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Athletic performance footwear has been in demand for over a century but only over the last ten years has the sneaker sub-culture ballooned into a world-wide cultural marvel. Nike has grown to an empire based on its performance engineering but Citi-group estimates that 80% of their footwear sales are driven by fashion and current trends, and maintains that Nike’s stranglehold on the sneaker sub-culture is solely based on consumer hype. That may explain why Nike’s stock has risen incredibly high compared to the S&P, but it is still below that of a sneaker collection of Yu-Ming Wu, founder of SneakerNews, who spent $80,000 on sneakers over the last eight years on a collection with a current market value of over a quarter of a million dollars.
With the help of Yu-Ming, CNBC embarked upon an explorative journey into alternative investing and directed its attention towards the world of sneakers as a potential cash cow, hitting all the landmarks of the sneaker-mecca that is New York City, like Flight Club’s new location on Broadway and Sneaker Con, to take a peek at what really lies beneath the hobby of collecting sneakers. What they might have discovered is that the sneaker sub-culture is now a mainstream, and with that, the profitability of collecting sneakers will grow in unison with that trend. One shoe of focus was the Air Jordan IV ‘Undefeated’, which was a shoe not even intended for sale and destined for Friends and Family, but has a current market value of a few thousand dollars and will potentially grow each passing year. Continue reading for a the full CNBC video and let us know what shoe in your collection has gained the most ‘value’ over the years.
35 Responses to “CNBC Explores the Sneaker Collecting Game”
November 10th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
VERY INTERE$TING! Yu-Ming Wu 840 pairs and GROWING $HIT!!!!!! He should hook us SNEAKERHEADS UP!!!! Funny that he has barely any room in his apartment. Shoe boxes from the floor to the ceiling! Now I understand why sneakerheads are gonna buy those Cool Grey's! RAI$E UP the $$$$$$ and sell 'em for some more $$$$$$$$$.
November 10th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
^ It was another misquote. I did not spend 80K in 2003, i've spent that since 2003. I also have plenty of room, I have two rooms with 1500 sqft combined devoted to the collection and another 3 bedrooms in my house.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Isn't funny how the media try to "exaggerate"? BTW, I just wanna say Thanks for founding Sneaker News, cuz without this site; I would not know what AJ's and AF1's would drop in the coming months or until next year. I know u might not answer this question, but How can people get a job at Sneaker News? Like what job positions are there in Sneaker News? Also KRAZY collection u have!!! RESPECT Yu-Ming Wu.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
840 pairs is definitely an accomplishment but that is nothing compared to the ATF Crew…Hell they have at least 2000 pairs each…2000 pairs is pure sneakerhead shit if you ask me…Don't get me wrong, Yu-Ming has a GREAT collection, but cats like the Mayor, DJ Greg Street, All Day, Franulations and especially the king of all kings, DJ Clark Kent are true sneakerhead royalty!!!!
November 10th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
ur fucking crazy mr wu
November 10th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Respect!!…..
November 10th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
Lol! Franalation has a great collection, but you can't put Franalation in the same category as the ATF Crew or DJ Greg Street.
November 11th, 2010 at 12:02 am
The reason why Franulations has so many kicks is cause he wears kids sizes. So of course hes gonna have tons of kicks. He pays half of what us regular foot size sneakerheads pay.
November 11th, 2010 at 12:53 am
highest of quality my ass
November 11th, 2010 at 1:33 am
yeah, much respect to wu. this has been my favorite sneaker site for quite some time now. good to see him getting some shine.
November 11th, 2010 at 3:43 am
th@_r3@ll3$t got the illest collection!
http://niketalk.yuku.com/topic/232236/t/DS-JORDAN…
November 11th, 2010 at 4:18 am
your saying mayor has like 2000 i bet most of them are af1's but wu i bet his are proper varied big respect mr wu.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:21 am
i love you and this site!
ps… need any web designers?? lol
November 11th, 2010 at 4:24 am
Erik Senders, much respect to Mr. Wu. Those collectors you said ain't got no better collectible shoes than Wu. His property is more worth the money! No doubt.
November 11th, 2010 at 6:35 am
I must concur with NZA36. I got mad prop's for you Mr Yu-Ming Wu, I also enjoy your liquidrice blog too. Sneaker New's err day.
November 11th, 2010 at 9:43 am
them kid robots, quit whinin how u only got one, u have the potential for so mcuh profit on your kicks. come on, u head SN, what more could you want? do u even rock your kicks or do u keep em DS? i saw u in preme blazers, and other ish, but if u worried bout yo kid robots, then u shoudnt be rockin yo premes. im all for rockin, but at the end of the day the money is hard to say no to, thats why being a sneakerhead is soo hard
November 11th, 2010 at 9:46 am
what about sneaker's dissolving and yellowing. How do you deal with that threat as a collector? Sell when they start to look questionable or are there reliable preservation techniques?
November 11th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Much Love and Respect Mr. Wu!
November 11th, 2010 at 10:51 am
too bad ATF has all AF1 u cant give af1's away.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Dope! I can always appreciate a nice sneak collection. keep doing ya thang Mr. Wu… Hats off to ya!
November 11th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Fran gets free kicks from his youtube fanboys.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:42 am
I got like like about ~100 jordans and dunks, thats all i collect. And i have probably spent about a good 20k or so. But thats mostly cuz all the hypefiends buy all the shit i want and i have to pay re-sale prices for them. But hey i rock em all, except the ogs.
November 11th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
i remeber back when there was a kick-fiend.
November 11th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
wow, no idea what you just said.
November 11th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
nice …
November 11th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
@ ^ Erik Senders here's a quote by Dontay A.K.A. "DJ Don Handz" from an article that I have he says, "It's not about who has the most; it's about who knows the history." I wish I can post the whole article for any sneaker head who is interested in reading it. (It's about at least 6 HUGE paragraphs.) But, I have to say he makes a great point. RESPECT Erik Senders.
November 11th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Dude got it wrong on them AJ4's..They weren't friends and family only..
November 11th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Gettin down to business. Nice work guys.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:30 am
if they are not F&F, what are they?
November 12th, 2010 at 4:53 am
I'm pretty sure if he has enough cash to buy all those shoes, expensive ass clothing, and that wack yet expensive "pow" jewelery (don't know the actual name for it), he can afford the kicks in mens sizes. He just so happens to have small feet.
November 12th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Very cool MSNBC piece, much props to Mr. Wu's collection. I would really like to see John Kim's collection one day…..that would be very cool…..
November 12th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
1:25 a guy with supreme cap and slayer shirt…riiight
November 13th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Great stuff Mr. Wu.
November 22nd, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I couldn't agree more but you made my point for me AF1('82)LDUB23('85) (wow thats a long name)…Back to my point…you my friend, just made my argument for me. Any idiot knows its all about quality not quantity…That is the case in collections of all kinds. For that is the reason why I said the AFT Crew is sneaker royalty. You should know cats like DJ Clark Kent and Greg Street have every classic Yu-Ming has plus some. Come on man. Do your homework….You should know this already if your a sneakerhead. Now I didn't say I like ATF but I do give credit where credit is due. Don't get me wrong, Yu-Ming, I give him even more respect as a sneakerhead then any of the ATF Crew members but it has nothing to do with his collection why I pay him the homage I do but everything to do with what Yu-Ming has done for the sneakerhead culture. That does not mean I dont think Yu Ming has one of the best collections out there because I do. But its still not the quality of those ATF cats, DJ Clark Kent and Greg Street…Trust me…I'm sure Yu-Ming will even attest to that. PLEASE REMEMBER WHAT I SAID, YU MING HAS DONE MORE FOR SNEAKERHEADS THAN THOSE ATF CREW MEMBERS. Now don't get me wrong, ATF has given us sneakerheads a hell of a lot also. But lets all remember, most of the kicks these celebrities get at this point in their career are MAJOR HOOK UPS, some pairs even coming for free.
November 24th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Yeah, I've heard of DJ Clark Kent but not really about Greg street (Maybe I've heard of the name though) This is what I don't understand though, if having a HUGE collection of AF1's, I bet they don't wear EVERY SINGLE ONE of 'EM; just keeping 'em CLEAN, FRE$H, NON-CREASED (Like trohies)! Trust me I used to have a BEANER friend like that! He wouldn't wear a limited edition AF1, cuz he'll be afraid of getting 'em dirty, scuffed up, ect. Also because his other beaner friends may mention of why his AF1's are dirty. That my friend is a DEFINITION of a HYPEBEA$T not a SNEAKER HEAD! Also have u gotten a MAJOR HOOK UP or a CONNECTION? RE$PECT Erik Senders.
Yeah, my name is long; the rest of it is: AF1('82)LuvDUB23('85).