Getting Seeded (Or Not)

Actual Fan of Sneakers

Anthony reflects on his personal history with sneaker seeding and the challenges of being an influencer without receiving free products. He

Key takeaways

• Anthony received only two seeded pairs during his five years of YouTube content: Saucony Azuras and Puma Cell Pumas.
• The Yuto x SB Air Force 1 'Laser' edition is expected between late 2026 and early 2027 with a limited release of 1,000 pairs.

Main topics

• Sneaker Seeding and Influencer Ethics
• Yuto x SB Air Force 1 Releases

Notable quotes

I'm not going to give, you know, a W to a shoe that I don't like.

Conclusion

A nostalgic look at the creator economy in the sneaker community paire

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:10) If you're an actual fan of sneakers, you're in the right place, and you're definitely in the right place, because this is the actual fan of sneakers podcast. My name's Anthony, jumping right into it. Getting seated. Now, here's something, when I had the YouTube channel going really strong, I was always interested in how some people were getting seated, and I keep it kind of a mystery, right? Like, you see these influencers on various platforms, and it seems like they get a lot of shoes. In my case, I was buying all the shoes. So I was like going for broke trying to like make a channel and have content back in the day. But I liked it. I could always justify another purchase by saying it was quote unquote for the channel and all that. So, you know, for me, it was just like a fun thing to do. And in the back of my head, I would always hope that like maybe a brand would see it that I actually wanted to mess with because I got plenty of offers from like janky brands. I had no interest in plugging. But I was always hoping that like Nike or Adidas or one of them would like see it. But I wasn't really sure how it all worked. I remember one time I was in there used to be this like streetwear store that was on the main, you know, strip in the town that I live in. And I mean, there was a couple of those, but there was like one that was there that isn't there anymore. And I remember running into a Nike rep while I was there. And that place didn't sell Nike anything. I think the guy was just there buying like souvenirs or something. Because that store happened to sell like shirts that were branded with the town that I live in. And so it was like also not just a street wear spot, but a lot of tourists would shop by there and get those shirts. And I think the Nike dude was in there buying it. Now this was like, this has to be like 15 years ago or more. Because that store is gone now. But I remember talking to this guy and being like, well, I got a YouTube channel. And the guy said, Nike probably knows about it. And that was kind of all he really said about it. And I was like, well, can you check it out? Let me know what's up. And trying to like exchange info and like, you know, have it in and it didn't work. And so as it went on, I felt like I saw people that either did weigh less or they didn't even maybe have the most hype shoes, but like certain people would get seated or they get free stuff, or at least it seems like they would. And then I like. It felt like I really busted my tail to make like good quality videos, thorough reviews, thoughtful, build up a fan base and all that. And nothing really. I got two shoes seated, which I've talked about on this channel a zillion times. So I won't go into too much details, but they weren't really seated as far as like I needed to make a video or as part of getting the shoe, I had to do this or that. It was literally like a brand just found me and was like, well, one was Saucony. And it was when the Azuras were going to come back out the first time. They came back out again recently. I think like last year or two years ago. But when they were going to originally retro, like more like four or five years ago, I feel like now. And I still have these Azuras, by the way. I don't really wear them. They're not really my thing. But because it was like a thing Saucony sent to me for free, I felt like I wanted to keep it. Versus the thing Puma sent me for free, which a Puma rep found me on Reddit and sent me these like cell Pumas. They were like super huge. pairs and that was the other time. And so there's like two pairs that I got over the course of like making YouTube videos for like five years. And I don't know that like none of those people even approached me on YouTube. It was like Instagram where I was also pretty popular at the time. And then, or, you know, relatively within my niche. And then, and Reddit was where it was for Puma, which I didn't even really think anybody really saw my stuff on there. But in any case, So long story short, I don't really have a clue how you actually get seeded. But I saw like a thing on Twitter, some store, they were like advertising to be seeded. You need to like follow them and add the whole thing about being seeded by them to your stories. And you had to tag a couple of friends to also follow them. So it was like all about getting social media follows and they'll seed you with a pair of something. It was like those like Nike Crocs or whatever. I forget the name of the store now. I'm kind of going from memory here. But you had to like follow them. And it was like you got to do a bunch of social media following and reposting. And you could get seated. You know, these like those Nike. You know what I'm talking about. They're not Crocs, but they're like the ones that kind of got the holes in the top. And it kind of got that look to them. Like they're kind of like a mule with holes in it. I don't know the name of the shoe offhand. But again, going from memory. But anyway. It's like, okay, like anybody could get seeded. And, you know, it used to be more like theoretically, I mean, like I said, I don't really have any idea, but like theoretically the content creators or people that were like getting a lot of eyeballs on their content made the most sense to seed because they're looked at as like, you know, people that are like tastemakers and all that. Maybe I wasn't enough of a tastemaker or maybe my personality didn't really vibe. Like maybe people would see it. And like, it didn't matter how many followers I had. If they don't like me, they don't like me. Or maybe they thought I was ugly. Because I've seen the argument that if you're like unattractive versus attractive, that will make a difference whether brands want to put your face with their stuff. But it's weird because with the whole seating thing now, you know, like now that I'm kind of out of that and not even really thinking I'll ever get seated. And I just straight, you know, how I talk about sneakers, like I'll just straight keep it real if the shoe is good or bad. And, like, I'm not going to give, you know, a W to a shoe that I don't like. And so I can't really be bought by a brand per se. But I know I feel like some creators will like hype up a shoe that it just is objectively like you look at it and you're like, there's no way this person likes this shoe that much. And they'll like never talk about it again. Like they'll talk about it when they're supposed to talk about it and not again. And I always try to stay away from that, but I realize that