2008 pickups

At the beginning of the year I restricted myself to Vans and New Balance purchases only. NB for day, Vans for night. So how did I do?

Here’s all my pick-ups from 2008, in roughly chronological order…

Vans Syndicate 005 x W)Taps Chukka (Fall 07). A must-have ebay purchase from January.

New Balance 576. I got these Barbour-jacket themed Made in England 576s for half price. They are the most comfortable shoes I bought all year. I wore them to work every day and need to re-up so bad!

Supreme x Bad Brains x Vans Sk8-Hi. Friend copped these for me from the store when she went on holiday to NYC. First time I have not paid reseller prices for Supremes! They are the wrong size though and I might sell them this year. Only worn twice.

Supreme x Vans Half Cab. Color pack, Diamond Blue. I wanted the yellows of these but was in Greece on holiday when they dropped, so I missed the ebay moment and had to settle for blue. They’ve got a lot of wear – but the blue has stained the white laces so they really need a wash.

New Balance 574, made in Japan. Work shoes – also half price, also seen a lot of wear this year.

Vans Syndicate 009 x W)Taps Bash. The first shoe from the best pack of the year.

Vans Chukka Low (Chris Pfanner). Love these but they are a half size too small and I may have to let them go…

Vans Syndicate 008 x W)Taps Greaserz. Amazing shoe from the year’s best collaboration.

Classickicks x Vans Era. This collab between NYC store Classickicks of four different Era colourways and two Sk8-mids didn’t get as much love as it should have. Would have helped if the insoles were LX rather than standard I guess, as they are not as comfortable as Syndicates, and I’ve not worn them as much as I thought I would.

Vans Syndicate 008 x W)Taps Rudeez. See my earlier post waxing lyrical about W)Taps x Vans this year. The worst thing about this pack was that Syndicates no longer come in US8.5/UK7.5, so I sized up, and none of them fit me very well… as a result I don’t wear them as much as I’d like.

Nike Air Jordan III – Countdown Pack. Paid retail (ie a fortune) for these, which I was forced to buy in a pack with the Jordan 20s. The 20s are still in the box and have not seen the light of day! Hideous things. Anyone want a pair? I love my IIIs even though they are not OG. I have worn them pretty much non-stop. My first pair of Jordans – ever.

New Balance 420. TK Maxx, Birmingham – £16.99! My best TK Maxx find ever… these had not even dropped at Size? yet when I got them.

Nike Blazer SB Elite – Lance Mountain. My pre-Christmas present to myself… first pair of SBs in a couple of years. Love them!

Now come the Christmas presents…. I was very spoilt this year…

Supreme x Vans Half Cab. One of my grails. So pleased to open these up on Christmas Day!

Masters of the Universe-themed 576 pack from Offspring, made in England. Love these so much – the colourway is Skeletor-inspired!

Also want the He-Man ones..

My first pair of Converse. Have never been able to bring myself to buy any as they are so played out over here. But it is just a classic shoe and I need to own it!

Now for my Christmas presents to myself…..

Vans x Proper Authentic LX one-piece – wore these on New Year’s Eve… Decided to cop only the Authentics from this fantastic pack due to lack of funds…. still think the og Authentic (w/ seams) is a better design though…

Vans x Dave’s Quality Meat Chukka (3 Feet High & Rising pack)
Another one chalked off the grail list…. ebay.. think they are 2nd gen but whatever… I love them!

And that my friends is 2008, my year in trainers….. excluding the Jordan 20s which don’t really count, I make that… 18 pairs!

Edited to add: I forgot a pair of white checkered Supreme Half Cabs (#1 grail) that I got for my birthday in May but I seem to have mislaid when I was taking photos…. 19 pairs!