SSDB 6th Anniversary

If you’re an adidas addict and you don’t know about SuperstarDB (SSDB) then you missing out on one the richest Superstar resources the web has to offer. Housing a community of sneaker veterans, the website was put together by Olstar (as he’s known online) over half a decade ago in order to pay homage to the amazing silhouette that launched adidas to the heights of the shoe industry.

Over the years the site has become infamous for exposing forgeries, and is one of the only reliable sources for finding information on whether a pair of Supes are fake or the real deal. Beyond authenticity, the forum boasts a select handful of amazing custom kick artist, such as Dean Morris (aka Sneakerphile).

Due to the success and long life of SSDB, the members arrange a celebratory meetup every year to show appreciation for their common interests. This year the meetup was held at the lengendary John Snow pub, nestled in the heart of Soho / London, and after a few drinks it carried on to Bodeans for a spot of lunch.

The SSDB crew invited eatmoeshoes to join in on the fun and we made our way through the warm weather to the location. London transport generally plummets to a meltdown status on the weekends but this didn’t stop the gathering; even DJ Wildthing (an SSDB member) and his wife flew in from Denmark for the festivities.

True to the name, everyone showed up sporting their favorite Superstars creating a wide variety of delicious leather underfoot. A range of classics as well as newly released gems were on display, laced to perfection.

Pure (an SSDB member) played the part of tour guide, pointing out landmarks and generally dropping mad knowledge on the crew. MrShoeShotta had come down from Southampton armed with a bag of goodies containing samples of his eagerly awaited laces. The quality of his product was top notch and he said they will available for purchase online in July.

Sneakerphile was well chuffed as DJ Wildthing presented him with a pair of Ultrastar JMJ’s he had brought with him from Denmark. Mr. Spite (an SSDB member and one of the UK’s most veteran Superstar collectors) was on top form as usual. Streak (another SSDB member) was in his element, cracking jokes even making plans for the next SSDB meet up.

After the drinks and food had been consumed the gang got down to business and hit the local sweet spots for sneaker shopping. Starting with the legendary Footpatrol, eager eyes were laid upon some vintage adidas shoes hidden amongst the new releases. The journey continued onto No6 and ended with a visit to SIZE.

Not only did eatmoreshoes attend the anniversary meetup, we also sat down with Olstar to get the low-down on SuperstarDB.

What’s up Olstar, tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Olly (aka olly.im or Olstar on SSDB), a 27 year old entrepreneur from Notts with a love of classic Volkswagens (and owner of one), drum and bass, hip hop, and adidas Superstars.

How’d you get into lovin’ the adidas Superstar so much?

Run DMC made me do it!

Fair enough. What’s your personal collection looking like these days?

I have about 30 pairs of adidas trainers, 90% of them are Superstars or Pro Models, and the rest consist of Comptown Lo’s and other such bad ass adidas kicks.

Nice! So other than being an adidas addict yourself, why did you start SSDB?

I couldn’t find anything when searching online, so I decided it was best to start a website about it, that way people could find out info on the famous shell toed sneaker.

And when was this?

September 2005.

You guys have grown so much since then. How did you attract so many contributors?

Spoof eBay auctions.

Wait, you mean fake auctions?

Yeah, like selling a shoe lace but titling the auction ‘adidas Superstar 35th Consortium Bape adicolor’.

[both laugh]

Seriously?

Yep. They never lasted more than a few days, eBay would rip them down. But it worked like a treat. Got Pure and all the big dogs from it.

Did you really?

They all scour eBay all day don’t they?

[both laugh]