First of all, could you please introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Riky from Indonesia, 34 years old. I work as an employee at a national electricity company. I love sneakers since elementary school because of the influence of my father who is a volleyball athlete. I remember my first sneaker was a white LA Gear with LED lights in the midsole

What is the community like in Indonesia, do you have any favourite local shops?

Indonesia has several sneaker communities based on sneaker brands and has one large community consisting of sneaker lovers from various brands. people know him by the name of IST, Indonesia Sneaker Team. Lately, sneaker retail stores have started to appear in Indonesia, apart from official dealers, there are also retailers, both national and international, such as Invincible and Atmos for my favorite too.

You seem to have a special love for New Balance, why is that?

Actually, I collect sneakers other than New Balance such as ASICS and Diadora. But I'm interested in New Balance because of the material, shape, and colorway factors. somehow many of the new balance releases have a contrasting but solid colorway. and I like that. Coupled with the materials used such as leather, nubuck, suede, mesh, etc. I think the materials used are better than other brands even though it's a General Release. and the last shape, I really like the shape of New Balance especially the classic series like 1500, 998, 997. very sharp and nice

How many NBs do you have in your collection?

I currently have maybe around 30 pairs and maybe it will increase

What was your favourite pickup of 2021?

2021 is not really my sneaker year because this pandemic requires me to set aside money for the extra health aspect. There are 2 of my favorite pickups in 2021, M1500BTG and M991SRG. Both have colorways, materials, and shapes that I really like

Is there anything, in particular, you are excited about in 2022?

In 2022, I hope that the pandemic will end soon and will return to normal as before so that social interaction activities such as hanging out with other hobbyists can be more flexible. and hopefully this year's New Balance release will bring out a lot of classic silhouettes with new colorways, especially in the customize segment, which has stopped operating since the pandemic

What is your favourite pair in your collection?

My favorite New Balance sneaker actually has several in each series but my favorite is the M1500GMN

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