The Top Reasons the Shoe You’re Still Waiting for May Never Get Retroed

Is there a sneaker you're still waiting for a retro of? If it hasn't came back by now, you may be out of luck. Here's why.

words // Zack Schlemmer

By the year 2014, there are very few classic sneaker models popular enough to be retroed that haven’t already made a return. Some of your favorite models have returned with poor execution, or were too limited to get your hands on, or maybe not in the colorway you’ve always wanted, but by now, pretty much everything that’s worthy of a retro has indeed been retroed in some form or another.

The Nike Air Command Force was perhaps the last truly great sneaker left that many collectors have all been waiting for. And now that it finally will re-release later this year, we may have some bad news for you: That other sneaker you’ve been waiting for? It may never come back.

Or who knows, with the rate retro shoes are released nowadays, it seems like almost any sneaker from any brand’s back catalog may eventually return. But realistically, by this point in time, that “grail” you’ve been waiting for may never return if it hasn’t already. Unfortunately, no shoe is going to return with a snap of the fingers just because you want it.  Here a few factors that determine why that one shoe you’re still waiting for may never come back.

The shoe was never that popular in the first place.

There are certain shoes, like the Nike Air DVST8 pictured above, that many of us would consider “heat” now, but were seen as second-rate or takedown shoes when they were originally on the market. For brands, it’s hard to justify bringing back a shoe that didn’t sell that well in the first place.

 

It’s not flashy enough, or doesn’t have visible technology.

The Nike Air Maestro ’96 is a classic on-court shoe, worn by plenty of guards and forwards from the NBA all the way down to your middle school teammates.  I know I’m not the only one that would like to own a pair, but unfortunately, it’s not a shoe we’ll probably ever see return—due to its lack of eye-grabbing visible technology and less bold design.

 

The shoe’s original materials/technology aren’t worth reproducing.

Some shoes, like the teched-out Nike Air Tuned Max—a cult classic among Air Max fans, just have too much now-defunct technology and/or expensive materials to make it worth recreating and bringing back at a reasonable price for the consumer. It's often more likely that shoe would go on inspire the design language of an entirely new model featuring more oftenused tech, as we saw with the Air Max Ultra.

 

The model’s signature endorser is no longer with the brand.

Of course brands often get around this by changing the shoe’s name, or taking the original player’s logo off the shoe, but some models, like Dennis Rodman’s signature from Converse, just don’t really make much sense without the original endorser.

 

It’s just too obscure.

Maybe that one shoe you’re still waiting on is some random model you has a kid that you hold a nostalgic feeling towards. Or maybe there is just that one model that you love for no real reason at all that still hasn’t made a comeback. Whatever the case, if it hasn’t already returned, it could be likely that it's because it’s just too obscure to ever warrant a brand bringing back.

 

The Bottom Line: Money

The main factor that controls whether your favorite sneaker will ever come back is the all-mighty dollar. No brand is going to bring back a shoe that they don’t think will sell, or believe will not make enough profit for it to be worth the effort and cost of reproducing.

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So there you go. Of course there are some models that haven’t retroed yet, like the Nike Air Max ‘96 for example, that defy all of these reasons and leave us with no idea why they’ve never returned. But take a look at these factors and consider if that one shoe you’re still waiting for has a chance to make a comeback. Share your favorite yet-to-be-retroed sneaker in the comments below, and let us know if you think it will ever return.