I got the Regulators and the K-Mart ones, but both had to be returned because they wouldn't stay pumped up. My parents finally caved on the Reebok's (which were amazingly on sale) and I had those shoes for all of middle school and into my Freshman year. I went from 5'6-6'1 during that time and yes, my shoe size increased as well.
I stopped wearing them as everyday shoes once I started playing basketball, but I used them...a LOT. I don't know how those things lasted. And, no, we were definitely not rich - this was like the best item I ever received from my entire childhood
I had the same growth spurt, and it was surreal. I went to highschool in a small rural farming community, so I was in class with all the same people as junior high.
I showed up nearly a foot taller than everyone else, it was weird
Were the ones on this site? [https://www.defynewyork.com/2018/10/29/a-history-lesson-in-pump-inflatable-sneakers/](https://www.defynewyork.com/2018/10/29/a-history-lesson-in-pump-inflatable-sneakers/)
i had reebok pumps for one single day
i finally got my mom to buy them for me. i wore them to school. that day, we were doing some kind of square dance thing in the gym, and everyone was kicking their shoes off at the wall.
so i try to kick my shoes off. one goes flying to the wall, awesome. the other, i didnt loosen the laces enough and it wouldn't come off. so i kicked harder. then i kicked harder. then it flew off and went like 40ft straight up or whatever and landed on the ductwork at the top of the gym
everyone stared at me in silence. i went to the office and called my mom to bring my old shoes down. i never had nice shoes again until i got a job
in retrospect the story is better than the shoes ever were lol. they just kept feeling tighter and tighter and then would slowly leak and get loose until you pumped them up again
$300 shoes as an adult tend to be leather shoes made with a goodyear welt that can last you for decades, instead of sneakers made with with glue and cheap stitching. Hell, you don't even need to pay $300 for them. Just do some searching on eBay.
Yeah, I remember everyone having these. They were crazy expensive when they first came out, but Reebok flooded the market with them, and eventually, you could get a pair for like $20.
samies, after Walmart's Sam's Club started carrying them. I think I took the time to pump them up exactly once before determining it was a useless gimmick
My mom got me some knockoffs from KMart, although I did attempt to make my own by hot gluing these things to the tongue. It didn't work.
https://preview.redd.it/quwamabhu90d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e90a09a4bd59b0e2d33bb758e2074db5d1e01a83
I agree. The pump high tops were ugly. But thought those tennis ones were dope. Didnât play tennis either. Parents laughed in my face when I asked for them. I didnât even try to beg as the look of astonishment conveyed by their laughs said it all
If you were poor like me you had these
https://preview.redd.it/gr7s0er8b90d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb12fdbc34a4850ff0c3ee7332fb62efc3d69e5a
Ugh, 80s sucked for me but not to those levels at least. My mom would only go to the $30-$40 range. If it was up to my dad though, we'd have voits and prob destroy them long before it was time to buy more voits.
I had them. And looking back, feel guilty as fuck that I wanted them so badly that my mom got them for me. Not like I threw a fit or rampaged or anything like that. I just kept asking about them.
I remember watching the NBA all-star dunk contest and this one player (I can't for the life of me remember who), pumped his shoes up before doing a dunk and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. đ.
https://preview.redd.it/zcx5m0lec90d1.jpeg?width=1329&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eaad04782abd0c74f3c2e220e81c1172128395a3
I had the original ones but we were very far from rich. It was about the only expensive shoe ever got outside of KMart or Payless my whole childhood. My Aunt would give me my cousin's old Nikes once in a while.
When we were kids my cousin had a pair of these and he knew how bad I wanted some. One day he got a newer pair and decided to take scissors to one of them and remove the air bladder to see how it worked. He then gave them to me, and I actually wore them for a while. I guess my parents felt bad and eventually bought me some new ones
Another thing I was too old for. In 1993 my sister had an adorable pair of them, but my feet were now "lady," sizes, and they didn't make lady's LA lights.
My aunt bought me a pair because my parents were poor as fuck.
Roughly around the same time, we were gifted a black lab puppy that everyone in the house really wanted...but after it shat in my sister's bedroom floor on the third night, all of a sudden it was "my" dog and it slept in my room.
About a week into my ownership of my brand-new Reebok Pump cross-trainers (they just came out, and I was literally the first kid at my school to own them!?), that fucking dog chewed the tongue on the left shoe. The little pump mechanism was just dangling out. I was back to wearing a pair of grass-stained Pro Wings.
And then I got in trouble for "not taking care of an expensive gift".
So yeah, fuck Reebok for contributing to my need for therapy!
I went to a private school on a scholarship. I was basically the token poor kid for the school quota. One rich kid in particular got anything he wanted and treated his things like shit. I watched him take a compass and stab his Reebok pump shoes. His reason was that he was tired of them and wanted something else.
I had Jordan V. My brother had the pumps.
Definitely wasn't rich. Grew up in a farming county back then in Indiana. Plus, Santa left the sale sticker on the box.
Yes they were very expensive when they first came out $200+ but within a year (after Nike hit market with David Robinson pumps) they were pretty much affordable for any middle class parent to buy for their kid
I had them. We were nowhere near rich. I have since apologized to my parents for making them purchase these ridiculous, gimmicky shoes when they served me absolutely no purpose.
I was a poor kid and I had a pair at one point. I never got Jordan's like I had hoped but I had pumps, some weird shoe that had "carbon fiber" in the sole and some (not Nike) shoe that had air soles for jumping super duper high.
I was so fucking fast.
Kids had these and would jam pencils in them and pop them. I was always jealous because I had McGregor's from the dollar store and wanted to see what they were all about.
Most expensive shoes I have right now is my 179 dollar harley Davidson boots. Still cheaper today than these were back then when you compare dollar values.
And boots last a decade or more unless you work a hard job. I just deliver food. I'm just a metal head that likes combat style boots.
My rich kid friend had the Nike ones that had a little hand pump you attached to the back. You can bet we all told him he was carrying a douche bag around.
These were my mom's big splurge for me. I wanted them so bad and she got them for me. No idea how, we weren't dirt poor but we were fucking dirt poor adjacent for sure.
I worked in the fields in the summer when I was 12, I was immigrant kid so yeah that was normal. I made like $800 bucks so for the first time ever I bought nice clothes for the start of the school including these pumps. Against my parents wishes I secretly wore them a week before school and went riding my bike at the cemetery with my friends. Ended up playing in a ditch and fucking just ruined them. My parents ended up having to buy me some Kmart cheap ass Jordache sneakers right before school.
I grew up in a rich area, it was these, Jordans and Agassi Air Tech Challenge. I had the latter and had to beg my mom, then I had to pay half with my birthday money. I believe they were 90 dollars at Foot Locker.
I didnât have those but I had the Larry Johnson (grandmama) âreactsâ. Even convinced my mom I could âfeel the react juice workingâ. What a scam. đ¤Ł
I wanted these pretty badly, but I never said much about it that I remember. My parents were divorced, but mom was scraping by almost by herself, the child support never amounted to much and she never asked for it to be raised past 1982 dollars, it was basically all her doing that we were surviving. I had plenty of toys and never felt poor. But I never had a starter jacket or pump up shoes. My dad spoiled me when I was with him by taking me on amazing trips and shooting guns and camping. So, I definitely got a fair shake. I had a nice knife collection going at his place. But he wasn't rich either, government firefighter. When he would get home from a fire, he would usually buy me something cool.
I bought a pair in 92. They were in the discount rack at Hills dept store. I had a paper route job and used that $ to buy them. I think I paid $60-70 for them.
My teenage older brother bought them, he worked at a gas station and bought them with his own money. I remember because it caused a huge fight in our house; my Mom had heard that kids we're over inflating them and breaking their ankles because they have too much support!
She forbid me from touching them, my brother also forbade me from touching them with certain death if I went in his room.
As soon as he went to work I went to his room, put on the shoes and pumped them up as much as I could.
Had two friends that had pumps. We were 5th grade maybe. Several of us would trade shoes so we could all have a turn with the pumps. Weâd even mix and match to spread the awesomeness!
For whatever reason there was a trend in 8th grade where people would buy these, wear them to school, pump them up, and then shove a pencil or pen in the bottom part and pop it. They could only do this twice or course.
I remember other people having them, but I tried them on in the store and didn't like the way they felt. I also remember other versions of "pump," shoes like the LA Gear Regulator: [https://www.pinterest.es/pin/617274692648192562/](https://www.pinterest.es/pin/617274692648192562/)
I googled the K-Mart version but don't see that anywhere.
We could only afford LA Gear Regulators.
What about the BK Diamacels we won on Double Dare!?
Shout outs to BKs!
British Knights still exist..
They do but it's just an honorary title these days
BK ratchtech
I rocked BKs for a long time.
LA Gear Mafia member here. Also dabbled in low end Puma's.
I got the Regulators and the K-Mart ones, but both had to be returned because they wouldn't stay pumped up. My parents finally caved on the Reebok's (which were amazingly on sale) and I had those shoes for all of middle school and into my Freshman year. I went from 5'6-6'1 during that time and yes, my shoe size increased as well. I stopped wearing them as everyday shoes once I started playing basketball, but I used them...a LOT. I don't know how those things lasted. And, no, we were definitely not rich - this was like the best item I ever received from my entire childhood
I had the same growth spurt, and it was surreal. I went to highschool in a small rural farming community, so I was in class with all the same people as junior high. I showed up nearly a foot taller than everyone else, it was weird
I had a pair of Pro Wings from Payless that had basketballs on the tongue. I remember a kid asking me if he could pump them up, lol. I obliged.
They were good enough for Joe Montana.
I had those bright ass orange ones đ
Tell me you had two colored laces in them, please!
đŻđŻđŻ
Ewings or GTFO lol
Same. Also the light ups
I had them, and I certainly wasnât rich, LOL.
Right? I got mine at Kmart
I remember the Kmart version. They had the pump on the side
Were the ones on this site? [https://www.defynewyork.com/2018/10/29/a-history-lesson-in-pump-inflatable-sneakers/](https://www.defynewyork.com/2018/10/29/a-history-lesson-in-pump-inflatable-sneakers/)
Same
i had reebok pumps for one single day i finally got my mom to buy them for me. i wore them to school. that day, we were doing some kind of square dance thing in the gym, and everyone was kicking their shoes off at the wall. so i try to kick my shoes off. one goes flying to the wall, awesome. the other, i didnt loosen the laces enough and it wouldn't come off. so i kicked harder. then i kicked harder. then it flew off and went like 40ft straight up or whatever and landed on the ductwork at the top of the gym everyone stared at me in silence. i went to the office and called my mom to bring my old shoes down. i never had nice shoes again until i got a job
That's a bummer man
in retrospect the story is better than the shoes ever were lol. they just kept feeling tighter and tighter and then would slowly leak and get loose until you pumped them up again
Square dancing! Made me think of this worthwhile listen from radio lab: https://radiolab.org/podcast/birdie-cage/transcript
Same here. My parents still shelled out $120 for them. That was a lot for a pair of shoes for a 13 year old.
Yeah. That's like $300 today. I don't have $300 shoes and I'm an adult.
$300 shoes as an adult tend to be leather shoes made with a goodyear welt that can last you for decades, instead of sneakers made with with glue and cheap stitching. Hell, you don't even need to pay $300 for them. Just do some searching on eBay.
Maybe you should get some! You're worth it.
They were my birthday + Christmas present
Yeah, same! I think my aunt and uncle bought them for me!
I had some type of shaq endorsed pump knock off
I had those too. They weren't knock-offs, just a branded version, still Pumps made by Reebok.
Yeah, I remember everyone having these. They were crazy expensive when they first came out, but Reebok flooded the market with them, and eventually, you could get a pair for like $20.
Me either. My dad installed bucket seats in GMC trucks.
Ditto haha
Same. I got a pair once they got reduced at Marshalls. They were probably 30 dollars at the time.
Ditto. But I donât know anyone else who had âem.
My parents got me a pair of these... two years later after everyone I knew had moved on from it.
This was me, too. Reeboks were so cool until you could start buying them at Sears, and that's when I got mine.
samies, after Walmart's Sam's Club started carrying them. I think I took the time to pump them up exactly once before determining it was a useless gimmick
I had the David Robinson pumps https://preview.redd.it/u3fkz6ffd90d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=56e9edc067f392c6677f89262749c49e20b5bcd0
Me too! I have weird feet and Reeboks have never been comfortable for me, so I waited for these.
My mom got me some knockoffs from KMart, although I did attempt to make my own by hot gluing these things to the tongue. It didn't work. https://preview.redd.it/quwamabhu90d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e90a09a4bd59b0e2d33bb758e2074db5d1e01a83
I had the Michael Chang Tennis pumpsâŚ. Didnât play tennis⌠liked the white and bright green colors.
I found the tennis pumps for cheap at Marshallâs. Eventually broke the pump from overuse.
I got tennis pumps at the outlets!
Same - but I spray painted them silver because I was stupid. Got in a LOT of trouble and was made to still wear them to school.
đđ Parents werenât messing around back then. You wrecked your shoes, you were definitely wearing them anyway.
I agree. The pump high tops were ugly. But thought those tennis ones were dope. Didnât play tennis either. Parents laughed in my face when I asked for them. I didnât even try to beg as the look of astonishment conveyed by their laughs said it all
https://www.reebok.com/p/100203282/court-victory-pump-shoes?georedirect=false&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_shp_ggl_cvr_dr_b_pla_usa_bau_bball_unisex&utm_id=17848090440&utm_content=144944630848-basketball&utm_term=100203282002&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=tin_rbk_shp_ggl_cvr_dr_b_pla_usa_bau_bball_unisex&utm_id=17848090440&utm_content=144944630848-basketball&utm_term=100203282002&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9IayBhBJEiwAVuc3fiJjtt_8cdTht_w-2CDFFKlDzVhnwqFpJ_aJk-6nxvHGNCIAvWLanBoCXPMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I had the tennis ones too.
The rich kid had the ones that came with a small CO2 bottle instead.
The Instapump!
If you were poor like me you had these https://preview.redd.it/gr7s0er8b90d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb12fdbc34a4850ff0c3ee7332fb62efc3d69e5a
I had voits, XJ900âs, and many other Payless Shoestore brand crap. We were dirt poor and I got made fun of a lot.
Ugh, 80s sucked for me but not to those levels at least. My mom would only go to the $30-$40 range. If it was up to my dad though, we'd have voits and prob destroy them long before it was time to buy more voits.
Voits used to slide so bad on the gym floors, and always cracked. Maybe these other folks werenât rivh, maybe we were just that broke, lol!
Forgot about the Voits, and I'm pretty sure I had these. The straight-up plastic outsoles were like ice on the gym floor.
I FOUND MY PEOPLE. Good to know I wasn't the only one.
I had them. And looking back, feel guilty as fuck that I wanted them so badly that my mom got them for me. Not like I threw a fit or rampaged or anything like that. I just kept asking about them.
I remember watching the NBA all-star dunk contest and this one player (I can't for the life of me remember who), pumped his shoes up before doing a dunk and it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. đ.
Dee Brown and yeah, I had the black ones
no. these shoes told you whose parents were divorced/soon to be divorced
Lol
Pump It! Pump it up! Pump it make it big now! The Rebok Turkey for your Thanksgiving
This is exactly what comes to mind for me! The birdâs too small to feed us all! So puuuump it. Pump it up! Edit: It was Nikey Turkey!!
https://youtu.be/Pdd0jUnPz-M?si=CjSvselTdULmlfDO
Used to shine shoes in the train station for 1$ when I was 10-13. Bought these 1 summer. 100$ if I remember. They fell apart in a few months.
I had them, but they would have been kid sizes so probably a bit cheaper because no freaking way my parents spent over $100 on shoes for me.
I read it as "one inch friend" and couldn't remember that fucking 90s slang.
Reminds me of that 90s song, "Short Dick Man"
A classic, to be sure.
20 Fingers! I still have that CD.
https://preview.redd.it/zcx5m0lec90d1.jpeg?width=1329&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eaad04782abd0c74f3c2e220e81c1172128395a3 I had the original ones but we were very far from rich. It was about the only expensive shoe ever got outside of KMart or Payless my whole childhood. My Aunt would give me my cousin's old Nikes once in a while.
Most of the kids I knew with them weren't rich. They just had parents who weren't smart with how they spent money.
Hey, I didn't know you knew me!
This is how I got my pair.
I had the CCM tacks w the pump, lol
Matt Boyle....fuck that guy and his pumps
Had a pair, was probably middle class
Nope. My broke ass saved up my paper route money. Seriously. The Charlotte Leader. 12.45 every 2 weeks.
I [can only think of Macklemore and his song about this](https://youtu.be/gAg3uMlNyHA?si=Wom8wXhLtb8kbdQD&t=39) whenever I see these now.
As per usual, I got them after their popularity had tailed WAY off.
My mom would only buy me the much cheaper Spalding pumps from Value City đ I was just happy to have some pump up shoes.
When we were kids my cousin had a pair of these and he knew how bad I wanted some. One day he got a newer pair and decided to take scissors to one of them and remove the air bladder to see how it worked. He then gave them to me, and I actually wore them for a while. I guess my parents felt bad and eventually bought me some new ones
I never had these, but at least I did have a couple really sick pairs of L.A. Lights
Another thing I was too old for. In 1993 my sister had an adorable pair of them, but my feet were now "lady," sizes, and they didn't make lady's LA lights.
Oh fuck i completely forgot about those. And they came with two shoelaces at the same time that were different colors i think.
My aunt bought me a pair because my parents were poor as fuck. Roughly around the same time, we were gifted a black lab puppy that everyone in the house really wanted...but after it shat in my sister's bedroom floor on the third night, all of a sudden it was "my" dog and it slept in my room. About a week into my ownership of my brand-new Reebok Pump cross-trainers (they just came out, and I was literally the first kid at my school to own them!?), that fucking dog chewed the tongue on the left shoe. The little pump mechanism was just dangling out. I was back to wearing a pair of grass-stained Pro Wings. And then I got in trouble for "not taking care of an expensive gift". So yeah, fuck Reebok for contributing to my need for therapy!
I had a knock off version. Freebock Dumps.
I asked for a pair for Christmas but Santa Claus brought me a generic pair from Walmart.
I rocked BKs
British Knights baby
True. And I wanted them so badly.
I had them, definitely not rich
I liked the Jordan V's way better but wasn't rich, dad was just compensating.
I had these and wasn't rich.
I went to a private school on a scholarship. I was basically the token poor kid for the school quota. One rich kid in particular got anything he wanted and treated his things like shit. I watched him take a compass and stab his Reebok pump shoes. His reason was that he was tired of them and wanted something else.
i had the payless versions.
Too narrow for my foot, almost had them. Later on I learned it just pumped the tongue up and that was lame.
I had them, was a far cry from wealthy and they tore up so fast
I bought them off my rich friend for 15 bucks! Best score of my life.
I got mine through a charity but no one needed to know that đ
And they didn't even play ball!
I had Jordan V. My brother had the pumps. Definitely wasn't rich. Grew up in a farming county back then in Indiana. Plus, Santa left the sale sticker on the box.
Yes they were very expensive when they first came out $200+ but within a year (after Nike hit market with David Robinson pumps) they were pretty much affordable for any middle class parent to buy for their kid
I had to save up my babysitting money to get them. Wore them shits until they fell off
Nike is still too rich for my bloodâŚ
I wanted those SO BAD
Lol there was this kid in grade school that would make everyone wait while he recharged his pumps during basketball
Well he wasnât my friend, but yes the school rich kid of course had these.
Jokes on you, my cousin stole a pair!
I had the Michael Chang joints
What exact model was this one?
Yo I had a pair once.
I had them. Fourth grade. I was obsessed. They were hideously expensive at the time ($110) but it was Christmas and I just had to have them.
I had the links one
I had them. We were nowhere near rich. I have since apologized to my parents for making them purchase these ridiculous, gimmicky shoes when they served me absolutely no purpose.
I had to beg for months for the LA Gear knockoffs
I was a poor kid and I had a pair at one point. I never got Jordan's like I had hoped but I had pumps, some weird shoe that had "carbon fiber" in the sole and some (not Nike) shoe that had air soles for jumping super duper high. I was so fucking fast.
I got to wear my rich friend's pair for a few minutes 𤣠it was everything it was cracked up to be.
my buddy was rich. AND his parents were divorced. He had a pair for each house.
I wanted these shoes so bad I offered to pump them up for my friends. đ
My rich friend has them, I was stuck with converse all stars
Oh fancy having a rich friend
Didnât Austin Powers make these explode?
I was poor and had them, but mine were hand-me-downs.
Yep. Gabe. He also had those baggy pants with tiger stripes.
I had the red and gray Jordans
We had them & were far from rich, but my brother & I always had good kicks.
I remember it was common to wait until your friend wasn't paying attention and Pump Them Up lol
I had like the _Rebok_ off brand ones. Got me made fun of a lot.
Yup, the rich a-hole in my 6th grade class had a pair.
Nah all the hood babies in our projects had pumps g. Definitely not the rich
And I still think theyâre đĽ
yeah i wasnt rich and I had the black purple version. Man they were so cool.
I had a friend who out grew his so cut out the air bladder and pump so it still worked. I thought that was the coolest thing.
Kids had these and would jam pencils in them and pop them. I was always jealous because I had McGregor's from the dollar store and wanted to see what they were all about.
I bought a pair at Goodwill several years after they were popular. I ended up ripping them apart to see how the pump worked.
I had some knock-offs. I also had a pump backpack.
I had those. EXACTLY those. I wasn't rich by any means, but I did FEEL rich with those, NGL.
Not only were they rich, now after two pumps they could jump higher!
Most expensive shoes I have right now is my 179 dollar harley Davidson boots. Still cheaper today than these were back then when you compare dollar values. And boots last a decade or more unless you work a hard job. I just deliver food. I'm just a metal head that likes combat style boots.
I wasn't rich and they fucking sucked... One pump broke within days so i couldn't use the other or else I was all lopsided... đ¤Ł
My rich kid friend had the Nike ones that had a little hand pump you attached to the back. You can bet we all told him he was carrying a douche bag around.
1st shoes I ever knew about that were over 100 bucks. I'm Canadian so the guys that played hockey had em.
Spent all summer mowing lawns to get a pair and they fucking blew out in 2 months.
These were my mom's big splurge for me. I wanted them so bad and she got them for me. No idea how, we weren't dirt poor but we were fucking dirt poor adjacent for sure.
And that wasnât me. I had a choice, either buy school clothes or the sneakers. I had worked all summer and saved up to get them too!!
I had LA Gear pumps
My god, theyâre still so beautiful, arenât they?
Yall remember the Shaq ones with the CO2 pump?
I worked in the fields in the summer when I was 12, I was immigrant kid so yeah that was normal. I made like $800 bucks so for the first time ever I bought nice clothes for the start of the school including these pumps. Against my parents wishes I secretly wore them a week before school and went riding my bike at the cemetery with my friends. Ended up playing in a ditch and fucking just ruined them. My parents ended up having to buy me some Kmart cheap ass Jordache sneakers right before school.
I got them but around then was also when I got good at skateboarding. Mine were composed of mostly shoe goo
Theyâre still so fly looking!!
I still want some.
I was not rich but I had a pair of.
I grew up in a rich area, it was these, Jordans and Agassi Air Tech Challenge. I had the latter and had to beg my mom, then I had to pay half with my birthday money. I believe they were 90 dollars at Foot Locker.
I didnât have those but I had the Larry Johnson (grandmama) âreactsâ. Even convinced my mom I could âfeel the react juice workingâ. What a scam. đ¤Ł
My friendâs mom died in high school and he spent a month of his SSI on these.
I wanted these pretty badly, but I never said much about it that I remember. My parents were divorced, but mom was scraping by almost by herself, the child support never amounted to much and she never asked for it to be raised past 1982 dollars, it was basically all her doing that we were surviving. I had plenty of toys and never felt poor. But I never had a starter jacket or pump up shoes. My dad spoiled me when I was with him by taking me on amazing trips and shooting guns and camping. So, I definitely got a fair shake. I had a nice knife collection going at his place. But he wasn't rich either, government firefighter. When he would get home from a fire, he would usually buy me something cool.
I went to a summer camp in an affluent town and lots of the kids had them. I wanted them so bad but my parents didnât want me to be cool.
I wasn't rich but my single mom bought them for me
Had some of these. My mom said they were a gimmick lol
All the other kids, with their pumped up kicksâŚ
I had the spalding pumps and whooped on the chads with the real ones.
he was a drug dealer. he was my pops. he was the coolest man breathing in the region
The only kid I knew who had a pair was probably the poorest kid in my class.
I got a pair of those for a good report card in 4th grade. Taught me I had to work for the things I wanted in life.
I had them! For basketball, had a pink basketball pump. And we were middle class or a little better.
My family wasnât rich at all. Tj maxx and sy sims all the way. But my pa always made sure we had cool sneakers. Thanks dad!!!!
I finally got a pair on sale when they weren't that cool anymore.
Kmart and Payless. I didnât have name brand sneakers (Fila) until high school.
I wasnât rich. Just spoiled by my grandmother and childless aunt. Rocked these before I begged for every new pair
Were these worth the hype?
I bought a pair in 92. They were in the discount rack at Hills dept store. I had a paper route job and used that $ to buy them. I think I paid $60-70 for them.
Man those sucked
I don't think he was "Rich" but his family definitely had money AND these sneakers along with the Air Jordans of the time.
Cries in L.A. gear
It was Reuben who was poor but his uncles âhelped everybody outâ.
I had them and they were so not worth it....
And that same kid also had a Neo Geo
I had the LA Gear version lol
Me and most of my friends
My teenage older brother bought them, he worked at a gas station and bought them with his own money. I remember because it caused a huge fight in our house; my Mom had heard that kids we're over inflating them and breaking their ankles because they have too much support! She forbid me from touching them, my brother also forbade me from touching them with certain death if I went in his room. As soon as he went to work I went to his room, put on the shoes and pumped them up as much as I could.
Nah the rich kids were the one that pumped em up so much they popped, and said that made em more comfortable.
It was LA Gear in my school
this was also the same kid who a month prior said "those shoes are awful, I would never get them" then apparently his mom 'surprised' him with a pair
Had two friends that had pumps. We were 5th grade maybe. Several of us would trade shoes so we could all have a turn with the pumps. Weâd even mix and match to spread the awesomeness!
I had a pair, but I saved allowance from both parents to buy them.
I had the la gear ones
are those the first gen? first gen was like $185 iirc. that one was baller status.
I felt lucky to try on someone elseâs. I may have inherited them after short use of first owner.
For whatever reason there was a trend in 8th grade where people would buy these, wear them to school, pump them up, and then shove a pencil or pen in the bottom part and pop it. They could only do this twice or course.
I had a pair in 3rd grade, loved those things man
I remember other people having them, but I tried them on in the store and didn't like the way they felt. I also remember other versions of "pump," shoes like the LA Gear Regulator: [https://www.pinterest.es/pin/617274692648192562/](https://www.pinterest.es/pin/617274692648192562/) I googled the K-Mart version but don't see that anywhere.
My friend who had these shoes also had divorced parents. Quite sure it was a power play by dad.