buying "vintage" shoes from Road Runner Sports

I was told by someone in the shoe business that if a merchandiser is "big" enough, shoe companies will manufacture a model for that merchandiser alone if the merchandiser requests them to. Here in the east there's chain called Bob's Stores which sell a lot of athletic shoes and apparently have some that are their "own", though the shoes are from the manufacturers that we all know. So I'd guess RRS has the same deal going.

For example, the Brooks Cheetah II has been off the market since maybe the mid 90s(?) I can't imagine that they'd have stockpiled enough of them to last until now.

Still making them, I would imagine. I seriously doubt RRS would still has some huge stock of Brooks Chariots sitting around in their warehouse from the 80's. The ones RRS sells are probably just a limited production run, one which offers a decent return to the manufacturer as the costs are very low to keep producing a long-ago-developed product that still sells well.

You need to talk to some of my shoes that are getting near 10 years old about that "one year on average" shelf life.

I buy the "classic" Asics Cumulus II through RRS and never had any problems with them. Seem like new, which I hope they are! In other words I don't see a shelf life problem.

I've bought several pairs of those retarded-looking Saucony's they always sell for like $40. No shelf-life problems. However, if people see you in them, they might kick your ass.

I believe the shoe companies make the "classics" sold by RRS. I still buy the Asics 2020 from RRS and have had no problems whatsoever. They look and smell brand new.

They are brand new...in fact, if you look at the 2020s, the model number is something like 2020-RRS. Meaning, 2020 for Road Runner Sports. But I am puzzled why some folks want some vintage 1980s shoes...but hey, if it floats your boat, go with it!

Actually you are all correct with the shoe companies producing us shoes based on what we want. They do produce those shoes for us still because they sell really well, we are a business here and we need to make money.

Also if anyone has comments or suggestions i will personally tell the owner myself and try to get those t everyone's specifications.

I thinks it's great that RRS/Kelly's has the old shoes. There's nothing more annoying than finding a good shoe and then 6 months later the manufacturer changes or discontinues it... Personally, I'd like to request that RRS/Kelly's keeps the Supernova Classic (98) available. It's a great shoe.

RRS,

Is there any way to get some pre-gel models from Asics/Tiger, especially the lighter ones, into the classics? I have a pair of Explorers that I run in sometimes and the feel is so much better than the gel models. If the old ones aren't available, is there any chance of importing some of the non-gel models they sell in Japan?

No, I am sorry there is no way to import the pre-gel models. A couple of people have asked for them but not enough to actually purchase them and sell them for us to make a profit on them. And about the importing the shoes from Japan I'll have to ask the Asics rep, I believe he is due in sometime before December 10th.

Would they have to be imported from Japan? That would mean they'd cost a fortune as you'd have to buy them from a Japanese distributor. Couldn't you just buy them from the Chinese or Taiwanese factory that makes them?

It's no big deal, just curiosity. Asics/Tiger was always the brand I used most. But I've given up on them as the gel seems to have caused some problems for me.