I for one am not surprised by the All-Star game XI "frenzy," this happens every year, I remember it going back to the VII's. The all-stars always attract those outside the regular "LeBron" purchasers, always brings in those that all of a sudden have in interest in the All-Star model. Similar to how any time the dreaded "South beach" tag is mentioned the threads blow up with new people.
Last year is a perfect example, many hated the ASG X, it still sold out instantly on NDC (many people with bots couldn't even get a pair) and the few online outlets, the first few weeks after the game resale was $280-300 (retail was $200?). I know people will say "they sat for a couple days in my local store" but nationally that isn't necessarily true. All-Stars always bring the "buzz" no matter what they look like.
So people can say, "pre-ordering is foolish and causes this problem, blah blah blah," but I don't see the difference in locking down a pair through Kicks-crew if you really want the shoe and know that when online releases are your only shot, you don't have good odds at all. The last 2 years I bought my ASG's through KC, was well prepared for the online release and still didn't get the Bangs or the Area 72's. It's funny the people that blame people for paying pre-release prices for driving up hype and being foolish don't say a word about people who buy bots, isn't that similar, you are paying an amount for the chance to get a shoe, it's almost like a pre-order fee.
