In 2006, the world was introduced to the New Balance 992 for the very first time. Four short years later, it vanished.
Nobody knows exactly why the 992 was discontinued so soon after its launch. Samuel Pearce, NBās Creative Design Manager, explained to Complex in an interview this spring that while the 992 initially sold well, āit was unsuccessful in comparison to other 990s that we’d done historically.” Silhouettes like the 990 and 991 had their own distinct characteristics while the 992, despite its upgraded technology and accessibility, struggled to form an identity. The chunky style of the 992 felt out of place in its first life cycle to casual consumers and wasnāt beloved within New Balance itself, so eventually, the brand cut it. But as many great trends are reborn with time, 2020 has proven that the New Balance 992 wasnāt flawed, it was just early.
After a ten year absence, the New Balance 992 is back and better than ever. It is no longer the awkward middle child of New Balanceās 99X product line but is now the most popular NB model on StockX. A come up this extraordinary doesnāt just happen by chance. To fully understand the rise of the New Balance 992, we looked deep into the numbers and past release trends to find the reason for its resale dominance.
Here is why the New Balance 992 is making New Balance history on the resale market.
Rising To Stardom
The recent spike in New Balance 992 demand isnāt unprecedented. Both the Nike Dunk and the adidas Stan Smith arrived to increased demand when they returned to stores after their brief hiatuses. And when they came back, they came back stronger than ever. The 992 accumulated 10 yearsā worth of unfulfilled demand and New Balance chose 2020 – the perfect moment to release a layered, chunky sneaker – as the year to finally feed the frenzy.Ā
The chart above shows the average resale value of each New Balance silhouette at two points in time: the first quarter of 2020 and July 2020. Ever since making a comeback, the New Balance 992 has shown to be a standout silhouette in the New Balance category. It has been the most valuable NB silhouette all year, but in the past month, the price gap between the 992 and the next most valuable model hasnāt even been close.Ā
A driving force behind the 992 revival seems to be New Balanceās collaboration calendar, which has placed the silhouette on the radar of 2020 sneaker culture. The major New Balance collaborations so far this year have used the 992 as a platform to bring collaborators ideas to life. In Q1 of 2020, New Balance 992s have averaged a resale value of $261 USD, making it the most expensive NB silhouette in Q1. General release New Balance 992s have performed well on the secondary market, but the release that really pushed the needle for the entire category was New Balanceās collaboration with Chicago-based designer Joe Freshgoods. After gaining notoriety as one of the hottest releases of All-Star Weekend in Chicago, the New Balance 992 Joe Freshgoods averaged a Q1 resale price of $502 USD. At two and a half times of what a GR 992 release resells for, NB 992s topped the NB 1300 as the most expensive NB silhouette on StockX.
Following the success of the Joe Freshgoods 992, New Balance has done collaborations with WTAPS, KITH, and JJJJound – each one utilizing 992 silhouettes and selling out almost as fast as they were announced. Together, these three collaborative 992 models have collectively resold for a whopping $1,033, on average. As a result of these hyped releases, the average resale price of the New Balance 992 has skyrocketed in recent months. In July, it climbed to $472 USD – $200 more than the Q1 average.Ā
The resale domination of the New Balance 992 doesnāt end in its own backyard. When stacked against one of the most popular silhouettes in StockX history, the 992 still shines as a no brainer pick for guaranteed stratospheric premiums.
The New Balance 992 Jumped Over The Jumpman
The Air Jordan 1 High has always been one of the best selling sneakers on StockX and this year has been no different. We have authenticated hundreds of thousands of Jordan 1s in 2020, and thanks to The Last Dance documentary, almost all Jordan 1s have seen their resale values climb in recent months. With individual colorways like the Jordan 1 High Dior selling for $25,000, the average price for the Jordan 1 High has topped almost every other model on our platform. Except for the New Balance 992.
The chart above compares the average resale values of New Balance 992s and Jordan 1 Highs in the first quarter of 2020 and the month of July. At the start of this year, the average resale price of a New Balance 992 sat $160 lower than the Jordan 1 High. But after a spring filled with powerhouse New Balance 992 collaborations, the 992 took over in July, eclipsing the average price of the Jordan 1 High by around $30. With the recent surge in Jordan interest around the world, it would be far-fetched to believe that the average New Balance 992 would resell for more than a Jordan 1. But the numbers donāt lie. New Balance is hotter than the surface of the Sun and there are no signs of cooling down.
Whatās Next?
Image by Modern Notoriety
As we move past the midpoint of 2020, New Balance still has some 992 releases in store that are guaranteed to push resale averages even higher, and one of them is arriving in just a few days. The New Balance 992 JJJJound Green is set to release Friday, July 31st and resale predictions are pointing to the sky. There is even a possibility that JJJJound Green 992 could sell for even more than last weekās JJJJound Grey 992, a shoe that has already averaged $1,337 on StockX. With no fewer than four Js in the name, itās only fitting that the JJJJound would fetch four-digit resale prices.
But wait, thereās more. Packer Shoesā Victor Kan recently leaked a photo of what could be a future New Balance 992 collaboration. Packer and NB have a long history of collaborating, so it makes sense that the century-old New Jersey-based shop receives the 992 blessings. The Packer Shoes 992 is just another example of the infiltration of 992 collabs in 2020, and it is likely that there is more we donāt know about yet.
After a long hiatus and a strong push from hyped collaborations, the 992 is sending New Balance to previously unseen resale peaks. One silhouette is single-handedly launching NB into a lane that only Yeezy, Jordan, and Nike SB have dominated for the last 10 years. The success of the 992 wouldnāt be possible without New Balance fans around the world. It was brought back by fans, for fans, and the best is yet to come.
