These are both a Retro, but not really a retro, as the material used are really odd and cool in great ways.
I think the Forum 84 Low Jerremy Scott Pink is super underrated colorway. It is sensationally cool in person; I get many compliments whenever I wear them outside. The Club C Revenge Jurassic World colorway is cool too, but not comfortable enough for me to keep these in my office or house. Now, my rooms are fully occupied with my shoes and PC parts, and it is really difficult for me to even move around my rooms. So, I am trying to limit my collection of shoes to just a bit below 50 pairs mark, now it is like 134 pairs after I've managed to sell about 79 pairs in last year, and 97 pairs in this year. Actually, my last shoe purchase was Adidas Superstar 82 Cream colorway, and I did not realize how great these shoes were until last week. These Superstar 82 were super comfy, super well-made, reasonably priced and a super classic-timeless design. I was positively surprised about them.
But will I collect these? Definitely no, these are great for everyday stuffs, but not great for just collecting just like Adidas' another super classic the Forum 84 Low.
So, now I think the real reason behind their unpopularity among the internet forums is that they do make too practical timeless shoes, not flashy just collectible shoes.
Most internet forums love flashy gaudy shoes, while the real shoe market prefers versatile timeless classic shoes. But it may be changing as the Samba OG has been steadily increasing its online presence and status. Samba OG is now one of the most popular Adidas silhouettes online and among hi-fashion people. That may change the trend and hype- magnetic shoe trend for the new year.
We are still not very sure about it yet, but I think I've missed out something very special or important to me due to my narrowmindedness and y2k trend obsession.
I think I should have tried the Superstar much earlier. I remember I loved them when I was like 16, then I moved to NB and then never looked back the Adidas Classic. But unlike many NB, Nike or Puma shoes, some Adidas classics are really timeless, always cool, always well-made, never influenced much by the trend of a time.
I think the Forum is now becoming one of these true Adidas Classics. And these Forums and Superstars make me a bit humbler and a bit more honest with my real feeling about my recent fashion choices.
The Vomero 5, the 1906R, the P6000 and the 2002R, etc. are my real favorite shoes as these are super comfy and Ilike shiny materials often used in these y2k shoes, but these are far from the real classic status shoes, they will always be influenced by the trend of a given time.
Honestly, no one knows people will still love the NB 1906R or 2002R next year. But we all know that these real timeless classics like the Jordan 1 Hi (hate that shoes, but have to admit these are a true timeless classic), the Dunk Low, the Superstar, the Forum 84 Low, the Club C, the 990V3, V4 and V2, the 991, the 993, the Puma Suede, the Stan Smith, the Samba OG, etc. never die or completely go out of fashion in near future.
And I kind of think the actual most popular shoes outside of the sneaker forum world are these shoes like the airmax 1, the airmax 90, the Superstar, the AF1 Low, the Jordan 1 Hi, the Dunk Low and the Puma Suede. At least in Asia, these shoes are super popular among non-hyperbeasts or non-sneakerheads people. We are too obsessed with a given trend of any given time, so we often forget to see the big picture, but in real world at our or your local malls, these shoes are really best-selling shoes much more popular than the 990 v6 or Vomero 5 or any super hyped shoes like the new jjjjound 998. I never like the brand from Canada, but they are definitely one of these most hyped street brands and they definitely contributed a lot to the current NB popularity.
Anyway, what I am trying to say here is those hyped shoes are not real best sellers and not the really most popular shoes of all time. Often people forget about that, and many hyperbeast forum kids just mock the timeless shoes, but they are indeed the most iconic and timeless designs to many of Normal people. I never really realized that myself until I recently bought a pair of Superstar 82 cream and a pair of black and chalk Forum 84 Low. Also, many people think the NB 550 is in that true timeless category, and I hope they become one of these, but I doubt that. I think they are still not a true classic yet; they need to be tested with time. Who knows next year no one will talk about the 550 silhouette although I may still love that clean and comfortable nice silhouette. Even now, we can easily see some signs of declining popularity of these shoes at Reddit and other sneaker related forums.
Personally, the NB boom will last for many more years to come, but I am not that optimistic, and therefore, I have sold many pairs of my 550's especially those unpopular colorways like the Tan/mustard yellow, the pink /white, etc.
So, it may be wrong to compare the 550 series vs the Forum or the AF1 as the AF1 and the Forum have been two true very iconic timeless silhouettes already since about early 80's, but the 550 is relatively a new silhouette that may never be successfully popularized without some help from ALD and Teddy Santis. NB claims these were their classic 1989 shoe silhouette, but almost none of us who actually lived that time as a teen or a small boy like myself did not even remember about them at all. I think that means they were not very popular even back then. I think the Asics EX89 is also very similar to the 550, no one really knows about that silhouette back then, I never saw them when I was 6 years old boy at the time. Maybe I was just too young to even remember those shoes, but I was already quite obsessed with shoes back then, so if I saw the EX89 or the 550 in 1989, I think I would definitely remember about them. Asics claims they never released the EX89 outside of NA, but even then we should have heard something about that if they really existed in 1989.
So, I do not consider the NB550 and the Asics EX89 as a true classic like the Forum 84 or the AJ1.
Anyway, I am really glad I've actually tried the Superstar 82 again myself as that silhouette kind of brought me back to my high school era.
My grandmom bought a pair of the black& white Superstar for me when I was 16y/o (for my first movie out with friends after dark). RIP, grandmom, we still always love you very much.
The Forum 84, the Superstar 82, the AF1 Low, the Jordan 3, etc. are very important and iconic shoes to me as they've spent much of my important time with me in my early life.
I am not sure if I can see the 550, the EX89, the Slipstream, etc. in the same way as I see the J3 or Forum 84 or the NB 990 V2, as I have never spent any really important moment in them when I was happiest in my life.
I think both the NB 550 and Asics EX89 look quite stunning and love them both, but I am not sure how long they will be considered to be still cool. I think I can say the same to many of the current trendy shoes like the Solomon X2, the Nike Vomero 5, the NB 1906R, the NB 90/60, etc.
I love all of them, but they have never lived with me in my high school and college years.