Before the time of high-speed Internet and online shopping, sneakerheads and basketball connoisseurs had to wait monthly for the new Eastbay in order to buy sneakers. I was “The Man” when I brought the new Eastbay to school. People who did not acknowledge my existence suddenly asked to see the catalog with me. A huddle of teenagers would surround me while I was flipping through the pages. People would point at the shoes they wanted to ball in or wear out on the weekend. The people who initially ignored me soon gave me attention because a like interest was discovered. It’s funny because I only got a few catalogs before they cancelled my subscription; one had to be a customer to get it every month. My funds at the time were low so I could not get the catalog sent to my house for long. Other people would give me their catalogs and I would just look at them thinking one day I would get those Eggplant Flightposites. I remember teens cutting out the shoes they wanted from the catalog and taping them inside their locker. One guy I knew adorned the inside of his locker with old Christmas Eastbay catalogs for the holiday season. Those were the days.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:38 am
ali says:
word up ramon. when i was in prep school in the mid-late ’80s, my whole team used to cluster around the eastbay catalog, fighting about what kicks we wanted to the team to wear as a unit.
December 7th, 2009 at 10:49 am
fan says:
This is too funny. What great memories. I remember looking at the gum bottom pumps & Kamikaze Shawn Kemp joints. We even ordered our team kicks from the sight. Man this is a quality throwback. V.I.M. BOSS & GIBAUD JEANS DAYS LOL.
December 8th, 2009 at 11:30 am
AVeezie says:
Im loving the old school Champion replica Knicks Jersey. Those were the days. The Eastbay catalouge will always have a special place in my heart
December 9th, 2009 at 12:54 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
nice to see that it represented to your generation the same it did for mine back in the day
December 9th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
LowerEastScribe says:
@ Bob-
I ain’t know Eastbay was around in your day.
@Ramon-
Eastbay was about as ill as Kicks is today (minus the article). I’d go through it for maaaaaad long (pause) and circle the kicks I wanted from my parents.
Great Post.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Ramon Diaz says:
Eastbay is that source, especially if you’re from the midwest or places where there are no sneaker shops. Their clearance sales were pivotal. Yea I would put different addresses on the slips in the magazine so I’d get them monthly. They only sent you 3 magazines unless you were a customer, so I had to finagle the system lol.