Stop Asking If The Lebron X Is Worth More Than A Life…
Yesterday I was asked by my friend Ed (follow@edthesportsfan) from the Sportsfan Journal to be apart of 12 bloggers that share their opinion on the “staggering” $315 price tag of the new Lebron X, you can read every bloggers opinion here or you can see mine below:
For me the price isn’t that outrageous. It features four of Nike’s top technologies: HyperFuse, Dynamic Flywire, Zoom Air and the new Nike+ system. The consumer is getting a premier product and an excellent system to track their game, from a design standpoint it is all positives. However, from a business standpoint the Nike+ Basketball System is just now hitting the market and I don’t think anyone is waiting in line for it. So aligning it with a premier release, like a Lebron; is an intelligent idea. There is no way Nike will make more than 50,000 pairs of these for the public to consume so if they aligned it with one of the high profile colorways like an All-Star Game shoe, Miami Vice or the China Edition; it is going to sell out and therefore Nike gets the new system on the consumers foot which could create return users of the + system. On top of that, Lebron has been the image of the + system since its launch so you know Nike is going to push how it is used with him and his game. It will not surprise me when we are tracking him live during his games or when they set up some sort of contest to see which consumer is the closest match to his stats or who can beat his best game of the year. This shoe will present a whole new phase in how Nike product is presented to the consumer and most importantly, how it integrates with the consumer and their life.
As you can see by my quote I don’t believe that the price is too high for what is being offered. Like I said in the paragraph above you get a shoe that features all of Nike’s best performance attributes and a system that tracks your game. I would like to point out that the one thing that is being completely overlooked by everyone is that there are two versions of the Lebron X, there is the $315 Nike Basketball+ version and the standard version that will retail for $180. It should be noted that Nike has since stated that the prices are not set and that $315 version will be closer to $290.
For me growing up I never had the dopest footwear until I could buy my own shoes. While I am not going to paint a picture of poverty, I will say that my family and parents are from a hard working lower middle class. I always had nice things but it is not like those things were replaceable if I damaged them. Simply put, everything we had was earned and was respected for its value. I can remember numerous times begging and doing my damn best to manipulate and persuade my mother into getting me a pair of Jordan’s or any other fly Nike Basketball product and I can count on my hand how many times it worked, three! The first being on the White/Columbia Air Jordan IX, the second being on the White/Black Air Jordan X and the third being the Air Max Sensation CW. That was 1994, 1995 and 1996 and from a psychological standpoint my parents just went through a divorce so at that time I am sure I could have gotten a Ferrari from my mother to keep my emotions positive. Which I guess is why I always targeted my mother because my father didn’t budge on any shoe over $75. The next pair of expensive shoes came in 1999, I was wearing adult sizes at this point so the retail price was significantly higher; was the Air Jordan XIV low in White/Columbia. Literally, my holy grail as I used my catechism money to buy them and I still own them to this day.
What I learned from my youth was that the hustle that I had to go through to get those shoes taught me to value them.
I came home everyday from school and cleaned them with a toothbrush, mind you I had never seen Do The Right Thing at this point in my life and this type of attitude towards footwear was a rarity in Angola, Indiana. In high school I wore my old shoes on the bus and when I arrived at my locker I switched into my Jordan’s. Not because they had to be “fresh out the box clean” but because I wanted them to last.
When I hear people complain about the price of a shoe it frustrates me to no end because in my eyes the price of a shoe is no different then any other market of products in life, for every expensive one there is an inexpensive one. For every Apple there is an Acer. For every Ferrari there is a Corvette. For every mansion there is a trailer. I can go on but I think you get the point.
For those that argue that this price of a shoe is going to cause more robberies and more killings or that Nike is unfairly taking advantage of a demographic that can’t afford this product, I can’t believe that you would think that Phil Knight, Mark Parker and all of the others on the board are plotting their product to kill people or pilage the poor. If this shoe or any other shoe, like the Air Jordan XI that releases again at Christmas this year; are going to cause the murder rate to increase than we as a society of consumers need to sit back and really examine what we value. Because if the Lebron X is more important than a life, then the consumer needs to revaluate what their life means.
Life is about choices and if you learn to value the outcome of your choices, in return, you will learn to make the right choices. Buy the shoes you can afford.
Besides the shoes don’t make the man, the man makes the shoes.
I don’t mind the price at all. You are getting the best of the best here, and not only a premium shoe but a premium EXPERIENCE.
Looking at if from another perspective some women pay upwards of 400$ for a pair of heels is 315$ really that bad for what your getting ? lol
I know plenty of females that $400 is just a starting price but where the difference lies is how people look at the product.
For some reason a luxury heel or dress shoe seems to be accepted because it is not for “everyone” but a sneaker should be. People need to realize the idea of the sneaker has been long gone these are pieces of technology.
LeBron had a MONSTER year this year, w/ the Olympics and Championship. This is the break Nike has been waiting for to take his product to the next level. I see the value in the technology and hyperfuse/ flywire etc.
Unfortunately, for some time I’ve felt the Lebron line to really lack any creative unique stylistic elements. If you didn’t tell me this was a Lebron sneaker, I would think its just a next generation Hyperposite or something.
The point is, the shoe doesn’t have the unique styling that a flagship Jordan shoe does. Remember when the Air Jordan XVII came out in the metal case and CD? People were like $200 for a shoe?! But it made up that with the case, CD, plus Jordans return to the NBA. And you had this really unique and interesting looking shoe.
Again, I agree that there is a technology piece, and a marketable brand with the LeBron line. But i just really wish they’d push the styling a little more.
I mean say what you will about Kobes but at least ever year they’re making small steps to push the design.
And in my opinon Durants get better ever year!
I just wish we could have ” polarizing discussions” about Lebron product instead of just looking at it briefly and putting it back on the shelf.
Zia, I see where you are coming from with the marketability of Lebron after his fantastic year. You are completely right but I can’t agree with you on the aesthetics.
I think Nike has done a fantastic job creating a silhouette for Durant, Kobe and Lebron. They completely distinguish from each other, especially the Lebron as it tends to look like a combat boot to me. I think the styling stand point has changed to what I was use to growing up with Jordan’s. Now all of Nike’s footwear is more about an evolution as opposed to a revolution. Each of their shoes grows from the previous ones as opposed to forgetting everything it learned and creating a completely new aesthetic. I actually like it. It is a mentality that running product has had for years and its great to see it in this shoe.
The XVII is a good example of an overpriced product. You didn’t get shit for $200 other than a case to sit in your room. That shoe was very clean and simply designed but technology wise it had nothing that deserved that price point. The $200 cost was for the extra shipping weight and having a briefcase be made. Where is this Lebron actually has features that can help you as an athlete.
LOL oh man…. you make some good points.
You know what I think it really boils down to? Like.. with Jordans they have this great story you know, about the design elements, and how they are brought together, and you usually have Tinker talking about how he met with MJ to discuss where they were at that point in their lives.
You’ve got Kobe and Eric geeking out about the lowest lightest shoe they an produce, and some cool stylistic ideas.
Even hearing Leo talk about The Durant shoe, and how if you look at them closely their are these great little details molded into the outsole, or the back of the shoe.
I guess what im saying is these sneakers have rich, and interesting design story, and the more you stop to look at the shoe, and notice the details, the more you’re rewarded.
With the Lebrons, when I Look them over the only real detail I notice is a giant lion head, or ” The six” grapic or a “cleverly incorporated” “8″ into the eyelets.
Not creative stuff IMO
That’s fair but from what I have heard the three you mentioned, MJ, Kobe and Kevin are anomalies in the industry. They are very specific in what they want in their product, especially Kobe. Where as Lebron just wants a hot shoe.
I know Jason Petrie provides a large back story and has great inspiration, he sweats imagination and rehydrates with more talent. The stories are there but I don’t know that Nike relates all of those stories. I know that the X was inspired off of diamonds and how they are the strongest under pressure, as Nike touched on it in their press release; so we will have to see how that gets unrolled to the consumer.
Like you mentioned earlier about Lebron having a monster year, you can’t predict that. So as long as he maintains that, which he probably will; then the product stories will only get deeper. He is about to turn 28 years old and is on his 10th shoe, when Michael was 28 he was on his 5th.
Point being that Lebron will have plenty of unique stories to come.
Yeah I hear you. and no disrespect to JP, but like you were saying with LBJ on his 10th and MJ on his 5th. They should have equally deep and compellign back stories at this point right?
The Air Jordan V was inspired by world war II fighter jets, had an over sized 3M tongue and that mesh panel along the side.
the LBJ X has…. a backwards textured swoosh, and kind of references diamonds? I guess I just see the other tech pieces across all other Nike products so I just don’t feel like its as special?
(however i must admit im SUPER into that gold lion head lace lock)