Have you ever had a pair of shoes stolen and did you get them back?

"I have a hard time believing NIKE sold directly to Ben" Like Ann herbet's son wasn't just caught red handed

thank you guys so much for picking my question! I’m so stoked to get the shoes, they look incredible!

Welty has definitely backdoored a couple pairs of spezials in the past.

"I don't fault anyone for being upset" - softest take imo. These days they want you to eat up their marketing and jump through hoops while they hold your money and make you beg for the privilege to give it to them. What a joke

It's not the photo but what it represents. It shows multiple store allocations which are being backdoored to one person. Then we have to pay 3-5x or more for a particular sneaker & if we're unable or unwilling we're stuck trying to cop of SNRKS which if you're a sneaker fan will leave you w/ anger issues & ultimately PTSD. And the problem is getting worse, ppl including myself are no longer as passionate & or are totally off the Nike all together.

There’s only 3 options: 1. Chris backdoored to him. It was a Union exclusive release after all. 2. Nike fed Ben to escalate hype. 3. They’re fake- which I highly doubt given who he is.

The problem is if Ben Kickz didn't get the shoes, then there's plenty more people in line who want his spot. It's been happening for ages - how does everyone get the PE's from back in the day? The only way to beat this is to not buy any shoes from these people - and that is just not going to happen.

I been a sneaker head for years and I believe in the culture, but this back door garbage is what killing the culture and killing the passion I have for sneakers.

Sneakerheads and outsiders beef with Benkicks and ppl like him who take advantage of something we loved for decades, turned into a hustle which I'm not mad at, but "they" take it to another level. From bots, inside people, or literally having their mom work at nike. He said himself he got in this in 2014/16 and I'm for newcomers but to see him get defended, and praised by those who gatekeep the culture saddens me, they play a role in the game dying. Backdoors always been around but now only certain folks have access and have a high percentage of inventory of most releases and run the market price

I worked at DSG during high school as a footwear lead. We had a manager who was yokeeeeed and had a guy try and run out with a bunch of merchandise. He was able to beat the thief to the front and bear tackled him before he made it out the door. Unfortunately, they let him go as the rules at the time stated no employee was allowed to physically stop a customer from stealing. The stealing had been a trend in our store so for him I bet it it was 10000% worth it.

@ 12:00 wait.......so, Ben Kick's inventory is "grey market"......and everybody else's kicks are fakes/UA's/knockoff??? I'm not Mr. UA at all. But, if we are saying Ben Kicks and these other guys are getting legit "grey market" pairs the guys at the lower end can't be selling fakes if they are all coming from the same factory. It's either all fakes from the same factory or none of them are fakes as long as they come from the same factory where the brands make their product. As far as Ben Kicks, as long as you can make 💰 reselling sneakers there will be a Ben Kicks. No big deal.

Loved their take on the back dooring. I never really thought of the factory’s or grey market stuff

Love the show, watch it weekly religiously! Thank you so much for the content!

We can complain about the back door stuff but it’s never going to change. No one can technically “stop” Marcus jordan and Ben kickz has been doing this his whole life

prefontaine!! referring to Steve was pure nostalgia for me

Going to NYC next weekend it would be brazy if I ran into any of these goats of the sneaker game great episode

JLP the Glizzy Gladiator

I don't know what 'backdooring is' , but judging by the thumbnail, these guys all engage in heavy amounts of it.

What I think a lot of the issue is with the botched Union 2 drop is that Union, up to this point, has been very customer-first with their releases (from what I've heard, at least). The drops for the AJ4s they came out with a couple of years ago were set up specifically to get them into the hands of real fans and not bots/resellers, and this fiasco with Benjamin Kickz has really stained Union's reputation as a store that stands with its fans.

Welty’s tweet was my eBay question a couple of weeks ago. Where are my free shoes at?

Beautiful sneaker give away ! Love the kick game today as always ! I don't think I've have any sneakers stolen from me so can't answer ! I can literally just listen to you guys for hours man ! Man Oreo 4's are so beautiful, I completely understand Joe. Worn my pair plenty of times ! But the only pair i have multiples of are Infrared 6's also my favorite sneaker of all time ! Another amazing episode !

glad you talking about sonny movie!! was hoping that would get some airtime this week

As a grocery manager it’s the shrink talk I come for

Been waiting for y'all to speak on this 👀

The FSR editor would have made a good job of that welty stole Bredans Gazelles moment 😆

My supreme light blue long sleeve MC Escher will never be forgotten.

i had my 2004 playoff 12s stolen from my apartment while i was in drug rehab years ago. i just hit for the recent release so they are replaced, but at the time those were my ball shoes, that hurt

If I were to get shoes from Union, the first thing I would say is that I didn’t get them from Union.

Another great pod, been saving my question submission but had to submit when i saw next weeks giveaway shoe.. fingers crossed!

I completely agree with JLP on the supreme Brazil sb dunks. I wasn’t expecting to like them as much as I did but that colorway really makes the shoe . I wear my pair a couple times a week now .

Yeah there is nothing like risking your life for a pair of sneakers which doesn't even belong to you but rather to faceless corp which BTW is making millions by paying you sub par wages & a very small % in commissions. Also a manager is not suppose cosplay as a security as well. 🤦‍♂️ Welty never seems to miss when it comes to giving a steaming pile of take.

Heard someone say he may get all the B-Grades that don’t pass QC which makes it worse that he selling them for top$$&$

Good stories require good storytelling. Appreciate the mention JLP....Brendan, if you're looking to expand the IMDB...... 😉

Anytime you can simply buy something and sell it and double your money people are going to figure out ways to do it over and over. Been seeing these Freshgoods New Balance collabs. Which one y'all think is the best? Outside clothes might be mine. But I'm digging the new 550s too.

YOU HAVE A MASSIVE FAN BASE IN AFRICA.

What color pants does Dunn have on? Matt’s ASICS are freshhhhh

Brendan doing the Prefontaine in a pair of concept preMontreal that would be dope! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

fresh Sneaker Talks has dropped.😌💖

Question for next pod: whats the longest time you should hold out on wearing a pair? I’d say a year…..but I waited about two years to wear the 3m aj1’s, cuz i knew i had back to back weddings but covid postponed the dates. Wear yo kicks!!

I wonder what the backdooring is like at the factories, the fake game is petty good, getting the real shoe from insiders from the warehouse to copycat the sneaker insert DHGate. How many times have shoes been retro'd in the factories, with authentic brand of choices materials and moulds.

The Ben Kickz thing had to be planned lol “So how about that Ben Kickz photo this week?!” Oh, what do you know Ben is calling me now lol

Can we get some photos of dune's desk? Seems like each episode they talk about how crazy packed it is with shoes. Ha.

What do you guys honestly think about the Nike x Clot Air Max 1 Solar Red and its other colorways that do have the transparent toe box?

Welty was off that lean 😩😂

Another cool episode. Was wondering why you can’t say rich maze lopez name on here or FSR? Is that cause of legal things or your guys choice not to

i worked at greenbriar mall in atlanta. champs sports. my manager ran after someone that stole something. crazy times.

Could you guys please talk about the 2017/2016 era of sneakers?

18:03 how to enter Sneaker giveaway

Song in the beginning please?

4:25. Make it happen Love Welty Mentioned Arlo Eisenberg. I was just playing aggressive inline on my ps2 a few hours ago.

I hope Dunne wasn’t kidding about the neckface dunks

With the latest Union online release in shambles, if you guys could have any rare pair of shoes backdoored what pair would they be?

I used to take out the trash all the time working at sneaker stores. Lol.

Need to hear the ending of that raisin Phil Knight story

Brenden, my name is Brandon diaz and I will get your autograph this year at complexcon. Manifestation is key

For the love of god expand the eBay comp to worldwide

Trust goes out the window when you lose something and than realize it was stolen. Prime example. Lose the remote when you got company😂😂😂 you going to ask everybody to get up

those paperboys, SHEESH!

ben kicks what a herb.

Podcast 101, put the phone to the mic. Come on jlp! 😂

I’ve bought multiples of photo blue Air Max Deluxe. That shoe is a neck snapper

Those 991’s are nice

Yea I have like 5 pairs of all black vapor max and all black air max 96

*Shout out to Fedex in Beltsville, Md for delivering my Midas Touch dunks to a public space & getting them stolen by someone's grandfather!*

Alright, so I'll keep posting this on every episode in 2022 until eBay and Complex let overseas folks participate in the giveaway... If we can sell on eBay and pay fees, we should be able to participate.

Am I the only one who cannot find the Sonny Vaccaro episode?

Wondering if y'all have a favorite city that you go to get good eats, nice kicks, and are a favorite vacation?

Do you think Nike basketball can ever get back to their golden era of the 2010s? Also what was your favorite nike basketball shoe from that era?

I had a pair of kyrie 1 Allstars stolen from highschool gym locker room

Welty double cupped up in honor of future dropping?

If there was never a michael jordan what do you think sneaker culture would be like? 30+ years and still selling out

Ben is probably talking about a distributor warehouse

The backdoor has been around since Yeezy was first released, there's nothing wrong with that. I think if you have a connection with the brand, you will do the same. but the problem now because Nike refunds all orders, that's makes a lot people going mad with the person who did the backdooring.

I bought oreo jordan 4 because of JLP now I think about to buy CDG 95

good video

What's better than this, guys bein dudes

Welty works out in NB 990 confirmed

Ben paid $1,500 per pair for a flop Union selling for less than $400…like his man Khalid said: “Congratulations…you played yourself”

sooooo sneaker culture is just for those that can afford resale or have friends that send gifts, who doesnt like sneakers and just can't afford them because guys like benkicks

What’s the biggest come up that you acquired via trading sneakers with your friends? Also do you still trade sneakers til this day?

I know where he gets them. I know where I can get all of them. Not back door not Nike. Yes authentic.

90% of these resellers are selling fakes! I don't get how people don't see it!

At my job as a Chef I smell each food item before giving it to waitres. I sniff as hard as possibl so I can smell the food

Brazil Supreme 👌🏻

Westchester isn’t upstate! Gotta Relax Mr. Dunne

GOOD WILL HUNTING!?

Union sold to Ben

" did you snitch? "

Dunne, shut up! Always interrupting dude! Can you let Joe finish a thought? Lol

Hello complex to you know legit tim ?

Salam sejahtera untuk semua 🙏

Man y’all in these comments and these fake morals 🤣🤣🤦🏾‍♂️

What kinda backdooring 🧐

Slide for von

If I submit a question and they pick my question AND give me NB I’ll throw them in the trash.

China playing all you all 🤣🤣🤣🤣

you could literally replace welty with a empty chair and id be completely fine lol im sorry

Get big Biden voter vibes from Dunne

....😏 Maybe We're The 1st Spiritist* Pop-Metal Or Rock Band In This World But Don't Pay Much Attention To Our Neanderthal English, HaHa ❤️ HaHa *NOTE: Spiritist is who professes Spiritism, the Gospel continuation It has began with the books by Allan Kardec and continued in the books by Francisco C. Xavier, the greatest and more important medium/prophet of spirits of the last centuries....