First Wear Podcast
Real sneaker stories. No hype. From your first wear to the culture’s biggest moments, First Wear Podcast takes you behind the counter, behind the releases, and into the real side of sneaker life.
Hosted by @EdotREEP, we dive into the moments that matter — first wears, campouts, raffles, retail nightmares, resell culture, and how sneakers truly shape the community. Whether you’re a sneakerhead, a curious collector, or just someone who loves the culture, there’s something here for you.
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First Wear Podcast
The Fake Epidemic: Replicas in Sneaker Culture
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Authenticity has always been the backbone of sneaker culture, but what happens when the line between real and fake begins to blur? In this candid exploration of the replica sneaker market, I dive headfirst into one of the most controversial topics dividing the community today.
The replica conversation has evolved dramatically in recent years. What once lived in the shadows has now stepped into the spotlight, with social media influencers openly promoting counterfeit products as viable alternatives to authentic pairs. But at what cost to the culture? I share my raw, unfiltered perspective on why this shift is problematic, drawing from personal experiences including being approached by replica companies asking to use my authentic collection to promote their fakes – a request that left me genuinely shocked.
Beyond just discussing the quality differences between authentic and replica sneakers, this episode examines the deeper psychological motivations driving people toward fakes. Despite claims that it's purely about affordability, I challenge listeners to consider why replica buyers almost exclusively pursue counterfeit versions of hyped, limited-release shoes rather than more accessible general releases. This contradiction reveals uncomfortable truths about status-seeking and the desire to project an image that hasn't been legitimately earned.
The conversation takes an important turn toward solutions, offering practical advice for building an authentic collection without breaking the bank. From outlet shopping and patience for restocks to buying gently used pairs, there are numerous ways to participate in sneaker culture authentically without resorting to counterfeits. I emphasize that staying true to yourself means finding your own style rather than chasing hype through shortcuts.
Whether you're a seasoned collector or new to the culture, this episode will challenge your perspective on what it means to be authentic in today's sneaker landscape. Join the conversation and share your thoughts – do replicas have a place in sneaker culture, or are they ultimately undermining what makes this community special?
🎧 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.
Introduction to Episode 6
Speaker 1Hey , welcome back to the First Swearer Podcast . I'm your host , edotreap , and we made it to Episode 6 . So Episode 5 , you know I brought it back to the first-come , first-served campout days . You know the transition from what we're used to to the raffles that we have now and you know I shared a few stories in my stance on whether I like the first come , first serve versus the raffles and I still personally feel like the first come , first serve or the campouts you have a fighting chance to get a shoe . But with the raffles , you know , between finesse and bots you never know what's going to happen with those . But yeah , episode six is a community topic . Man , shout out to my dog , matt . You can follow him at Samson underscore matt on tiktok ig as well as youtube . He's definitely doing his thing . But yeah , he , he wanted to get into the rep joint . You know I'm saying the rep topic , the rep conversation and how influencers now are like really pushing him . I guess he just wanted to , you know , get my opinion on it and this is definitely a major topic in the sneaker community . So I definitely want to get your reaction on this once I post the clips , or , you know , in the comments if you're listening to the entire podcast episode , definitely let me know in the comments down below , depending on what streaming platform that you're using . So yeah , so let's get into it .
Speaker 1Man replicas , uas fakes is there another name ? Triple , a one-to-one or whatever . Those are all different terms that you know . The people that promote
Defining Replicas vs. Authentic Sneakers
Speaker 1reps and proudly wear them , make them try to make themselves feel better about it because , like , a fake is a fake , a bootleg is a bootleg . But once you get to the ua terminology , you know the the unauthorized authentics , which was crazy to me . But since they're saying that the unauthorized shoe was made in the same factory as an authentic pair of shoes , using the same mold , it was just like a side mission or a side quest for the factory workers to have a little hustle and makes them feel better about themselves . Well , you know it's still the same shoe that Nike made or Jordan made , but you know it's cheaper . But it's whatever . It doesn't have the same guidelines and quality inspection and all those avenues that an authentic retail payer has to go through , like the box , the materials , minor details that you only know if you have the retail payer . You know there's a lot of differences , but we're not going to get into that in this video or on this episode . Maybe I can say that for a later one .
Speaker 1It's very weird the discourse around the replicas or fake shoes within the sneaker community , because I've seen arguments on both sides . Arguments on both sides and for the people that wear the fakes they always say that they're not doing it for like the clout or the hype or whatever . But from what I've seen , every person that like wears fakes or like shows fakes . They're hyped up shoes . They're not showing a fake pair of all-white Air Forces . They're not showing a pair of gray 990s , 993s . They're showing the latest Jordan . They're showing Travis Scotts . They're showing , you know , a hyped up SB that they couldn't get , and then they're even like showing pairs that they couldn't get and then they're even like showing pairs that are blatantly fake , like they're going back to the old days where like fakes were fakes , like SpongeBob's or a colorway that didn't exist or like some see-through Jordans . I think the main one that I was seeing going around were the Royal Patton ones . As we know , the reimagined breads were Patton , the Patton leather joints . So I guess the factories they tried to jump the gun and they started dropping the Royal Patton leather version and a lot of people on TikTok . You know your favorite creators . They were showing those jokes like they were early payers and they were like clearly fake .
Speaker 1So it's like I don't know when do they draw the line . At what point do they have to be honest with themselves . Like you're just doing it for the clout or the hype , like you're not doing it for the love of the game , because that shoes is like is never coming out . I Jordan brand already Nike brand a . They said , nah , we're not doing that . They dropped the sway versus instead of those . So like I don't know . Like I I said it's just a weird point in time . They're arguing one way but the actions say another . You can't say that you're not doing it for a certain reaction or you're not doing it for other people's acceptance . How can I say this ? You're not doing it to please others , but you're buying the popular shoes you know most sneakerheads or people in the community are like purchasing them but you're getting the fake version . Like it's crazy . But yeah , let's go ahead , get into . Get into the main topics .
Speaker 1Reps have definitely became more well . They started to become more mainstream over the past few years with , you know , the rise of social media , the influencer era that we're in currently ,
The Rise of Replica Promotion
Speaker 1where , if you want a product to sell , you find someone with a great following that you know gets engagement on their posts and whether it be for hand over fist money or just to get a product that they may or may not wear and they know they're going to get views . So that's the thing about , you know , the social media influencer era . So that's the thing about the social media era . A company doesn't necessarily have to pay you because you're going to get paid from the views and the engagement and shares or whatever . However that works , I don't get paid , so I really don't know the exact method or the exact metrics that qualify you to get whatever amount of money , but I know that you're going to get paid for views , shares , engagement , all that stuff . So so you can hit up , because I've been like , even on a small scale , like I don't have that many followers across the board on YouTube , tiktok and IG I get a lot of emails or DMs from these fake companies .
Speaker 1So it's like , if I'm getting emails , I can only imagine what the top end creators or the creators that are 10,000 , 50,000 , 100,000 plus followers , what type of emails they're getting . I remember one specific email or DM I got from a fake company and they were like do we have your permission or can we partner together and you send us videos of your collection so we can promote on our website ? And I was like I was in shock , honestly , to you know , see that type of email because I , like I said I I got plenty of emails and dms for the freight companies trying to , you know , promote their products . They'll give me a shoe to review . I just had to review it on my channel and all that like a lot .
Speaker 1I've seen a lot of youtube sneaker youtubers , you know , kind of shift or pivot from the content they were creating where they were getting shoes or they would go to the mall and like show shoes or whatever , again early pairs to you know , they transitioned to just buying the fakes or reviewing the fakes . It went from like a comparison type thing , like you get the fake pair and then the real pair , until there was just like straight replica shoes and here's the plug , blah , blah , blah . So for me to get that type of DM was crazy . It was so crazy that I had to screenshot it and I posted it on TikTok and , to my surprise , a lot of the comments were saying that I fumbled the bag . So my thing is you know , all money isn't good money . You say I fumbled the bag , but I'm building my brands across social media on having , you know , authentic retail pairs , pairs like I'm showing you that you don't have to pay resale all the time , you don't have to pay a plug to . You know , get early pairs if you like .
Speaker 1Really do the groundwork , do your research , like I'm in a 757 handrails , virginia . If you don't know , we don't have a lot of stores like a Chicago , new York , la , even like Houston , texas or whatever , like Orlando , miami . You know we don't have the amount of stores and boutiques that these larger markets have . So there's ways to get the shoe for retail If you like . Actually try .
Speaker 1It's been rare that I've exhausted all my options and I wasn't able to get a pair that I wanted . Sometimes it's hit or miss depending on the shoe , but if I really want it I can get it . If I can't get it on release day , I can catch it on restock . So that's pretty much what my brand is , just like your average person that wears shoes going to restock . So that's pretty much what my brand is , you know , just like a , your average person that wears shoes , like you don't have to be super rich to you know cop sneakers . You know what I'm saying .
Speaker 1So it was like my brand is like , built on authenticity , like I'm relatable , no clout , I don't have a lot of followers , I'm not getting sent pairs . You know what I'm saying . I'm just out there buying it , like everyone that would watch me or stumble across my page . So for them to say I fumbled a bag is crazy , because now I'm scamming at the end of the day , like I'm helping that company scam potential buyers Cause I'm sure they're going to use my name and they're going to use my . You know , say , my collection and people know you've been watching my channel or you've been watching my tiktok page . They're retail pairs . Like if I
Personal Experience with Fake Companies
Speaker 1don't show the bag , if I get in the store I show the unboxing and the receipts and everything . So it's like so they're watching my page , they've been following me , they know that I'm going to show them a retail pair and then I allow you to use my video footage on your website , knowing that you're selling fakes .
Speaker 1It's crazy , like I can't even believe they asked me that and then the people that didn't see anything wrong with it in the comments was like wild to me . Like especially for a sneaker page . Like , if you're following , like if you stumbled across my page , the algorithm says you like shoes or whatever . So the people , like I'm like , so y'all don't think that's wrong that a fake company wants to use my shoes to promote their stuff and so you're gonna get finessed or you just you don't care , you just know , uh , it is what it is and you just hope that company flourishes . Like that was wild , but that was just off my personal experience . So I can only imagine the amount of people that actually said yeah , and that's like the scary part , because fakes are definitely getting better .
Speaker 1And I know content creators and , like you know , sneaker heads that create content or just show off their collection . We're definitely a part of the problem , because the more like in detailed reviews that you do you give the companies Because they're watching . They wouldn't reach out to creators if they didn't watch what was going on . So we do the comparison videos , which I definitely stopped you know what I'm saying Because , after I thought about it , after I heard somebody else say it , like it made sense , because , like , if I'm telling you like every single detail , like minor details that only , like the retail pairs have , they're giving that chance for the companies to , like you know , make their product better . Because , if you like , follow the replica community or like the unauthorized , whatever they want to call the fake community , they have batches so , like , if a shoe's coming out , they'll drop an early joint . So that's like the , the first wave or the first , I forgot , I forgot the correct terminology or exact terminology they they use . So they had the first joint based on , like the mock-ups , whatever , or the sample pair . Then over time they'll keep upgrading it or updating it to meet the exact specifications . By the time a shoe either hits release date or a few months after the release , definitely a few years after the release , the like a few years after the release , the company is just , they'll make something that looks flawless .
Speaker 1And if you notice a lot of shoes , people start popping up with brand new shoes , like years after , like a crazy release , and it's just like , how did they get that shoe ? Or if it looks too new , like you know , 11s , those are like the telltale sign for me . He know what the 11s they , you know , they have those , those signs . You know what I'm saying . That you look for for those signs . You know what I'm saying . That you look for for age . Like I said , I don't want to put too much information , just in case you know what I'm saying . That it's tapped . You know what I'm saying . The podcast might be tapped . The fake companies might be tapped in for us so they have signs of where that you know authentic Jordan 11 , even if it's dead stock after a certain you know what I'm saying amount of years , there's stuff that you can tell that it's a real pair because they're the only ones that do it from my knowledge . So I was seeing a lot of crispy Jordan 11 outsoles and it's like I've seen retail pairs , dead stock pairs , that over time you can still tell that you know they aged , but these was like too crispy and it was like a wave of them .
Speaker 1But that's what happens , you know , when you put those videos out and they have time to , you know , keep updating , keep updating , keep updating until they get it as close to the real deal as they can and like that's . I guess that's kind of the way . So they use the content creators , so you know , to help them out . They do their own research . So something that went from being a way to like help the community , like so you don't get finesse , and it ends up being a way to finesse the same people that you were trying to help , if that makes sense , Like it's . It's just so crazy , man . It was like wow , cause .
Speaker 1I remember those comparisons , man , they were doing numbers and it helped people , especially if they were trying to get them early or they couldn't get them from the store and they had to go to a third party or they were buying them for someone else . Then you can hit those comparison videos or the really detailed reviews so you can see what to look for . I know I personally use them myself . If , if I never seen a shoe in hand personally , or if I know I'm in the market for a certain shoe and I couldn't get it , but I know there's like other people selling them or there's another way , a method for me to get them . I will look at those reviews and those comparisons just to see you know what to look out for , cause , like it'd be like one or two things . As soon as you see it , then you know it's good or it's not . But now you can't even go about that , because that's just making it easier for them to keep finessing . It's just so crazy .
Speaker 1But I wonder how the people that promote these fake sites like how do you like feel at the end of the day knowing that your entire
The Psychology Behind Buying Fakes
Speaker 1collection is fake ? You know what I'm saying ? It's like , granted , you should have your . You should have your hobbies , or get into certain hobbies , like for yourself . You should never do anything for the approval of others .
Speaker 1Like I have a lot of shoes because I genuinely like shoes and if you have any conversation with me , you can tell that like this is me , me . Like I'm not doing it for anybody else , you know . So . Like this is literally who I am . This is , I've been doing this for a while . Like I , I enjoy having fresh shoes on with a fresh fit . Like you walk out the house , you put your best foot forward . You only get one chance to make a first impression . That's me . I buy shoes because I like shoes . If you don't like my shoes , I don't care . Trust me . I've went through it on YouTube and TikTok for sure . A lot of people say I just buy anything . I have the ugliest collection they've ever seen in my life , in their life .
Speaker 1So it was like I couldn't fathom having an entire collection of shoes that are fake and like knowingly promoting them like I don't know , because I just feel like the sneaker community man as a sneakerhead quote unquote , because I really don't like using that term , because sneakerheads are definitely corny . From my like people that call themselves sneakerheads like actively refer to themselves as sneakerhead . They're definitely corny . So I don't personally use that term for myself . I just you know , I just like sneakers , I buy and collect sneakers , but I'm not considered a sneakerhead . But I know to the outside world and you know , by definition I fit the criteria , but I don't use that term . But it's like , what are you really doing it for ? You have a hundred pair of shoes that you got from across the water . You're on TikTok .
Speaker 1I know you're getting money off the views and everything , but it's like for somebody , that's like influencing other people to make a purchase . I don't know how you can like influence somebody to like buy something that's fake , like spending their money on something fake . I can see if you know you got a fake pair of shoes and you just you know , hey , this is what's out there . If you want to buy them , cool . If not . I get that too . This is what I like . Or this is to buy them cool If not , I get that too . This is what I like . Or this is what I chose to do , and I'm just showing you your options . I can dig that . I'm cool with that , because you're not really pressuring anybody . You're just being true to yourself . You don't want to spend a certain amount of money on something you're going to wear and get dirty . So that's your , it's your choice and you're just showing the people the options . I can understand that , I can respect that . You're being true to yourself .
Speaker 1But a lot of these people , they're like trying to pass it off as real until you know they can start getting called out on , called out on . Then they start leaving certain stuff , certain you know little hints , and their reviews that you know directly tie them back to the fake . So then they have to , you know , pivot a little bit . I know there was one guy he was definitely finessing like he had an authentic collection and then it came out that they were fakes . So then he kind of pivoted to .
Speaker 1You know , it's a mix of real and fake , or , yeah , other people saying real and fake . Man , it just gets . It's too much , man , because at the end of the day , if you want brand recognition or you're looking to further your content creation or anything , you know saying you're branding yourself a certain way at some point , man , that fake replica stuff is is gonna get old . Damn , what do you have ? Because what to get ? Because if you've been promoting fakes for so long , I think it's hard , it'd be hard , to rebrand yourself as somebody getting like authentic pairs . Because in the back of the viewers mind , unless you take a lot of time off , where people like forget about you and then you get like a new wave of viewers that you know discovering for the first time , then , yeah , maybe , but when you because these people , uh , influencers , that suddenly the stuff that are promoting these fakes , they're like well over a hundred , two hundred thousand strong .
Speaker 1So , yeah , all these people that know you sell fakes , you can't flip the script and start selling and promoting real shoes . They're not going to believe you . I know I would , because your character , you're just showing that you would do anything for the bag . You're not part of the culture . You're selling whatever to the highest bidder at this point and whoever comes to you with the highest bag , you're going to do whatever they want you to do and you know , hey , that's how you live , that's how you live . But I don't feel like you're really part of the community , like you're not part of the culture , not part of the culture , like in the core sense of like the sneaker culture .
Speaker 1It's like authenticity , like being true to yourself , like sneakers and streetwear are supposed to be about expression , like that's who you are , even if you only wear Jordan 11s . Like that's what you are , even if you were only where Jordan 11's . Like that's just you . Like , do like you . Just you just it up . You might wear khakis and polos every day , but you're gonna have a fresh pair of Air Max , or that's how you express yourself .
Speaker 1So there's nothing authentic about buying or promoting fake shoes and your excuse is that they look like the real thing . So basically , you're just telling people that it's okay to buy a fake shoe because you can finesse it and people think it's real . If you're going to buy fakes , go . You can finesse it and people think it's real . Like , if you're gonna buy fakes , go all the way with it . Like with those patent leather , those royal pads . Like , do that with everything . Get colors that will never , ever release
Affordability vs. Authenticity in Sneaker Culture
Speaker 1. Get stuff with some crazy patterns and like you're gonna rock the fakes , get the fake fakes . Don't get the . The fakes that look like the real thing , that are close to the real thing that people got to . You know what I'm saying ? Look at you . Squint the eye to make sure that they real Go all the way with it . That's what y'all doing . Go ahead .
Speaker 1And there was either one guy I know he was on YouTube and he said he would actually go for the rehab . His first resort was Sneakers app to go for the release and if he struck out on the release date then he would go the other route to get the face . So in that sense , you are doing it get the fakes . So in that sense , you are doing it for the clout , like you are doing it for the approval of others , because , since you missed out on a retail pair , you're going to go get the fakes to say that you have the shoe . And why are you saying that ? You just to say you have the shoe Because you want to fit in with the sneaker community , because that's one of the shoes that a lot of people have , or that they were going for it .
Speaker 1So it's like you're just trying to get whatever's hype , which is , you know , I'm not counting your pockets , I'm not telling you how to spend your money , but just from the culture standpoint , it's like you know , the argument is just crazy Cause they will swear up and down , they don't care about this and that , but your purchases say otherwise . Why are you getting fake Yeezys ? You know what I'm saying . Why are you getting fake Holy Grails , like you know ? Get something regular man , get some Reebok Classics . Get some Monarchs , get some fake Monarchs . You know what I'm saying . I don't know .
Speaker 1It's just one of those subjects that I have yet to meet someone or come across somebody that actually wears fakes and they're like , true to their , true to themselves . You know what I'm saying . I just don't want to spend the money on a retail pair , but I can get the same pair for $40 . I just don't want to spend the money on a retail pair , but I can get the same pair for $40 . I just don't want to spend the brick .
Speaker 1But now , from what I've seen through research , the fakes are damn near retail . They're very close . I think it may be $40 , $50 ? I'm not sure . Let me see if I can pull something up real quick . I don't even know what the fake websites are . What are they ? I don't know Fake Jordans or something . Hopefully the feds don't come knocking at the door because I'm trying to look at fake shoes . Dang , I wish I had a good website . I should have did some more research prior . Yeah , I'm not even going to play those games . I don't need any unwanted attention . But yeah , from what I've seen , like looking at links from people that are posting , they were pretty close to the actual retail price .
Speaker 1So it was like you want to fit in that bad that you're paying a similar amount of money for a fake shoe that you probably could just wait . You can wait it out or maybe buy used Nothing's wrong it out . Or maybe buy a used . Nothing's wrong with buying used . I buy used . Still , I know my condition has to be the same condition as a shoe that I've worn in my collection or better . I'm not doing anything that's been beat up . Or one or two times max that you wore your shoes , that's used for me . You can two times max that you wore your shoes and then you know . So that's that's used for me . But like you can just buy something that you can afford like , yeah , there's a plenty of shoes drop week to week . You can wait . You can hit the outlets , you can wait for sales like now .
Speaker 1This is like the perfect time to start a sneaker collection , or like expand your sneaker collection , because pretty much everything dropping man is sitting , because I know in Snipes alone in my area . You got the copper foams , the triple white foams , psychic blue foams . You got copper KDs , scoring title KDs , easter K kds , the kobe sixes that just dropped the wmba joints . They still on the shelves . Sizes may be limited , of course , but you still have options like and that's just my uh , one store in my area . You can online , you can google anything and they're gonna every mainstream mom and pop or you know boutique that has that particular shoe you can like there's ways to get shoes if you really want .
Speaker 1So I just feel like you know that excuse or that like rationale from the fake community is kind of crazy to me personally , just because I know you can get them . You can get a lot of stuff for the low , especially now that everything is sitting . For the most part , you get stuff that sell out here and there . But restocks the Legend Blue 11s just recently restocked last week or the week before last and they came in December and we're in July , almost like knocking , knocking on the door to August , august , like later on this week , and they restocked those so I you can get real shoes as you really want to .
Speaker 1But I think I kind of went on a rant , I just skipped all my notes and how I wanted to kind of play this one . But hey , that's the best part about this podcast , man , it's real and authentic , straight from the heart . You know what I'm saying . If I feel like the conversation needs to go in one direction , that's the direction it's going . So I had to go on a little tangent , a little rant , real quick , man .
Speaker 1But so I kind of touched on this is like why people , you know , go to certain route , that they do so definitely the price point . They don't want to pay resale , so they still get the shoe . They , you know , go to their replica route , fake routes , bootleg route , whatever it is . You know , that's one of the main arguments . But it's still like you're , I don't know , man , if you're gonna wear fakes , keep it a hundred . Just be real with yourself . Like , don't try to pass . If you're going to wear fakes , keep it 100 . Just be real with yourself . Don't try to pass them off as like if you got this plug or you you know what I'm saying . Yeah , you got these real shoes . Blah , blah , blah .
Speaker 1I know a lot of people like to pass off fakes as real . Just be honest . People wouldn't care about what you wear if you didn't lie about it , especially with the designer shoes and clothing . I know for a fact that's like a whole nother thing . It's like , bro , I don't think it's that deep personally to be buying a whole bunch of fake stuff just so you can portray that you're living a certain life that you're not . You can portray that you're living a certain life that you're not , because it's like wearing all that stuff and then like your day-to-day activities or your day-to-day you know lifestyle . It doesn't add up to the brands that you're wearing . So it's like you know , just be , be real man .
Creating Authentic Collections on a Budget
Speaker 1Buy some fashion over , bro , it's cool . Buy some fashion over . Buy some stuff on sale . You can . You can get designer for a decent price too . Trust me , if you look , do your research , trust me , like the people that really wear designer , like the people that you know , people that are the real target audience of these designer brands , they don't like to wear stuff out of season . You can catch these designers , these designer brands , out of season . You can get like last season or season before last . You can get them for an affordable price if you really want it . You don't have to get it right then and now . You can get some old stuff , brand new , 60% , 70% off most of the time , depending on what brand you're looking at . You can make some things happen within your budget . Man , don't go above your means . You're out here looking crazy , but you know , hey , what do I know ? Let's see what else .
Speaker 1I think I covered everything in my own way . I touched on a lot of stuff . I was trying to keep it . You know , some kind of flow , some kind of order , but some topics just happens . Hopefully y'all were able to follow along with my rants . You know what I'm saying . I tried to keep it in a certain order , to keep the flow going . Easy to follow along .
Speaker 1The culture man , it's just , it's in a weird place . Right now you have people that are infiltrating the culture just because you know it's the cool thing to do . They don't really care about the community or the sneaker culture , they're just , you know , getting shoes or whatever it is , because it's the popular thing to do since it went mainstream and resell is at an all-time high , or the act of reselling is at an all-time high , I should say , because prices are definitely dropping . People are taking the L's left and right on a daily basis trying to just buy stuff to sell , and they're not moving , they're sitting in stores and going , so reselling is at an all-time high . I should say . New resellers pop up all the time because that's like that is the content that is taking over right now , especially with YouTube Early , super early pairs and resell buyouts . I was really going crazy . Those are the channels that are growing and making the most money .
Speaker 1So a lot of people you know seeing , seeing how it's portrayed , you know saying online , not knowing the ins and outs of everything , so that's making it worse . And then you have people that don't really know what shoes or what or what to look for , so they're buying fakes and they're like fakes are continuously getting , you know , circulating through the market because people are trying to finesse . And then you got these third-party websites that you know halfway legit check . You know it's , I don't know , man , it's rough , it's real rough and wicked out here in these streets for people to buy shoes . Dog , I just hope you know , do as much research as you can .
Speaker 1If you are in the market for a particular pair of shoes and you can't catch them for retail and you can't get them on a restock or you don't have the patience to get them a restock , you just really want them in your collection . Do your due diligence when you're looking at reviews online or whatever . Try to find employees that are in the stock room showing the shoes . Look for release day vlogs of you know people that are actually going in the store opening the box at the register before they cop , or people that you know . Get an unboxing and you can see , like the order form .
Speaker 1I mean you can fake a lot of . You can fake those too but just get somebody that you know you trust I , I would say . Or just watch multiple videos of like similar unboxings you know , so you can pinpoint , like you know , what's real and what's not . If anything sticks out that looks crazy , then you know that's a fake . But that's the only thing you do . Just do your best , do your research , try to you know . Study the shoe yourself so you know what to look for . Or do your best so you don't get finessed and scammed out here , because people don't a lot of people out here , they don't care , they're just gonna do what they gotta do for money , you know . So all money isn't good money , but that's just my two cents on it personally . Uh , what else , man , the culture , the culture's gonna . What else ? The culture , the culture is going to continue to thrive , because you can tell when someone is really into sneakers .
Speaker 1It doesn't take long for you to figure out somebody that's just doing it just for the clout or the hype , just doing it because it's the coolest thing to do , like it's trendy . Because , I say a lot of people that I followed over the years or like became cooler over the years , like through the content creation journey , a lot of them dropped off or they , you know , pivoted to doing something else . So it was like , okay , maybe you know doing something else . So I was like , okay , maybe you were just doing it for a season because it was cool , maybe you fell off because you just got tired of spending
Final Thoughts on Replicas in Sneaker Culture
Speaker 1the money . It's definitely an expensive hobby , for sure , especially with a lot of shoes .
Speaker 1Depending on your style and your preference , it can get real wicked out here . You know what I'm saying , week to week with so many shoes and you got random restocks or random shoes dropping that you didn't even know they were going to drop or they weren't on your radar , and then something just pops up out of nowhere . It happens to me all the time , like this year , believe it or not . I chilled out a lot . I have to update , like my uh , my list of shoes that I bought , but at one point I was getting like at least two , maybe three shoes a week , depending on what it was . I definitely had to calm down , man . It'll get out of hand very fast .
Speaker 1The real is always going to prevail , man . The fake community is going to fizzle its way out at some point . The trend is going to be going back to the real shoes , authentic shoes . People are going to go against people that are fake or not being themselves . It's just the way . Right now it's calmed down a little bit , but now I see celebrities against celebrities to promote these fake shoes . They don't even know what they're promoting , they just think they look nice , so so they showing them off whatever , not really knowing .
Speaker 1So I I think it's . You know it's starting to trend down . You know it's not as prominent or I'm not seeing it as much as I was at first on , especially on tiktok I would see like fake . There's certain it's like a handful of creators that I would see day in and day out , but I don't see them anymore . I'm not saying they don't still do what they do , but I know they just don't pop up on my 4U page anymore . So Maybe you know they're starting to phase out a little bit , I don't know .
Speaker 1But stay true to yourself , man . The sneaker game man , you know . Be authentic because at the end of the day , that's what you know , that's all you have your true self , your word , your morals . Just stay true to yourself , man . You don't have to fake it till you make it . There are many options out there . If you want to look fresh , you don't have to have the most popular shoes . You don't have to have the most popular shoes . You don't have to have what's hype at the moment . Hey , man , you got to get creative sometime . But you go to the outlets . Go to the outlets , look on shop online . You can get some good stuff for the low , you know , under retail . You can get retros for under retail if you wait .
Speaker 1So that's my stance on the , on the replica thing as of right now and the culture and the influencers trying to push it . So shout out to Matt once again for that topic . I really didn't know . I didn't know what I was going to say . Like I said , I had little notes to try to keep track , but once I get passionate about something , I just go on rants . So that concludes the actual topic portion of episode six .
Speaker 1So we're going to get into social hour . You know I want the community's feedback on this . So basically , you know , do reps belong in sneaker culture ? Me personally , I say no . The sneaker culture should be all about authenticity , being your true self . You can't be your true self when you're faking it to make it
Episode Wrap-Up and Social Hour
Speaker 1or trying to fake it to make it , trying to pass off a fake product , an unauthentic product , a bootleg product , as a real pair so you can fit in with somebody . It's crazy to me . It does not belong in sneaker culture .
Speaker 1Now , that's how you feel in your day-to-day life , that you just want to wear fake shoes because you don't care . You're going to beat them up anyway . They don't get dirty , cool . Do what you do , but don't mix that up into the sneaker culture . So that's my take on it personally . You can agree , you can disagree . Let me know in the comments on the socials . Wherever you DM whatever , keep it respectful . I know when you start to talk about real and fake shoes , people get very defensive 0 to 100 , but hey , a hit dog will always holler . Very defensive Zero to 100 . But hey , a hit dog will always holler . And will you ever wear reps ?
Speaker 1Now , back in the day I definitely wore fake shoes . I remember when Nice Kicks was selling fakes and , like mind you , I was in middle school so I wasn't buying my own shoes . You know what I'm saying , but that's neither here nor there . Definitely bought those fake Nice Kick 13s and on the website it had the you know , the Jumpman and everything . But as soon as you got them in , oh my God , once I got them in the mail , you know , on the tongue tag or the by the toe box , you know , or the bottom of the tongue , the tag you know this says Jordan , on the backside has 13 in Roman numeral .
Speaker 1That joint said nice kicks . The tongue was like the craziest looking tongue I've ever seen in my life . No Jumpman on it , it just , it was plain . And then the hologram . I want to say the hologram was plain too , like there was no graphic . No , the Jumpman , nothing , that was 23 . I forgot . I think it is 23 . It should be a 23 hologram . Let me double check . Let me see yeah , 23 with the Jumpman hologram . That joint was plain , nothing there . So that was the fakest pair of shoes that I've ever worn in my life .
Speaker 1And just because I asked for them , I wore them . You know what I'm saying . It was a rough go for me during that time because I was like man , I really got to rock to each one . I didn't wear them often , but since they were purchased for me during that time because I was like man , I really got to rock the YouTube . I didn't wear them often , but since they were purchased for me , I definitely had to throw them on here and there Dark times . But you know , I know better now . You know what I'm saying . I didn't know . I wasn't hip back then like I am now and now you know , hey , if I can't afford them or I can't cop the real thing , I'm good , I just get something else , move on to the next release . So yeah , I did wear them .
Speaker 1I wouldn't wear it anymore , you know , of course , everything in here now is retail pair either . Either it's an independent brand , designer brand or retail mainstream brand . Everything in here I will happily put up next to anyone that wants to authenticate my collection . That's how confident I am . Everything is retail . That's going to do it for episode 6 , man .
Speaker 1If you have any more topics , please don't hesitate to drop them down below in the comments and check out my bro Matt On all the social medias . You know what I'm saying All the socials YouTube , tiktok , ig . I know he's dropping reels and videos there . Not sure if he's on Twitter , but hey , do your Googles , you might find him . But yeah , man , episode six man , I appreciate y'all , man . The growth is still amazing to me . The interactions , the engagements on TikTok as well as IG , y'all definitely showing me love , keeping me motivated . So I appreciate y'all for real . So that's going to do it for this episode of First Word Podcast . I appreciate y'all for tuning in Buy what you like , wear what you love . I don't know who needs to hear this , but yesterday you said tomorrow . The time is now .
