Interview with ISS's very own mod. Trbo823

I am working on a paper on the sneaker culture for my sociology class that analysis youth cultures. Not much has been done in this arena and in a small way I'm trying to contribute to it. To start off I am conducting interviews with fellow collectors. This interview is with one of my friends and a real cool dude, trbo823.

1. Where are you from? How old are you and when did you start collecting sneakers?
Los Angeles, CA, 30 years old. I started seriously collecting back in 2000 but started in 1989.

2.What was the first shoe as a kid that got you into sneakers?
Nike Air Trainer SC Bo Jackson, Bo Jackson was one of my favorite athletes and he happened to play for my favorite team, the L.A. Raiders.

3. What do sneakers symbolize in your life?
Freedom to use them to walk, run, etc. back in the Philippines, shoes were expensive and still are.

4. How is the current state of our culture in terms of the people? The product?
Right now, a lot of people are into the Jordan hype. A lot of younger kids are buying kicks 'cause of the hype and not because they like the shoes. I buy shoes to wear no matter how rare they are. The rarer they are, the more I’m inclined to wear em. Not a lot of people are buying shoes to wear. They buy to resell.

5. Are you part of any online sneaker community?
Issforums.com, kb24.com forums

6. What is your favorite all time sneaker ever and Why?
Nike Air Trainer SC Bo Jackson. Its one of the first shoes that had the hip hop look, from its colorway and the design plus i loved to run when i was a kid.

7. Can you name the top three moments in Sneaker culture from yourstand point?
1. Converse Chuck Taylors
2. Air Jordan,
3. Adidas RUN DMC

8. What makes you a real collector in this culture?
True collector goes for the hard to obtained shoes and also the easy to obtained shoes, collectors buys the shoes for the shoes and not how much its worth, for the love of shoes.

9. What is the rarest shoe you own?
I dont really have a rare shoe thats very limited. I usually buy what I can wear and I dont spend a lot of money 'cause of a shoe being Rare. There is no 1 shoe thats worth spending the hype. I have some rare shoe but nothing to drool about. Rare to me is what I like. I wont buy a Kobe PE per se just because its a Kobe PE or a Jordan PE, etc because I wont be able to wear it.

Which is your most treasured and why?
I'll just say my most favorite pair/s of kicks are my Air Max 97 Gold color, AM95 Bronze/Black Color Olympic Edition, Nike Zoom Kobe 1 Black Maize(Since its Kobe's first every Sig Shoe with his name)

10. What message do you have for the sneaker community/culture?
“If I cant ROCK it, I aint buyin it!!!”

Thanks trbo823!