Ok Brad, sorry for all the long PMs, but I think I've got it this time.
Dunks were bought by skaters back in 02-03. Some of them collected and realized there was a demand for them (people were willing to pay money for them). So naturally they took advantage of this demand and then you have the beeginning of the dunk (sneakerhead) culture and sadly hbs and resellers. Now in 04 SB was still underground, but by 05 and tiffs thats when it blew up. To take advantage of this demand, Nike SB PROBABLLY lowered quality and increased price just to make more money and they PROBABLY thought that we wouldn't mind and would keep buying, which many did, yet people noticed the quality decline.
As 06 progressed, the cws became whacker and whacker not to mention overordered by shops, so the demand on them went down. This trend continued from 07-now, and we are stuck in a stagnation of the dunk SB culture, where there is little demand for the stuff.
Now from a skate point of view, I'll skate strummers just fine, but honestly I dont like the new dunks and also I have found that other SB models notably Blazers and Janos are better for the value and price. Not to mention other brands such Adidas and their Businetz or Vans and their Half Cab. These are the shoes skaters are skating, not dunks. Probably the majority of people who buy dunks are either hbs or sneakerheads, very few of them are skaters. Now when I say skaters I am talking about people who dont collect at all. I know there are some sneakerheads who still skate dunks, we being two of them haha, and are not just in it for the collecting, but I would say that the majority of sneakerheads don't skate.
Because dunks are not being purchased by skaters (my definition) nor sneakerheads as shown by the lack of dunks on skaters' feet in many places and the obvious lack in collecting, Nike SB is kind of slow to catch on to the situation and if they were paying attention to who actually buys their dunks they would change. Shops who know "whats up" in terms of dunks, should know that skaters aren't buying them, so why do they continue to encourage Nike SB to make them by continuing to order them?
Shops whether in the know or not, order dunks because they feel that people will buy. Shops in the know, feel sneakerheads will buy where as shops who dont know, will order because they think people will buy them, not knowing that sneakerheads and not skaters are the main consumer.
So the situation comes down to this, if you were Nike SB would you kill the culture (sneakerheads) by discontinuing the dunk or would you cater to them by raising quality, limiting pairs (quantity), and making "dope" cws that people fiend after? Yes while Nike SB is a skate company first, the dunk had its price raised because sneakerheads primarily were buying them 04-05, and not because actual skaters (my defifinition) were.
I dont think it is wise for Nike SB to cut off sneakerheads by cutting the dunk, but I dont think its wise to have a low quality skate shoe priced at 8 dollars higher than competition and expect skaters (my definition) to buy them either especially when the competition is in some cases better skatewise, IE Businetz etc. So what I'[m getting at is that Nike SB created this dilemma for themselves by thinking that skaters were actually buying in 05, even though we know who was the main consumer. Because they raised the price and catered to the demand, they made sneakerheads an ever lurking group who will always be there as long as the dunk is around, in the hope that the hype, cws, and quality would return.
Its a conflict of interest really, do they want to cater to skaters with the dunk (probably, but to do so they need to lower the price), OR do they want to cater to collectors and limit pairs to create demand (probably because there is money in it), or do they want to rid themselves of sneakerheads by discontinuing the dunk (I dont think so because the dunk is their staple, but by discontinuing it, they would truly be a skate-oriented only brand).
Regardless of which choice they make, I feel that quality should be raised to 05 standards at least, in terms of heel padding and materials (soft suede like Crystals, leather, nubuck, and medicom 2 quality denim) because everyone knows Nike SB was best in terms of quality back then whether their a skater or sneakerhead.
Which choice do you think is best even though I know which choice you (we, both as skaters and sneakerheads haha) would want?
Thanks Brad,
-EC91
also @sneakermane:IMO those dont appeal to a wide enough audience, and even if they do, there are too many pairs on market, thus why they are only 75 on ebay, not even retail.
