As I've grown older, my taste in footwear has changed dramatically. I was all about the high-tops, usually solid colors with very little excess design. More often than not, they didn't last. Then I wore New Balance sneakers. Not much for design, but comfortable as hell and they last a while. When I'm not wearing sneakers for comfort and support, I go with Chuck Taylors. They are simple, they fit great and the array of colors they come in make it easy to match with an outfit. Whether my mother paid for them or I did, in all of the years of needing new sneakers, I don't think I've ever owned a pair that cost more than $70. Why is all of this relevant? This is why.
The new LeBron X
Here is what I can never understand: why would someone pay $300 (give or take a few bucks) for a pair of basketball shoes? They couldn't possibly be worth that much. Some claim their shoes can make you jump higher. Some say they will make you run faster. All of them know that the average consumer that is already willing to spend $300 on sneakers will be gullible enough to believe them if they said those sneakers were made from the leathery skin of a sasquatch and polished with unicorn tears. Just slap LeBron, Kobe or Dwight Howard's name on them, and these shoes of myth become a must-have item. Many shoe companies will not release actual production cost statistics these days as public knowledge because they know they would have to drastically lower their prices to appease the ensuing riot.
Main ingredients for the LeBron X sneaker. On a side note, irony overload with the ghetto chucks on.
Another angle on this is the variety (or lack thereof) with these sneakers. When the shoes are designed, there are rarely any variations, and if there are, they're given a different model name (another marketing ploy, no doubt). Remember those Chucks I mentioned earlier? I own seven pairs, all different colors, one of them custom built online. The total cost of all of those shoes is equal to one pair of 'LeBron X' sneakers. I bought several pairs I can wear any time for any reason, and still keep it original. Owners of the LeBron X shoes will be able to wear them on the court...and that's about it. Oh, and I dare you to just come close to leaving a scuff mark on his new $300 kicks. You may leave the court bleeding from your face.
The only thing that I still can't wrap my head around is how they rationalize the pricing in the article.
"While many will be fixated on the price, Powell said it's being blown out of proportion. He estimates that Nike will make only about 50,000 pairs of the Nike Plus-enabled LeBron X's compared to 200,000 to 300,000 pairs of the regular version of the shoe, which he expects to sell in the $175 range."...really?! So because it won't have the contraption inside of it that won't boost your vertical, but rather your ego, it's going for a moderately priced $175. First of all, that little piece of technology could not be worth $125. That's a lot of money to find out I have a 22" vertical (remember, white men can't jump). I wouldn't pay that much if it added 22" to my vertical. I'll stick to my $40 footwear, personally.
No hops...no soul.
I guess I can't convince anyone not to buy these shoes, especially if they already planned on getting them anyway. I'm just pointing out an obvious 'legal crime' (my own term for things that are so disproportionate that there should be a law to prevent it, i.e. astronomical prices for things that cost next to nothing to make). Whether you agree or not, well...that's your call.
I've got to go now, they just released the newest John Stockton sneaker, and I have to have it.
D.
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