R.I.P Sneaker Freaker Forum 2002-2017
On November 18, 2002, one week before the first Sneaker Freaker magazine was released, the forum was launched as a hub for discussion based on the finer points of footwear aficionadoism. To be honest, I had no plan and no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that NikeTalk and Crooked Tongues were the existing benchmarks, and forums were seen as an essential part of any half-decent website.
At some point, brands started to pay attention to what we were saying late at night from our desktop computers. Pre-social media, there was no vehicle for consumers to offer direct feedback, so this raw, unfiltered criticism was shocking. In the early days especially, I was asked to delete salty talk practically every week by the powers that be. Sometimes I did, mostly I didn’t. ‘You can’t let them get away with saying that!’ was the common refrain. Brands got used to it in the end – they had to.
When Facebook and Instagram arrived, the forum’s days were numbered. Developers stopped updating the software and the audience drifted off to greener pastures with smartphones in hand.
In September 2017, we upgraded the Sneaker Freaker website. By this point the forum was a shadow of its former vibrant self. Spambots and DDOS attacks were a chronic pain in the ass. Beyond the technical issues, the forum’s human viability was questionable – to be frank it was culturally obsolete long before we made the decision to euthanase. Like nearly all the other big forums from that era, the jig was up.
Preoccupied with the magazine, I hadn’t actually put much thought into the closure of the forum until I asked some of its most prolific members to write a eulogy. Reading Mark Gale’s account was surprisingly emotional and oddly affecting in a way that caught me totally by surprise. Who knew that shit-talking on the internet would produce such profound experiences for so many people?
To all those who were there, we salute you! Thanks to Matt from Monkii for building the original forum and solving the endless tech issues. To the mods, brendan and mik_git, thanks for the endless spam resistance and banzoring. Sometimes we don’t know what we’ve lost until it’s gone – even if it was a bit crap in the end. C’est la vie!
– Woody
FORUM MEMOIRS: PART 1 – XDRIFT
At the turn of last century, before Sneaker Freaker existed, there was nothing. And before the forum started in 2002, no one knew anyone. I wasn’t even aware people like me existed, outside of a few basketball nerds who also loved the words ‘Air’ and ‘Jordan’ together on a shoe. Then one day I was in General Pants (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone) and I distinctly remember picking up a copy of Sneaker Freaker. It was like a lightbulb went on in my pitch black brain! The magazine was everything I was interested in, but it was $10, so I flicked through the pages and put it down. I went home, Googled ‘Sneaker Freaker’ and discovered the forum. There was life outside.
It was a revelation. I attended every Sneaker Freaker swap meet and magazine launch after that. Those early events were a networking machine at a very organic time in the history of Melbourne. Everyone was doing – or about to do – something on a variety of platforms. DJs, beat makers, promoters, designers, artists, label owners, club impresarios, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs all came together at those events.
The forum itself was a highly regulated community with a solid set of rules, but the unwritten etiquette was harder to interpret. If you got it wrong, you were flame grilled! The forum moderators, who were good with people and technically minded, were more knowledgeable about shoes than most. They ruled with an iron fist and enjoyed their power. Along with top-tier regulars, serial lurkers and brand nerds, newcomers had to graze to earn their keep. That was the best part of the forum. Everyone gave you shit! But it was nothing personal – OG members didn’t care about you per se, they simply cared about the community – all they wanted was for you to become a better person for the good of the forum.
Along with Crooked Tongues and NikeTalk, nearly every forum on the internet back then was like that to some extent, but I think Sneaker Freaker was on another level. Sneakers, music, photography, streetwear, art, design, food – everything was discussed. It was geographically intimate too. Some people couldn’t stand the shit talking, the banter and the idiotic arguments, while others toughed it out and were eventually accepted, or at the very least respected. Here’s to you, Mr Chipz!
Sneaker professionals also came to the forum to admire, respect and spy on our trash talk. Nike employees, adidas management, big box retailers and general industry insiders signed up to see what was hot and what was not, try to contain leaked pics, demand that salty talk was taken down, and also determine what they could learn from this nascent network of real-time customer communication. Information about sneakers was suddenly spreading across the world in a matter of seconds. In hindsight, most, if not all of that, info was correct, unlike the deluge of meme-troll crap that we have to sift through today.
So many great times come to mind. I once carried a life-size cardboard Michael Jordan all over the city for a whole day on public transport and into Starbucks and then Provider (RIP), just to write a story about it so I could win a pair of Jordan Spizikes signed by MJ himself! A while later, I won a pair of ‘Zen Grey’ Yeezys and a pair of What the Dunks in my size (13) on the same night. Thanks, Trevor Hunter!
I once made a forum deal and bought a pair of ‘Underworld’ Shelltoes from Big_Sime for $200. It was within 24 hours of his auction ending on eBay and he couldn’t cancel it, so I bid them up to a ridiculous $700. Long story short, someone sniped the auction for $800, so I (graciously) sold them back to Big_Sime for $300 so he could send them to the legit buyer. Friendship formed, $100 made, positive feedback all around.
Most memorably, back in 2007, I was in Tokyo reading a copy of Shoes Master when I spied an image of Provider’s cyan blue NB1500 sitting in the woodgrain pigeonholes at their Manchester Lane store. Sensing an international scoop, I immediately posted pics to the WDYWT discussion thread and everyone in the forum started losing their minds. Hometown pride at its finest.
I’ve come a long way since those days. My late night rants, anxiety and stupid comments are long gone (ahem! ), but that was how I got attention from the community, albeit accidently, and I look back at junior ‘xdrift ’ with curious detachment. I found the SF forum during a time in my life that was turning for the better. The friendships forged became incredibly important and many of those people are still in my life.
All in all, sneaker culture in Melbourne wouldn’t exist without Sneaker Freaker. And the culture worldwide certainly became a lot tighter thanks to the other legendary forums. These communities powered the culture for years before Facebook and Instagram, for better and worse, conspired to enforce their obsolescence. I’m sure every single member of the Sneaker Freaker forum will agree with me when I say... I’m glad I was there. Because it was life changing.
Thanks to Woody and thank you to everyone on the boards during those times.
– Mark Gale (aka xdrift)
FORUM MEMOIRS: PART 2 – MINHYY
As a fresh-faced 15-year-old new to the world of sneakers, the Sneaker Freaker forum was an intimidating place. Feeling particularly bold one day, I naively logged into the Crap On section. As I found out later, I should have been in the New Member area, but thanks to the forgiving moderators, I was able to start a thread titled ‘Any younger sneakerheads out there?’
That original post became a monster thread, with hundreds and hundreds of comments added. I learned a lot from my time on the forum. Old heads in their thirties were dropping in and imparting science on the new blood. But the single greatest thing I gained from my eight years on the boards was the sense of community. Spending my formative teenage years hanging around like-minded people who schooled me on all things sneakers, as well as my other passions, photography and bicycles, and helped me feel for the first time like I finally belonged somewhere. The best part was being able to meet other members face-to-face, many of whom had also posted on that thread as a young gun!
Peace to biggbird, thelegacy, xdrift, illmaticyo, scem0nito, krazeefox, hanSOLO, NotMatt, kuyakoy, funke, chops, brendan, mik_git, hypekills1 and the_dL – and anyone else I’ve forgotten. Thanks for the memories. What size are your Chucks?
FORUM MEMOIRS: PART 3 – MONTANAINC
I joined the forum on September 1, 2005, but it took me a year to make my first post. You see, the forum wasn’t a place where you could sign up and jump straight into the conversation – you had to earn your bones. After months of persistent lurking, I mustered the courage to start contributing. Over time I became more prolific and was eventually accepted by the OG members as one of their own.
June 15. At 6:43am, biggbird posted a link to a store called Shelf Life. The other forum members couldn’t believe it. A full size run of Air Yeezys in all three colourways! While sneakerheads across the globe were desperately calling in favours, here they were. Surely it was too good to be true?
‘No sh1t, that shop’s in south africa! AMAZING,’ xdrift replied. ‘Those yeezys look legit... to me, no hype in SA i guess,’ disruptfam chimed in.
There was no way for international customers to purchase directly through the website, so we had to email the store and send an international money order. The inventory quickly changed from showing all sizes available to ‘Sold Out!’ The forum had cleaned out the store in a matter of minutes!
With no recourse to open a PayPal dispute if it went wrong, we waited anxiously. The doubts lingered. Surely it was too good to be true? (x2)
