man man man... the release was just incredibly crazy. Even though it was dubbed a "General Release"... the event that took place at the palisades mall made it seem as if it was a Quickstrike/Limited release kind of thing. I was just amazed that people started lining up at around 12 PM Noon. I laughed at the idea that people were camping out. I knew it was the "Space Jams" but I also knew this was a General Release (sidenote: this means there is a mass production run of the product and that it should be readily available for everybody) and that is why I did not stress out camping out so early.
I had went to the mall around 4-ish with my brother and my sister in order to do some last minute shopping and we had passed by Footlocker, and there was 20 people there. Once again, I was told that there would be 100+ pairs available for sale and I did not really think I would need to camp out so early for them. I stopped by both champs and finishline and noticed there were no lines there what so ever. This again only added to my logic of not having to camp out.
By the time I got home, I was plotting my mission. I was going to go at 10 just to be safe, then wait and walk out with a pair of 'Jams. I left my room and switched from my OG Colorway White Reebok "The Pump" Retro's to my beat up (..really beat up) pair of Grape 5's since I figured I might as well keep it in theme. Yellow Soles for Icey Soles lol.
Once i got to the mall I had seen that there was a line bending around the corner for Footlocker and that they had already given out tickets for those who were early and they were going to sell the pairs by that system. I had passed by and saw my boys E Dot Fresco and John M Thirteen (their new mixtape should be out soon and I can only assume it's gonna be dope) and I thought they were in line for the Space Jams as well. I decided to go check the scene out at Champs since there was nobody camping there the last time.
I had arrived there and saw about 10 people lined up and I had no worries what so ever. I then was spotted by my family friend Dino. (Sup Tito Rick!) He had told me that there was a list already planned out by the store and that they were going to sell there 66 pairs by that system. At this point, I was assed out because I had forgotten to call or visit the store to put my name on the list. My boy Dino then told me that if I could get somebody to hold down his spot at Champs while he went to pick up his pairs at Footlocker, he could secure me my pair with no problem.
Well, the problem was I had nobody available at the time. The only person I had available was my brother but he was too exhausted from running around the whole day to do christmas shopping. I was there just chilling wondering what the hell I was going to do. At this point, I was last priority and I would need to hope that somebody either got incredibly wasted and forgot about the release or decided that they did not want the jams anymore.
During the time I was waiting, I was in the company of my boy Dino, his lil brother Brandon, Mike, E Dot & John M 13, Julius (sup man) and others. We did what usual sneakerheads did and discussed how the game is these days and what pairs we want to have in our possession in the future. Time was winding down and I was still unsure as to how I was going to secure my pairs.
By the time everybody started making an official line, I got a message that would lead to my night ending on a positive note. Dino told me that he would need me to stand in as an extra body and just for that, I would be able to get my pair.
I dont want to post all the details but let me just say this.
-I ended up with a size 9.5
-Dino got about dozens and dozens of pairs of Space Jams (I cannot deny this man's hustle..just amazing)
-The Champs release was unorganized and unruly as shit.
-So many people were fucking rude and held us up at the Cash Register with their complaints about people walking out with multiple pairs even though the other pairs were kid's sizes. (However, I would be complaining too if I was told that my name would be called on a list just to end up finding out that they might have just discarded that system overall)
-We walked up straight to the front of Footlocker about half an hour after it started it's release, got into the store and was able to pick up multiple pairs (once again, I am just amazed at this guy's hustle)
-Walked out of Footlocker, bags in hand with everybody wondering "WTF?!?!!??"
I just want to say Thank you so much Dino. If it wasn't for your generosity and looking out for me coz we're "fam", I would not have my pair. You are the man.
At the end of this all, it made me realize something that I will post up in my upcoming blog entry.
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