Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 1

Have you ever thought about the things you love, and how they were made? Have you ever thought about how those things changed you as a person? I’m very much a fan of the fighting game genre. If you’re a regular on my blog you probably know that. If you are new here then welcome! My name is Noe aka BigMex, and I believe that playing fighting games, writing about them, doing the occasional podcast, and even drawing them has made me a better person. I love sharing my takes on the genre, and I hope you like them too. This year I went back through the things that I loved as I cleaned up the apartment I live in, and brought in some of the items I had been sitting on for decades.

Gaming magazines, and books from Japan, comics from Hong Kong, and even rare sneakers had been moved from my leaky garage into my makeshift library in the hallway cabinet. One of the things that I used to enjoy doing was drawing in my sketchbook. I hadn’t done that in a long while. In fact, I don’t think I’ve drawn using pencil, or pen in more than a year. However I have still done art by using Adobe Illustrator for multiple projects in that time. There’s a reason I don’t sketch too much. That’s because I’m very hard on myself as an artist. If the drawing doesn’t come out the way I imagine it in my head then I get disappointed in myself, and I want to draw even less. The other thing is that I do not draw random things in my sketchbooks. I focus on something, and try to create finished pieces on every page. Sometimes monster trucks, or race cars, or wrestlers. One of my favorite subjects is basketball, and especially streetball, sometimes called playground basketball. 

I’ve filled hundreds of pages of basketball art across several thick sketchbooks over the past 25+ years. Doing this had actually forced me to learn anatomy, proportion, color theory, and even fashion. Being a mediocre basketball artist, eventually made me a halfway decent illustrator. When I want to get good at drawing a subject then I study it extensively. To get good at drawing monster trucks I would pour over pictures in some of the oldest magazines in my collection. Then I would try creating trucks that were an amalgamation of the things I liked in classic, and modern trucks. That was one approach that worked for me, but when drawing people I would look at the work of my artistic heroes. I would try to get in their head space, and ask myself how would they draw this? 

For example if I want to draw the Incredible Hulk I would look at the art of Dale Keown, who drew on the books in the early ‘90s, and still does the occasional cover. I consider him to be the best Hulk artist of all time, with people like Arthur Adams, and Ed McGuinness coming in very closely behind. Mr. Keown’s eye for scale, and power was awe-inspiring. When I want to draw a fighting game character then I think of Bengus, one of the senior designers at Capcom. He was, and remains one of the greatest gaming artists that has ever lived. When I want to draw skateboarders I look at the designs of Vernon Courtlandt Johnson, the artist that designed the iconic graphics for Powell Peralta. When it came to basketball art there was Kadir Nelson. He was the G.O.A.T. of lanky, but athletic figures in his paintings.

I wrote about Vernon Coutlandt Johnson, and Kadir Nelson previously. I do my best to channel those artists when I draw. I feel sorry for people that use AI prompts to create pieces, they will never know how it feels to develop their own style. The thing about my basketball art was that all of my other influences would creep into the piece, and end up shaping my style. A basketball sketch might include the proportions of Bengus, mixed with the rock solid musculature of Keown, plus the cartoonish lines of Steve Nazar. When I would recreate my sketch in Adobe Illustrator, and add color then the pieces would really pop. Of the hundreds of pages of sketches, there were over 70 that I felt were good enough for me to redo in Illustrator. I eventually printed a massive seven foot long poster with my best work. I would use this poster to advertise my art.

In the early 2000’s I got well known by the streetball community for my pieces. The image below was based on a poster I designed and took to the AND 1 Mixtape Tour 2003. A photograph of the poster appeared on the 2003 AND 1 Mixtape Tour photo gallery. The actual player, Philip "Hot Sauce" Champion liked the poster so much he commissioned me to design a poster and other related items for his 2004 and 2005 Killer Crossover Tour, featuring the Legends of the Blacktop. Around this time the people at AND 1 reached out to me to see about creating art for their tee shirts.

I remember getting the call while I was working at the college computer lab. They wanted to send me shoes, and clothing, hoping to win my favor. I was eager to work with them, as the Mixtape Tour was the hottest thing happening in basketball at the time. Plus they were taking creative chances that were ahead of anything Nike was working on. This fell through however. When I spoke to one of their art directors on the phone they said they absolutely loved my style, and wanted to see about getting my art on tees. I asked about compensation, and if artists got royalties. He mentioned that they wanted to buy the rights to all the characters I created in perpetuity.

I declined selling my characters to the company, especially as I was just getting started as an illustrator. These would be drawings that I’d like to have in my portfolio, or perhaps put on my own tees. The person I was speaking with actually got mad at me, somehow feeling disrespected. He asked if I had any idea how many professional artists were knocking down their door wanting to work with them. I said I had no idea, but I didn’t appreciate the tactics they were using. I reminded them that they called me, I didn’t call them. It was the Mixtape Tour players that wanted me to design for the company. It would be an honor to work there, but not if it meant that every basketball drawing I ever did from that point forward belonged to them. Needless to say they never called back, and I never got a box of free products. Although history could have been different for me as an illustrator I’m glad I stuck to my guns.

I still got to design some tour posters, as well as art for other independent streetball tournaments. I still managed to work with some of my streetball heroes. I had interactions that fans would have killed for. Best of all I got a few memories that I would cherish for the rest of my days. Artists were often expected to make all sorts of concessions when looking for work. This was especially true with the rise of AI art. I was grateful that I was working for a college at the time, and didn’t need to sell my characters to make ends meet. I understood that it was okay for an artist to turn down work, even with a high profile client. I learned this lesson from Michael Lau, the “Godfather of “Urban Vinyl,” I shared a write-up on Michael Lau not too long ago. Although the specific person in the story was never named it was rumored that a Nike Executive asked Michael if he could buy one of his original gardener figures. This person did not want one of his smaller figures normally sold in the gallery, or even one of the original figures that Michael sold at the CSBooth Toy Fair before he became famous. 

I would speculate that the person that asked was Nike founder, and former CEO Phil Knight, or one of his proxies. The reason why I think it was him was because Mr. Knight’s son was Travis Knight, the former animator and now CEO of Laika studio. Phil Knight supported his son when he tried his hand at rapping, and then animation. He bought out Will Vinton Studios, and put his son on the board. Based on his artistic leanings I think Phil was trying to score something rare for his kid. That was just my speculation. The thing was that Lau did say he had turned down multiple requests from very rich, and powerful people to buy the gardeners. He viewed them as his children. It would be a hole in his heart, not to mention in the presentation if one of his original creations was missing from future exhibitions. That was why I knew I shouldn’t sell the rights to my basketball art. Even if I never became a famous artist, at least I would still legally own my own creations.

Mr. Lau helped start an art movement almost 30 years ago. It was picked up by companies like Funko, and Disney in the west, but they didn’t quite understand the format. They thought the trend was something that could be sold on the mass market without any organic growth. As such the pricey limited run figures didn’t quite hit with the general public. They didn’t understand the appeal of these squat figures. Not that it mattered because Michael’s influence was still rippling through the creative community. I’ll try to connect the dots between urban vinyl art, collectors, and the culture in the next blog. For now I’d like to hear your story. Do you write, draw, sing, paint, dance, or do some other creative work? Would you ever sell your work to a massive company if you could? Tell me your takes it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 3 - A 1UP classic from July 12, 2011

In the previous blogs I had mentioned how some issues of Topolino came with gadgets, or toys for subscribers. Subscribers had to assemble the larger toys. The scale and attention to detail in some of the gadgets were amazing For example a catamaran for Paperino was about 8-inches long, actually floated and had a tiny electric motor to propel it forward. It had sails, a tiny canvas net and figure of Paperino could be removed. The on / off switch for the motor was activated by the steering wheel of the ship.

Topolino gadgets included firetrucks, snowmobiles, space ships, motorcycles, castles, dragons, pirate ships and even buildings. Each set was finely produced and was layered with detail and hidden surprises. Even the car gadgets were anything but typical.

The Phantom Blot was the major villain for Mickey Mouse in both US and Italian comics. He often was seen driving around in a mysterious black convertible with a dark blot over the license plate. The car (the Blackmobile or Blotmobile depending on the writer) that could be assembled with the issues of Topolino was a work of art.

The top of the car could be removed as well as the Phantom Blot figure that came with it. The gear shifter on the car triggered wings on the underside of the car to pop out. A button behind each tail fin of the car shot out red plastic taillight missiles. A button behind the driver dropped plastic oil slick cutouts from the trunk.

These gadgets were unavailable in toy stores, they could only be gotten through subscriptions to Topolino magazine. They helped build fans of the Disney name but also helped build a collectable market. One of the other publishers aware of this trend was De Agostini, also based in Italy. De Agostini held several publishing licenses in Italy, including those for Hokuto No Ken / Fist of the North Star and Dragon Ball. They released DVD sets and collectable plastic figures for many of their licenses.

For Disney fans De Agostini released the Disney Parade series. These were hard plastic figures based on characters featured in film and comic books. Figures that would be considered rare in the USA appeared in the lineup, such as a young Scrooge McDuck in his Klondike outfit, or Jose Carioca from Brazil.

The detail in each sculpt was amazing. The coloring and poses were spot on, as if the heroes and villains were taken right from the pages of the comics.

Look at how Magica DeSpell was ready to cast a hex on Scrooge or the flirty look from Brigitta MacBridge. Of course Scrooge seemed fixated on his true love. These figures were not available in stores or online. Collectors had to go to De Agostini kiosks in local malls to collect the figures, two of which were released every week over the course of several months. Imagine how patient fans were that collected a complete set of the 60 figures! Goofy or Pippo as he was known in Italy was given a werewolf alter-ego in the X Mickey comic series. De Agostini was catering the collection to Disney fans that were familiar with storylines featured within the pages of Topolino magazine and the offshoot publications. The white-furred Pipwolf was given the colors and proportions based on the comic but was still kept in scale with the icon that inspired him

The figures were about 4.5 inches on average and each one released was to scale with the rest of the series. Taller characters like Goofy or Mortimer Mouse were pushing 7 inches while shorter characters like Louie or Paperotto (young Donald) were just over 3 inches.

The Disney Parade figures were not all heroes however. Even villains like Rockerduck and the mad scientist Emil Eagle were presented in the set.

Legendary Disney animator Marc Davis would teach his students that a great character designs did not feature characters with blank stares, instead the artist would make it clear that they were living, thinking figures. In the case of the De Agostini sculpts audiences could clearly see that the characters were thinking. The frustration that Rockerduck held while he was chewing on his hat, or that Emil was in the middle of hatching a diabolical plan were apparent.

The female leads were not ignored in the collection either. Emily Quackfaster, the secretary for Scrooge and Daisy Duck also made for very interesting figures and poses.

Not many Disney fans in the US were familiar with Donald Duck’s neighbor Mr. Jones. Unless audiences had kept pace with the comics they would have missed out on some of Carl Barks most hilarious short stories. Donald and Neighbor Jones had been the worst of neighbors for almost 70 years, always trying to put the other person in their place. The two characters turned out to be evenly matched despite their size difference.

De Agostini allowed the long running feud to finally be recreated in 3D. The figure of Jones was practically daring Donald to take his best shot. Of course one of the Donald figures created by De Agostini was posed ready for a fight as well.

Even after Carl Barks retired the talented Don Rosa kept the two battling in comics. Don ensured that new generations of Disney comic fans would never forget the bitter rivalry. Neighbor Jones did not come up as often in the pages of Topolino but De Agostini knew that collectors throughout Europe would be happy to see and pick up the figure.

It seemed that almost every character that had appeared in a Disney animated short or on the comic book pages got the Disney Parade treatment. Moby Duck and Fethry Duck made for two very whimsical figures and fit very well with the rest of the collection.

The Disney Parade set was so popular among collectors that De Agostini decided to follow up with a sort of deluxe edition of their figures. The newer ones would be in a larger scale, ceramic and painted with greater detail and fidelity.

The new edition of figures was dubbed the Disney Collection and the sizes now averaged around 6 inches. To distinguish them from the Disney Parade series the new figures were much heavier and placed on larger silver stands. These figures were also made with a smaller run, making them more collectable.

Not all of the characters featured in the Disney Parade made it into the Disney Collection. Those figures that did were given new poses and additional material. Some figures created for the Collection were not featured in the Parade series. The next blog will highlight my favorite figure and try to explain why these collectables were important to the community. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Disney, the Italian Legacy, part 2 - A 1UP classic from July 11, 2011

The Italians were noteworthy not solely for creating new interpretations of classic characters like Paperinik and Paperotto, but also for diverging from USA Disney canon. For example, in the USA the character of John D. Rockerduck was introduced once by Carl Barks into the Uncle Scrooge adventure the Boat Busters to help push along a plot. Rockerduck was a fellow business tycoon and he challenged McDuck to a race to find out who sold the better gasoline. Donald Duck won the race on behalf of Scrooge but was unfortunately using Rockerduck’s gasoline. In the USA the character would not be seen again save for a cameo in a “Life and Times” story by Don Rosa. Most Disney fans in the USA would recognize that Flintheart Glomgold was the older character, meant to be business rival and mortal enemy of Scrooge McDuck. Yet even Scrooge McDuck was also once meant as a one-shot character in the Bark’s universe. It was not until the character was revisited and fleshed out that he became a comic icon. In Italy and in other European stories John Rockerduck would be brought back and fleshed out as well.

Rockerduck instead of Glomgold would take a starring role against Scrooge. The design and appearance of the character was in fact meant to balance out Scrooge more than Glomgold. Visually Rockerduck’s suit, hat, tie, glasses and sideburns were more contemporary than Scrooge’s. Rockerduck was a brash younger tycoon that did not seem to value his wealth in the same way as McDuck. His fortune was handed down by his father Howard Rockerduck, a self-made business man that helped mentor a young Scrooge decades earlier. John Rockerduck had a different approach to his business empire than Scrooge did. He believed that it took spending money in order to make money, whereas Scrooge was a notorious hoarder and penny pincher. In the comics the ducks rarely got along and were constantly getting into fights while trying to prove who was the superior businessman.

To settle things in fumetti both ducks often had a wager, this part of canon was preserved from the original Barks story. The bet was rarely over money but instead prestige in the clubs for which both ducks were members of. The loser for most of the contests had to eat their own hat. Rockerduck was often presented chewing on the brim of his bowler hat, if not for the contest bet then because he was completely fed up with Scrooge.

As if one powerful tycoon rival was not enough for the pages of Topolino, a second was added shortly after Rockerduck. The Italian Marco Rota added Brigitta MacBridge to canon in 1960. Similarly to Rockerduck and Scrooge she was originally introduced to help push along a single story. She turned out to be a memorable character and would return again and again to drive Scrooge mad.

In canon she was an old acquaintance of Scrooge and was absolutely crazy about him. She was also good friends with Daisy Duck and would often cross paths with Donald and his uncle. She was convinced that the two were meant to be together. As a self made business tycoon she was clearly not in it for Scrooge’s money either.

Brigitta would often hatch a plot to try to get Scrooge to confess his feelings for her, or worse, to trick him into getting married. This character seemed to balance out the Rockerduck dynamic. Both were constantly trying to undo Scrooge for their own gain. Both had enormous fortunes so that they could keep up with Scrooge no matter where he went or what business he got into. Brigitta’s appearances were thankfully more comedic than dramatic though.

Yet many western audiences were not fans of the Brigitta character, or even aware of her. Scrooge had a female rival years before Brigitta, someone that was not falling over Scrooge at every instance but instead his equal, not in a monetary sense but in personality. Italians would have to ignore one of Carl Bark’s greatest creations, Goldie O’Gilt aka Glittering Goldie, in order for Brigitta to be his main female lead.

Goldie was a rival for Scrooge during his formative years in the Yukon. Over several seasons of hardship the two would grow to respect each other and more important to develop feelings for the other. Unfortunately both were too proud and stubborn to ever admit to those feelings. Scrooge left the Yukon behind and seemingly his heart as well. In flashbacks Scrooge would think fondly of his time spent up north. Goldie would always consider Scrooge the one that got away. This interesting dynamic left audiences wanting for closure to a relationship half a century in the making.

Adding superhero alter egos to established characters and creating new relationships within the canon were some of the major contributions by the Italians. One of the more controversial elements featured in the pages of Topolino, the inclusion of firearms in some of the stories, would have been a hard sell to American audiences, especially licensors and Disney stock holders. Many in the US would have never imagined seeing an icon like Mickey Mouse handling a weapon, let alone be threatened by one in a comic or cartoon.

Yet guns had appeared for decades in Disney comics in the US and even animation. For example when Glittering Goldie wasn’t flirting with Scrooge she was shooting him with a shotgun. This happened in both the cartoon and comic books.

This revelation was not to say that weapons were commonplace in fumetti or other European Disney comics. If and when they showed up they fit the form of the story and certain mature themes. Paperino for example had an alter ego as a spy. In addition to being Paperinik Donald also had the responsibility as a spy for his country, known to fans as Double Duck. In the Double Duck (DD) stories sometimes a villain showed up carrying a weapon, sometimes DD had to also carry one along with his tuxedo ala James Bond. Very rarely did these comics have shoot outs and never were any of the characters depicted as getting shot or injured during the battles. The violence of the weapon was implied rather than shown. A gun served as a tool to intimidate not as an excuse by artists to draw graphic violence.

Boom Studios actually published the DD stories in the US and did not censor out the guns as most had expected them to. Many in the west could not imagine an icon being threatened with a firearm but the precedence was set in the earliest Disney short films. Donald was once threatened with a gun by Mickey Mouse in the 1942 film the Symphony Hour. Not to mention the time Donald Duck tried to commit suicide by handgun in the 1943 film the Old Army Game or that Daisy Duck tried to do the same in 1947’s Donald’s Dilemma.

Disney Studios once used firearms in their animated projects and comics only now they seemed to shy away from any form or actual or implied violence. Topolino also used firearms but they certainly never put them flush to the temples of the icons as if they were in any real danger.

If Topolino and fumetti in general were geared only towards children then the writers and artists would certainly never have presented any weapons in the stories. At the same time they would never have produced as many memorable stories and adventures because of their audience. They would not have advanced the art of cartooning or showed how Disney comics could be written for every age.

These were a few examples of the creative risks that the Italians took in the pages of Topolino. These were things that would not have been allowed if the comic were limited to a specific audience.

There was a major difference between how Disney was perceived and marketed in the USA versus Italy, or for that matter the rest of the world. Topolino was family entertainment. The comics and anthologies could be enjoyed by both kids and adults. Best of all the fumetti brought the characters to life. The Disney cartoon icons as well as original characters were featured in ongoing stories. These were certainly not reprints for aged collectors but living, breathing volumes. Not every Disney comic published in Europe was approached in the same way.

In Germany for example the anthologies featuring the Disney characters could be picked up in local bookstores. These simple 4-color books featured reprints or stories, most meant for kids with very little done in production value. Colors bled into each other and no sort of cleanup was done to enhance the original art. These issues were stale and formulaic when compared to the work featured in the fumetti.

Other European countries did not settle for reprints. They were as passionate about the Disney comics and cartoons as anywhere else in the world. For example Donald Duck cartoons were viewed on Christmas Eve in Sweden as a tradition. Additionally fellow game writer Audun Sorlie mentioned how most stores in Scandinavia did not have a few Disney comics but instead had entire racks filled with the books.

These countries would develop new stories and art for the Disney books. However unlike the Italians the writers and artists from Northern European countries tried very little to deviate from the art and storytelling elements established in early comics. They would go so far as to look for artists that could draw in the same style as the classic Disney cartoonists. Of these artists none was better than Amsterdam's own Daan Jippes. Daan was an exceptional artist that could emulate the styles of the American masters, including Floyd Gottfredson and Carl Barks.

He was so good at emulating the Barks style that he was contracted to redraw stories written but not illustrated by Barks from the 1970's into new collections for the 1990's. Daan Jippes was considered a master of modern comics alongside the US's Don Rosa and Italy's Giorgio Cavazzano. The preference by the Scandinavians for classic characters and little deviation from the Barks canon meant that many of their comics progressed very little, as if they were stuck in a time loop. The Italians had a different perspective, while they respected the work of the early artists they pushed forward into new territory.

Even if the parent company in the USA had not released any new comics or animation featuring the Disney characters in decades they were all still fresh in the pages of the fumetti. Disney in Italy managed to keep the mascots relevant by allowing them to grow within the pages of Topolino. They were willing to introduce new characters and re-imagine classic characters equally. They enticed new collectors by offering toy sets with subscriptions and held onto long-time fans by maintaining a high level of quality in art and storytelling. In the USA most cartoon comics were labeled and marketed towards children specifically. The US publishers did not go out of their way to appeal to diverse audiences or interests. Nor did they offer any toys or figures featuring rare mascots. As such the Disney comic market in the US was nowhere near as big as it was in Europe.

As any business analyst could tell you the best and most successful forms of Disney entertainment were family oriented rather than obsessively kid-friendly. This distinction between entertainment for children and entertainment for families was too often missed by studios, not solely Disney. Mistaking comics and even videogames as a medium for children instead of for families did nothing to help promote the titles. Producing little content in print and toy form for fans and followers above the age of 10 also hurt the brand in the USA. This lack of connection with audiences and the lack of any new content featuring the icons was stifling. The Italian contribution to making the Disney name relevant was not limited to comics either. The next blog will explore how publishers were able to help keep the mascots fresh with collectibles. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Meeting my heroes, and sneaker dreams do come true!

In the previous Fridays I had mentioned that I was a huge sneaker nerd. Collecting sneaker magazines from Japan, and ordering some overstock from the Eastbay catalog to feel like I was a part of the culture. I also talked about my favorite designs at Oakley, and how they started creating some amazing footwear. It was around this time that I seemed to manifest some amazing things while working at college. For example my friends, and I had managed to get into the E3 trade shows in the late ‘90s, and early ‘00s by creating a fake company. We would wear suits, and walk the halls as if we were exhibitors. We got a lot of access, and met some great industry people.

Around that time the demo for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game had come out. I was a big fan of skateboarding. I figured that there was a chance that Tony might be at the E3, so I took some skateboards with me, and scored an autograph. Mind you that he still wasn’t at the peak of his popularity, so you could absolutely surprise him if you recognized him at a non-skate event. This started a trend where I would bring him a present, and birthday card at each E3. He'd be happy to sign some decks if I asked. He, and the team at Neversoft started to recognize me at the shows, and welcomed some short interviews because I started writing as the west coast correspondent to Planet Tony Hawk. Tony was always happy to mug for the camera if I asked.

After the THPS game became a hit I figured that there would be more pro skaters showing up at the following E3. This was almost guaranteed as a sequel had been announced by Activision, and many other studios said that they were making skating games as well. The next year I walked the hall with a stack of decks, and even a poster just in case I ran into the other pros. Sure enough I stumbled across a bunch of them as they were getting ready to put on a demo at the Infogrames booth. Nobody else at the show knew who they were. I recognized Colin McKay, Bob Burnquist, Bucky Lasek, and Rune Glifberg. Sadly I did not recognize Jason Ellis, well actually I thought he was Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit fame. I didn’t know why Fred was there, but I thought he was just a celeb hanging out. I apologized to Jason a couple years later about the accidental disrespect, and he laughed. He said that it was all good, his friends actually called him Fred Durst because they dressed so much alike.

Anyhow Bob Burnquist was one of my skateboard heroes along with Tony. The Brazilian had made a name for himself, first at Anti-Hero, then Flip, and the Firm. Since he could skate regular, and switch (opposite foot forward) with ease he ended up progressing vert skateboarding faster than any other person at the time. He was also one of the pros that was sponsored by Oakley. He had appeared on a massive billboard on the 405 freeway in Carson. Not too far from where I lived. Long before the E3 I got my hands on a huge poster of that same billboard. My gamble of taking it to the expo that day paid off. I went away with a collection of autographed decks, and a personalized poster. Bob asked for my name, and signed it to Noáh instead of Noe. I was too nervous to give him the spelling of my name when I showed him the poster. My brother asked why he wrote it that way later on, and I said “oh he did the Portuguese spelling of Noe, instead of the Spanish spelling.” He bought the answer. I got the poster framed not long after, and it had been sitting in the garage for decades. I finally had cleared enough room to bring it indoors.

It turned out that meeting Tony, Bob, and the other pros was not the only amazing thing that I would manifest in the early 2000’s. Managing to meet the AND1 basketball players, and even getting to design a couple of tour posters was a story for a future Friday. I enjoyed my Nike basketball sneakers, but I longed for anything that was different. I heard that Oakley had gotten into basketball sneakers, and even sponsored a few pro players. Michael Jordan, and Dennis Rodman were often seen sporting their shades. I assumed that their basketball line also stopped as size 14, like their other shoes. Sadly I found out too little too late that they had actually made that line of shoes up to size 18. The problem for me was that the sneakers were not available in retail stores. You could only find them in the dedicated Oakley shops. The nearest one to me was in Irvine, about 30 miles from Long Beach. It wasn’t like I could just check whenever I wanted. Worse yet, they only made them for a season or two before discontinuing the line. I was heartbroken. I had heard that Oakley had a few outlet stores, and perhaps I might be able to track down any remaining stock.

I wrote a heartfelt letter to Oakley headquarters, and told them about how hard it was finding shoes in my size. One of their designers nicknamed “Joker” wrote back, and said he understood how hard it was. He asked for my address. I assumed that he might send a tee shirt, or give me a list of shops to check. Instead a couple weeks later while I was working in the college computer lab when I got a call from the mailroom. They said two massive boxes had come in for me, and asked if I could pick them up. Normally the mailroom had computers delivered directly to us, so I thought this was odd. It turned out that the giant boxes weren’t addressed to my computer lab, they were addressed to me personally. More than that, they had come from Oakley HQ. I got them in my lab, and my boss, and brother were there as I unwrapped them. Seven brand new shoes, and sandals were sent to me, along with a nice note from Joker. I remained humbled by this generosity almost 20 years later.

I wore one pair of sandals every day for years until they fell apart. I promised that I would work even harder to preserve the remaining gifts. I still wear the second set of sandals every day. They are worn, and dirty, but still good. I also only wore one pair of black sneakers. I would only wear them to special occasions like weddings, or four times a year when I performed for my orchestra concerts. I often wore black sneakers instead of dress shoes whenever I played because formal shoes were so uncomfortable to me. Sadly the heels on them were starting to break, so I had to retire them. But rather than throw them away like I did with my old sandals, I glued the soles back on, and kept them in my lineup because they meant so much to me.

I never wore any of the other shoes because they were so rare. Instead I kept them boxed up in the garage for decades. Even to this day I had yet to find a special occasion to wear any of them to. So they remained in boxes. I wouldn’t guess how much they were worth on the market. I'm sure a basketball player might make me an offer but they were priceless to me. I had friends, and coworkers with collections much greater than mine, but even they had never been gifted shoes by a manufacturer. I was blessed in this regard, and remember that blessing every time I looked at my shoe rack.

I wrote a massive thank you note to Joker, and the team at Oakley for their generosity. I felt like one of those Make-a-wish kids with the outpouring of love. I was praying that I didn’t have cancer, and my mom had reached out to them on my behalf. When I originally got the box I felt like it was some sort of prank, or worse, a huge mistake. I expected that they would be sending me the bill for all those sneakers separately. I even started saving my paychecks in case the bill came in, but that never happened. There wasn’t much I could say or do for the team at Oakley. They were sitting on top of the world, there was nothing that I could have gifted them in return. As a budding illustrator I printed a poster for Joker, and sent it along with my thank you letter.

A few months later I managed to get over to Oakley for a factory tour not unlike the one from the Global Cycling Network. I don’t think they offer tours these days. Sadly Joker wasn’t working that day, so I never got a chance to meet him, and thank him in person. The company was everything I could have imagined. It was like getting a tour of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. We got to see everything except the designers at work. They were locked behind some massive industrial doors. The tour guide said that very few people in the company were allowed to go into that room, even after working there for a few years she had never even been allowed in. We saw the full size NBA court for the employees. We saw some of the machines that created their new frames, and patented technology. Of course we weren’t allowed to take pictures of any of that stuff.

I told my family how amazing the factory was. I did my best to recall everything that I saw. How they had different machines to test the strength, and resiliency of their lenses, and frames during quality control. How they had insanely high tolerances when creating their patented lenses. How their rejects would get shredded, and the plastics could be melted, and reused. For the integrity of the product they wouldn’t accept the microscopic defects on future lenses, but they would sell the shredded plastics of their defects to their competition. I saw equipment that allowed them to bond materials in zero atmosphere. It was tech that none of their competitors had access to. It was part design house, and part science lab. They were working on the coolest products on the planet. Lastly I told my family that it would be a dream job to work there. That wasn’t in the cards for me, but I was glad to have taken that trip. It gave me tremendous perspective on the future, and what could be.

With some changes to my healthcare providers last year my wife, and I were able to see an optometrist for the first time in years. I got her some cute pink Coach frames last fall, and a couple months ago I completed a dream of mine. I was able to purchase some Oakley frames for my prescription glasses. I didn’t think it would take so long to get that off of my checklist, but here we were. Now to see if I could track down a watch so I could complete the look… I never thought that the freak storms of late 2023, and early 2024 would end up doing wonders for my mental health. It would cause me to clean up, and organize the hallway, and hallway closet in the apartment so I could have more room for myself. I fixed cabinets, and helped my kid, and wife organize, but neglected making space for my stuff for years. Now I could bring in the rare Japanese game books, comics, and magazines that I had collected through my time in high school, and college. The little things that I kept that made me happy.

A few weeks into 2024 another major storm rolled through. With that more worries about the leaky garage caused me to clean up more space in the apartment, and dig through the garage once more. This time I would bring in the sneakers that I’d been holding onto for a generation. As well as a few other gems. Doing this helped me reconnect with the things I loved. They brought back a flood of memories, and reminded me that I should do things for myself more frequently. It was not healthy to sacrifice for my family, and friends, but never take time for myself. I would get a chance to appreciate the things that I enjoyed, and recharge my mental, and emotional batteries. 

These changes in my priorities rekindled my imagination. They allowed me to share stories with you, and my family that I hadn’t told before. I’ll be sharing more stories in the near future. I hope that everyone reading this has something they are passionate about. I hope you are making time for your interests, and taking care of yourself. Let me know in the comments section if you were a fan of Oakley, or any other company. Tell me what your favorite products from them were. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!