From Campouts to Chaos: The Evolution of Sneaker Drops

Remember when getting the latest sneakers meant camping outside stores instead of refreshing your browser? In this nostalgic yet critical look at sneaker culture's evolution, we explore how one chaotic Jordan release in 2014 transformed the entire landscape of sneaker drops forever.

The Sport Blue 6 release marked a turning point - broken glass, pepper spray, and police intervention forced retailers to abandon the traditional first-come-first-serve model for the raffle systems we see today. But was this change actually for the better? I break down why the transparency of physically waiting in line might actually be fairer than the mysterious algorithms and potential manipulation of modern raffle systems.

We dive deep into the backdoor phenomenon, examining how it operates differently between physical and digital releases. While some backdoor practices make perfect sense (like local skate shops prioritizing regular customers), others feel fundamentally unfair. And don't get me started on the SNKRS app - we explore why some accounts mysteriously win consistently while others never hit despite years of participation.

Perhaps what's been lost most in this evolution is the community aspect and the thrill of the hunt. The conversations in line, spotting rare kicks on someone's feet, and the satisfaction of tracking down your size across multiple stores created experiences that digital raffles simply can't replicate. Yet global accessibility has created new hunting grounds, allowing collectors to find releases worldwide.

What do you prefer - the campout experience or today's digital raffles? Join the conversation in the comments and share your perspective on how sneaker culture has transformed!

🎧 First Wear Podcast: where sneaker culture comes first and hype takes a back seat. New episodes every Tuesday — audio drops at 6 AM EST, video at 6 PM EST. Follow @firstwearpod to join the conversation and share your sneaker stories with the community.

https://linktr.ee/Firstwearpod

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey , welcome back to the First Wear Podcast . I am your host . Edot Reap Today , episode 5, . Man , we're going to get into another community topic . Shout out to Jay Benz . He definitely suggested that I talk about campouts , or he wanted to hear about campouts . So I'm going to kind of , you know , finesse

Welcome to Episode 5

Speaker 1 0:16

that topic just a little bit . I'm going to dive into , you know , my retail side of things and we're going to do like like the campouts to the raffles that we have today . So , you know , touch on a little bit of everything . I know . Last episode I touched on us hitting like 28 downloads and now we're up to 43 as I'm recording this episode and by the time this episode drops we should definitely be up to 50 , if not more than 50 . Appreciate y'all once again . This wouldn't be possible without you . Shout out to the community showing love . Everybody's been commenting , sharing , dropping comments , reposting everything .

Speaker 1 0:58

Let's go ahead and get into it . The first come , first serve days oh man , I had a good time with the first come , first serve . I know over the years , depending on the area , first come , first serve has become like pure chaos or started to become chaos and violence , for

The Sport Blue 6 Chaos

Speaker 1 1:15

whatever reason , like it's never been that deep for people to , you know , just act out of character . So if it just took a shoe release for you to crash out and that was your character to begin with , so the shoe or the release that really changed things in my area I know I touched on it a little bit I want to say episode two . I think I touched on it a little bit but now I'm gonna like really get into it . So the sport blue six release back in , I want to say it was like a september or something around 2014 .

Speaker 1 1:52

I know it was definitely the fall , but I want to say it was september and I remember just pulling up to the mall man I seen like broken glass by by the release interest because we had like a certain interest for Jordan release days . I seen Broken Glass and one of the customers like one of my favorite customers that always came in he was in the ambulance because he got pepper sprayed . So I'm like yo , what did I miss Like ? What like really , what did I miss Like ? Why are there Broken Glass and people getting pepper sprayed and lying for this release ? Like granted , I think it was was like the first time . This colorway retro , it was like one of the OGs from what 91 or something , and this was the first time they retroed , I guess .

Speaker 1 2:33

But it was like , yeah , for that particular shoe to cause that much chaos is crazy . So I remember coming into the store and talking to the people that were already there , like my coworkers , and they were like , yeah , it was just crazy , like they were about to let people in and when they started to let people in they just bum-rushed them all security and then I guess the line just got out of hand and they had to call the police or the reinforcements and then they started doing what they had to do to , uh , secure the area . So we were just confused , like so now what do we do ? Because it's first come , first serve and you can't have first come , first serve with no customers if they're not letting people in the mall . I want to say because the release , when we at finish line , we did eight to ten to try to get , you know , everybody that was in there for the jordan's out before the mall actually opened , and then you get a , a crazy mix of the you know you're just day-to-day shoppers and then the people that were there for the release . So usually it worked out for us .

Speaker 1 3:29

We do eight to ten , the two-hour window , because my thing is , if you want to shoot that bad , you're going to get it before you know it gets too late . So that's the first come , first serve . You have to be there early to give yourself a fighting chance to get your size . So if you don't come and get the shoe before 10 , I feel like you really didn't want . But normally if you really want something you're gonna do , you gotta do . So 8 to 10 always work for us . We will sell out by like 930 , 945 at the latest . So then , 10 o'clock , the gate all the way open , the mall doors flooded and then you just get the regular customers and of course you get the people coming in all day . Hey , y'all got any of these levels , y'all got . You know you'll get that . But for the most part it went smoothly . That was our system at work .

Speaker 1 4:15

So that particular day , like I said , we were , we were all there by eight o'clock , probably like 7 , 45 or something , 750 , before you know , all the chaos started . Well , usually before all the chaos would start . So I'm going to be sitting in there like so what are we doing , man ? So then Moss Security came down there gave us a rundown of what happened . And then they were like , yeah , going forward , you're going to have to do tickets or raffle or whatever . So that kind of started the phenomenon that we have today and I'll get in touch on that a little later and they phenomenon that we have today and I'll get in touch on that little later and they thought , yeah , by 10 o'clock , you know , that's when we just gonna open the doors and then whatever happens happens .

Speaker 1 4:52

So I remember I don't know if it was that yeah , I think it was that release it was us Foot Locker , dtlr , maybe Jimmy Jazz , so we had

First Come vs Raffles

Speaker 1 5:00

to go back to the store and basically make tickets or like hand write whatever sizes we had , and we had to go up to this one central location with all the other store managers or employees that were working on release . So we all went there and we had a list of every size we had . And then mall security was kind of like regulating the line , the mall security and the police , like regulating the line , like okay , this store has this size , blah , blah , blah . You gotta take your store's ticket , like the specific paper or whatever it was to represent that store , and you got then that's how you , whatever , that's how you got your shoe or that's how we did that release . So then that kind of set off a chain reaction across the company and , I think , the company and every other store where we had to start doing a raffle opposed to the first come , first serve .

Speaker 1 5:48

I feel like you have a better chance of getting a shoe when it's first come , first serve , opposed to a raffle , because at least with first come , first serve , we know finessing and backdoor is going to happen across the board . Like any type of field or any type of like environment where you're dealing with items of value , backdoor is going to occur . I got my job from because of backdoor , but you know what I'm saying . That means you're hooking somebody up . Everybody has been the beneficiary of a backdoor some way somehow throughout their lifetime . It is what it is . So at least with first come , first serve , I know from what I can remember through my own experience , like I said , everybody's different , but from my personal experience , with first come , first serve , as long as you're like top five , you get there early enough , you have a chance to get a shoe .

Speaker 1 6:45

May not be your size per se , but you'll leave with something and during those times , whatever size you can get , you can make it work . So , like I'm a 12 , of course , if I end up getting a 10.5 or 11 , I'll either see if I can size swap , go to like a resale shop or post it in one of like the sneaker groups , the marketplace joint . See , you can size swap or whatever that size is going for on the market , sell it for that price and then I just buy my shoes . So it basically it's still like retail , even though you're technically like paying a resale . Whatever you get a shoe for retail , you set up for 300 , your size , 300 . You're not paying any extra in my eyes . So like okay . So first come , first serve . You still have the opportunity to leave with something , even if it's not your size . But usually if you're there early enough , you're fine .

Speaker 1 7:36

So with raffles , man , it gets real wicked because one the store could finesse you , because at the end of the day you're really not going to know if the raffle or the ticket system is legit , because all you're doing is signing up . You put your name down a sheet of paper and the employees drop the ticket or whatever in the box so they'll have a list and they tell you . If you win , we call you . If we don't call you , you didn't win . So there's no regulations to say that they're actually using that information . You know what I'm saying . Like I would say , oh yeah , sign up for the raffle man . They said they're going to call . They're not going to call you and even if it was a legit raffle , you wouldn't know . Regardless . You know what I'm saying .

Speaker 1 8:19

So it's like give me first come , first serve . At least I know I have a chance If I'm there early enough . I have a chance . Like if I'm first in line and y'all say y'all don't have my size , then I know there's some shenanigans going on . You know what I'm saying . But first come , first serve , I mean the raffle or the tickets . You really don't know , unless they're guaranteed tickets . If you're there early enough , just like a first come , first serve would be , you'll be able to get your size , if you know . So that's cool . Like tickets first come , first serve , I'm all for that .

Speaker 1 8:52

The raffle system I'm not the biggest fan because even with the digital raffles I'm sure you can finesse those two . But at the same time with the digital raffle it's open to everyone and they have raffle box , so you have one person putting in 200 or to 2,000 entries , your chances are slim to none in that case . So it was like you know . Everybody said they want raffles the safer . It's definitely safer because you just chillin at the crib on your phone or on your laptop or your iPad tablet , whatever device you choose to enter . Yeah , it's safer , you don't have to worry about any chaos really on release day . But your chances are slim . You have to enter literally 15 to 20 raffles just to give yourself a chance to get one . Trust me , I've done it . I've entered every single raffle that I could have , either the free raffles or when you have to enter your car information in advance . Like I've done numerous raffles and I've still taken L's . Give me the first come , first serve or just guarantee tickets . Do the groundwork and you'll be able to get your period like the old times . I know I sound like you know what I'm saying old head or whatever , but just give me those days back . Man . It's a lot easier Depending on the area .

Speaker 1 10:13

I get it More and more populated areas . It gets real crazy when you have a lot of people standing in line . So I definitely understand that aspect of it . So I can't knock people that you know really want the raffles or whatever , because you've seen it first hand how crazy it can get . We've seen it online Like we just even Snipes my local Snipes . It was first come , first serve until the Flu Game release , I think . Either the Flu Games or the Reimagined Fives , I can't remember .

Speaker 1 10:42

Crazy stuff happened in a different area and then they said going forward , we got to do raffles again . Y'all really messed up . A good thing , man , but shoes should not result in violent , let alone death . It's so crazy Y'all throwing your life away over a pair of shoes Either you're going to rob somebody for them or y'all have some disputes in line or whatever and then you do something stupid and now you can't even enjoy the shoe that you were trying to get because you threw your life away , you locked up or , worse , it could have went left . You know what I'm saying . So it's crazy to me why people act the way they do it . But I understand the shift . I don't like it as a consumer , but I understand why . But if people could just control your emotions , man , it's just a pair of shoes . At the end of the day it's leather , suede , nubuck , mesh and foam . Just relax , man . It's just a pair of shoes .

Speaker 1 11:44

Take me back to the first come , first serve in my area anyway . Anyway , I know a lot of people , like I said , different areas , different experiences , but from my personal experiences , I didn't have any chaos , honestly , outside of the sport blue release , which I didn't really experience . I just seen the aftermath . The concord release was crazy , but like nothing happened , and the , the white cement . So I want to say what ? The 2012 release , man , those were like the last two times I actually had like camp out and was unsuccessful , which was crazy to me , but it is what it is , man , I end up getting them years down the line when they re-release . That's the best thing about jordan brand and nike if you miss out , if you're patient enough , they'll drop them again . Let's see Back darn .

Speaker 1 12:38

So that goes hand in hand , like I said earlier , with the first come , first serve and the raffles . So a lot of back darn happens , for sure with the first come , first serve and the raffles . Sure , with the first come , first serve and the raffles , the back darn is less back darn with the

Backdoor Deals and Fairness

Speaker 1 12:55

first come , first serve , because to stay under the radar , you have to have some merchandise available for sale , like I said earlier , if you're early enough , you have a good shot of getting a pair . Even if it's not your size , you have , you're gonna leave with something . So yeah , the first come , first serve . Man , you have to have at least a size run . I would say . To be on the safe side is you don't want a customer being the first one in line and you say that you don't have the size , like that's , that's just a red flag across the board . So at least have a size run , two size runs preferably . But if you can at least have eight through 13 , one of each , then you should be . You'll be good to go .

Speaker 1 13:36

But it's like you know , once you get to that raffle , anything goes , because you can't really regulate or control how the raffle works . And I I know a lot of people . You know we deal with backdoor all the time . It's a love-hate thing because it's like , on one hand , if you're the beneficiary of the backdoor , you're good with it . Like if you can hit somebody up and say , hey , man , I need this size and this shoe that's coming out next week or whatever , they lock you down , you're good for the back door , you you all set . But if you try to get a shoe and then you go to the store and they say it's sold out and then you see people walking out with bags . Now you're up in arms .

Speaker 1 14:16

So it's kind of like the game is going to be the game man , the sneaker game , the sneaker game . It's been like that before I got into it and I'm sure it's going to be the same way after I decide to retire from the sticker game whenever that is . But it's like y'all just got to . It's just like the resale thing , man . You know there's certain levels to it . Of course it's always going to be there . It's always been a part of it . It is what it is for real .

Speaker 1 14:41

And then you know , with the mom and pop stores understand it , man . You know a lot of people get mad with the skate shops been back doing because that's like a perfect example . Skate shops , those are mom and pops and I feel like with a small , like a really community driven business , like a skate shop , like a local skate shop would be , because you get people in there every week or bi-weekly , whatever they do , to get skate decks or new wheels or different parts , or you know , I'm saying they might really like the store's merch or they'll come in there just to chop it up with the employees , but like on a first name basis , so like it's really like a family , like a community in there . So it's like if they happen to get an email from nike and say , hey , we like what y'all been doing , we're gonna send you this run or whatever . We're gonna test out these new sbs , whether they're limited or whatever , as a store owner or a manager or whatever it is , hit up your little , your loyal customers like , hey , man , we got these joints coming in , blah , blah , blah , y'all get first dibs .

Speaker 1 15:43

I'm not mad at that , man . I know a lot of people get up in arms but it's like if they're helping them keep the lights on , if they get a special release and they want to tell their loyal customers about it , they get first . They get first chance to purchase . I'm not mad at that because , like how could you be mad at it ? A one-time shopper really , like you probably would never go to that store again . I remember when the the travis scott sbs came up and I went to this random skate shop out the beach , like out the beach , like down the beach , like oceanfront type , and that was the first and only time I ever stepped foot in that store was to sign up for the raffle . So it was like did I think I had a chance ? Not really , but it was worth a shot because you never know , and you know they backdoored all those Travis Scott's which I'm sure they may have . I'm not saying I have proof , but they probably did , because why wouldn't they right ? So I'm not even mad at that because I understand . I definitely get it .

Speaker 1 16:46

I know a lot of people wouldn't agree with that , but I understand backdoor , especially for the mom and pop shops , because if you get customers in there spending money every week , or the same people over and over and over again of course I'm looking out Anybody in their right mind would Just like you go out to a club or a bar all the time . At some point they're gonna start looking out . They're gonna start getting you free drinks , free food or whatever it is . You might , you know , get a section for the free here and there , like whatever they're gonna look out for you . You're only putting bread in their pocket . So I understand it .

Speaker 1 17:20

I'm all for sneakers app . You gotta get into the sneakers app . It's cool , like for what it was or what they wanted to be , but now it's just like the sneakers app . It's cool for what it was or what they wanted it to be , but now it's just like the sneakers app . For me is my last resort . I've done all the different tricks

The Broken SNKRS App System

Speaker 1 17:38

that they said to do to try to get it , but it's just too many bots man Bots have ruined the online experience with these raffles or fake raffles , whatever it is , these email raffles or sneakers trying to enter the drawing or the first-come , first-served on the app .

Speaker 1 17:58

You still get people that hit , but then it's weird because you get certain people that hit every single release and then , like , with my account , I hit the most random stuff . It'd be like a shoe that I feel like I have no chance to get and then I get it and the shoes that I think it'll be super easy to get I won't get . It's crazy , it's hit or miss . But then you have accounts that hit every single time they enter . So it was like , what kind of algorithm is it ?

Speaker 1 18:29

And I've done the whole interacting with the app , watching the videos and all that like going through everything to show that I'm an active user and not a bot , and it doesn't work , but it just goes to show like technology man , it's hard to compete with that technology dog and I really wish sneakers had a different way of doing releases to make it , you know , more fair . I guess okay , but I really don't . Really I don't know how that would work . Like it's cool what they're doing with the lives and the different segments on sneakers , like the app in general , the different content that they post up there , the community stuff , like I . I like the app in general , the different content that they post up there , the community stuff , like I . I like the app as far as like engagement and stuff .

Speaker 1 19:14

But on release day that app is trash . Sometimes you can't even enter . And then when they have like the time releases , it's like you're just giving the bots more chances and , like I said , I know they have bot protection , but there's no way that you're gonna filter out every single but entry out there , because I'm sure they're still slipping through the cracks , because a lot of like actual users still can't win , like I know people that have never won on the sneakers app . So it's kind of like , what is ? What are we doing here ? Maybe we need to revamp it or maybe it's like too far gone . I'm not sure , but y'all let me know , do y'all still use sneakers ? Is that like a viable option for you on release day , like that's literally my last resort If I don't have to try on sneakers ? I'm not going to and for the most part I've been pretty good with not having to , like rely on sneakers . Thankfully , there's a lot of different options out there and sneakers for me is not the one , unless it's like a Jordan Reserve , like a restocked junk and I can catch it like on a random drop and yeah , shock drops , stuff like that . That's the good thing about those shock drops . That's the best thing about sneakers to me the shock drops . And then the Jordan reserves or the Nike reserves , but they randomly restock some old joints like that's cool , but act , the regular release . I'm good on sneakers . So , honestly , let's see anything else that I wanted to Go over . That's I can touch on , you know . So we went on sneakers and all that .

Speaker 1 20:50

I do miss the days where you can just walk into a sneaker store and you'll see some new releases . I feel like Snipes and Detail are . They do a good job with that now , because I watch the sneaker YouTube . Shout out to Mike Rich , I know some they'll drop shoes early . They'll just . You just walk in and you'll see , like a random shoe on the shelf on no release date . Those are the good days , in my opinion .

Speaker 1 21:14

Like I Don't have many camp out stories because , like for the most part , I could walk in the mall on release day and get my size 12 , like as soon as the store open . Like Legends they , you know , legend used to be my spot man . I don't know if y'all had any legends around your area or you even know what I'm talking about , but it was one of those like DTLR , jimmy Jazz , snipes type stores . You know , one of the urban stores , and every time Chesapeake not Chesapeake Square , greenbrier Mall , legends . They were upstairs 10 o'clock . Every release day Boom , I go in there , size 12 , easy money . Every release day boom , I go in there , size 12 , easy money . There might have been a handful of times that I wasn't able to get my size , but for the most part I didn't have to worry about waiting in line or camping out , which was good , and to me , because you know , once you try to camp out too much , especially at that age , I wasn't driving yet ,

The Lost Art of the Hunt

Speaker 1 22:05

I wasn't spending my own money , so I had to do what I had to do whenever I could get a ride or somebody could take me up there . So I wasn't on my time , so it worked out in my favor , thankfully . Shout out to Legends man .

Speaker 1 22:18

I like the hunt , the sneaker community or the sneaker game . I feel like the hunt is what really . The hunt really means something . I feel like now anybody can be a quote-un , unquote sneakerhead because you can just go online and buy whatever shoe you want . You don't really have to do work , you just have to have money . Like you don't have to put the groundwork in , you don't have to research to see what store is going to have them , what time they releasing , you can just roll out of bed either on release morning or the next day or the week before , a month before , and you can get whatever shoe you want . You just have to pay . So like it's cool a lot if you really like sneakers .

Speaker 1 22:57

Well , a lot of people , once they get like a certain status and they have money , they become sneaker heads and it's like you can tell when somebody just getting a shoe just because they can and the people that really care about them , especially with the campouts man or just lining up first come , first serve the stories and the community , the conversations , the connections you make in line . You're not really getting that now when it's an online raffle and you know the ship to home , or you just buying them on goat or ebay , stock x . If you use stock x or flight club which is crazy because flight club is they've been taxing since the beginning of time , I feel like but you just lose that sense of community . Man , like human interaction . Man , the campouts are cool . As long as you got there early enough and everybody had like their own different styles , you'll see them with shoes that you probably never seen before on foot , depending on like what area you in . Like I still like that . Even the customers that come into stores . There are certain customers that you can talk to about certain things and other customers they're just buying whatever and keeping it moving . So I do .

Speaker 1 24:10

I do miss that aspect , um of the sneaker game , the culture to hunt , like I said , driving around trying to find a particular shoe . That's fun to me , but I know a lot of people don't really care about that stuff . It's just like an instant gratification society . You know which . It makes sense . Everything is literally at the tip of your fingers on the phone , you can find anything . I've bought shoes from Europe , like shoes that I wouldn't have had access to normally .

Speaker 1 24:39

Now , with the internet , the way every everything is advancing , I can buy shoes out the country . So , pros and cons to everything , you know , it's beneficial now that everything is like opening up there out of the country . Pros and cons to everything . It's beneficial now that everything is opening up where you're not just stuck in your region for sneakers . You can venture outside because I can enter raffles in California , which is good and bad , because now the people in that area have less of a chance , cause I'm all the way in Virginia and I can enter raffles . That should be like just for them . And , like I said , I can buy shoes from the UK . So the hunt is still there .

Speaker 1 25:24

It's not the same hunt like the in-store hunt , but I still do my googles if I want a shoe and it's sold out here or , like my side , I can't find my size best , believe . I'm scrolling through every website that pops up under that shoe to see where I got it . I know it was one shoe the rebot road ultra and like , for whatever reason , I really wanted that shoe . I know it was one shoe , the Reebok Road Ultra , and like , for whatever reason , I really wanted that shoe and I missed the initial drop . I think it was one of those like random drops and I found a store in Germany Random store in Germany that I never heard of . So I had to do my research , of course , to make sure it was legit , but I ended up getting them from them and it was like without the internet that wouldn't have been possible . So the hunt is still there . It's just not the same hunt . Depending on you know what your preference is , like the in-store hunt out , like . I love the in-store hunt because you get to see like random stuff in different stores . But being able to to buy a shoe from germany , living in Virginia , is top notch in my opinion . So , yeah , that's going to do it for this episode .

Speaker 1 26:32

Get into the social hour and I really want to hear back from y'all . So the social hour question for this week Do you prefer the first come , first serve , camp outs or the raffles ? I gave y'all my opinion . I like first come , first serve or the camp outs , as long as it's within know , within reason , nothing crazy without the chaos . So just the the method

Solecial Hour Question

Speaker 1 26:56

of first come , first server to camp out without any crazy stuff happening , versus the raffle system that we have today . Let me know down in the comments you can dm me , leave it under my link tree any like the segment ideas like the social hour question . If you want to answer there , I might like submit a post or put a post up with a poll or whatever . Y'all can answer that . However you want to answer , be my guest man . I'm open to all engagement . So thank y'all for rocking with me up to this point .

Speaker 1 27:24

I didn't think I would make it to episode five . I didn't really know what to expect on this journey . It's been fun so far . I'm having I'm having a good time with it . We're starting to get more interaction , which is always a good thing . So episode six will be another community topic . Shout out to my dog , matt , and then we're gonna talk about those , the reptiles , man . Shout out to the sneaker teacher those replica sneakers , the unauthorized , the bootlegs , the fakes , whatever you want to call them . We're going to tap into that . That should be a good one . If you haven't done so already , check us out , man . First Word Pod across all socials . Whatever streaming platform that you decide to listen to us on , make sure you follow us , rate , leave comments , all that good stuff , review . Whatever it is you have to do in the podcast community , make it happen as always . Buy what you like and wear what you love . It's the First Word Podcast . I don't know who needs to hear this , but yesterday you said tomorrow , the time is now . Catch y'all next week .