In January, I wrote here the wishlist of sneakers I had for the year 2026. I wrote four of them and said
maybe I could squeeze a few GRs here and there. How naive I was. Now the end of June is approaching, and I
have already bought five. Goes to show that a lot can change in such a small amount of time. In January, I
didn't like the Air Jordan 1 very much, I had a vicious hate for resale, and, the subject of today, I said I
was just "going to take the L" when it came to these drops. None of that is true anymore, not exactly at
least.
By “taking the L,” I meant that I knew sneakers were going to be coveted and sell out quickly, and that I
wasn't going to be able to get all of them. I said I would just accept that, because the only alternative
you have is to go to resale and pay a premium for sneakers someone else managed to buy. This was completely
unacceptable to me at the time, which again feels like a century ago.
It wasn't my first experience with resale, in March I wrote about how I scored
the Air Jordan 1 "Chicago
Lost and Found" for a pretty good deal, no premium at all! Well, that didn't last; just a few days after
that, I caved in, buying the pair that broke me: the Union LA x Fragment AJ1. I paid a pretty penny, but
seeing these on my feet, after losing the initial drop? It didn't feel like I betrayed myself; I just felt
like I had some of the most beautiful sneakers I ever saw, and even now I still think that, aesthetics-wise,
it is essentially unmatched.
But the actual turn of tables was when the first sneakers of my wishlist dropped, the Virgil Abloh Archive
"Alaska", legendary for many reasons I can yap about for hours. It somehow made its way to Brazil on an
extremely limited, local-only draw. I had no chance, this wasn't like the Unions, I live half a country away
from the store after all, the resale price was through the roof, I would have to take the L on this one.
But well, the fact I am writing this kinda shows I did not do it. While I didn't obsess over it, around a
month later, I started to keep an eye on the prices, which had gone down a bit to "just" 281% of retail. It
wasn't it yet, but I kept it in mind. As I went through, it dropped after a week of a desperate seller
driving the price down to "just" 250%, which was the price I knew other folks had an eye out for, given the
comments. I pulled the trigger. It was an expensive purchase, one that will hurt for a few months, but not
one I can bring myself to regret.
So, I learned this about myself: when I set my sights on a pair I really, really want... I'll often hunt
them eventually, sure, I'll pay a premium, but the joy of having them in my collection and on my feet
doesn't make me feel like a loser, it makes me feel like a curator. I like this, even if it's something I
never anticipated for myself.
I plan to make a mid-year review of my purchases next week, since I have had so many already, go through
what I got, the plans that changed for the wishlist, and all that. Doing just one at the end of the year
would be too time-consuming for me. Onwards we go.