2002r: The Little Engine That Could
Have you ever seen Major Payne? There’s a scene in it called “The Little Engine that Could.” It’s one of my favourite scenes of that movie it always stuck out to me whenever I watched it as something really funny. In it Major Payne is telling a bedtime story about a train carrying a payload of AK-47’s across enemy lines in Vietnam during the war. In the story the adventure goes horribly wrong when the engine explodes and they are ambushed by “charlie.” Which leads into Major Payne having to shoot his way out.
So where’s this going? Why am I talking about a questionable comedy movie from the 90’s? Well, because I think it directly relates to the 2002r. The 2002r is the little engine that could. One that nobody thought would make it out of the jungle. One that exploded in hype. One that took the competition out one by one with only it’s sidearm like Major Payne.
But why? That’s something that is a little more complex to answer. It’s hard to pinpoint when and why these things happen but as with most things, it usually begins with the right collaboration with the right person. And ends with new age marketing tactics through seeding to the right influencers at the right time. But the most interesting question that lingers in my mind is: How much is too much? Can there ever be too much of a good thing? When does the little engine turn into a big one? One that saturates everything in it’s path until there’s nothing good left?
Right, well it’s taken longer than I would have liked to get back into the swing of things but I guess they say… better late than never. I discussed in my last column that I would be expanding on my trident theory… and since I like to think I’m a man of my word, here it is; our second major prong within our trident. The 2002r.
For those who are too lazy to read the last column and need a refresher of what the trident is; it’s the three most popular models within the New Balance catalogue right now. I argued that the 990v3 has become our central prong within the trident — and since publishing my last column my belief in that has only grown stronger. Teddy Santis has begun the rollout of his 16 general release pairs as the new leader of the made in USA division and the 990v3’s have undoubtably been the most popular and sought after of the bunch. It has been a terrific litmus test for popularity against the 990’s, one that the v3 has been winning.
But enough of that, it’s time to take a look into the unlikely success of the 2002r and why it has attained its place within our trident.
2002RA & 2002RB: The beginning of an unforeseen tidal wave of popularlity.
I suppose I’ll start with a personal story. The first time I saw the 2002RA and the 2002RB I was astounded. I didn’t know what they were at the time but being a massive fan of the 860v2, these stood out. Because they were so similar to each other. They even use the same midsole unit, which I have stated many times on my own instagram that the 2002r midsole is borrowed from the 860v2. The rollout began in late 2020 within Asia, with pairs of those two colours being dispersed all over the continent and whispers of worldwide releases being uttered in the depths of NB instagram. But to my eyes, the reception outside of Asia and the NB community at large was lukewarm. I always use my friends who aren’t into sneakers as a test to see if the shoe will be popular. Usually if they like the look of a shoe, hype will follow. But if they don’t then the shoe will end up like 860v2 — criminally underappreciated. My friend told me when he saw me reposting early images of the 2002RA/RB’s that his dad mows the lawn in them.
Now, the terribly uninventive insult aside, it’s kind of true. The 2002r is one step away from being a metallic mesh runner… which are the least popular shoes on the market in terms of “hypeability” and the first two colours didn’t exactly stoke the fires of hype. And on top of that, it’s hard for a shoe to succeed in this climate without an incredible grand opening. But remember we are dealing with the little engine that could. So despite the lukewarm, dad mowing, entrance of the shoe, we’re still here right now with 2002r collaborations being dropped every other week and flooding our instagram feeds. If it didn’t start with the initial pair where did it start? Two names come to mind: Salehe & Yue.
So we begin with the Cheeto 2002r. Affectionately named the “Peace Be the Journey” 2002r. Designed by Salehe Bembury. The design is based on the Antelope Canyon. Which is on Navajo land east of Lechee, Arizona. I won’t lie, before I knew that detail on the shoe — I thought they looked awful. The hairy suede accentuated the “Cheeto” looking design and the orange was way too loud for my tastes. But this is truly where the hype of this shoe began. Salehe is the vice president of sneakers for Versace and his name reverberated throughout the community as one of the foremost names in fashion and design, and his first collaboration with New Balance and their little engine that could made no half steps. It quickly became sought after and skyrocketed on resale platforms and still is what many consider to be a grail within the brand. This is genesis for the 2002r hype.
But the hype was still simmering at this stage. It hadn’t quite reached its boiling point until later on in 2021. When a relatively unknown designer named Yue Wu dropped a pack of pre-distressed shoes on the world called the “Refined Futures.” This design was based on Boston NB wearers who used to wear their shoes until crumbling point. The distressed look was made to mimic that affect. After this point there was no turning back for the model. The 2002r eclipsed everything. It went from a shoe that your dad would wear to mow his lawn to people willingly giving away upwards of $800aud to buy the “Raincloud” 2002r and similar prices to buy the “Peace Be the Journey.” The Little Engine that Could exploded and now Charlie was buying everything. And New Balance was shooting its way out of the situation colour by colour.
Does it make sense? No. It doesn’t. Not to me. But the right people released them at the right time. And then the right Instagram accounts posted them when they needed to. Was it a targeted effort? Maybe. There’s no denying that the right accounts received the seeded pairs when they needed to but does it account for this? My answer to all these questions is that I’m not NBstradamas. I can’t predict or even account for buying habits. Not even the best economists can account for taste. But here we are. In the middle of successive tidal wave after wave of 2002r’s being released with absolutely no sign of slowing down 2 years later.
The only economic answer I have for the success of the model and the willingness for people to buy this model over others is the simplest one… Price point. On top of having a wide selection of colour ways to choose from and a similar suede aesthetic that you would find in the 99x series, it’s a lot cheaper than the made models. A friend of mine from Europe told me a story that someone he knew wanted a 990v5 which was retailing at $360aud but instead went with the 2002r since it was priced at $150aud and they liked the variety of colours on offer. For most consumers, it’s as simple as that.
But does that mean that lower price makes it better and that there should be this many of them being produced?
How much is too much? Can too much of a good thing be bad? Let me tell you that I love playing Football (soccer) and Basketball. But after playing for a while, I’m want to get fatigued. And I think it’s the same with any market. Buyer fatigue can set in just like actual fatigue sets in playing a football match from start to end as a wingback. Some people aren’t going to agree with this, I’ve heard on podcasts and through forums that all they want are new colours of 2002r’s and you know what? I can’t blame them. It’s not like they’re a bad shoe at all. It’s just that I’m tired of seeing them. I’m tired of seeing slight variations and I’m tired of seeing wildly different variations. I’m just tired. I have 3 pairs of 2002r’s. They are all incredibly special to me and they inspired a compulsion in me to buy them. But I mentioned in my 992 column that NB know best how to do what I call “the art of the vault” — when to close the door on silhouettes in order to avoid saturation… I guess there’s always exceptions to the rule and the 2002r is proving to be more than an exception. In my eyes, saturation point began a long time ago and now we’re way past that. And the 2002RVA is a classic example of that.
If you know me, you know this was one of the shoes that has offended me the most this year. It was everything that typifies the saturation the model is experiencing at the moment. It is exactly the same as the MR2002RA that I like so much, with some updated materials, different box, and the most offensive part, the goddam pointless lace bag that couldn’t fit more than 4 potato gem’s within it. To me, it is a pointless release. But the most frustrating part is that these sold out while the RA struggles to sell. Do materials really mean that much to consumers? Because often, they don’t. So on top of being horribly uninventive, its a mystery of hype. It apparently has ostrich leather on it or something ridiculous but is that what classifies as hype? Emu cousin leathers? It’s frivolous. But people ate it up and until people stop buying into the gimmick, the saturation won’t stop until it makes the boxes they’re in transparent like burger grease.
It’s almost time to wrap this up but I don’t want to end this on such a bad note for a shoe that I don’t actually hate. It’s one that I like but am sick of seeing. It’s like seeing a bombastic cousin. You enjoy seeing them every now and then but seeing them too much makes you weary. And I am oh so weary of this silhouette. But there’s no question that it helped the trident destroy market barriers and continues to do so. But when is enough? I can tell you my breaking point was the RVA, I wished it was vaulted before that monstrosity was released onto the world. But it didn’t and it helps New Balance for it to be out there selling units and speaking to new fans.
Speaking on new fans… I work in retail. And a workmate of mine has never worn New Balances before and the model that caught his eye? A 2002r. The 2002RAA to be more specific. He had 6 tabs with different websites stocking his size and came to work to ask me sizing advice before be pulled the trigger but before he could, the 6 websites sold out of anything close to his size. Fortunately he had friends over in New Zealand who was able to hook him up with a reship. Lucky for friends. But the moral is that the model is still attracting new consumers with colours that are similar to others but different enough to force them to notice, and the hype is still there that new buyers of the brand need to have connections in another country to make it possible.
Will the vault be coming for this pair anytime soon? With that knowledge in mind, I can’t see it being anytime soon. The last thing I’ll say is that I have been seeing a new slogan for the 2002r going around instagram lately. And I feel for our Little Engine that Did it’s a good way to end the column by sharing it. They call the 2002r “The New Classic” and for better or worse… it’s here to stay.