Billy/Dirk, I'm glad to hear that you're actually trying to produce honest reviews and hold the industry accountable for the utter stagnation we've experienced in performance footwear over the last few years. I would like to read your review, as I believe you to be an honest guy and a true sneaker fan. That said, you're also familiar with some of the Jordan designers and I certainly hope that you would place the integrity of your reviews and your loyalty to the consumer ahead of whatever friendships or acquaintances you may have in Beaverton, because it's in this area where I find other reviewers have utterly failed to uphold their obligations.
I've noticed an enormous discrepancy between the way a fatally flawed Reebok product is treated versus a fatally flawed Jordan product, for example. One review pulls cards, the other pulls punches.
It's never "this product strikes me as a rip off at $175 given the lackluster material quality and warmed over attempts at "innovation." Either wait until it hits the bargain bin or buy ____ instead, it performs just as well at nearly half the price." it's "this might be a wee bit pricey for some, and traction isn't quite as orgasmic as Jordans usually are - which is so not the fault of the designer, who's a total sweetheart and has beautiful children, so I can't give it full credit. Tragically, I'll have to give this my worst review ever for a Jordan: eight thumbs up." Meanwhile the Reebok review is just plain mean-spirited by comparison.
They'll point out one or two minor drawbacks in a Jordan review, but take special care not to hurt feelings, paint in silver linings for every failure, and 90% of the review will consist of unquestioned, regurgitated marketing copy regarding the product's "innovative" tech, history, design inspirations etc.
We as consumers need public advocates - people whose FIRST loyalty is to the end user and who will NEVER spare the feelings of the designer or company. This is exactly why Consumer Reports prohibits their reviewers from fraternizing with employees or representatives of the company whose products will be reviewed - and forget about accepting gifts. You've been put in a VERY difficult position in this regard due to the nature of the publication you're now working for, but I wish you all the best and I certainly hope your reviews are able to influence the types of change we as consumers have been urging for years.
You say that those in Beaverton like being challenged and that's great, but as a fan I'd rather you not care at ALL about their personal feelings. If you're reading a product review, I know you don't want the author to even subconsciously wonder "if I say it like this, will so and so still like me? How will they react to this? Should I maybe pull it back just an inch?"
I'd rather the thought process be "If I pull my punches, will that 13 year old kid still think enough of the product to beg his mother to scrap and save and work overtime to buy these for him? If I don't think this product is up to par, shouldn't I make that absolutely clear to everyone reading, designers be damned? Shouldn't my review hammer that point home rather than merely touch on it?"
I haven't read your reviews yet, but I truly hope that they are as fearless or MORE fearless than anything you'd express behind closed doors, surrounded only by other long-time sneaker fans. That's what we should expect from each other, that's what we want and need as fans. We don't want the "Slam magazine" of sneakers, where everything's a shameless PR puff piece. Is that reflective of how we really see sneakers these days?
I can say that every single shoe company employee I've spent more than 30 seconds with has heard at LEAST one complaint, and far more complaint than praise overall. Why? As a sneaker fan, that's what I'd want someone else to do in that situation.
Personally, I find it sad that when some of these collectors are talking with others either in person or on forums like this one, they share one set of opinions and then, when they actually have their "big chance" to communicate those views directly with people in the industry they stop thinking about "we" and start thinking about "me." It's precisely because they ARE such big fans that they turn into a pack of slobbering sycophants when they actually receive the opportunity to visit Beaverton.
"OMG that is THE Tinker Hatfield! I can't afford to insult Tinker Hatfield! It would be SO FREAKING COOL if Tinker Hatfield would remember my name and maybe hook me up with some prototype samples and sign them!!! Mr. Hatfield, sir, I j-j-j-ust want to say what a BIG fan I am, sir! It's such an HONOR to meet you!" Yet last week, when it was just us lowly sneaker fans, that same guy's sitting around talking about how patent leather killed the XX, how he's sick of Jordan brand trying to remake the XI ad infinitum, thus and so. Spines turn flaccid, testicles withdraw into the abdominal cavity. Loyalties change.
Not everyone is that way, of course, but it's one of the problems that has damned most fan forays into "journalism," that and overt complicity between the publication and the sneaker brands in the form of mutual back scratching and publicity. "You promote us, we'll promote you." It's only behind closed doors that either one can, and so frequently does, disparage the other.
I think it's telling that even the Wall Street Journal, whose writers typically couldn't be further removed from our community, can produce and run a story detailing how sneaker companies are alienating real collectors, yet the so-called sneaker collector magazine is afraid to touch it with a 40 foot pole.
Has it really come to this, that the WALL STREET JOURNAL is more in touch with sneaker collectors than $?
I do hope as a sneaker fan that the magazine changes for the better, but from what I understand the true fans on staff like you and Alex fight and lose a great many battles with regard to the type of content YOU would like to see included in the magazine. I know you guys aren't the ones pushing to include smutty centerfolds in a magazine that targets 12 year olds. I know you're not pushing for sneaker competitions or interested in creating puff pieces.
I wish you and Alex the best of luck, but more than that I hope you use this opportunity as a stepping stone toward your REAL dreams.
![0]](/styles/default/xenforo/NTemojis/alien.gif "Alien 0]")
Wanted: Size 13/14 Huarache Lights and rare Huarache BurstsTeamEaglesIn FIVE I trust
