A quickstrike, for those of you who don't know, is a shoe that drops in limited numbers with no real warning. It's not in any catalogs, it just appears one day. And that's pretty much the intent of this blog. Shoes, with no warning. Why should I be the one writing this? The rest of this entry should explain that.
I've lost track of how many pairs of shoes I have in my apartment. Then there are the pairs I have stashed at the folks crib, the pairs I left at my old office—actually, I think that's it, which isn't so bad. Right?

After all, I've been into shoes as long as I've been into anything. I'm 35 years old, and I clearly remember getting my first pair of Nikes—a pair of white and royal Bruins—when I was in 4th grade (which had to be in 1982 or so). I got my first pair of Air Jordans—the IIs—in 11th. I wore both of those pairs until they literally fell apart.
I didn't get into collecting until '94. I was just out of college, and Nike dropped the first series of Air Jordan retros—the Is, IIs and IIIs (although not in that order). I copped each of them right when they came out for retail. Had I waited a few weeks, they ALL went on crazy clearance. The Is and IIs did, at least—those were available for quite a while at $19.99. For whatever reason (most likely because I had to pay rent) I never picked up extra pairs. I still have all three of those original retros, although the Is and IIIs are pretty beat. Back then I didn't believe in conservation. I murdered pairs through normal wear that, if saved, would have gone for easy Gs on the eBay. Not like I had a ton of pairs to choose from anyway.
Now I have pairs that haven't been worn simply because I've forgotten about them although I plan to getting around to wearing most of my stuff eventually. My sneaker habit started to get out of control when I was hired at SLAM back in '96. Among my responsibilities was dealing with the sneaker companies. And, over the 10 years I was at SLAM (rising to editor in chief in the process), I made tons of contacts. It's a lot easier to justify having hundreds of pairs of sneakers when they're being sent straight to your office free of charge. My collection grew exponentially, stacking in all corners of my apartment. Company reps got to know me, and sent the illest pairs without having to even ask. I remember walking into an uptown Foot Locker wearing the original Penny Hardaway Foamposite Ones a full six months before they dropped and just blowing heads left and right.
The thing is, though, even with pairs coming in free—sometimes three or four pairs a day—I was still buying. Couldn't help it. Vintage stuff on eBay, of course, but also stuff that I couldn't get free, like Nike Dunk SBs. Since I was playing all sides—retro and tech, b-ball and skate, vintage and not-even-out-yet—I was able to make people look twice at all levels. You know you're doing something when NBA players are checking your kicks—which happened to me a LOT. Still does. Can't remember who, but someone even grilled me about my Stevie Williams DCs once.
Point is, I'm still in the game. Still do the regular downtown stroll (Supreme, Clientele, Nort/Recon, Stussy, adidas Originals, Classic Kicks, Alife Rivington) to check on the latest, still e-mail connects about the what's next. And here's where I'll share that info with you all. This blog will be a work in progress—and I'll definitely take your suggestions on how it grows. This is just the beginning.

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