Ross Dwyer
Rare Doesn’t Mean Fresh
Over these last few months, I’ve seen a lot of people being chided on their sneaker choices. There seems to be this school of thought that a sneaker can only be considered “heat” if it’s rare. People feel like if a sneaker is a GR then that makes it less fresh for some reason.
This school of thought irritates me, and I’m here to make a counter-argument. I feel that a shoe’s exclusivity has nothing to do with how dope it might be. Here’s why.
If something’s whack, it’s whack. Limited quantities should not make a sneaker any more appealing. If you buy a sneaker just because it’s rare and not because you like it, what does that make you? You’re right, it makes you a hypebeast. As much as I don’t care to throw that term around that’s pretty much the dictionary definition: someone who buys something because it’s limited, not because they like it.
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KicksOneTwo Founder and Editor, Ross Dwyer: About Me
Hey, I’m thrilled that you’re here. I’m looking forward to bringing you my thoughts and opinions on the culture that I love so much and providing quality content. A little background on me: I’m 26 years old, and have been collecting sneakers/obsessing over streetwear for over a decade (since I was 15 to be specific). If I could only wear three shoes for the rest of my life they would be:
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Air Jordan I’s
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Vans Sk8-Hi’s
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Adidas Gazelles
I’ve enjoyed basketball since I was young, and always took note of what my favorite players (Allen Iverson, and Kevin Garnett, to name two) were wearing. When I started working in a shoe store as a 15 year old, it was a wrap. I started buying every sneaker I’d ever wanted since I finally had a little bit of pocket money to spare, and my passion/obsession (depends on who you ask) only grew from there.
I’ve always enjoyed expressing myself through my words, and always knew that I could do better than the mediocre to (let’s be completely honest here…) poor writing and grammar that I see on some of the bigger sneaker sites. Although I’d mulled around the idea of starting my own site to broadcast my take on our culture for quite a while, I didn’t get the push I needed to go through with it until Spring 2014.
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TCSAX 3 Recap
On May 4, 2014, the Minnesota sneaker community converged on the Cabooze for the third installment of Studiiyo23’s sneaker convention, known as TCSAX (Twin Cities Sneaker Art Exchange). With dope sneakers, local clothing brands, good food and music, and great people under one roof, it was an afternoon to remember: 
The crowd was thick, as folks from all walks of life came to check out the sneaker and art tables 
The MyWay Co team was on hand with their new tees and stickers 
Joel and Niles from Create Karma, always affable. Good people. 
Driftline (and their beautiful booth host Megan) showed love like always. 
The homie Spencer brought a table full of heat 
Spencer was hurting feelings. 
The good folks at Scotty Piff brought out kicks of all flavors 
Did we mention there was art too? Studiiyo23‘s own Taylor Lindgren premiered some crazy new 8-bit style work. 
Ryan Fors also debuted some new prints at the event 
More dope work from Ryan 
Salvatore was in the building repping Minneapolis Customs with a table full of insane hand-painted kicks 
My personal favorite. Biggie AND Pac on a pair of kicks? Instant victory. 
Andrew of Pyro Styles Glass had a table as well. Yes, that is a custom handmade Nike glass piece he’s rocking. 
And finally…onto the music. Nachturnal getting ready to rock the stage. 
Phil and Mickey of Nachturnal 
Mickey spitting 
KicksOneTwo homie A-Slim showing love during his set. 
Create Karma’s Niles Miller turning up. 
Work Hard and Stay Humble. 
Preaching
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Wear What You Like: Elitisim in the Sneaker Culture
We’ve all seen him: The guy who thinks he’s stunting on everyone, walking down the hall with a swagger in his step.
Then you look down at his feet, and he’s got something horrible on. Flight 45’s, Prime 5’s, or some other gross team Jordan, possibly covered with some ill-fitting, way too big, early 00’s style denim. I’ll be the first to admit it. It’s hard to not laugh at those people sometimes. Those of us “in the know,” if you will, wouldn’t be caught dead with something like that on our feet, and can’t fathom why anyone else would wear them either. But hang on…
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Release Calender: May 6th-11th
May 6th
None
May 7th
None
May 8th
None
May 9th
Nike Lebron 11 Elite “Hero Collection”-$275
Nike Kobe 9 Elite “Hero Collection”-$225
Nike KD 6 Elite “Hero Collection”-$200
Nike Air Griffey Max 1 “Black/Laser Crimson/Atomic Mango”-$150
Reebok Blacktop Boulevard “White/Red/Black”-$100
Reebok Blacktop Boulevard “Black/White”-$100
Reebok Battleground “White/Black/Purple”-$125
Reebok Battleground “Black/Teal/Purple”-$125
May 10th
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Welcome to KicksOneTwo!
Hey, you…yeah YOU! Welcome to KicksOneTwo, your one-stop shop for everything and anything a Twin Cities sneakerhead needs. Our goal is to bring you high-quality content about what’s going on in our scene, from local sneaker news to interviews and event recaps.
KicksOneTwo was born out of a desire to give our community a voice. We’ve got lots of great people, places, and events here in our community, and the KicksOneTwo staff feels that the things that make our scene so great deserve coverage. A lot of hard work has gone into the site to make it the best it can be, and we’re ready to shine the light on our community!
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All The Heat That’s Fit to Photograph
Check back here for pictures of the latest releases, as well as snaps of classic sneakers that shaped our culture.
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Sneakerheads, Hip Hop Artists, Movers and Shakers
Check back. We’ll have conversations here with sneakerheads, hip hop artists, movers and shakers.All coming to you from the 612.
Our first interview is with Adam Westermann, coming soon.
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