#hypehistorian

Has it been easier to obtain Yeezy drops or SNKRS drops? It’s hard to argue what the better way of releasing these hype items are but we can safely say Yeezys seem to be “easier” to "cop” as supposed to SNKRS drops. Is this because less people are trying on Yeezys? Or are there more supplies/runs of Yeezys than drops from SNKRS? Is the system “more fair”? Is it because Yeezys in general retail a little higher than some Nikes/Jordans? Less and less people seem to be “winning” on SNKRS as more memes of “taking L’s” start to be appearing on the internet. Who knows again in this hype market? We can only speculate. If your experience is different from ours and you have more wins on SNKRS than on CONFIRMED/ADIDAS, let us know. 

In conclusion however, it’s safer to say that both are hard to “win on”. It’s probably just luck. There is no real way to win all the time unless there is a way with all this new bot technology. But again, are you winning if you are spending on bots? Maybe! Endless amount of questions to explore and only time will tell.  

As far as we can tell, most of us are raised to obtain a salary, little of us are really taught to pursue our dreams... and even then our dreams can be clouded if motivated by money.

**Again, we are just exploring this concept of making money. We confess we are not perfect, and we are not claiming we are better. Moreover, we don’t claim our values or views are right. It is just an opinion that we have in this constantly changing market of hype.**

In this moment of time, making money and “hype” seems to work in tandem. It all stems from the idea that you buy something in demand preferably at retail/low price and sell it for a profit. Over time, it transformed into a form of investing.

Now, we all know there’s many many ways to make money. You can go get a job-and you can get creative with that. You can sell a service, a product... But at that point it becomes a question of how much money are we making? However, there’s also this whole other side of the “money making secret” people don’t really talk about (or talk about too much) and that’s investing. What is investing?

What we can understand so far is that you buy something and that something will make money for you. The longer you keep that something or better that something is that something will make more money for you.

Well, it’s not a secret or anything what investing is. The real question we ponder is what is that something we need to buy? What is that something and how long do I need to hold till I sell it? What is the better something? Not to even mention the “what ifs” of the hype market or any investment market.

On a more common note, people are familiar with saving. And it’s more frequently taught that by saving, we get rich. Is that true? How much can we work and save and get rich? No matter what type of job there is, wouldn’t there be a limitation to the paycheck you get and the amount you can save (which usually entails cutting back/changing lifestyle choices).

Well, there’s so many ways to make money and the many many reasons why we do what we do to make our money. It is not our place to judge these things, but we do believe that there are always better ways of doing things no matter how comfortable you might feel in your life.

To simplify all of this, maybe the secret to investing is taking a chance because “you never know” and being ok with whatever happens. Maybe that’s why the most successful hype resellers are not the ones “just reselling,” but investing/spending as well. Either way, however you look at/feel about the hype market, one thing is true, some type of money is being made selling/buying that something-whether that’s shoes, cards, toys, watches, bags, shirts, caps, etc etc etc.

Example: Hype Investing and Thoughts

Travis Scott Astroworld Rug

(Preorder $250: meaning equal chance to buy)

Resell: $300+ over ~12 months (high $600)

Ridiculous to think a $250 rug goes for more than what it is “worth.” BUT HEY, there’s plenty of more expensive rugs out there, this one just happens to be in affiliation with famous artist, Travis Scott.

On the other hand, if you had an extra $250 to spare that day/month/in general, it is something you could have bought as a “venturing hype reseller” and resold on the market a few months later for a profit as time has shown. At the least you would have made an extra $50 by spending $250.

There’s not too much left on the market after checking other platforms (GOAT, GRAILED, EBAY, other resellers), hence a less common “hype” item that fans really didn’t purchase to resell (after all everyone was given the chance to buy for the “regular” price) 

Money. Money. Money! The problems and solutions to life (for most). And we can’t talk about investing without talking about people like Warren Buffet (Happy 90th Birthday!).

Not a financial expert, but it is a subject (nearly) everyone (including us) is interested in. The main thing we takeaway from his teachings is that he invests in “things” for the long game.

He talks about “The Methuselah Technique.” Again, we don’t know much about Warren Buffet or investing, but it seems like the concept that value changes over time holds true to all forms of investments. Things can go up over time, if investing in the right thing, whether that’s $1/day, $2/day... Either way you end up $1, $2, $3... richer than the day before.

So what’s the success to investing? Is it buying the right thing? Is it knowing when to sell? Is it about not selling but learning patience? Although Warren Buffet is now 90, he says “he is only 9% there,” not to mention “nearly 90% of his wealth was made after the age of 65...” Wow.

It’s no debate that Black Panther was and is hype. Anybody that had access to media in 2016 heard/saw/read about this new SUPER HERO movie. Now, it is in the media again, but this time reading and writing this with a heavy heart as well as trying our best to celebrate his life as fans.

RIP Chadwick Boseman aka the Black Panther. Yes, you are a complete stranger to us yet we feel like we know you because of the work you have left behind.

We read that “he prayed to be Black Panther before he was cast as the character...” Honestly, cannot imagine another person to play this role as his character on and off screen truly reflect what everyone is remembering (going to remember) him for, a king.

He set an example to a younger generation of what a true hero is. Not only through the role of Black Panther, but the numerous other roles such as Jackie Robinson, Stormin (Norman)... and most importantly himself. Did anyone know what he was going through? Probably not. Just a few. How tough was this man? Unexplainably tough. He worked through pain-physically, mentally, spiritually- and left his mark in history that we can all learn from.

Yes, all the haters can say that it is “just a character” and that he is “just a actor.” BUT why these artists are so important is what we hope people can understand. Artists like Chadwick Boseman gives us hope and power to dream on. Some kids in 20 years watching Black Panther for the first time will feel some type of way just like the kids from 2016. This is what art does. This is what the feeling of hype is close to. It’s inexplainable.

RIP Chadwick Boseman. Thank you. May your influence live on through good works. Sending love to all mourning.

The question of our generation (or any generation?) is how do we make that money. Terminologies like “hustle” or “invest” or “resell” comes to mind. Again, it’s no secret hype resellers of all walks make some extra money here and there. But people new to the world of hype might question “why” or “how?”

Why? We don’t have the answers to that. But it’s always good to ask “why” when you are spending your money in place you are not familiar with, especially if it’s a lot of it.

How? Again, don’t have the answers. But we ask all the time as well.

The following is just our interpretation of what might go on inside a mind of a (new) reseller:

1. See on popular social media news outlet that something “hot” is dropping!

2. **Scroll** See some comments, other posts regarding the same “hot” item

3. **Go Research the www** StockX, GOAT, Grailed, Ebay and decide whether this is worth it

4. Set alarms and make sure you are prepared for the drop

5. HOPE THAT YOU WIN

6. You don’t win because... the bots or just because no explanation

7. Go back on the www to see that it’s reselling for a lot more

8. Feel discouraged because you have lost again and can’t understand what the heck is going

In our opinion, to even begin explaining why there is a hype market, there would be no point. Why ask why when there is clearly an economy involving hype items. How? That’s where any people attempting to make some money in this game should start.

The Air Jordan 1; Known to most as “the most lucrative model of Air Jordans”

Although not all Air Jordan 1 have (extremely high) resell like the (infamous) Travis Scotts and Off-Whites, most Jordan 1s have popular demand driving a resell market.

Jordan 1’s (most) currently retail for $170 (+tax, shipping), and if you are lucky enough, you get the chance to buy for retail through Nike (SNKRS), FootLocker, etc.

Again, not that all shoes have “resell value,” but a lot seem to have a place in the aftermarket. For instance, recently, we had the Air Jordan 1 Retro OG CO.JP Tokyo release at $170 (August 7 2020). It is now averaging +$100 currently on the aftermarket (StockX/GOAT/Grailed...) after nearly a month now.

**If we do the math, factoring in size of the shoe, $170+tax for Size 9 Air Jordan 1 CO.JP Tokyo, resell value currently $268 (minus fees of 10% if you use mentioned platforms), end up with approximately $240 and make around $60. (Note: We still need to consider the the price changes it can go through because of other elements in the market)**

Now, for those not interested in any of this, it makes sense why it doesn’t make sense to pay more than what the shoe is worth when there are “plenty of other Nikes” and yes, that is a lot to wrap our heads around. BUT again this is the hype phenom.

There is obviously a lot of us who enjoy these items because we are able to wear them and don’t mind paying the extra money. However, there is also a side where we see the opportunity to make some extra money by holding on to these items and selling them later (or reselling). Now, is this fair to those who really want these shoes? Probably not. But guess that’s why there’s a famous saying that life ain’t fair and you need to be willing to play the game to win.