ReRun pappalardo Cons

[SkateCerealBowl]

So cons I never got the story completely right, but I guess cons told pops that his shoe didn’t sell good, but during that time everyone had one on their feet
Now they are doing a rerun with a different model name?

I had this exact color back in the day

[Atiba Applebum]

Wasn’t Pops shoe just a skate version of a standard converse shoe?

[addie pray]

history has vindicated anthony pappalardo

[TwisT]

it the One star pro just with stripes on the side

pops


one star



the pops is still the better shoe, both style and proformance

[yungthug]

HOMEBOY “shoes $till here”

[Mean salto]

Janoskis back out too is it time to get the Levi's 511s and 5 panel hats out of storage?

Don't think them being a papalardo model had much effect at all on how well that shoe sold (or didn't sell). Of the stuff cons put out at that time they were the ones people actually would try and the weird sizing is where most people had problems 

[rawbertson.]

i had the pops and i have the One Stars and I really like both
i would say Pops had an impact on me buying the shoe personally, I also just really wanted to try the first pro shoe they were launching with kinda thing
I never really put it together it was basically just a One Star ripoff. I always thought Gino and all them were making them look super sick too of course.

[doomstation55]

Im just speculating but they didn’t kick Pops of for a poor selling shoe, they kicked him of bc his skating skills became embarrassingly bad towards the end of his tenure.

https://youtu.be/S0GpqqRZgNo?si=Y7Y0RK1MejFoDMYK

His Mosaic part is still top notch tho.

[dropintopileout]

I remember watching his epicly later'd back in the day. I actually really fucked with his fully flared part all things considered and mosaic is a classic.

I think his issue is that he's a downer hipster with a shitty attitude. I remember listening to him as a high schooler thinking the dude just sounds so whiny and annoying. Probably was a complete pain the ass to work with hence converse giving him the run around

[Buttworm]

Don’t smoke crack

[slapcurbsnotwomen]

I loved pops shoe, I had a few pairs, I did get them on the clearance rack tho

[wilog]

Don’t smoke crack

meth*

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

If Cons should reissue any re-worked base model it should be the first Trapasso Pro's

https://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/productimages/51198large.jpg

I want to skate these again so fucking bad

[GrayCellGreen]

If Cons should reissue any re-worked base model it should be the first Trapasso Pro's

https://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/productimages/51198large.jpg

I want to skate these again so fucking bad

Those shoes were great. I preferred them over the Pop's. Don't get me wrong though, both were good in their own right, but the Trapasso's had that extra padding which made them more comfortable overall.

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

Expand Quote

If Cons should reissue any re-worked base model it should be the first Trapasso Pro's

https://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/productimages/51198large.jpg

I want to skate these again so fucking bad

[close]

Those shoes were great. I preferred them over the Pop's. Don't get me wrong though, both were good in their own right, but the Trapasso's had that extra padding which made them more comfortable overall.

Exactly! Basically a one-star with a nice tongue and collar.

I swear cons is against putting in additional cushioning these days. Like the AS-1 and Fastbreaks are the only models with any padding, I guess a little bit in the Louie collar.

[Mean salto]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

If Cons should reissue any re-worked base model it should be the first Trapasso Pro's

https://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/productimages/51198large.jpg

I want to skate these again so fucking bad

[close]

Those shoes were great. I preferred them over the Pop's. Don't get me wrong though, both were good in their own right, but the Trapasso's had that extra padding which made them more comfortable overall.

[close]

Exactly! Basically a one-star with a nice tongue and collar.

I swear cons is against putting in additional cushioning these days. Like the AS-1 and Fastbreaks are the only models with any padding, I guess a little bit in the Louie collar.

Rune glifberg also had a pro shoe in that style which had the zigzag sole which didn't last as long but was a more normal fit. Maybe his shoes didn't come out in North America tho

[Cranberry Relish]

Someone in Phoenix kept the Chany's on ice all these years.  Lets bring these back, lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325996635687?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=325996635687&targetid=1967088489036&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9030954&poi=&campaignid=19646921471&mkgroupid=149852949350&rlsatarget=pla-1967088489036&abcId=9305263&merchantid=6296724&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAibeuBhAAEiwAiXBoJIJwW1848FVCFdeHg8eh-sC35tmLieTMy_zkgA5h2bwaq7NeIy_T5RoC1CEQAvD_BwE

Edit* Looking at these just now again, wondering if these are where the inspiration for the Nike E-Cue's came from.  Hmmmm

[somedudefromnj]

HOMEBOY “shoes $till here”

 

[figureitout]

Expand Quote

Don’t smoke crack

[close]

meth*

*downers with him Xanax and or Percs.

I’ve been there and it’s a gnarly road, congrats to Pops on over 10 years of sobriety!

[Oog]

Cons from that era had a really cool shape. The tongues were wide and flat. I wish they would bring that back for a model or two. 

[Yonnycage]

Man I gotta dig mine outta the closet I haven't looked at em in years.

[Ray C. Usery]

ReRun wore Adidas

[JugeL]

Writer or the skater

[sid vicious]

Writer or the skater

Pops shoe was incredible

[straight]

for anyone who forgot .. when these came out originally, it was a tongue that was smaller than a lot of other brands .. now the tongue on the one stars is paper thin (better imo) .. i still have the og’s and can’t wear them because the tongue feels huuuge

still coolest shoe of all time for its time imo

[AllisonChalmers]

An all black leather Fastbreak is what the world needs. One-star mids in leather also.

[Buttworm]

I love cons alwys have but fuck me they suck on such a downwards trajectory now wow dude one star wow yeah I’m fucking annoyed Emerica and the like didn’t step up but fucking clowns over here are in charge this is skateboarding now. You were better before cons!

[TMKF]

"Pop's shoe" was just a re-edition of the original Converse All Star also known as the Jack Star dating all the way back to the 1970s...before he was born.

EDIT: You'll notice though that his shoe had metal eyelets and neither the OG or the new ones do.

[Ricky Vaughn]

If Cons should reissue any re-worked base model it should be the first Trapasso Pro's

https://skateparkoftampa.com/spot/productimages/51198large.jpg

I want to skate these again so fucking bad

Shoes could use a a life extension

[left knee cap]

here's the lore from his 48blocks interview. it is a TLDR for sure.

Every time I sat down to answer this question, I found myself  avoiding it, fabricating it, or blatantly lying about it. I would tell myself that I’d try again tomorrow. I realized that if I was going to answer this truthfully, there wasn’t a chance in hell to keep it positive. That sucks. The driving force behind anything that I’ve been asked to be part of, from video parts, to an interview, etc is in the hopes that it inspires people enough to want to go out and skate. That’s it. And if by chance, that scenario was ever the case, nothing makes me more psyched.

For anybody that has ever been into what I do on a skateboard, I feel like I owe them the truth. For the past 15 years, I worked too hard for  people to believe I burnt out in some bullshit flame built out of speculation, lies, assumptions, etc. I’m the first one to realize why these things get created, and even exist in the first place. I have always dealt with it throughout my career on some level. It’s pretty logical, it’s  just the outcome and what gets created if nobody gets the truth, or anything for that matter. As of today, looking back throughout it all, I probably have more fingers on one hand than I can count in my whole career (or life) that I’ve been lucky enough to experience—these things made me proud, honored, and maybe even feel a sense of achievement from skateboarding. Since the last one of these things, and coincidentally the most recent, directly relates to your question; I’ll bore you with the others as I would like to thank each and every person that was ever a part in making these possible.

Coming home from school and listening to a message on my answering machine from Rob Dyrdek.
When I went “officially” went amateur for Alien Workshop, and Joe Castrucci made this little commercial for it.
Walking and skating—I still remember the exact street—and talking on the phone to Rick Howard about riding for Chocolate. And getting a text from Aaron Meza about a month later telling me to look at Crailtap—my Hecox portrait was up.
My Lakai video part.
And lastly, being in a  bar / restaurant surrounded by friends, family, pros, and people that I’ve looked up to for my whole life growing up, respected beyond imagination, all gathered there because my name was going to be on the back of a Converse shoe. The craziest part of that,was that they were actually all accepting that fact, not talking shit on the idea of it. It fit, and people were congratulating me. It was really the natural progression of things. People were stoked on it. And just maybe, I deserved it. That will be coming up on three years ago.
This is what I know about myself and that company. It’s a company that I  risked my whole career on. That I quit another shoe company that I  had a previous good relationship with and was loyal too for over a decade to ride for. I was asked one month after I just put out a video part which just happened to turn out to be in the biggest, most watched, skate video of our decade. And, at that time, to take that risk was nothing more and still was just an idea. There was nothing concrete, no shoe designs, no team. They were having a hard time getting one together for pretty obvious reasons. Most people  don’t  like risking good, stable things in their life that they invested and worked their ass off for to ride a non-existent company with  a history of  failing in the skateboard world at least  two to three times already. It wasn’t like they were offering “free life” contracts. That’s for sure.

After going back and forth, I ended up getting them to at least match what I was getting from Lakai at that time. It was sketchy. And it was a major risk. But I took it. I had to stick to my guns. I had to believe it could work. But I knew it could work if done in a specific way. And they were on the same page as I was about how to make that happen. With the Lakai video being released at that time, I was just what they needed. And they got it. No big deal, that’s business.

The first two years that I rode for them was completely mellow. It felt like any other sponsor that I’ve ever had. This would be around the time there was some talk of releasing my shoe. Things were looking good. This company was actually starting to work. The brand was finally showing some stability. It seemed like everyone, all of sudden, wanted to ride for it. I gave my input, helped, and backed who I thought would help make this thing work. I wanted nothing but the best for this company, like anything I’m a part of. I take a lot of pride in who I ride for. I only ride for companies that I think are the best out there. That’s the only way it’s ever going to be for me.

At about that same two-year mark in, Converse starts giving me a little shit about getting some coverage. They had every right to. They just dumped all this money into the release and promotion of my shoe. I had just put out that Epicly Later’d, and it seemed to be getting some  pretty good feedback. Around the same time, Meza flew out here for a weekend and we filmed that Red commercial. I mean things seemed to be pretty much on the same track that I’ve been riding on for the past 12 years, if not better.

I felt like people were starting to get my Lakai part. I remember almost out of nowhere, kids were coming up to me just being so psyched, positive, and supportive. It felt good. It was also contract time again with Converse. All the original guys needed to renegotiate. And they were trying to integrate all the new guys into the program. This is pretty ironic. If I was forced to pick a time that I actually felt semi-confident about how things were working out career-wise, those couple of months would have been it. This company was about to release the first run of my shoe, and threw me this party celebrating it a couple weeks prior. I wasn’t being some asshole on a deserted island somewhere sipping Mai Tais. I stopped drinking over 5 years ago.

Literally, out of nowhere and for absolutely no reason, they started getting real shady with me. I seriously couldn’t understand why. Word was, my shoe was actually doing all right. Actually, I don’t know that for sure. To this day, I have never been told. But it seemed like every single kid in New York was running them. They were everywhere. Since they kept it running the following three years with a total of over twenty different colorways being released, some as recently as four or five months ago, would I be the crazy one to say it was probably a success? Especially considering that after the first run, they totally stopped supporting the shoe and myself. I was essentially being held hostage, just being told, “There wasn’t one person out there who might of actually bought it, or supported it because of the lifetime of work that I put into skateboarding. So I just had to get over the fact that my name was on it. And that there wasn’t a shop out there willing to touch or support a thing with my name on it anymore.” I look back and see how psychologically that did fuck me up. I was believing that.

I would go out skating at that time and get nothing but tons of positive feedback running into kids all day everyday. But I didn’t believe it. It’s almost three years later, and honestly, I think I still get more kids coming up to me now than I ever did during any other time in my career. And I still have a hard time with it. I would literally love to know what I ever did to that company except help it.

Six months ago, I walked into the huge converse store on Broadway in New York. Two skater kids who looked like they were on vacation with their folks were looking at, and eventually ended up buying, the shoe with my name on it. I watched from halfway across the store, and instantly had to break out. I was just so bummed. One of the kids had a Chocolate shirt on. If I had a dime in my pocket that day, I would bet any person at Cons that if I would of went up to those kids; they would of knew who I was. That was two years after I was told that there wasn’t a shop or kid left who would support anything I was a part of. This is how it more or less spiraled out control, or more or less their way of justifying that they just exploited me to a pulp and were about to do things you sometimes hear about, but never really believed unless you’re some hippy living in a shack in Costa Rica.

You didn’t think human beings were really capable of acting out such corrupt shit. To this group of people that I was riding for, and about to renegotiate this new contract with, only what I did during those two years mattered. I was being told it wasn’t up to their standards—which at that time is complete bullshit. I was doing stuff pretty regularly during that time. After is a different story, which I take responsibility for. But everything I was being called out on was  just so damn hypocritical. The only reason I ever got the fucking chance, and ended up riding for them in the first place was literally because of a video part I put out a month before I ever signed their contract. So they get to pick and choose what I’ve done in my career at certain moments. It doesn’t work like that. It has never worked liked that. It’s a pretty easy concept. When you decide to sponsor somebody, you obviously get the person’s baggage and history,

I kind of blacked out the phone call where we had to renegotiate. A lot of things were just so ridiculous. I remember him saying, “You know Anthony, the guys that ride for Cons are all A-list pro status. That’s our brand, you know? And honestly you’re just kind of a C-grade pro.” I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life. I couldn’t fucking believe they had the nerve to say that. I seriously remember it just getting real quiet, so silent, and just having a million thoughts running through my head. I couldn’t even say one of them. These were the same people I looked into the eyes of at this party they threw for me a month prior. It was just so fucking disgusting.

I actually hung up with a goodbye at the end. It was officially left at me not being at the level of being sponsored. Therefore, no contract anymore, no deal. Literally, I wasn’t sponsored anymore by them. The icing on the cake was I found out the day before that the other team I rode for, Elwood, was going to stop paying their skate team. So it was a wrap. Just like that, in a literal snap of their fingers, they decided to take my career into their own hands, and prematurely end it. Everybody on the team got resigned or added, except myself.

People don’t realize this—and I don’t really know how not—if you’re not 15 living in your parents house anymore, when people stop paying you to ride a skateboard, that’s it. You can’t put the time and effort in to worry about trying to film some trick. All of that goes out the window. Within 24 hours of that call, I was literally stressing about how I was gonna eat that night. I was living on nothing but purely survival instincts. And the most frustrating part of it is nobody knew that. I was living this double life. It was a lie in the sense that I’m out there still trying to live up to those expectations of being a pro skater. But it wasn’t  possible. Believe me, I tried. I really fucking tried. And that was just basically the hell of what has been the past two-and-a-half years of my life. And this is the sketchy way they were able to get away with doing that to me—a couple hours later that night, I get a text:  ”Anthony, I really feel bad for how this worked out. So I’m able to offer you this as a contract for the next two years.” It was fucking embarrassing. I was making more being an amateur for Lakai. But backed up against the wall, I had to sign this thing. I had no fucking choice.

I remember telling myself that all I wanted to do was be able to go out and  have the chance to  film for the Chocolate video. I remember getting bummed. It still wouldn’t of allowed me that. It would of been hardly enough to even cover rent. Well, if they would have even honored that goddamn contract. That was going to be the hell that I would of had to look forward to. But they didn’t. I was still loyal to them throughout this whole time. To this day, I run into kids that get psyched and think I’m some pro they like. Meanwhile, I’m out collecting scrap metal to sell so I can eat that night. It got that bad. The contract I signed was all just a ploy. They realized my shoe was doing well. It was the best selling in the line. They needed me looking like I rode for the company while they released another three colorways of shoes with my name on it every six months for who knows how long.



I remember going out to Vegas to help film that Kenny Anderson commercial. I was on the phone being like, ”Dude, I literally don’t have a penny in my pocket. I’m kind of sketched on traveling. I couldn’t even get to the airport if I wanted to.” But I still made that trip. But that bullshit fake contract ended up being just that. They wouldn’t live up to it. I got more excuses and stories month after month like, “The guy that needs to verify a check is on vacation. We don’t know when he’s getting back.” And me just like being so worked, telling them, “I’m literally hungry man. I need to eat.”

There I was “riding” for them, not getting paid, going through absolute hell, and then digging this hole of them coming down on me for not skating or getting shit done. It looked like exactly that from the outside as well. From that text, it took them over a year for me to ever get any type of help from them—which, by then, didn’t matter anymore. The first month, I couldn’t pay rent. By the third month, I was getting evicted. By the fourth month, I was stressing about how I was going to be able to afford storage. I was basically on the street. And in six months, it didn’t fucking matter anymore. I ended up selling and pawning every single thing I owned. I was fighting for my life, literally. To really put it in perspective, in those three years that I had that shoe out, there were two-and-a-half years that there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to get enough money together that would allow me to walk into a store and just buy a pair on my own if I wanted to. You can’t pay rent with street cred, and shockingly you can’t pay rent with a company pumping out over twenty different colorways of a shoe with your name on it either. The only thing I’ve ever wanted from them at the end of the day was just to have that chance. They never gave it to me.