The release of the Nike Foamposite One Royal this month marks its 20th anniversary. Why should you care and what makes the Royal Foams so special? Well despite being initially designed for Scottie Pippen, they are arguably Penny Hardaway’s most recognizable signature sneakers and were “banned” by the NBA for uniform color regulations when Penny wore them the first time. Want more? How about, the Foams were so drastically different from traditional sneakers, the molds used to turn the liquid substance into the Foamposite material used on the uppers, cost on average, $750k. But enough about the history, let’s get into the 2017 retro.
To keep things interesting for its 20th, Nike unexpectedly bumped up the release of the Royal Foams by one week. They also included a sneaker card autographed by Penny himself along with a sharpie inside 200 random pairs that were released even earlier via Nike’s SNKRS app.
Before we dive into the current resell data on the Nike Foamposite line, it’s worth noting that in May of 2014 we lamented that Nike had jumped the shark on the Foamposite. If you don’t feel like going back and reading that entire blog post, the main point of it is that ever since the Galaxies dropped in 2012, Foamposites in general had been on a decline up until that point in the secondary market.
Now, the data.
First up, the most expensive Nike Foamposites.
Key Insights:
- Seeing a DS pair of the Dr. Doom 2006 release is pretty rare these days, and rightfully so, it commands a very high resell price. In comparison, the average resell price on the 2016 Dr. Doom is $207.
- The most recently released Royal Foams from 2011 are going for an average of $245, which ranks 37th overall
- The average resell price for all Foamposite Ones is $329 compared to $239 for all Foamposite Pros
Here’s a look at the most popular Foamposites sold on StockX. This chart shows the percent of all Foamposite sold on StockX that each colorway accounts for.
Quick explanatory math lesson: If we sold 100 total pairs of Foamposites and 2 of those pairs were the Metallic Gold colorway, (it’s a lot more of both, trust us) then the Gold Foams would account for 2% of our total Nike Foamposite sales. Get it? Good.
Key Insights:
- Only 8 of the top 20 most popular Foamposites were released in 2016.
- We’re not sure what it means when a Grade School release is the 9th most popular Nike Foamposite.
- Released in November 2012, the Polarized Pink Foams are the oldest pair in the chart above but pairs have sold on StockX as recently as 1/18/2017.
The final chart below is showing the monthly average resell price for all Foamposites in men’s sizes only, excluding the following releases — ParaNorman, Galaxy, Supreme Black, Supreme Red and the Doernbecher.
Key Insights:
- From February 2016 through the middle of January 2017, the average resell price on Foamposites has dropped 23% on StockX. This is because nine pairs of general release Foams, dropped in 2016. The market is a bit saturated.
- The Olympic Foamposite Ones, which had an average resell price of $300 when it dropped in July were a relative bright spot in an otherwise downward trending year.
Moving Forward:
While the resell data might be a bit discouraging, we believe that Foamposites are on the rebound. Purists should be feeling pretty good about the immediate future of this model knowing that the Royals will be joined by two other OG colorways this year, Eggplant and Copper, in celebration of the 20th anniversary. Perhaps it’s finally time to refresh those Foams you only wear for shoveling snow with a pair for daily use? We see you, all of the Northeast.
Ready to get in on the Foamposite action on StockX? Here’s what the current Asks and Bids look like for a size 10 on the Royal Foams that include the signed card from Penny.
