When you’ve been in the sneaker game for a minute, you’re prepared for the ups and downs. Sometimes everything goes your way and you’re able to get your hands on multiple shoes you want in a row. Sometimes it’s the opposite and you’re striking out on releases and trades left and right. Eventually, you come to terms with that.
However, one thing in the sneaker game that’s more difficult to come to terms with is when you let a shoe go, either by selling or trading, that you really wish you had kept. Everyone’s got that one pair of kicks they let go that they can’t help but think wistfully about. When it comes to me, there have been a few times over the years when I let kicks go that I find myself wishing I kept.
The first thing that comes to mind is the most recent. I traded my Supreme foams for a pair of Pradas and a pair of Fendis. Although I don’t regret making that trade (two pairs of $500+ designer shoes for a pair of Nikes, albeit a limited one is pretty good), I’d be lying if I said there weren’t at least a few times I wish that I still had the Foams.
Another time that comes to mind is my Old Love, New Love pack that got left in Arizona when I moved back to Minneapolis (I was down in Tucson for college if you’re wondering). It was a somewhat sticky situation, but here I am four years later with my love for the Jordan I having only grown since, and no Old Love, New Love pack in my collection. Although things happen when you move, and there were extenuating circumstances with some of my stuff in Tucson that I couldn’t do anything about, I still wish that I fought a little harder to get those kicks back.
However, those two instances were just a warm up. The sneaker that I regret getting rid of the most? My Fear 5’s. I sold them for a more than fair price, then turned around and used that money to buy a Billionaire Boys Club hoodie from the BBC Black collection and a pair of Palladium boots.
Although I get a good amount of use out of both of those pieces, I really regret letting the Fears go. I let a limited sneaker leave my possession for a hoodie and a pair of boots that I could have gotten literally whenever I wanted. If I could do it over, I’d have kept the Fears, and I’d be plotting out ways to work them into as many fall (yeah, it’s coming up!) fits as possible.
If there’s a moral to these tales, it’s this: If you’re about to part ways with a limited sneaker that you’re attached to, just make sure that what you’re getting back will be satisfying enough to cover losing the kicks. Be sure that you really want to do what you’re doing…and if you wind up questioning yourself at all, just don’t do it. You won’t have to regret it later.
What’s the pair of kicks that you let go that you really wish you wouldn’t have? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter! We’re sure you’ve got some stories to share.
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