My name is Steve, and I live in the United States. I was born and raised in Texas, but now live in Pennsylvania, near the city of Philadelphia. I’m 40, married, and have kids who are making their daddy proud with some of the sneakers they’re asking for!

I was in middle school in the early 90’s, and I remember the first pair of sneakers that hooked me — the Air Jordan 7, particularly the ‘Hare’ Jordans. They were the first sneakers I can remember wanting more than anything, but unfortunately, they were also my first L. By high school, I figured out how to make sure I copped every new Jordan, Air Max, or Foamposite that I wanted — work at a sneaker store. And in those few years, a passion for collecting sneakers was born.

I have at least one or two pairs of the major brands like Nike, Adidas, and New Balance — but my favorite brands are definitely PUMA, ASICS, and Saucony. My days of going after the hype sneakers are over, so some of the ASICS drops and the occasional Saucony collaboration are about as close as I come to the hype. PUMA Suedes and Clydes make up the majority of my collection; the silhouette is a classic, and the color combinations make them easy to collect. Plus, PUMA shared on their main Instagram account a very popular wheel pic I took of all my suedes a while back, and it’s hard not to really appreciate a brand that will share your posts on their main page every now and then.

What are your top three sneakers you own at the moment?

Top three according to the rest of the community and my top three are probably quite different! I think the community would vote the ASICS Gel-Lyte III x Bait “Teal Dragon” or Extra Butter “Copperhead.” Or the Saucony x Bodega Shadow 5000 “Teal” or Offspring Shadow 6000 “Stealth” might make it in. But my top three are just favorites for one reason or another. In no particular order my picks are the ASICS Gel-Lyte III “Snowman” for the colorway and the fact that it was one of the first GL3’s that hooked me on that model, the PUMA Clyde x Atmos “T.T.T.” because any sneaker with a Japanese ukiyo-e waterscape on it is a masterpiece, and the PUMA Clyde x Sam Rodriguez x 1800 Tequila “Cinco de Mayo” for its great colorway and art, but also because it was limited to 1,000 pairs and never retailed to the general public.

What do you plan on buying next?

We’ll see! My watch list is never exhausted, but I’m looking forward to the last few months of the Gel-Lyte III’s 30th anniversary, and I’ve been thinking about branching out into some more Adidas — particularly some Ultra Boosts, starting with their recent DNA x Parley “Cloud White.”

What are your expectations of the sneaker industry for the remainder of 2020?

Who knows? I have no real expectations, but I am interested to see if in-store shopping rebounds anytime soon. I live only an hour away from New York City and still haven’t made it to many of the world-renowned sneaker boutiques there!

If you could change one thing in the sneaker community, what would it be and why?

I know it’s business and it’s how marketing works, but I would change who gets the free sneakers — or at least have brands carve out some for the real sneakerheads. Instead of artists and celebrities getting them in exchange for an Instagram post or two before they never wear them again, it would be really special for long-time or avid collectors to get something as a simple ‘thanks’ every now and then. I know people who’ve been doing this a lot longer, and have collections that would swallow mine up, and they’ve never gotten anything. They don’t complain (much), but they still love the brand and I know how far it would go for the brand to show a little love back!

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