Point of View

It’s going down tomorrow. Studiiyo23 is hosting the 5th installment of their flagship event, the Twin Cities Sneaker Art Exchange, or TCSAX for short. This time, it’s being held at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever.

With all the dope vendors, booths, kicks, art, and music that’s going on, you might feel a little bit lost, especially if you’re a first-timer. I’ve been going to TCSAX ever since the very first installment at First Avenue back in 2012, and I thought that it would be only right to give you some tips and tricks on how to have the best time possible. If you’re new to sneaker events (or even if you’re a veteran), check out a few pointers on how to have the best possible time at TCSAX. read more

We’ve all had that moment when we wanted something really badly and couldn’t afford it. Maybe it was a new house or apartment. Maybe it was a new car. Maybe it was a Bape shark hoodie. Maybe it was a huge cut of filet mignon at your favorite steakhouse. Maybe, if you’re a sneakerhead like me, it was a new pair of kicks.

Not being able to afford something is a struggle we’ve all had to deal with. No matter how much money you make, there’s always something out there that’s out of your price range. Sneakers are no exception to this. Several kicks go for five figures, and most people can’t spend that kind of money on shoes. read more

I know what you’re probably thinking right now while you’re looking at the title of this article: “We’re all hypebeasts sometimes? That’s not true! I’ve been collecting sneakers for (fill in the blank) years, and I don’t get caught up in the hype!

That’s good that you don’t get caught up in the hype, and it’s certainly something to be proud of. However, sometimes it’s unavoidable. The thirst surrounding a certain product, be it a limited edition Jordan, a rare Foamposite or anything Kanye West puts his stamp on can sometimes create a whirlwind of hype that’s impossible to not get sucked into. read more

Come in to the store, fill out a ticket with your name, phone number, and shoe size, and hope you get a call back a few days later saying you’ve won the right to purchase your highly coveted kicks.

Yeah, that’s how a sneaker raffle goes. If you’re into kicks (Jordans especially), you’ve probably participated in just a few of them over the years. Equal parts frustrating and rewarding, they’re a part of the shoe game whether you like them or not.

Some folks who might be newer to the game, or not really sure what’s going on, might not understand what you do and don’t do when it comes to a raffle though. There’s a sort of “raffle etiquette”, if you will. Not sure what this “raffle etiquette” consists of? Read on. I’ll be more than happy to fill you in, and also let you know the steps to raffling if it isn’t something you’ve done before. And don’t worry: it’s not terribly complicated. read more

It’s impossible to keep up nowadays.

No matter how much sneaker money you’ve set aside or how often you’re checking the release calendar, there’s just too much going on to keep up with every release.

I’ve touched on the oversaturation of certain sneaker collections and how to be more selective with your sneaker purchases in previous articles, but I felt that it was only right to write a piece on how there are just too many releases nowadays. The market has never been more saturated. read more

Yeezy season is truly upon us.

This past Thursday, it happened. The Kanye West and Adidas fashion show (official title: Adidas Presents: Yeezy Season 1) finally went down, and even with all the hype leading up to it, it didn’t disappoint.

Now that the groundbreaking show is more than 24 hours old, I think it’s a little easier to look back on it with an objective point of view. It’s occasionally difficult to look at something with an unbiased point of view in the heat of the moment, as anyone can get caught up in the hype when it reaches certain levels. read more

No matter what it is that you do in life, it’s always important to keep it 100. Being a stand-up person who always keeps it real is never a bad idea. If you’re honest and a good person, karma will reward you. If not..well you’ll find out that bad karma is a very real thing.

Before you get mad and say to yourself “What the fuck is this all about? I’m here to read about shoes, not get a life lesson” give me a second to explain myself. Being a stand-up person very much ties into sneakers, and sneaker karma is a real thing. “How so?” you might be wondering. Here’s how so. read more

Let me start by saying that I know it’s early in the year. It’s mid-February. It’s still cold, snowy and nasty out, and although it’s drawing closer and closer, spring still seems like it’s a long ways away.

Even with all the factors above taken into account, I still don’t think it’s too early to speculate on what might happen through the whole year, and no matter what my thoughts about the sneaker game might be centered around, they all seem to keep coming back to the same thing: 2015 just might be the year of Adidas. read more

If you’ve been within five feet of a computer sometime in the last day, you’ve already seen the news blasted at you from seemingly every site on the internet. Yes, it’s happened. Yeezy season just might be upon us (if it ever ended in the first place).

As you already know, supposedly the first images of the hotly-discussed Adidas Yeezy 3 have surfaced. IBN Jasper, Kanye’s longtime barber and friend uploaded six different pictures of the Yeezy 3 on his Instagram, and threw the sneaker and hip-hop world into a frenzy. People have been speculating what the shoes would look like ever since Kanye left Nike to join forces with the 3 Stripes, and now the speculation can finally come to an end. If you’ve been cut off from pop culture for the last 24 hours, here’s a snap of the shoe so you can see for yourself. read more