227/ Wooooo!

Hi everyone and welcome to episode 227 of the InKicksWeTrust podcast.

I am here with three-fifths of the InKicksWeTrust team. Kev, how's it going? What's going on everyone? And Rich, how's it going? What's good? We're joined by a guest today, so we're joined by Rick, but he goes by Uninstructed Vision. There you go. Look at that, got in one take. Usually I'm the guy that needs at least two or three, so.

I definitely seen your photography on instagram floating around a few times before uh you've done some stuff with uh brother d who we had on a few weeks back actually yep, but yeah no rick uh happy to have you on the podcast i know you were on the uh the live that uh that rich did with miller yes it'd be two or three weeks last week actually last week yeah last wednesday yeah so by the time everyone hears about two weeks so yeah no no definitely excited to get into your history a

little bit and chat how you got into sneakers sounds good man i appreciate you guys having me on i appreciate you taking the time man uh we'll start with our weekly wears and pickups so kev why don't you begin yes sir okay so run this off pretty quick but i rock jordan one breads but the 2016 pair air max one the crepe hemp retro air max one anniversary reds.

Also busted out the air max one anniversary blues for the leafs game but of course they lost uh air i'm on my near jordan fours so trev uh you'll be happy to hear i rock those because we spoke about it last week pulled the insoles out and they fit much better i must say i'm not a huge fan of the non-insule thing but they do fit a lot better i think the main thing that i have comfort wise like not bad at all but the main thing is that like the rubbing of my sock with the

bottom it's like it rubs and it makes a noise so that's that was it was like kind of weird in that sense but to your you know to your point what you're talking about not uncomfortable i wore them for the whole day. So I rocked those. I actually rocked military blue fours. I rocked those a couple of times actually this past week. And then lastly, today I rocked a pair of air stabs that meet a collab. So that was my wares. And then in terms of pickup, no pickups for me,

actually. So it's been a quiet week, but yeah, that's been my week.

Rick for context we uh last week we talked about the that remove the insole trick to kind of make things fit a little bit better especially with the the fours no question gotta do that yeah i'm on my ear jordan fours that midsole's i mean sorry not midsole the insole is pretty thick because it's quilted yeah that's the pinky toe killer it was it was crazy it was crazy yeah i was yeah i was not a fan i'm sorry i was not i'm sorry i

was skeptic right i was not a believer of the fact that the non-insole thing. Would be comfortable, but it wasn't painful. It was just kind of, it was weird at first, but it was just like the rubbing of my sock with the bottom. I guess the bottom is not like an actual insole. Yeah, right. It's like some sort of cushion, but it kind of like kind of rubbed and made something.

Maybe it was something that only I could hear, but it wasn't like a, you know how they used to, you know, Jordans used to have that like really loud squeak noise.

Some of them, you know what I'm saying? The tens were horrible. The tens, that's that's like that powder you had to put powder in it exactly yeah you know the trick so maybe the trick with this for me would be to put some baby powder but it wasn't you know it wasn't something that was like crazy noticeable but yeah we we talked about that last week because i'm in that size 12 where it's like sometimes with certain ones you can go a little bit if you go smaller size it fits better

yep yeah and it's cheaper too yeah yeah secondary market if you have to go that route yeah yes so i was i was talking i've done that with a few pairs now and it's i i i know what you mean kev some of them aren't super like there might be some like a thread or something on them there's like there was a thread in there i had to kind of move to the side but yeah so it's a little weird but i mean like it's the option of like don't have your anymore

or you take the insole out and it fits a little bit better and you can wear them all day it did the trick it did the trick so yeah, Nice. Yeah. Good week, Kev. Thank you. Good week, Kev.

I'll go next. So I wore my On Cloud 5s a ton this week. They're getting close to their end. I noticed there's looking like a hole is developing on the right side where my pinky toe is. So I'm definitely going to need to re-up on those ASAP. That's crazy. I wore a hole through a pair of shoes. Like, what was the last time any of you wore a hole through a pair of shoes? Maybe like high school days yeah yeah for me it's like 97.

Like it probably for me probably in high school something like that as well which was a little later for me but like yeah it's been 10 to 15 years since I actually know probably closer to 15 at this point since I've done that so that's a, I definitely got my money's worth that's for sure air max one have a night day air max 95 toronto i busted those out this week oh nice nice those are the nice ones happy to happy to bring those out i've been delaying doing it for a

while so brought those out air max 97 b side oh yes okay yeah wore those a couple times and lebron nine mangoes oh all right there you go yeah like that one brought those up for the gym cannot not much not many wears this week i i repeatedly wore those ons this week and then i just kept yeah i started with the hole yeah it's funny because i usually wear a darker sock and that's the reason i don't notice it because it's a like it's a navy blue pair and i wore

a white pair of socks and i'm looking i'm like oh oh you can really see those white socks not a not a good look chad, in the in the office and they're like yo this dude got a hole in his shoe like what's going on especially because everyone knows I'm a sneakerhead too like it's not a secret that's crazy, That's wild. Bizarro world. Right?

That's nuts. But yes, that was my week. Good week, Trev. Good week, Trev. And Rick, what about you? What were you rocking this week? And what was your last pickup? Oof. All right. Man. So Air Max 97 Silver Bullets. Yes. Were those?

Were Salehe Benberry Crocs. Okay. Oral color quite a few times that's like my my go-to like if i'm in a rush yeah you know if i'm in a rush and i got to get out the house real quick you know if that's a if that's the you know the supermarket stop or even if i go to work be honest with you i throw that on so that was two i think i wore those a few times throughout the week air max 95 stashes put those on actually today beautiful uh actually no a couple days ago jordan 4sb navy blue most

recent that was the most recent pickup and actually that was most recent pickup and then uh that was it i can't i think i wore the crocs like three or four times out of the week so that kind of like did me in um as far as as far as pickups bread 11 loads that just came out what's your thought what's your thoughts on those i need your thoughts i am i was i was sad about the original release that came out with the red sock liner like it did nothing for me the recent release that came out

a little more truer to the 96 pair. I kind of prefer the higher cut patent leather. People kind of look at me like I'm crazy when I say that, but that's just who I am. I mean, I've been doing this for years. So it's like, listen, the low cut works for some. It doesn't work for me, but nonetheless, it's still a great pickup, good shoe, good solid shoe. So I'm happy. I like the way it looks. So that's the most important thing. Yes, sir.

Yeah, that's a nice pair. It looked way better than that, the one that we got before. Like you said, the Red Sox, yeah, the Red Sox line, even the shape to me, like the shape looks so much better on this low and I'm very tempted. I might be going to hold you to pick those up. Yeah, so I might wait and see. They still sitting, so I might wait for the sale and try to scoop a pair. What a time to be alive, man. That's what I tell people. I'm like, yo, sale time.

You know, you don't really got to pull the trigger like we used to. So it's always nice when we could do that. Yeah, 100%. Nice. Great week, man. And those Crocs, yo, same here. Warm weather's coming, bro. That's it. It's coming out. Sport mode. That's it. Sport mode. And just go. You know the vibes. You know the vibes. Join the true cat. Nah, can't do it. Can't do it. I appreciate you guys. I appreciate the fact that you guys can rock them, but no, not for me.

That's the goal. We get Cataparic Crocs and we get Richaparavons. There we go, right? Fair trade. Dope. Good week, though, especially with the Crocs. Certainly. And Rich, what about you? Where's, where's, where's, where's? Same thing. Salahe Crocs. You know, I was smiling once the warmer weather came around, so been rocking those a ton. My out-the-door pair is that Ray Gunn Air Force One, so rocked those steady as well.

I broke out powder blue nines. Wardos. Wardos yesterday, warm again today. Olive Nines. Wardos. Trying to think what else. Reimagine Jordan 3s. Trying to think what else. And of course, the Air Max 95s, sorry. The Neons. Wardos as well. And that's really it. Yeah, just kind of been the rotation. Definitely looking forward to shorts weather. There's a lot of pairs, as we know, that just look a whole lot better with shorts. So I always get excited when shorts weather comes around.

So those are my weekly wares and my pickup I was talking to Trev earlier this week and I said I had something special so actually I was going to say shout out to who it was but if I say that I think I might give it away, but this one's for Trev, okay okay yes sir okay back it up a sec yeah you know what it is there you go so shout out to the homie uh the midsole collector and kind of bittersweet for him because i know he he wanted those amax 95s and eons uh he actually

so chef chef hit the social we got a sneaker group chef hit i think on two pairs midsole hit and then i was i hit midsole up i was like yo i i need a pair man so he was nice enough to grace me with it so air max 95 neons man size 10 and a half i think midsole or 11 he's looking for so yeah it's yo it's yo it's crazy right now it's crazy because even like the the trade value on the galaxy for the air max dudes ain't even feeling it they're like nah which is bizarre

like yeah it's like crazy that's bizarro.

Right there yeah oh they don't want to trade the air max 95 for a galaxy what they're saying you got to put 95s are going for more yeah so i know what midsole it was like i said uh i i appreciate him because you know he didn't have to do that for me so i'm definitely gonna just keep my ears peeled and see if i can try to track down the neons for him i'm still we spoke about this too rick last week and it's just crazy how they made that shoe so limited which is just crazy

to me like it's just asinine like that you would do something like that but that is not that is not the pair that you limit yeah nah you you flood the gate that was readily that was readily available whenever you know what i mean you you pop the bubble you could walk into the store and get another pair you know what i mean that's how it was but you know times change the narrative has changed unfortunately and.

You know now we're hearing we're hearing what sometime next year i guess yeah that was 2026 i was gonna say the next i was gonna say the next run of them which i think yeah i think was 26 as well like that's supposed to be a ton of them like they're just supposed to be everywhere if i yeah, it's gonna be dropped because after they dropped they said they were i think it was me and then they just keep kept switching to yeah jd ford supposedly

had like a large allocation and And at some point, it just kind of dipped. I don't know if it's still on the water. It did not get over here. But, you know, it's... It's a terrorist, man. Man. Crazy, though. Crazy, crazy, crazy, man. So, yeah, the neon. So, everybody that wanted those things. And it's insane to me that this is where we're at. For Air Max 95 neon. That's just bizarre. But Missile Collector, man, appreciate you. Like I said, definitely looked out.

In terms of those so appreciate you man and that's really the thing like that foam that you have there rich i said this last last week and week before it's a historic pair of shoes right like whether or not you're into foams like that that's kind of what yeah and i know you're into foams right you're into the stuff right so but that's that's the shoe that like just took sneakers to another level in 2012 right 2012 I think 2011 2011 so those in the concords that year was just was insane,

and actually that was one of my words yeah like yeah crazy crazy crazy crazy and actually that was a wear this week too you know me I wear my shit so those went straight to feet, broke those in man so yeah happy to have those so midsole collector once again man appreciate you for that so, Nice. Yeah, man. I might retire this year. I say it all the time, but I might actually retire. I know. Yo, I'm lying. Yo, you know when you tell yourself something, but you know damn well you're talking shit?

I'm talking shit right now, but it sounds good when I say it. So, I might retire. Yeah, but not in 2025. Let's just keep it apart, right? 2025 is not the year to retire. He's going to retire in 2026, and then those are going to come back out. It's like, you know, I might need another pair. I need another outdoor shoe.

Jordan everywhere Jordan Brand especially is just knocking us over the head I thought I had a little break and then I've seen white cement 4s is dropping next month and I'm just like what the fuck I'm like yo there is no break, there's no retiring 2025 there's no retiring 2025 I'm like give me a break man damn but it sounds good it sounds good, yeah yeah all right let's get into it yeah let's get into it Rick though but you know like special guest today of course i appreciate you joining us

but yeah let's get into it the way we always do if you don't mind just give me a little background on your sneaker journey where it began some of your favorite brands models colorways that got you into sneakers yeah so journey begins i would say back in 90 maybe 93 94 the pair that i was looking for diamond turfs with the uh from deon sanders right that was like the that was the entry into sneakers for me red and uh the red and gold,

and then the emeralds color that they came out with that season. And then, you know, obviously starting there and then with Jordan brand was the Jordan 9. Mike had just retired. You know, we had this interesting looking Hirachi style again, like we had it with the 8. We went to the 9. It was a white and black Chicago color. Had to have it. Couldn't find it anywhere.

Struggled. I think eventually I finally found a pair at a local mom and pop shop somewhere in like in downtown Brooklyn, real seedy spot, but it was in there. Uh, and then that kind of like, that just started the whole thing. Like, you know, needing to get a new pair, you know, every season, obviously, you know, you had the, you had, you had the regular season Jordan, right. The white, it was all white and all white upper with them black with a little bit of red.

And then it would transition to a playoff color in the, uh, in the spring, right. You got an all black color. It kind of went that way in throughout the nineties. And that was just like my, thing.

I had to have each year, I had to have either a Jordan, it had to be either a Jordan, or a basketball shoe of some sort, or even when Nike dipped their toe into football and was doing some stuff there, they had the, obviously with the Diamond Turf, then they had the Nike Air Veer, which was with Bruce Smith. I remember that one. A couple people still remember that. And then, obviously, the Air Max 2 CB94. Yes, sir. Right? That was, and that's been retroed again now for, like, the 90th time.

Yo, they beating that shit into the ground, bro. Terrible. Like, I just got a pair from Brother D back in 23. And now we're in 25, and we just got it again. I'm like, I haven't even creased it. So that kind of started it for me.

And it's been like that ever since. And there was there was a period, though, of time where I kind of like took a seat, you know, took a step back from sneakers, you know, maybe about two or three years. I got heavy into gaming. I thought I wanted to be some sort of like professional gamer at one point that that eventually died. And then, you know, slowly but surely, you know, things started to creep back in again, little by little.

The you know, the boom of social media and, you know, e-commerce was a big thing and getting everybody to see product now in front of your faces instead of having to go to a store. You could see it on your phone. You could see it on the computers, you know, so that kind of like reignited something. And before I knew it, it was ballooning and it had gone up to God, man, almost, I want to say 300 pairs at one point. It's now down. It's back down now, considerably down. Yeah.

But that's just, you know, that's where I'm at now being as select, being as selective as I am now. Yeah. Well, that's fine. I mean, I think we all go through our phase where, you know, when you're really heavy into it. And at that time, I mean, probably, you know, at your height, you know, there was releases, but there wasn't releases where you can get like a Jordan 3 of like seven, eight different colorways in the same three months or whatever.

Right. So you could essentially say like, I want to get all the colorways of this certain model. And it was technically somewhat possible. Oh yeah. This was something, it was a topic on Twitter today that kept popping up. And it was just how fast we're seeing all of these releases now. Like there's no time, there's really no time for you to enjoy. Like Brett Eleven's The Lows just came out on Saturday and you're like, okay, that's great.

You pick those up. And now today everybody's talking about Cortez Air Max 95.

It's like dude it was it's like three days ago four days ago slow down like there's no there's no opportunity to just digest and enjoy what you have and then you know worry about the next one but that's that that's the age that we're in now man it's just like we're constantly getting this this stuff you know force fed to us and it's like yeah and it's everything too right you look at the music too oh yeah just like it's just they keep pumping

it out pumping it out pumping it out it's just like you can't enjoy the product if there's something else coming you know what i mean so yeah it's it's a bit annoying like i said i i hear your point especially with the 11s because like you cop them you want to rock them for a bit yeah marinating let me breathe bro you know and then travis and then those travis scott cactus these breakfasts came out again today i'm like dude relax relax yeah it's definitely a force

feed i spent you know with the mainstream culture that we have now right with sneakers specifically right they just try to pretty much like put everything out as you know as much as they can because they want to just i guess you know satisfy everyone in the market which is crazy right yeah but then when you're you know when you're you know when you're heavily involved with sneakers and you like so many different things you're like man

you have no choice but to be selected because you can't afford to buy a ball right no if you're lucky enough to buy the ball there was there was a point in time where every Saturday.

You know, back in like 2014, 2015, it was like rapid fire every weekend, you know, there was a new release, he picked it up, new release, picked it up, new release, picked it up. It was like. 75 to 80% of the things that, you know, I purchased would sit in a box and I would never even touch it, you know, that too. Yeah. I was like that too. Nuts. Absolutely insane.

But yeah, I mean, you know, it's, it's great that we have so much exposure with sneakers because you get to see a lot of different things, not just, not just with Nike, not just with Jordan, all these different brands. There really isn't a specific date where stuff drops now, like the Cortez dropped today, right? You know, Thursday, you know, like you said, sorry, yesterday or whatever it was, the Travis's dropped today.

So at any given point, there could be some sort of a release, but, you know, with the exposure that we have with sneakers, it's great that, you know, people that love sneakers get to see, you know, new stuff come out all the time. It's just hard to, to, to not be tempted to try to come out as many as you can, right? Yeah. But, you know, speaking about, you know, just like your journey and everything too, what was it like when you were growing up?

Like, were you into sneakers when you were a kid too, like in the neighborhood that you grew up in? Like, I know you're in Jersey now, but you grew up in.

I was in, I was born and raised in Brooklyn. so growing up yeah i mean there were i went to a catholic school first first half of my my life in in in school so we didn't really have to worry too much about like sneakers and stuff like that you were in uniform half the time yeah i went to catholic school too so yeah so it didn't really it didn't dawn on me until i got into like middle school like fifth grade sixth grade that you know, popularity was based off of what

outfit you were wearing and what kind of shoes you were wearing Right. So, you know, my mom did as best as she did, the best that she possibly could do for me, you know? Yeah. Did I wear Nike? Sure. But it wasn't like, it was probably like a takedown model of something. Right. And then you would get ripped to shreds. Like the kids that, like the kids that actually had like the, the, the Jordans on and all this other stuff. And you wore like the takedown, like I said, you got ripped,

man. So at some point you had to be the, like. Cry yourself to sleep or cry to your mom and hope that she would bend and break and get you a pair, you know, but it was, it was common to, you know, want to have those shoes growing up because everybody had them. And it was, it was a, you know, it was basically, it was just like a way to kind of show where you, what you had, what you were doing, what your, your status was, quote unquote, right.

With that. And, uh, and it was tough, man. It was, and then eventually, obviously when you got into it you know you did it to show off you know you did it to show off right but then as time went on you know we as i got older it not only went from showing off but it went to just kind of like understanding the product and what it took to like make that sneaker and you know color design and all this other stuff i really started

getting into that so that was it was cool yeah for sure and i mean like you know in our younger days obviously yeah you want you You want to have the fresh fit. You want to have the fresh sneakers. You want to look fly, all that stuff too. But then as you get into it too, I also found that I was getting more interested in like this, the, the history behind it too, you know, just like, you know, the athletes that are behind it.

Like you said, the design and each type of things, cause you talked about, you know, the diamond turfs, you know, stuff like that, you know, and, and he is, you know, Jordans and things like that too. Like you just start to really go into the design process and everything too.

Like you know what they're doing to make those sneakers and and and how they're collabing with these athletes to build the sneakers for them too because they didn't just you know perform well they were actually like beautiful looking sneakers and and that whole like you know color combos and you know things with the the diamond turf specifically anything with a strap i was a sucker for i don't know yeah same way too you know what

i mean like when they start putting straps on and then the air bubble of course. All types of things. So yeah, I can definitely feel you. And, and, you know, it was, it was definitely the time, you know, living that, right. Like you were actually seeing it as it was happening. Yeah. It's wild, man. It was wild. The things that have changed, the things that we're seeing now, right.

In terms of like activations and a lot of the stuff that we see on social media with like, you know, commercials, quote unquote, digital media versions.

We saw that on channel five or like during like Sunday night football or random times during a game, you'd get like a spike lee and you know jordan five commercial you'd get you know you'd get bo jackson right and you know stuff like that or things like that you'd have the ads out in the street so it was cool to see growing up and now how it's like what once was old is now new again so it's nice to kind of see that they're going back to their roots and allowing the younger generation to kind of

experience that stuff and it's it's humbling in a sense because i'm like shoot i'm getting old but at the same time it's like it's cool that these guys are getting the experience into that now too so exactly yeah they get to see how it was when we were growing up too but they're they can also appreciate it right 100 but let's talk a little bit about your collection because i know you said you had like a pretty big collection you downsized a little bit now you're a little bit more

selective so what's in your current collection like what what do you rock do you you know have any uh like favorite pairs is there like a silhouette or a brand model that you consider like your grail sneaker your favorite sneaker of all time things like that Yeah. So I'm a, listen, no disrespect to Adidas, no disrespect to Reebok. I'm a Nike and Jordan guy. I've always been. On occasion, on occasion, an Adidas will find its way into the stack.

Last year, it was the AE1 with Anthony Edwards. There was quite a few colorways that came out and, you know, it drew me in and I rode the wave. You know, it happens to the best of us. I rode the wave and I still have them, but, you know, I don't find myself wearing them as much as I do now, as I did before. Now though, collection-wise Again, strictly Nike Strictly Jordan I find myself gravitating a little bit more towards You know, fours Which, my pinky toe is like You know what I mean?

For saying that But I find myself gravitating more towards fours Elevens from time to time, My nines, my olive nines, I think are getting the most wear out of anything right now, simply because the nine was like I had mentioned was kind of like my first, you know, entry into like Jordan and I didn't get that color. But when I finally got it, I'm like, oh, you know what? Till the wheels fall off. Right. Right.

So the nine is there. A couple of Kobe's, quite a few Kobe's have made their way into my rotation. The what does the the Dodgers Dodger sixes.

Yeah, I got those. i actually got really lucky that won the raffle with undefeated on that one so that's in that's in rotation now i swapped out to white laces so that's pretty cool so it's kind of been i try not to just stick with one particular shoe one particular model i do try to rotate often but sometimes you just find yourself going nah nah and it's the crazy thing about it and we see it often is uh these memes that are out there and they're like uh i have

i wear like five pairs of shoes consistently but i own 95 it's like i have i have 100 pairs in my house but i still find myself wearing like a white cement for concord 11 in my case now it's like i said a kobe copper foam posit okay quite a few times the galaxies have been on and then that's it and then maybe the following week i'll switch it up like i i think the funny funny thing funny thing for me was wrestlemania 41 the next day i'm like oh shit i have i have cactus jacks or

the the t-rexes so i threw those on i was i forgot all about them yeah right so it's like oh okay he was on yesterday yeah let me wear these today sometimes you don't even really think about it you know unless it i have adhd when it comes to sneakers sometimes literally because it's like if i don't even if i don't look at them i'll forget i have them yeah you know absolutely i know because we got such a big collection, right? And you're right.

You gravitate towards the same pairs because you like those pairs. It goes with a lot of things. You talk about white spanned forest concords. You can pretty much wear those with anything too. Anything. Yeah. So, it's kind of like you have a preference. Even though you have all these other shoes, you sort of just instinctively just go back to those ones. All the time. You know what I mean? They just tend to be your favorites.

You know what? Real quick. The Air Jordan 11 IE, the Lowe's. I wore those. I wore those. I got those. They had a nice tint on the outsole. I wore them so much that they now are eerily reminiscent of the OG 96 pair.

It's like piss yellow that's how bad i wore those things i mean bad like i'm even looking i'm looking now like how much a new pair costs and they're relatively low right now on the secondary market i think it's like 100 bucks or something um but uh yeah man and i did i took i just took photos of those on saturday i did like a try a trifecta i did the night the bread 11 high red 11 low and then i took the ies and i had to like tweak the color because if i didn't it was gonna be just throw it off.

But see the funny thing is that like people want it to be like the yellowed or the vintage looked like right out the box but if you just wear them they'll get like that they'll get like that just give us some time man, I don't know I'm in a warehouse half the time so it's like there's hardly any light natural light that gets in there so it's all artificial so you're just like speeding up the whole oxidation process there you go terrible but yeah no great

great great pairs in the collection you know and it's just one of those things where yeah you're right you know we we like sneakers we buy sneakers that we love we tend to gravitate towards the same ones but i mean you still cop the ones that you like because you like them right it's not just something that you're you're grabbing because of hype or you're grabbing because somebody else tells you that you you should like them and you build your collection based on what you like,

And now you've downsized it to a, you know, to a size, respectable number, respectable size, right? A respectable size where you can appreciate more of your collections. And I think that's what it is too. Right. But I think, you know, in your, in your sneaker days, have you had any like sneaker regrets, anything that you wish that you would have copped or maybe that you had copped and then you got rid of them and then you thought, I shouldn't have sold those or whatever.

There's there's there's quite a few when i had purged a lot um and uh there's still there's still some that i just like i'm like man and i'll tell you it's a lot of jordan ones actually believe it or not it was when we had like that that crazy run i think it was like a 20 was it 2014 2015 frank cook and and he had that nrg group of guys that he was with right they were doing they were telling a whole bunch of stories with a lot of the pairs

that they they were dropping and shattered backboards, right? We had a lot of the toes, I call them. So it was the bread toes. They were pine. It was the purple color. There was a few others that came out. But that group was one that I got rid of, that I was a little sad that I did that. I actually had sold a pair of Nigel Sylvester Jordan ones, but I got those back, so I was happy.

I haven't had many regrets, thankfully. you know kind of realizing that like there was there was just an excess of shoes at home you know and i'm not i'm not saying it's an it's a bad thing if you have you know umpteenth pair the umpteenth pair arriving and or you're buying it for some that's that's you know that's their thing and i i respect it i just couldn't see myself with you know an entire basement you know covered in boxes. So I downsized considerably.

Those were kind of the biggest regrets. And some other ones that I can't say on, on here that I've, I've moved simply because of what, what I do. But I will say that, you know, there's some pairs that I've been, I've worked with that, you know, I've, I've looked out for some, with some people. So, and I regret not, you know, doing that. I wish I would have kept them, but got to do what you got to do sometimes.

Sometimes yeah no you're right i mean like sometimes it's you know when you look at it and that's the reason why i asked because i think a lot of people collect collect collect and then they don't want to get rid of it yeah because you know they've built that collection but essentially like when you think about it like are you going to wear all these pairs before they crumble like you see a lot of videos and things like that

too so you know like are you going to be able to enjoy them right and i think a lot of people that you know are passionate about sneakers Like, you know, me, Rich, Trev, you know, you, you are probably the same way too. You wear all your stuff. You got your Kobes, you know, your, your, your Dodger Kobes, you, you rocked them already. Like they go straight to feet.

So it's one of those things, like, are you going to keep them in a box, like tucked away, or you're going to let somebody else enjoy them that would really want to wear them? So the downside of that is when you get rid of them, sometimes you feel like, man, I wish I would have kept them. But, you know, that's kind of like, you got to weigh out those options. Like, absolutely. Right. So I know it's always a tough decision and we've gone through that a lot too.

I feel like there's a bunch of pairs that, you know, I feel like, oh, maybe I should have kept those, you know, but if somebody else can enjoy them, I think they're better off. rough in that sense.

Yeah, no, 100% agree with you on that one. What I will say, though, for anybody that's going to be watching this is the only thing that I will say never to sell, and I say this to everyone all the time, is if I've ooped you a pair, I went out of the way to do you a favor and get you something that either I could have used or maybe someone else. If I do that for you, the expectation is that that pair stays in rotation. I've had people come to me afterwards and say, listen, you looked out on this.

Are you okay if I do this? Because I really want this one and i've said okay you know what all right cool we're good on that one but typically like the stuff that you know gets ooped your way it's got to stay i agree with you on that one too because you went out of your i mean i don't know what the you know the the the situations could be different or whatever but if you did something like a favor for somebody yeah and they got a pair because you helped them out and then they flipped it

for whatever reason then it means that But, you know, for me, that means you didn't actually need that pair, right? Right. Never again. Yeah.

Exactly. Never again. Yes, exactly. Never again. Yeah. So, but yeah, no, I mean, you know, great insight in terms of just your collection, how you downsize it, not to worry about things like, you know, regrets and things, because, you know, as much as we think about it, it's really tough to make those decisions. But sometimes you got to do what you got to do, right?

Correct. Um, but you know, I want to talk a little bit about your social media stuff because, um, like Trev said, you know, we see your pictures all the time. You take great photos and things like that. Um, you know, the outfits and the fashion and all that stuff, like all that mixed together, just, you know, if you're not following, you know, uh, Rick already, check out his, check out his, his page. But where do you get, you know, the, your inspiration for, you know, a lot of your stuff?

Like, and I'm talking about like outfits, I'm talking about like, you know, what goes in the process of putting your fits together. Yeah. And how you incorporate that with your photography and such too. So oddly enough, I'm not really like a big outfit person. I've been doing it recently because I'm like, you know what? Let me throw a couple on here and see what that does, right? And what I try to tell people is just because I didn't post it on Instagram doesn't mean I didn't wear it.

So, but I've given it some thought. I put it up once in a while. It's gained a lot of traction to be honest with you. Some people have like reached out to me and asking me questions and stuff. But the photography portion of it for me is where it all started. The interesting thing that I tell people all the time that people don't recognize or realize is that I actually, was more in tune with comic book artistry and wanting to actually draw. Never really wanted to be a photographer.

I didn't know anything about photography. Always wanted to draw. Always wanted to be a part of either Marvel or DC or whatever.

Growing up as a kid, I used to go to conventions in New York City trying to pitch my stuff. It didn't work out, obviously, but that's kind of like the baseline for what I do. A lot of the work that I put out now is, you know, it's heavily saturated colors and things like that. And I kind of embellish on some things.

It's like I've said in the past, but you know, sneakers are art to me, you know, grant granted, you know, people wear them to wear them, but I kind of feel like the guys that are behind the scenes and on the drawing board and doing all this other stuff behind you, I could see there's a diagram of a shoe. Right. So like that, right. So like that to me is like, that's what was always intrigued me.

And then, you know, again, the introduction of social media, the, the new age of showing off your sneakers at the pencil sharpener, right, is what this is, right? That's what it is. This is a way to kind of show off what you have now without technically being, right, in the same school as somebody or in the same neighborhood. So it started that way, you know, it's, you know, what you got?

So I started with that, met a couple people through Instagram locally that were photographers and said, look, you know, if you really want to do this, you really want to, like, you know, grow your brand or grow your page wasn't even talking about brand at the time it was just growing your page you know you have to get a digital camera and you have to start taking photos like with you know like this and with these colors and blur out the background blow it out

so that all you could see is the the sneaker uh and when i did that you know instagram was was a little less algorithmic like how we're doing it now right it was it was organic it was natural. People would just naturally come on your page with, come to your page with, you know, hashtags or people would shout you out in their, on their pages. And you just organically grew. And I think at one point when I started doing the whole photography thing, I had less than a thousand followers.

And then in a span of like two years, I ballooned up to like 30,000 people. I'm like, what the hell? I'm like, wow. All right. So it just, it was a natural progression. And, And, you know, it led me to wanting to do more, wanting to do product photography and wanting to do more stuff with brands and try to connect with them. And, you know, nothing happened via Instagram. It actually happened on Twitter. So I went ahead and tagged a couple people jokingly.

And I just remember getting a DM one night saying, give me your telephone number. Can't promise nothing. But if it happens, it happens. And I'm like, OK. and the rest was history. That's wild. I mean, like, and that's, and that's great. You know, that's a great story because I know there's a lot of, you know, newer generation or new enthusiasts out there that love sneakers, also love photography, trying to combine the two, you know, you've done that.

But like you said, it was like organic, you know, it was something that you loved already. Like you love the sneakers. You had a creative side already. You love the photography. You just try to highlight the things that you love about sneakers, right? Photography. Yep. And not only that, right. And not only that, you have your own style to it too, right?

Like you were talking about embellishing the colors, you know, saturating and all that sort of thing just to, to, to, to, to make the sneaker stand out. And I think a lot of people struggle with, especially with social media now trying to find their lane, trying to find what they love to do. There's a lot of replication I find in terms of sneakers. Like people don't, you know, explore options of making their own photos unique.

I think they try to replicate what other people do in hopes that they can build a following because they're doing the same thing that Rick is doing or they're doing the same thing that AD Sneaks is doing or whatever the case is, you know, some of these guys, right? But, you know, it's great to hear that someone like you, you took your passion, you did what you, you know, you did what you loved, but you kind of carved your own lane into it.

And that's what sort of helped you grow your page and your photography skills and your love for combining the two, right? Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, that, again, that, and then, you know, looking at it as not wanting to be, and I'm, I'm not saying, again, I'll say this, I consistently say it's not downing anybody or saying anything bad. We have content creators, right? Which, you know, there's a purpose for content creation and you have artists.

I got, I tweeted something out yesterday. I didn't ruffle any feathers, which is great. And I said, don't confuse, don't confuse a content creator and an artist. There's two different lanes for those things. Right. And, you know, I said, well, somebody had asked me, so what are you? And I said, well, I'm an artist. And I explained to them why I felt I was versus what a content creator does. And then a couple of people shot back with, well, but you know, it's kind of the same thing. I said, well.

Yes and no. Like there's there's a way to kind of blur the line between the two.

You know, obviously your art can lead into content creation or vice versa. I've seen people start out with, you know, getting on social media, looking to kind of build their brand and do things for themselves. And then ultimately that led them into storytelling or art.

You know a good example for me was uh was keen to brunson she did uh she was doing instagram she's doing vines she's doing all these all these comedic skits on social media and that's that's a. That's a form of content creation and then that translated into her getting on her own show with abbott you know getting her own show put on tv with abbott elementary and that's that's a form of storytelling storytelling is a form of art right and and you know

that's always something that i i try to do i'm limited in in in my my surroundings unfortunately here in jersey i sometimes wish i was still in new york because i know there's a lot there's a lot of history and sneakers in new york city.

And and you're able to tell better stories but that is something that i try to incorporate in the photos that i take now uh specifically like you know the product shots are the product shots but like if i ever give an opportunity to connect with brother d and you know him and having such an extensive kobe collection wanting to tell that story and so there's my mind is working even when i'm not doing something so that's that's the biggest thing to

tell these guys you know to coming up in the game man is just don't stop thinking don't stop wanting to create things simply because you know you just can't do it at that particular moment spark goes off you can do it at any time right and with that being said like how do you keep your content fresh like what what is it about you know your photography that makes you want to keep evolving because at certain point you know you i'm sure as an artist you

don't want to keep doing the same thing right like i think you want to you know try to you know tweak different things try something new whatever the case is so yeah what goes through your mind when you try to keep your content fresh or when you're trying to evolve you know your content too so you you typically for me i find myself going on like YouTube, right? There's a lot of niche photographers that are out there.

Manny Ortiz does a great job. He does a lot of model work and portraits and things like that. You have Peter McKinnon is another big name in photography who's over on Instagram. He's on YouTube. He's a myriad of things. But those are the things that I kind of look at and I'm like, okay, it's one thing to take a picture of a sneaker that's up against the wall or on someone's foot and whatnot, but you're always looking to expand on those things and want to learn more and want to do more.

I recently stumbled on a photographer in Japan, his name's Pat K. And he's on, he's on YouTube also as well. He's got a huge following. And, but it's like, In my mind, I'm trying now to think outwardly how I can kind of like provide a broader picture of the shot that I'm trying to take or the sneaker that I'm trying to like highlight instead of just close ups and everything else.

Like I'm really starting to think outwardly, you know, and if you tie that into like comic books, comic books have what's called a splash page, which is just like one big page of like an action shot. Right. And that's typically what what we see right now with a lot of these like one off shots of the shoe. and then you have your storyboard which is just like those little boxes that's kind of like telling the story for you.

So it's like I'm trying to visualize how I can now tell a story in the photos that I want to take and Daryl has been my muse in a sense. Although I haven't posted anything, he and I have kind of gone out and I've taken different angles and using different focal lengths with my lenses and trying to capture different things and It's a work in progress. It's not something that I'm going to post because I'm not comfortable with it yet.

But I think once I get there, then I'll start to put it out there more. But it's wanting to just evolve and do more than what you're currently doing now. So as long as, like I said, as long as your mind is kind of still moving and you're wanting to improve on what you're doing, you'll never kind of get satisfied with just being stuck on one thing.

Yeah yeah i mean it sounds to me like you're you're always wanting to constantly learn too yeah so you know going on to youtube collabing with different people trying different things so i think that's you know what a lot of people struggle with is that you know they they they get stagnant right they find something and then they just try to keep doing the same thing and it sounds to me like if you want to keep growing you have to keep learning and there's never any like right there's

never an end to learning we can always learn and and the other thing too is that i find that, you know, in content creation, photos, sneaker, art, art, and all that stuff too. People get afraid to ask for help, you know, do you ever find yourself asking other people like, you know, how did you get that shot or what, you know, things like that. I, so I'm, I'm dipping my toe into product photography.

It's not something that I'm doing like consistently, but I dipped my toe in and Jordan, Jordan Kaiser, uh, is a big name with product photography. He's done work with J tips. He's done some work with, with Packer shoes, you know, West New York, West NYC, Adidas, few other guys. I I've asked him questions and he's got, you know, he's, he's, he's, he's a, he's a big name in this stuff.

Tyler Mansour is Abraham Lincoln Tyler does a lot of work with Adidas, he's kind of got his hands in every little thing right now that is the man when it comes to product photography, I am not afraid to ask whether I get an answer or not I don't care, at the end of the day we're all trying to accomplish the same thing and that's just put out dope shit.

And then 80 Sneaks Andy is like I love that guy you know goes and and and does his thing in the school you know five days a week you know he's got a family he's got to take care of yet still finds the time to take photos and and be out there and he's he's come from humble beginnings like he did this i think he started it right in during the height of covet and came in and like a bat out of hell like he's like he's almost had he's almost had half a million followers like yeah yeah you

know uh but i mean the the work that he puts out you know is is is amazing and that's you know these are the guys that's the that's the benchmark right that's the that's the goal that's where you want to be at then these are the questions and these are the people that you have to ask don't be afraid i get i get my dms are flooded sometimes with hey how'd you get that shot what lens did you use what's the editing program did you use but i don't i i'm not a gatekeeper man right you

know what i mean yeah that's the worst I can't, that's the worst thing in the world, you know, is, is being a gatekeeper. It's the worst thing. You know, I say this all the time, you know, reach one, teach one, you know, if somebody reaches out to me and wants to know. What's that going to do to me? Nothing. I'm going to continue to do what I do.

If anything, that person's either going to take that information and either roll with it and get better, or they're going to take it and say, ah, you know, I'll learn on my own. But either way, there's a lesson learned. They're going to figure it out on their own or, you know, I helped them get there. Yeah. And I think that's important to say too, because, you know, growth comes from community too, right?

Like you learn something from somebody and they can learn something from you, you know, vice versa, whatever the case is, but the community stays the same if you don't teach, right. That goes with photography artists, same thing with like sneakers too. I feel like if we keep that information to ourself, then the community dies.

Right. And you know, it sounds to me with, with what you do photography, you know, and, and I'm glad that you mentioned Andy too, because Andy has been on our podcast a couple of times as well. He's mentioned the same thing. Like if somebody needs help with something, I'm going to teach them because if I don't, then we don't evolve as a group. Correct. And then it dies, right? Like why would I want to keep the information to myself and then have everything die with me?

Like I want to see people that love this, continue to do this, even if I'm not doing it or if I'm not doing it the same way that they're doing it, because you get to see new stuff, right? I think what we all want to see is stuff grow. We want to see stuff evolve, get new, and then we can feed off that. I'm an old head now in the sneaker game, but I like seeing what the newer generation is doing. Nah, kids. I like to see what the new generation is doing too. You have to.

Exactly. What I like is what I like, but it could open my eyes to something else because somebody else has shown me their view. And I feel like that's the same thing with art and photography too. I know I've mentioned, I've mentioned some big guys like Jordan Kaiser and 80 sneaks and all these other guys. There's a, there's a couple of up and comers in this whole thing. You got to, I don't know me. I don't know official names. I know screen names or usernames, but optical rendition is one.

And the other one is a chef do me. I used to go by a chef do me is what he calls himself. Now I can't remember what he called himself before, but those two guys, you know. In terms of followers and all this other stuff, I hate looking at the numbers. I look at the body of work. Those two guys, great stuff. And they're the younger generation. They're moving. They're on their way up. And it's inspiring to see that stuff because it's like, hmm, when I go to take what I feel is my bread and butter,

it's like, maybe if I tried a little bit different. Maybe if I did that. Maybe incorporate the two now and see how that works. But that's the thing. It's like you have to be open to that. And say to yourself, you know what, I'm not just going to kind of like put the blinders on and go. I'm going to try to incorporate some things in from time to time.

So it's good. We're in good hands. Yeah. We're in good hands. Exactly. And I love that you mentioned, you know, reach one, teach one, because I think that's what it's all about too, right? Reach out to people, teach them if they're asking questions, don't gatekeep.

I think that's the worst thing, right? Because, you know, we're trying to, we're trying to build the community here, not trying to, you know, you know trying to trying to you know take a step backwards i think you know teaching people and and explaining or or helping everyone evolve and to grow i think that's important whether it's photos or with sneakers could you could you imagine if tinker took what he knew and just kept it to himself right exactly

we would never see the growth that we'd have in sneakers right exactly you know what i mean so but you know you're into comics you're into you know photography art you're into sneakers so a bunch of different hobbies right occupy the space of i would say like what we consider like collectibles and all that stuff too but what in your opinion sets sneaker collecting apart from other hobbies and interests because you mentioned that you used to go to different comic shows or those

types of things too what's the differences like do you ever notice like because people that are into comics would say like why do you collect sneakers you know, and we could probably say the same thing by, you know, to them too, but like what, why does sneakers have such a huge influence on the culture and has become, you know, so, so mainstream globally? Yeah. I mean, it's tough to say.

I mean, at first the big difference between obviously like collectibles, like comics and cards and stuff like that, obviously it's the entry point or the retail price, like a pack of cards is like maybe like 10 bucks versus like $220 for a pair of kicks.

So obviously the price points are a little bit different. I think it's been a while since I dove into that community, but sneaker community, I think I've found that there's a bit more, I don't want to say, yeah, it's more like a family in a sense. If you find the right group of people, you know, you could talk about this stuff all day. You could talk about comics and cards too, don't get me wrong, but it just, sneakers as a whole, I think feels a little bit different.

There's a lot of, there's a broader conversation I think that can be had when it comes to sneakers in terms of, you know, again, design, storytelling. You know, sentiment, things like that. Like there's all these different forms of connection that happen with shoes, right? Oftentimes we hear about the person that grew up without for so many years. And then when they finally got adult money, they're like, fuck, I'm getting whatever I want, whatever, right?

So it's, you know, we've seen that. And that's, there's a lot of us that have experienced that. So there's a similarity and there's a connection there. But I think that in and of itself has kind of helped to kind of foster the community and the culture. That's pushed it forward. And then, you know, these brands are smart. They know what they're doing.

You know, they're playing to that and And they're getting us in that sentimental aspect of things, bringing back things that we used to have back in the day. Right, yeah, the nostalgia. And the nostalgia aspect, like, again, the galaxy foams. And we saw Wu-Tang Dunks that were never released to the public make its way into the public, and everybody lost their shit. I do. But there's those little things that connect us all.

And, you know, people will kind of look at us and say, you know, well, you're kind of weird. And the funny thing is, the term sneakerhead was, you know, was taboo many years ago.

Like somebody called you a sneakerhead. You're like, oh, what are you trying to say? I'm like, I'm on drugs or something. But like now you hear sneakerhead and it's like, no, this guy knows his shit. You know, he knows what he's talking about. He knows his stuff. So it's cool to see how it's kind of transitioned and where it's gotten to. And where it's going to continue to go.

Yeah, no, well said. I think, you know, it's tough to say what people find interesting about their certain hobby because unless you're actually in that community or love what you love because of that community, you can't really explain that feeling. And I think, you know, what we're saying, like when you love sneakers, there's just something, I think it's like the sentiment part, right?

Like you can probably look at your collection and there's a story for pretty much most of the shoes that you have, right? And you know, when you start talking about that with somebody that understands that you can like, you know, you can go off on tangents, you know, you can talk for hours, you, you build new friendships, you know, like these guys here, we, we. We met basically through the love of the same thing, but that same passion shows, right?

Like you can talk about it as if you've known them for decades or you grew up with them. Right. Yep. And those friendships and those communities, they, they stick together. They, they, they stay strong. So I'm, I want to say that, you know, when you're involved with, you know, whatever it is that you're, you're, you're interested in or you're passionate about, there's a community there for it. Right.

Yep. Yep, absolutely. But I mean, getting back to like just sort of sneakers and talking about growth and everything too, we're seeing a lot of, you know, as we said, releases upon releases that, you know, it's just crazy to even keep the passion now. Back when we were growing up, it was like Jordan's came out on a Saturday. That was pretty much it. You knew when they were going to come out. It was easy to keep track of.

You saw the commercials first. You saw Jordan wearing them. You saw your athletes wearing them, whatever. But, you know, now, you know, we have all these different releases and things like that.

You know, we talked about 2025 being this crazy year. It's kind of hard to get away from sneakers if you're into sneakers right now. But what would you like to see more of this year and like going forward for sneakers? Yeah, I mean, it's slow down. Like, just slow down a little bit, man. Number one, you know, give us the opportunity to kind of enjoy, right? I think I had said this earlier, right? It's kind of enjoy what we've got and, you know, not feel like, okay, I just got this on Saturday.

Well, do I have the funds to get this now on Wednesday because this is going to drop? That's one thing, you know. For me, it's really just the frequency of it all. I like the fact that we, you know, are utilizing social media more to get the product out there and get the, you know, whet the appetite for the casual person and even the, you know, the aficionado, the sneakerhead, like I called it. You know, there's that. I'm trying to think if there's anything else that really like stands out.

It's again, like I said, the biggest thing is just the frequency. I don't really think there's anything else that we can do differently.

You know, we did see if we want to talk about from a consumer standpoint with the whole cost in situation and the SB4s the other day, two weeks ago, the simplicity of being able to buy something because bots had no idea and all this other stuff that was, you know, what's going on in the background and whatnot so making it fun to to pick up a pair i think is is cool and i want people to just like recognize it yeah social media is the cool way to do this but it's also really fun to

get outside and do it the old-fashioned way you know lining up if necessary right that was that was cool during and we were talking it was a topic during all-star weekend that that feeling was kind of back in a sense you know people were camping out a lot of the activations that were going on in San Francisco. You know, stores were popping up.

The union had that surprise pop-up shop for the ones and all these little different things that were going on that got people out and, and, and, you know, moving and meeting and making connection and all this other stuff. Let that, let that organic feeling or let that natural feeling come back, you know?

And, and that's, yeah. I mean, to me, I think that's the biggest thing is just like bringing back that, that natural feeling of wanting to get out to the stores and, you know, connect with people, like talk about these things. I mean, I didn't do it often, but once in a while when I would camp, it was cool. You would meet people. And to this day, there's people that I still know, you know, that we talk. From lineups and things, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, and it's fun, man. It's absolutely fun. I mean, yeah, bring that back. No, I agree with you too because we used to have a lot of activations and things. I'm sorry, I don't want to say we used to have it because in Toronto. You know, there were things that were going on. You know, we didn't have a lot of it, but it started to slowly come to Toronto. We had Air Max events.

We had different things for Jordan brand, you know, during our all-star weekend too, when we finally got to all-star in Toronto, you know, we had a bunch of things going on. Like we were a huge spotlight in the sneaker, in the sneaker scene. And then COVID happened. And it was like, that kind of put a damper on. Yeah. It just kind of, everything went online. Everything was like, you know, raffles and things like that, because you couldn't have lineups.

You couldn't go outside. so kind of like pushed us back a little bit but then this year like you were saying you know especially the all-star this year and then you know things like the the bread one release where they had yeah that was right like i don't know if you saw different things that happened with that but they had the like white glove treatment and yeah that was came in you know like shit like that was something that we were missing from sneakers

and and like you said it was fun to be outside. You know now you know it turned into something where you know everyone was just trying to cop online you know bots and things like that and whatever the case was and you know we didn't have a chance to meet people because we didn't, Like we were used to being at home. We were used to popping online, but you're right. I think what we need is we need ways that we can meet people.

We can network with people and just like, you know, talk with people that are just like-minded individuals too, because that's something that we were missing from during COVID time.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think that's, that's a big thing. You know, we, we miss that the human element, you know, the natural human element of it all. Getting to know people from all walks of life is a big deal. It's pretty cool. You know, growing up in New York, New York was a hotbed, right? You got to meet individuals that share the same passion that you did. And, you know, again, just making just organic, valid connections cool as hell.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Well, lastly, Rick, I just kind of want to ask you like what you think the direction of the community is going in now, because we've seen a lot of changes.

We've seen a lot of people that kind of, you know, we talked about COVID. We've seen a lot of people that came in to the sneaker community for like the wrong reasons maybe just to you know capitalize on on the popularity of it you know even just you know the artistic side of things too we had a lot of content creators that were just kind of in it because it was the trendy thing to do whatever they've since been gone but you know what do you think the direction

of this community is going in now and you know what we say the current state is i think right now people are a little more a little more educated in terms of you know wanting to slow they want to be educated so they can slow things down a little bit for themselves um not be so to rushy rushy to pick up the the newest release i mean that's good for some people like myself and like you know we need a prank right you can wait for it to go

on sale kind of deal people are a little more uh reserved in what they do they they want they want to feel a connection with the shoes they don't want to just you know have a collab come out and you know oh oh, look, it's another Travis Scott, like, you know, or, oh, look, it's another, another skate shop, right? There needs to be some sort of story behind it. And there needs to be something that, that speaks to you. But I'm hoping that they kind of get back to that this time around.

And, you know, they don't oversaturate the market to a degree with so many different colorways.

You know, I'm hoping that, you know, we see like, unfortunately it's, it's not the case, but like an air max 95 neon we had that discussion but like you know being able to just walk into a store and pick it up on any given sunday if you want right right yeah but unfortunately we know that you know nike's new ceo kind of has a different vision on how he he sees you know allocation and how he sees hype and everything else so we're gonna see that unfortunately so it's just a matter of being.

You know, aware of what you like, not just being, you know, sneaker hungry and just grabbing whatever. Um, and you know, just, just do your due diligence. I'm hoping that people do their due diligence this time around, you know, and just like, look to see what they, they really, really want, what they want, uh, to pick up.

Yeah, no, well said. And you know what, like, just like one last thing too, I know there's a lot of, of your followers, I'm sure a lot of people out there that are looking to be, you know, photographers, maybe sneaker photographers, whatever the case is, you know, maybe build a collection of sneakers like yours too. What advice do you have for those, you know, newer generation individuals that are trying to look to get into some, the same stuff that you get, that, that you do?

I would say, you know, if we're talking sneakers, stay true to yourself. Don't, don't follow a lot of the trends because the trends are just what they are. It's just like in stocks, trends look good.

They're going up one week and then the next week they're down, right? don't follow those things you know look to look to what speaks to you there is a there is a niche there is a a group of like-minded people believe it or not you may not think it that that are interested in the same things that you are you know find your find your your your your path in a sense in in terms of sneakers in terms of photography you know do put the work in man go go on YouTube.

It's your friend and it's free. You know, you can, you can type in, you know, products photography, you can type in sneaker photography. There's guys that have done this in the past and they've, they've given you kind of like the tools to set you off on the right path. And then, you know, little by little, you start, you know, adding your own little,

I'm Hispanic. So you add your own little sazong here and there, you know, you put, you put your little ingredients in there, you add a little pique, you throw, you know, You throw something in there, and before you know it, it's your own. Make it your own. Don't follow the carbon copy, cookie cutter style. Do it for you and make it your own. And these brands will see that. If that's what you're really out there for, I really hope that it's not.

And I'm not trying to be like a snobby. I don't want to sound like a snobby artist kind of deal. But if you're really in it because you love it and you genuinely enjoy taking pictures, you're going to be in it.

Then the work doesn't feel like work it'll just it'll be a natural thing and and it'll happen man it will happen yeah and you know what i love that you say that because people will say oh that's cliche oh yeah if you know if you love what you do then you know you don't you never work a day in your life but you hear that all the time but it's true right it's the truth it's the truth right and and and every content creator every photographer every person that we know that that that's been

on our podcast that does the same thing they say the same thing too because if you're passionate about it it shows in your work because if you love it you're gonna do the best work that you can and people will see that right if if it's fake or you're being fake you can see right through it and everybody knows right it's just as much as as cliche as it is to say it's so true that you just have to be passionate and you have to love what you do otherwise people,

it won't look organic. It won't look real. The real ones will see through the bullshit. Yeah, exactly. There you go. That's 100% accurate. There you go. Well, listen, Rick, man, I really appreciate you telling your side of the story, going through the history, going through your photography stuff too, and just giving us insight on why you love sneakers and you do what you do, man. It's been awesome to hear. Thank you so much. Again, I appreciate you three having me on,

man. I look forward to it again in the future. Yeah, for sure, brother. Yeah, I appreciate you taking the time, Rick. No doubt. Thank you so much, Trevor. I appreciate that. Do we have any shout-outs for this week? If you're going to give me the mic to do it, I can. Go ahead. Go ahead. Absolutely. Again, I've said it. I was saying it during the show. There's some new guys out there. Obviously, Optical Rendition, Chef Doomy, 215 shooter, Jerome Whitfield.

I've known Jerome for quite some time, going to some sneaker events with him. Meeting up that way and seeing his progression. Obviously, he doesn't need me to shout him out because he's a big willy. But he's another one. 80 sneaks, obviously, again, you have big numbers and everything, but one of the most humble guys you could ever meet.

A couple of the guys now, and I'm going to say this, there was a group of individuals that I still am associated with that we consider ourselves more like brothers than we do anything else. There was a group of us back in 2015, 2016, so on and so forth. We were called the Legion of Souls. And there was a few of us that would do this whole sneaker photography thing. And life happens, right? People move on and they do things. But Mr. OED, he used to call himself One Idea.

One, he was a big sneaker photographer back in the day. He does occasionally post some stuff, but not often. Skinner 32 was from Maryland. He was another big sneaker photographer. He's kind of fallen off a little bit. DeCortez was another one. And Billy R. There's a few of us. I can continue to go. But I think out of everybody, though, I'm the only one that kind of stayed with the whole sneaker thing.

And then, listen, shout out to you three, man. Most importantly, you know, to put yourselves out on a platform like this and want to connect the community and and, you know, get, you know, get myself and others out there to get us, you know, some time to shine a little bit. So thank you three. I appreciate that. No, I appreciate you. Yeah. I just got a quick shout out. I just want to shout out the Leafs and the Knicks. Of course. I know Juan can't make it on the show. He's a huge Knicks fan.

I know you're a Knicks fan too. I'm a Knicks fan too, man. You know, we love our Raptors here. Unfortunately, they're not the playoffs. But we have the Leafs going on right now, which is a big thing in Toronto right now. But shout out to the Leafs and the Knicks for doing what they do best and not being able to close out a series when they had the chance. You know what I mean? But, you know, it's almost kind of like you go from a 3-1 series and thinking, okay, you're good. And then you lose.

And the next day you're like, shit, it's happening again. Are they good? Yeah, it's happening again. But no, just shout out to Lisa. I am confident that both of the teams will move on to the next round. But I don't, you know, I don't want to jinx anything. That's hope. That's hope. And I know so many Knicks fans growing up and hope is what's in the room. And it never fails. Never fails. Hope never fails. Shout out to the Knicks, man. I don't know how y'all do it, man.

I don't know how y'all do it. From back in the 90s, I couldn't do it. It was heartbreak after heartbreak. I'm just like, I'm not subjecting myself to that anymore, man. Do you know the level of hurt that we've gone through? We can withstand a whole lot. A whole lot. A hundred percent, man. I sent my cousin, one of my good friends, like Knicks fans to the death, and I just laugh every year. Every year, don't worry. The call's coming soon. We got to hit them up soon, bitches.

We are some loyal sons of bitches. I will tell you that right now. Facts. I give you that, but my gosh. When I seen the Leafs was up, I was like, they're going to fuck that up. We're up 3-0. We're up 3-0 in the season. Two chances to close out a series hasn't happened yet. So we'll see. The homie JR is getting real on that train. He posted a story last night when the Leafs lost, and it was literally just, he's pointing at his TV 4-0 and going, you see?

I told you I told you yeah you see those things you see those things where it's like it's like you know how to pick a loyal man if he's cheers for the Knicks or the Leafs there you go that ain't going nowhere my girlfriend you heard that they say you know you pick the loyal man when they're a Knicks fan, she's shaking it to the grave letting my teeth break my heart since I was a child. Yeah, man. Loyal or delusional? We don't know yet. We'll see.

When they get to the finals, then we can talk again, right, Rick? There you go. If the Raptors can win a championship, I don't see why the Knicks can't do it this year, man. That's a whole different discussion, though, guys. Yeah, exactly. I just wanted to shout them out because I know we got Rick. We're missing one right now. I think he's at the game. Is he not? He's at the Lakers game. Oh, yeah. The Lakers game.

There's no Nick game today. There's no Nick game today. What am I talking about? That was yesterday. Crazy, man. Crazy, crazy, crazy. And for me, just shout out to, like I said, the homie, the Midsole Collector. Appreciate you. And Rick, shout out to you, man. Like I said, appreciate you coming on, coming through to Chop It Up. I had to hit you up on the panel, and I was like, not the panel, but we were on the live last week.

I'm like, yo, I got to Chop It Up. So I appreciate, I reached out and here we are. So salute to you. I appreciate you, man. Great conversations. And I love the story. And as you said, this is why we do it, man. We just want to tap in where people get their journey. I think it's important. All of our journeys are different, but at the same time, it brings us to this one singular thing, which is sneakers. So appreciate you, man. No doubt.

This week so rick as we said really appreciate you taking the time with us man, 100 thank you so much for having me again super super cool yeah awesome glad you enjoyed it man it was great it was great to get you on thanks thanks all right as always you can find us on instagram at in kicks we trust make sure to use the hashtag in kicks we trust for a potential feature and make sure if you are new to this podcast you like subscribe give us five

stars so you know when the new podcast comes out every Monday. And you can find me on Instagram at Trevsky63. Kev, where can I find you? You can also find me on Instagram, KevinKman. And Rick, where can I find you? IG, GrillStatus13. And Rick, where can I find you? Find me on Instagram as UnstructedVision. And on Twitter, RickFlair79. Awesome. Woo! That's about as far as... Hold on. You're a 79, baby? 79. June 30, 1979. Oh, August 7, 1979. There we go.

There we go. My man. 45 looking like I'm 25. There you go. I'll take it. Asian in reverse. That's it, brother. I will take that. All right. Awesome. Guys, everyone stay safe and be well. We will see you all next week. This is dope, man.