Interrupting someone while they're putting their blood, sweat and tears into design is never a proper way to start up a conversation. Sure enough though, that's how we managed to get a couple of words in with Fallen footwear designer, Nick Pappas. While having him on the phone, we talked about Fallen's new brand direction and more about this leaked photo from his instagram, the Porter.

Scouring the internet for our daily dose of content has taken a turn for the worse. After innocently checking out Thrasher's latest coverage of KOTR featuring the Creature team and also watching the Krooked vs Kolorado video, we've come to the assumption, if not certifiable fact, that VOX might be on its way out.

"Ripped Laces recommends" is all about highlighting a shoes performance and feel without going through a lengthy, annoying & technical read. It's all about giving you the facts, straight up. This section is mainly dedicated to those shoes we absolutely love to skate on our off time of doing reviews. Now, we'll accept the notion that this sounds fucking ridiculous because: why would anyone need to skate another shoe when you're already reviewing one? The truth of the matter is, sometimes we don't want to collect data & just want to skate a shoe aimlessly and enjoy ourselves, you know....how we use to before we started reviewing & critiquing shoes. You must be thinking "Those poor bastards" & we're glad you don't have to know our pain.

Click to enlarge, then "Right click" and select "View Image" for an even larger photo.

 
Since leaving you off with the sneak peek, we've been dissecting these detailed photos of the upcoming Reynolds shoe obsessively. Emerica has put together their best efforts to give Andrew exactly what he wanted in a shoe and it most definitely shows. Working side by side with Emerica's primary footwear designer August Benzien, Andrew has given just as much of himself in his latest shoe than he ever has before. After meeting up with August, he let us in on every detail there is about the new Reynolds from Emerica.

This Fallen Capitol review is happening because of the overwhelming requests that we've received from you, the reader, via e-mail, social media & so forth. Don't take all the credit though because our curiosity for Fallen footwear has grown since reviewing the Tom Asta shoe earlier this year. The brand that once pigeonholed themselves in their "gnar-hesh-rail-chomper" imagery have since steered clear of that direction in search of a larger & diverse audience. Many can say what they want but since the addition of Jack Curtin & the loss of Chris Cole, Fallen is certainly finding their new following & it seems to be a loyal, conscious & alert one.

"Why dey have to push the SPV when all we wanted was dem O.G. Rowley's?" - Jada

If you haven't been following us on da gram', we're currently out & on the side lines with a fucked back spasm. It's lame but we're finally getting to some overdue work & emails we've been slacking on. Speaking of which, we've had this Rowley photo for about 2-3 weeks now. What the fuck is wrong with us? It most definitely should've been posted a while back but seeing as how we've been preoccupied with tons of shit, here it is. Now that this photo is out, one question comes to mind: Why is this Rowley reissue coming out in 2013?

We stole this from our own Instagram. That should say something about our work ethic.

By now you know that we feature up to two reviews every month. With the Flauge lace protector review debuting on the first of the month, we're starting to wonder what review we should schedule next? What would you like to see? Most of the time we'll take your feedback into consideration but there are instances where we personify a young dictator & get all 'Stalin' about what's next to come. To follow the consensus of every skater with a brain, we've been feeling cupsoles lately. There's been some heavy consideration on getting a youngin to do vulc reviews for us soon. Could that be you?

The Axis from Gravis footwear.

    
While every footwear brand has recently traded in some of their vulcanized shoes for an army of cupsoles, Gravis seems to have missed the memo. It's really not a big deal but considering how "trendy" cupsoles have become, we just thought the most "trendy" brand of them all would be on board with a variety of cupsoles in their arsenal. Don't be mistaken, they've absolutely tried in the past. Gravis early on had Arto's Viking shoe, both in a high & low but since then nothing has surfaced. While checking out their product for 2013, we saw quality travel bags, a bottle of Hennessy & a cupsole. We nearly shat ourselves…a cupsole? I expected the Hennessy more than I did a cupsole. All things aside though, we've been hyping this model up as if it were Jake Johnson's pro shoe even though it technically isn't but with all things considered, it might as well be. He won't be caught in those damn club shoes.

BA's in all White.

     
1 in every 20 skateboarders were smart enough to save a collection of their beloved skate shoes or decks from their youth. As simple as the task may sound, it's in our natural instinct to unfortunately destroy something we love instead of thinking it over for a sec & saying "Shit, this might be worth something one day". Featured today is a homie of ours who did just that. His alias on Instagram is Chocolate_Gears & he was nice enough to show us his collection of Savier footwear he's been saving up over the past few years. If you're unfamiliar with Savier, they were Nikes second attempt to penetrate the skateboarding market & died out after less than three years. Their first attempt was with Bam. For more on Savier, their ad's & more, check out skately's bio page on them.

The new Ka-One Vulc, due out SP '13.

Converse has been going through some massive fucking changes. The recent resurgence of the brand is thanks to some re-organizing of ambassadors and priorities on the brand side of things. After all, there was a huge drop in popularity after a lack of marketing on behalf of select members of their illustrious team. They simply weren't getting enough coverage and as a result, it left most of us, if not all, disappointed = Translation: We needed more Fowler 360 flips footage. With the recent addition of Jason Jessee & Mike Anderson, the momentum that Converse once had should resurface, if not double, so long as those dudes put out some quality footage or a full length video somewhere down the line. As for now, Converse does seem stronger than ever especially after announcing to us that they are strictly a skateboarding brand. All of their endorsed athletes from their Basketball history have since found a home with Nike with the exception of Dr. J & now Converse is dedicating their program fully to skateboarders. In few words, that's just fucking awesome.

SKATEJAWN VIDJAWN from Skate Jawn on Vimeo.
Last night I missed out on a very impromptu Skate Jawn video premiere. To say the least, I'm bummed but just because I missed out on it doesn't mean you should. Much of my homies can be found fucking shit up in this video and had I not been busy writing reviews, I probably would've tried to get a front nose in this video or something. With the recent uproar of independent film makers, this Skate Jawn video can please everyones musical & skating pallet. It's got everything from The Who to Cam'Ron & anything else you can imagine in it. Watch this & go roll, it's a perfect way to start this week.

Coming this week, The DC Centric S review & coincidentally a blast into the past.

Pros & managers are releasing sneak peeks at an alarming rate on instagram. With that said, expect to see these "insta-gratification" articles more & more each week in case you can't keep up with your insta-feed. Although pros are always likely to promote themselves & their product, this time around it was sole tech's own @Don_Brown who released this photo onto da 'gram. If all goes well & falls into place, we'll be bringing you an exclusive review on this mysterious new pro model that everyone has been talking about down the line. For now, we'll bring you the info that has surfaced due to our investigative journalism & the fact that we're just as pathetically in love with Shecks just as much as this man. Future team handsome inductee anyone?

When asked about his favorite shoe on the board, Michael Bloomberg simply said "Accels baby, Accels."

Admittingly, we've know about this eS eBay store for about two weeks now. It was in our best interest to try & buy everything before posting & promoting it here but we ain't caking' it that hard right now. Unfortunately, RLs came short on the forbes list this year but we'll get em' next year. Surprisingly though, Mexico is on top of their game, while the closest Billionaire in our vicinity is in twentieth place. You think MB has a special place in his heart for nostalgic, limited skateboarding footwear? If so, he needs to come through and invest because I predict a huge turn over for eS memorabilia 5 years down the line. Invest, triple OG OG OG. Btw, seen his pro model yet?

The Shifter Low in Dark Brown, coming Winter '12.

With managerial issues on his mind rather than the next hammer he has to film, Heath Kirchart is busier than ever. He's taking on the tasks that few others can handle with a straight face, without clenching his fists & while keeping his cool demeanor. Dealing with skateboarders is no simple task, (just ask law enforcement) so naturally managing them is hell but with Heath, it seems the other way around. From the countless times we've seen him torture his fellow teammates to the uncomfortable questions he's asked newly added ams, it seems as though the team has more to worry about than Heath.

Habitat's catalog was recently published online to share some of the upcoming product that they have for Spring 12. We're going to take it a step further and show you what they have in store for Winter 12.

 Writing about shoes can get stale at times so it's always good to write something for ourselves every now and then. With that segue out of the way, I can talk about some much needed art that I have been fiending for. Even better, I'm supporting a fellow friend that goes by the name of Dedleg.

Today's post was meant to be about Half Cabs. I can't say to what degree but it's about Half Cabs. Turns out this simple post turned into a chaotic, lengthy article and will be postponed until further notice. On the other hand, we still come bearing gifts. We can't leave you completely unfulfilled, it's just not in our nature, so with that said...enjoy.

Thanks Ryan Gee for providing this photo.

Working hard at the RL's offices.

Normally we had a stronghold over keeping this blog updated on an every other day basis. If not that, we would at least do about 2-4 posts a week.

Well, blame the weather, that & life. Yeah, we hate life....

No worries though, we're coming back with some new material this week. The posts have also taken a break because we've been working on building our website. Anyone who specializes in this medium is more than welcomed to come forth and will be rewarded with as much KFC and old issues of TWS, Thrasher and some Canadian skate magazines I have lying around in storage. Seriously.

This was just an update for you guys who question whether we were dead or not...not yet.

Good news for you & us this Friday,
peace.

Van Half Cab with Steve Cab original artwork. Available Aug '12.