Under The Palms

TopVillain wrote:booooring!!

Word!

The Old Skools >

akamedaniel wrote:

TopVillain wrote:booooring!!

Word!

+1

I was expecting a much more put together release,especially since december was the supposed last release for Wtaps. The quality of the authentics looks pretty good though.

erwin wrote:

akamedaniel wrote:

TopVillain wrote:booooring!!

Word!

+1

+2

joni_loco wrote:

erwin wrote:

akamedaniel wrote:booooring!!

+1

+2

-1

Syndicate could've learned a thing or two from Nike SB experimenting with the "core skater" focus. How good did that do them a few years ago? Once things start to go good, a lot of brands get real "big headed" for lack of a better term, and start experimenting in areas outside of their norm. Stay in your box! It's what people expect, and will spend more $$$ for. Syndicate has us all convinced that we need to spend around $100 on some Vans, instead of the $50 pair right next to them (at the average skate shop's display). If they'd just focus on marketing it, like Brant does, then they'd be fine. The stories, and the creativity of each past release is perfectly fine. The pricing hasn't stopped anybody from buying them up, and if anything their customer base has grown again, and has gotten old followers to return to the "S"...(with the help from us, I'm sure) but that's a win win for all of us. Now they wanna change shit up again. I hope they have some nice stuff under their sleeves, that's not released into the public yet, because they need some more stuff like that. Start collaborating with shops like Silo and shit. Give them a special release! Why not?! Hong Kong got to do it. Berlin got to do it. That needs to happen here! 'Naw mean?

..Supreme got to do it.

I feel like that may have had to do with Luke Meier more than just collaborating with Supreme... Also, Vans Syndicate and Supreme have some pretty strong ties in terms of workers and skaters.

^^^ You make some good points Guam!

I tend to give waaaay more than my 2 cents on the whole thing, so will try to keep my mouth halfway shut for once But as you mentioned me specifically, I feel inclined to respond.

I can definitely see both sides of the coin on this one as I am an enthusiast / collector of the brand, as well as a retailer.

The one thing Vans has going for it, is that it ISN'T nike sb, and they already have a firm foothold in the skateboarding market, so I would HOPE that corporate would allow them a small division like syndicate to continue on without having to grow profits season after season. (which, as you mentioned, they have been doing anyway! higher dollar shoes, and selling out the last two seasons w/out a pair to be found in the warehouse. not to mention the amazing FREE marketing buzz that has happened....which is priceless). I have to lean personally toward what you are saying...more like the supreme mentality...where they make what they make, regardless of hype or current customer base. Supreme has not quadrupled the amount of pieces they are making, and didn't open 12 more stores across the world to meet demand....keep it small and disciplined, ahead of the curve, lead the pack, and sell out every season.

I could rant on and on about why I like syndicate the way it was, but am excited for these new releases as well...the growth will be interesting....and ultimately we will have to see what the market can bear. With a wider audience built over the last 6 months, these shoes MAY sell out just as quickly, even with the larger # of doors(they still have very strict rules / restrictions on how to buy, btw, so its not like the floodgates are open)....especially if more people are able to skate their pairs.....as originally intended. Or they may still only sell through in the shops that have an existing customer base and have built that reputation, and sit everywhere else. Ultimately you guys are all voting with your $$$. No matter the sell through, I'm guessing we wont see the reseller market hit these as hard, and there will not be a price spike on the more general releases. My biggest personal worry is having quality shoes forced on sale, or into outlets / racks, therefore destroying the reputation it has recently built up.

It's really all just speculation at this point.... even with all these images being leaked. It will be interesting at this exact point next year 6/1/13... should be 10-12 releases under the belt with the changes, and then we can say what worked and what didn't.

Aw man, the pictures got taken down? I guess I can see where the people that think they are boring are coming from. They're much more like a Pro release now. But man, I'm still drooling over that authentic! And everything really does look pretty nice. They're plain, but still do have a nice attention to detail. Plus, a new style of half cab? That's still a pretty cool story!

It will definitely be interesting to see how these go!

Silo, *slow clapping* Well said.

Hope posting these pics didn't throw anyone off. If Guam want to take them down, fine by me. (like he needs my permission )I just thought that if anyone wanted to see them it would be the members here.

Oops, they didn't get taken down. Turns out photo bucket was down at the time I was trying to view them. haha

Silo:

I started typing something about maybe they're catering to a newer, younger, core skater audience in my last post, but I got sidetracked, and lost my train of thought and backspaced it all out. But yeah, maybe they're just testing the waters with these new models, or maybe corporate stepped in, and pushed a few of these models on them, to "make work" with the "S" line. Who knows, really?

^^^im comfertable with that theory