Have You Ever Seen White Adidas With Blue Stripes? Why Are They So Rare? PART TWO

February 11, 2022

#444

Dear reader,

Because this subject is near and dear to my heart, I have begun this second installment of the series the day after publishing the first one.

The first article, in case you have not seen it yet, can be found here:

The Robb Collections: Have You Ever Seen White Adidas With Blue Stripes? Why Are They So Rare? PART ONE

As mentioned in the first chapter, we walked the entire mall, and to my utter delight, (almost as if the sneaker gods were proving me wrong!) in one of the shoe stores they actually HAVE a pair of Adidas which are white with blue stripes! They are Superstars, which I like but don't like the thick "nose" which is ribbed. And not for your pleasure. And whatever fabric or leather the stripes and heal decoration were made from is furry. I did not buy them because they wanted $100 for them. Homey don't play that game.*

*I quoted Damon Wayans character, Homey the Clown from the wonderfully funny television show of the 1990's called In Living Color. Did you know that one of the Fly Girls was none other than Jennifer Lopez? And don't forget that Canadian comic genius, Jim Carrey had his US debut in the series and was hilarious in his many roles.

But I digress. Long time readers are familiar with my doing that. 

As I mentioned in most of the previous articles on my sneakers collection, my very first pair were ROM indoor soccer (football) shoes in white with blue stripes. Above is a brand new one and is one of the many "ORIGINALS" which Adidas capitalizes on with old folks like me who want to reexperience things they once had or coveted in their younger years.

Mine were made in Yugoslavia of kangaroo skin. Not that they are native to that area of the world. (I recently learned that Yugoslavia was a communist country, but it was never part of the Soviet Union. Which is how Adidas was able to build a factory there.) I, of course do not recall details of shoes I wore in elementary school in the 1960's other than the model and colors. 

In researching for these articles, I also looked for Yugoslav-made Adidas and found a number for sale on eBay. Which I will show you now.

If you wish to learn more about the former Yugoslavia and what became of it, Wikipedia's page can be seen here: Yugoslavia - Wikipedia

All of the following photos were made by the shoe's owners and I found on eBay. Since the US Supreme Court has ruled that any photo placed upon the Internet does NOT have copyright protection, I can freely share them with you.

Now, you may be thinking, "Wait a minute, if white with blue stripes are so rare, how are you able to find these pictures so easily?" I'm glad you asked. 

Firstly, eBay has become the world's largest Flea Market. There are billions of items on eBay on any given day. They have an excellent search engine and will find things on their sites in other countries to help potential buyers find what they seek.

NOTE: The adidas and ROM are printed differently than most of the shoes I will be showing you. Which indicates their being vintage.

Secondly, many of these particular shoes are either in Japan or within countries which made up Yugoslavia, such as Serbia. And the third reason will be revealed soon.

A couple of my ROMs have this dimpled leather tongue as well, but do not have anything printed on them.

Note that nothing is printed on the heel decoration panels.

I think this forlorn pair, which I recall are the ones in Serbia, most resemble my first pair in the 1960's.

These are the indoor soccer (football) soles that my original ones, plus the ones I bought in the 1970's and the ones I have now have contain.

Look closely and you can just see the adidas and ROM now quite faded.

Yes, looking at these, they are as close as I could find to what I recall.

This tongue resembles the ones on SAMBAs I have. They are quite stiff as this one appears to be.

This is a pair of track shoes, and that tongue appears to be fabric. These are the least expensive Yugoslavian made Adidas on eBay right now.

White with black stripes and also having the dimpled tongues. Note how far the suede toe pieces go towards the stripes compared to others. I don't think these are ROMs.

These are an incredible find having the original boxes. 

They are later models than most of the Yugo's since they have the three-leaves logos.

I never played indoor soccer, but my parents did (to my utter surprise, since they discouraged us from taking an interest in sports) sign me up for summer school to learn this new game called Soccer. 

That fall, they introduced it in PE (Physical Education or Gym) and since I knew how to play it, I watched in frustration as all the kids, save me and the goalies, were in a cluster chasing the ball all over the field. I yelled, "You have to stay in position!", to no avail.

Now, I have seen these soles on other vintage Adidas, but never on ROMs.

My original shoes may have had this type of label. But I clearly remember seeing kangaroo skin on a label. No photo of me from the 1960's exists with my Adidas on. However, in the 1970's my brother Jim shot this photo of me working on my 1941 Plymouth hot rod.

Six feet three inches tall and a whopping one hundred and fifty-five pounds well into my twenties. I look lean, but muscles are clearly there. See my Adidas? Those are too light to have been black stripes.

There is a book called Sneaker Wars, by Barbara Smit, which tells the tale of Adidas and PUMA and the two brothers who founded both companies. Nancy bought it for me and I learned so much! What I learned from the book especially, was to NOT BUY NIKE. The took over the industry and as a result, I boycott their products.

There is also and excellent film on Amazon Prime, made in Germany in German with English subtitles about the same story. 

I highly recommend checking it out. It is well done and very informative. 

I have three pairs of PUMA sneakers, two are driving shoes. I mentioned them in the first article but did not explain.

Real car enthusiasts, such as yours truly, drive cars with three pedals and a manual transmission. Or what we used to call "stick shift".

These are photos of the inside of my 2005 Volvo V50 T5 Sport. Which is a performance station wagon. Stop laughing, there ARE such things and Volvo along with other European car makers produce them. In the US, they are rare. Mine has a turbocharged five cylinder engine and a six-speed manual transmission.

The pedals are unusually small, but do the job. There is a technique called "heel and toe" in car racing in which all three pedals are worked at the same time. YouTube no doubt has videos showing the method. 

To truly enjoy working those three pedals while racing or driving enthusiastically, one should be able to feel the pedals.

I am wearing these POLO driving shoes right now. Normally, I do not wear shoes in the house. But felt like keeping them on since I put these on to go to the mailbox.

NOTE the rounded heels and very thin soles these shoes have. The better to feel the pedals and rotate one's feet doing heel and toe.

The soles could also be used on track shoes, since it looks like spikes would fit right in those round sections.

These are a pair of PUMA Ferrari driving shoes I used to have. Note how they, and the POLOs above, are form fitting and scarcely wider than the wearer's feet.

For some reason, PUMA splits the heels on some of their driving shoes. But, they are rounded, as all driving and racing shoes are.

A look through all the heels of these shoes, one can clearly see the rounded heels of the driving shoes. I count seven pairs. 

If you think about how we walk and the shapes of our feet, it makes sense that the heel shape of our shoes should mirror our feet. How many shoes have you worn the heels down from years of walking in them? Shoe companies, take note!

Once again, I have made this article longer than I planned AND, I have not told you reason three for white with blue stripes Adidas rarity. Which means, there will be a PART THREE.

Thanks again for reading my humble blog. I greatly appreciate it and all the comments left below or on Facebook.

Scott

February 11, 2022

#444

Have You Ever Seen White Adidas With Blue Stripes? Why Are They So Rare? PART ONE

February 10, 2022

#443

Gentle reader,

It's been many months since I've written, well it was "the holidays", but I have no excuse. It's good that I don't get paid for writing this blog, for I would go hungry.

I have done many things in my lifetime, few compared to some people, but many compared to others. Yet, I've only ventured outside the contiguous United States once, that was to the Bahamas for or honeymoon in January, 1996. Three weeks after the blizzard that started on our wedding night and dropped almost three FEET of snow in 48 hours, it was a great place to escape the mess. Plus, being snowbound for one's first week of marriage was not a bad thing.

I have been called a lot of things, most of them complimentary, except by my ex-wife. In my defense, the man she took up with after me, waited almost thirty years to marry her. So there is that. Some were, "charmer", "skinny", "loser", (that one because I was terrible at sports), "charismatic", "the most talented public speaker I have ever heard", that one by a man who teaches public speaking, "brilliant" and "inventive". The list could go on and on, I'll leave out the ones my ex- said. 

But, I digress.

This photo is not mine. It is the ONE photo I could find on line of Adidas Campus sneakers which are white with BLUE stripes and it was once in an eBay auction.

Now, you know this blog is called The Robb Collections, right? I chose the name after seeing the magazine-for-the-wealthy, called The Robb Report. UN-like this blog which is written by a Robb, the magazine has ZERO people who work for it named Robb. I checked, and asked them about it, but they declined to respond.

So, it is usually about our (Nancy and my) collections. Many of which, at least in my case, were unintended ones. That is the case when it comes to sneakers. Almost seven years ago, I first wrote about Adidas and sneakers in general here:

The Robb Collections: I was an elementary school trendsetter! ADIDAS and driving shoes collection.

Oh, yes, part of my collection is driving shoes. And yes, that IS a thing. In fact, we actually walked the mall yesterday. The ENTIRE mall, because she was looking for a specific kind of purse, better than the one she was wearing. Yes, wearing. When we met in 1994, she had a brown leather backpack/purse. The straps could be zipped together for one shoulder use, or apart for the more secure and better for you, two shoulder wearing. She was able to find one recently but...never mind. In the process, we entered a lot of shoe stores, even a PUMA store which I had never done. They had a section called "MOTORSPORTS" because PUMA has a history making driving shoes which are Ferrari branded. I have owned a few pair. Lately, they have teamed with BMW. They had one pair I coveted, but not $90.00 coveted.

Where was I. Oh, yes. Adidas in white with blue stripes. They STILL make and sell the CAMPUS model, in different variations and colors and types of leather. Even multiple colors. But not white with blue stripes.

We had, last weekend, visited one of the local thrift stores. When we walked in, seated upon a couch for sale was a teen couple, both wearing Adidas and looking at their phones. The girl had white ones with blue stripes. For a second I thought to speak to her as to how rare white and blue Adidas are, then thought better.

I always look for interesting sneakers when in such stores. To my UTTER surprise was a pair, in my size, of white and blue Adidas!

This looks odd, I know. The CAMPUS I found are on the right. The only other leather Adidas I have are the pair of GAZELLEs which Nancy bought for me. She paid too much, but she say's I'm worth it. With them are one of the pairs of ROMs I have, in much more common white with red stripes.

I hesitated to get the CAMPUS (at $17.50, a bargain) because they had some pink stuff on the laces and on some of the white leather. But, since I felt I was destined to find them, get them we did and were able to clean the pink off easily, although not even soaking in bleach would remove it from the laces. Easy fix, new ones.

Inside newer Adidas inside the tongue is a label with a QR code, and other information including the build dare. The CAMPUS reads: 07/07. The GAZELLE state: 04/16* and the ROM shows: 01/03. * The GAZELLE date reassured me that Adidas was not using the European or other method of dating since there is no 16th month of the year.

The ROM were made Indonesia, the GAZELLE in Viet Nam and the CAMPUS in India. My first pair in the 1960's were made in Yugoslavia of Kangaroo hide. 

That last part got me to thinking, "Are there still Adidas out there for sale which were also made in the now-nonexistent country?" Why, yes, there are. And I snagged photos of them. But, first more photos of my new-to-me, CAMPUS:

I like the reflections, do you? Another thing, NO other CAMPUS did I see which feature the black soles with white bottoms. And I looked at a lot of them. Gotta' love the Internet.

My theory as to these shoes is based upon the evidence. Firstly, they were laced by a teen male with the visible laces going side-to-side rather than like they are now. The remains of the laces were inside the shoe. Why kids think the laces look cool that way is beyond me. Plus the laces inside the shoes would drive me crazy to feel! 

Next, the pink stuff. I think his girlfriend or maybe a sister, spilled something pink on the shoes and he would not wear them like that. They ARE fifteen years old now, and they may have sat in a closet for a very long time. The now fully-grown man came across them, probably still thought there was no way to clean off that pink stuff and donated them.

The "noses" of the shoes which were on eBay seem a lot thicker to me that these sport. Do they to you?

I have no way of knowing whether the blue and white laces on the eBay shoes are the way they came new, either.

And now some comparative photos of the GAZELLE sneakers.

I really prefer sneakers which do not have large features, such as high-tops and running shoes. But, Nancy has bought me a number of running Adidas. Do you think she is trying to tell me something?

The Adidas logo has changed a lot since 1949. I call this one the poison ivy logo since there are three leaves.

Now, my very first Adidas (I did not get another pair until the mid-1970's when I had a job and could afford to buy my own) were white with blue stripes ROM models. That is the German (Deutsch) spelling of ROME. My best fiend's dad was a runner, something unusual in the 1960's, but we're talking, California, here. He had white/blue ROMs and I coveted them. My one-and-only-aunt, Ardith, adored me (to the day she died) and when I mentioned wanting some, she gave me twenty dollars to buy them! That equates to $170 in 2022 dollars. She really loved me.

Davey, my best friend, set out to find a shoe store with Adidas. I did find and buy some and that story is the basis of my first article (this is the 6th) about sneakers and my unintended collection of them.

Now, as mentioned, Adidas, a German company, has been making and selling shoes, (and more) since 1949. They have made countless styles in those seventy-three years. I have searched their website and just generally looked for Adidas in white with blue stripes sneakers and found very few. 

Since this article has run rather long, and since I have SO much more to show and tell you, I will make this a two-part article.

In the mean time, here are links to the previous five articles in order: 

The Robb Collections: I was an elementary school trendsetter! ADIDAS and driving shoes collection.

The Robb Collections: My wife shows once again how awesome she is: Sneaker collection rack!

The Robb Collections: Sneakerheads: My Collection has Grown and Changed. Adidas, Puma, Geox, Sketchers and More!

The Robb Collections: Sneakerheads: My Wife is Buying Adidas And MORE New Adidas Join the Unintended Collection.

The Robb Collections: Adidas Fame and International Appeal Cannot Be Denied. Found: Adidas Tokio Solar HM, A Collaboration with Japanese Firms

Lastly, when adding anti-slip tape to the shoe rack's rods, and thus having to remove all the shoes, I realized I was doing it ALL wrong. If you have a shoe rack, (which Nancy surprised me with!) one would think it should be like this, right?

Wrong!

If you reach down to pick up a pair of shoes, how do you do it? Stick your fingers in the hole at the back end of the shoes, where your heels fit. Right? That being said, having the shoe's HEELS facing you is the right way to remove and insert the shoes. Granted, it looks odd, but who else is going to see it? Oh, right, you are. But, it's not like I'm going to drag you into our bedroom to show you.

So, until PART TWO, take care and thank you for taking the time to read my humble blog.

Scott

February 10, 2022