"Turning Japanese? I think so..."
Headline there, taken from the 80's tune 'Turning Japanese' by 'The Vapors', which 
was supposedly about the faces men make when achieving orgasm. You'll be glad to know this post won't be venturing down that particular path, but more along the lines of what is going on in Japan with regards to adidas.
Our Asian friends seem to be getting some kind of preferential treatment from the global monolith that is adidas, when it comes to re-issues of classic trainers. FootballCasual.com were made aware of the fact that the 'Black Bard' was recently released in Japan only, which begs the question "why?".
Historically the Japanese were late to the collector culture for adidas trainers, but they have since become obsessed and demand for re-issuing iconic lines is far greater there than within Europe. "But what about us casuals? We're sick of seeing Miss Piggy Stan Smiths and Multi-coloured Superstars - what about re-issuing the classic Munichs or Trimm Trabs?". It would appear that Europe as a whole seems more interested in this buying those types of trainers. Casuals form a tiny minority and in fairness to adidas, they have responded by promising the re-issue of the classic Gold/Sunshine Forest Hills in 2009, as well SL72s, Kegler Supers and Trimm Trabs (albeit in suede and leather as far as we can gather).
The true beauty of what is happening in Japan is the fact many Yahoo Sellers (eBay Japan is now defunct) seem to have access to an abundance of classic originals. Since trawling numerous sites without a clue on how to read what is written, over the last few months I have personally seen Hamburgs, Wiens, Amsterdams and Berlins for sale - all originals - all in great condition. The catch. Nobody wants to ship outside of the Far East. We have yet to find a way to successfully get around this major hurdle, but happily invite others to give us tips and how we can turn Japanese and get our hands on some adidas classics.
http://shopping.yahoo.co.jp/search?first=1&p=adidas
http://wayeasy.ocnk.net/product-list/12
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/wayeasy/c/0000000113/
http://capri-kyoto.ocnk.net/product/30
was supposedly about the faces men make when achieving orgasm. You'll be glad to know this post won't be venturing down that particular path, but more along the lines of what is going on in Japan with regards to adidas.Our Asian friends seem to be getting some kind of preferential treatment from the global monolith that is adidas, when it comes to re-issues of classic trainers. FootballCasual.com were made aware of the fact that the 'Black Bard' was recently released in Japan only, which begs the question "why?".
Historically the Japanese were late to the collector culture for adidas trainers, but they have since become obsessed and demand for re-issuing iconic lines is far greater there than within Europe. "But what about us casuals? We're sick of seeing Miss Piggy Stan Smiths and Multi-coloured Superstars - what about re-issuing the classic Munichs or Trimm Trabs?". It would appear that Europe as a whole seems more interested in this buying those types of trainers. Casuals form a tiny minority and in fairness to adidas, they have responded by promising the re-issue of the classic Gold/Sunshine Forest Hills in 2009, as well SL72s, Kegler Supers and Trimm Trabs (albeit in suede and leather as far as we can gather).
The true beauty of what is happening in Japan is the fact many Yahoo Sellers (eBay Japan is now defunct) seem to have access to an abundance of classic originals. Since trawling numerous sites without a clue on how to read what is written, over the last few months I have personally seen Hamburgs, Wiens, Amsterdams and Berlins for sale - all originals - all in great condition. The catch. Nobody wants to ship outside of the Far East. We have yet to find a way to successfully get around this major hurdle, but happily invite others to give us tips and how we can turn Japanese and get our hands on some adidas classics.
http://shopping.yahoo.co.jp/search?first=1&p=adidas
http://wayeasy.ocnk.net/product-list/12
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/wayeasy/c/0000000113/
http://capri-kyoto.ocnk.net/product/30