Under The Palms

http://darksidestore.blogspot.com/2014/ ... ative.html

These weren't even on my radar, they look dope though.

These look awesome and I'm a sucker for Vans with awesome tech... But that price... Most likely passing and hoping to catch a pair on ebay below retail some day. haha Unless they sit around in their online shop long enough for me to ponder over it and decide to blow all that money on myself during holiday season. haha

Yes, they are great. But the price is too much for me too. :/

Same here, amazing shoe. Price not so much.

Yeah man, that price is a hurdle, especially around the Holidays. I'm sure it's partly due to materials, but it's probably also aimed at Darkside's clientele. It is a high end shop, like Union, and such, and perhaps 100 pairs of each model was their magic number to constitute that price point, but it seems that this is the common thing for Vans to do now days. Chris at OTW said this is the way things are going to be from here on out. Great. Jordan brand tactics for the brand that people flocked to, to get away from that bullshit. I hate it when a brand tries to be something they aren't. Release dates... LXVI...Inflating prices because everyone else seems to be doing it, and people still seem to be buying them, when in actuality they aren't. They wait for them to go on sale, and then buy them! That just hurts your retailers!!!!!!!!!!! And shops who stand strong and don't undercut their fellow retailers prices, have to sit on inventory forever, hoping that one day people will seek out that pair, but after it's yellowed due to age, and has gotten dirty from all the hands that touched it. Greed is all it comes down to.

DJGuamstyles wrote:Yeah man, that price is a hurdle, especially around the Holidays. I'm sure it's partly due to materials, but it's probably also aimed at Darkside's clientele. It is a high end shop, like Union, and such, and perhaps 100 pairs of each model was their magic number to constitute that price point, but it seems that this is the common thing for Vans to do now days. Chris at OTW said this is the way things are going to be from here on out. Great. Jordan brand tactics for the brand that people flocked to, to get away from that bullshit. I hate it when a brand tries to be something they aren't. Release dates... LXVI...Inflating prices because everyone else seems to be doing it, and people still seem to be buying them, when in actuality they aren't. They wait for them to go on sale, and then buy them! That just hurts your retailers!!!!!!!!!!! And shops who stand strong and don't undercut their fellow retailers prices, have to sit on inventory forever, hoping that one day people will seek out that pair, but after it's yellowed due to age, and has gotten dirty from all the hands that touched it. Greed is all it comes down to.

Agreed 100%. This quick strike business is getting old, too. Give us some time to save up and get excited for a release! I loved having all the time to speculate and get teaser/leaked pics back in the day. Now nothing ever leaks, which is ok, but there's rarely much of a tease anymore. You just gotta be standing around with your wallet open all the time haha

So I Guess's the 12's are gone already.

rocketgoof wrote:

DJGuamstyles wrote:Yeah man, that price is a hurdle, especially around the Holidays. I'm sure it's partly due to materials, but it's probably also aimed at Darkside's clientele. It is a high end shop, like Union, and such, and perhaps 100 pairs of each model was their magic number to constitute that price point, but it seems that this is the common thing for Vans to do now days. Chris at OTW said this is the way things are going to be from here on out. Great. Jordan brand tactics for the brand that people flocked to, to get away from that bullshit. I hate it when a brand tries to be something they aren't. Release dates... LXVI...Inflating prices because everyone else seems to be doing it, and people still seem to be buying them, when in actuality they aren't. They wait for them to go on sale, and then buy them! That just hurts your retailers!!!!!!!!!!! And shops who stand strong and don't undercut their fellow retailers prices, have to sit on inventory forever, hoping that one day people will seek out that pair, but after it's yellowed due to age, and has gotten dirty from all the hands that touched it. Greed is all it comes down to.

Agreed 100%. This quick strike business is getting old, too. Give us some time to save up and get excited for a release! I loved having all the time to speculate and get teaser/leaked pics back in the day. Now nothing ever leaks, which is ok, but there's rarely much of a tease anymore. You just gotta be standing around with your wallet open all the time haha

I guess you guys aren't thinking of Hypebeast or Highsnobiety huh? They seem to have built a pretty great ad system that, well encourages the idea of limited edition stuff. I will say that Vans quality is way better than Jordan's.

The quality in terms of materials, yes, but not so much for the soles. They still get beat pretty easily, and lose that crisp shape around the foxing after a few good wears. But yes, material, stories, construction, is all on point still.

This Darkside release's price point would be fine for a collector maybe a month or two out after Christmas, but it's tougher for most around this time of year. These have some awesome tech stuff going for them though, and it's the first time I've ever heard of this material being used. We sometimes forget that tech costs just as much as luxury sometimes, and at least tech has a utilitarian purpose, not just a vanity purpose. It definitely is what makes up this entire release, and for sure it will be a collector's shoe. 100 pairs of each style, c'mon! And it's Darkside. They are one of the key Vault accounts, who have their own style, and customer base. A clientele who has no problem buying WTAPS, Original Fake, Neighborhood, etc. What's $220 for a pair of Sk8-Hi's, when they spend more than that on a button-up shirt? It's all relative, I guess.

Yeah, I wish these weren't so close to the holidays! I'd probably feel more inclined to get them. And yeah, I know that the whole limited edition hype machine is all the rage right now (and always will be), but I am kind of getting tired of having a week or less to decide if I want a pair or to budget for it (especially in this case). Then, if you miss out, you're stuck with reseller asshole prices. We'll see though. Tech is luxury to me a lot of the time! I'm sure I've got a few pairs I could sell off to justify these haha

@Guam: Yea I know what you're saying about the soles. It can't really be helped though, since the 1980s shoes companies seem to be using a cheaper rubber formulation. I think Vans soles didn't degrade til after they went over seas. Still though, I think their soles are a bit better than the average Jordan shoe. It seems like Jordan kicks usually suffer from sole separation.

I think Darkside just wants attention, kind of like how people know about Blends now. The material is definitely nice. I imagine the shoe would hold up pretty well, maybe not the soles, but the upper in general. If I could check them out in store I would be more interested in buying them. With something like this you gotta check it out for yourself. At least thats how I feel. Regardless I still want them.

@Rocket: You'll be good, as long as it doesn't end up on Hypebeast or Highsnobiety. Or if some Jordans drop that day haha.

Haha, just realized I ordered the whole darkside star wars pack for about $80-90 less than the sk8-hi in this set. My kind of dark side!

I just noticed Highsnobiety posted about these kicks. Coppability has now gone done.

super easy cop.
free shipping would have been nice.

Could cop but $285 is to much for just another black sk8 hi. Save my money for Diemme's.