Nike Dunks SB

The Nike SB Dunk has become a popular "subcultural" icon for so-called sneakerheads, or enthusiastic sneaker-collectors.

Style

The Nike Dunk SB has been offered nearly in every colorway on the planet. From graffiti artists to the skateboarding and basketball spectrums – many have created customized Nike Dunk SB tailored to appeal to their individual sub-cultures. As simple as these sneakers seem, Dunks are super hot and seemingly every hipster from east to west owns at least one pair.

History

Nike's basketball shoe line became fairly popular in the skateboarding scene. The Dunk became a popular shoe for skateboarders due to the stability and lower profile sole, which improved grounding performance. After some time, Nike created a Dunk specifically for skateboarders, known as the Nike SB Dunk. It featured an extra-padded "puffy tongue" (common among skateboarding sneakers) and Nike's patented Zoom Air insole. Since then, SB Dunk has become a sneaker phenomena and one of the highest selling sneakers of the decade.

Price

The SB Dunk retails on average between $65.00 - $99.00; relatively low for sneaker standards. However, since they’re popular among collectors and skateboarders alike, many stores tend to raise the prices on the shoes based on how high the demand is. This happens when a shoe is "hyped" up, or overly talked about and anticipated, therefore justifying a much higher prices by the masses than suggested retail. Hype is considered "dangerous" by many sneaker enthusiasts, due to the fact that Nike has lowered the quality of materials and manufacturing for the Nike SB Dunk since the first generation of shoes were released. When the prices of the shoes sold by stores hike higher and higher; some of the more rare, "limited", or hyped shoes sell for over a thousand dollars a pair.* Info from Nike

A Word on Hype

When you buy a pair of Nike Dunks, buy them because you like the colors and overall style of the shoe, not because they are hyped up on countless blogs. Usually, that same colorway will be re-created under a new name with a slightly different edge or different colored laces. Often, it will occur only a moth or two from the original limited edition design release. There’s only so much you can keep creating using the same sneaker canvas. Think about it. Be a smart sneaker shopper. Don't buy into hype. There will always be hot sneakers coming out of Nike – and often the limited edition you may have missed a chance on will reappear as a regular edition with only a slight design variation.