Ebay Find:- Orignal release FEIT kicks

Well a few weeks ago I was trawling ebay when I decided to search for my favourite brand of kicks *FEIT*. Much to my surprise there were a couple of kicks for sale and amazingly they were in my size and very cheap. When I saw the listing I noticed they were unworn, and new with tags. I promptly ordered both styles.

Now for those of you who don’t know the brand FEIT(pronounced fight), it was started back in 2005 by the Australian  brothers Josh and Tull Price. Tull had earlier had a lot of success with a brand he started back in 1996 with a friend he went to school with Rodney Alder. That brand was Royal Elastics. They decided to replace laces with an elastic panel and by 2001 they were selling around 1 million kicks a year, in 35 countries. Although by any standards Royal Elastic was a massive success it didn’t represent what Tull was passionate about, and that was quality, craftsmanship, and sustainability.

FEIT was born out of a desire to produce high quality shoes using traditional methods and high quality materials. This meant the shoes would be built to last, offer incredible comfort, and be an antidote to the mass-produced low quality shoes that have dominated the market for some time. Now I am old enough to remember my parents getting shoes re-soled at the local cobbler.

Very few cobblers exist today, as these days when your shoes ware out you(sadly) just throw them away but shoes built using traditional methods and the finest materials are shoes you could own for decades, not just  months.

When FEIT source materials, they are not only some of the finest materials available, they are also sustainable. They carefully cut the materials to make sure there is minimal waste and limit the run to a set number of shoes. This means once a run is made and sold, that particular shoe is no longer available. This is not about mass production.

So as  a collector of FEIT shoes(I have about 10 pairs) I had no idea what I had actually found until I actually got them. It turns out one pair is from the first ever run of FEIT shoes and the second pair is from the second run. The first pair are D2 Mountain:tek Counter 1’s in white

These have printed inside them and on the box label *The First Installment 040405*(4th April 2005) . This was made me think I may have accidentally stumbled upon the first run of FEIT kicks. Then I decided to check the other pair and they were from the second installment.

I then contacted Josh at FEIT and he confirmed I had indeed picked up the first kicks they ever made. He was also surprised at this crazy find.

The first pair has a Vibram sole and a leather upper, although the outer heal section has a hi tech dimpled  plastic material that feels like it will be very durable. Like all my FEIT’s these should also become even more comfortable with some use. Now I was hesitant to wear such a rare kick and thought about not wearing them but then I remembered that the seller had another identical pair for sale, so I jumped back on ebay and snapped them up. This second pair of first installments, I will keep new and unworn.

The pair I bought that were from the second run(installment) are Counter 1 G3 Tailored Khaki and have *Second Installment 080905* ( 8th of September 2005) on the box label. As I cannot get another pair of these it is doubtful I will wear these. These have a vibram sole and a seude upper and exhibit the same craftsmanship as I would expect being FEIT’s.

These very rare kicks must have come from a collector and IMO are worth far more to me than I paid for them. I feel very privelidged to have them in my collection.

 

 

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