her when she wouldn't let him return the kicks. Laser then asked to speak to the manager, so the cashier called my Dad over:

Dad: "What seems to be the problem?" 

Laser: "I want to return these shoes. I don't see why that's a problem." 

Dad: "Well I could maybe help you out if you had the receipt, but you're trying to return shoes that you wore without a receipt. There's nothing we can do for you." 

Laser: "Do you know who I am?" 

Dad: "It doesn't matter who you are if you don't have a receipt." 

Laser: "Well these shoes are defective..." 

Dad: (inspects the shoes, sees nothing wrong) "These aren't defective, sir."

Laser: (grabs shoe, flips out, and RIPS OFF THE FUCKING TONGUE!)

"NOOOOW THEEY AAAAREEE!"

At this point, Laser was in a full on 'roid rage and causing a scene in the store. He looked like he was ready to smash a glass display when my Dad told him he had to leave or he would have mall security kick his ass out. Laser came to his senses, like when Bruce Banner's inner self can get the Hulk to chill the fuck out and not smash shit.

I remember my Dad telling me this story over the phone right after it happened. He was so pissed. I was, and still am, hyped about my Dad stepping to an American Gladiator and not getting mollywhopped. I also was excited because I HATED Laser even before that happened. He seemed like a royal asshole to me, and I was right. My favorite Gladiator was Nitro, so I was like "fuck Laser". 

Laser, if you're reading this...Fuck you. You ain't shit, you buff for no damn reason, try to intimidate female retail employee-ass, shoe tearing, 'roid raging, broke, lying ass punk. 

#TeamNitro.