Words By Jason Hortillas
Should you be surprised? Not even a couple hours after the public sale of the Obey/J Dilla print, fools are already posting them up on eBay. It has already been documented that people profited off the Yancey estate and it’s frustrating to see it continue. Proceeds from the Obey prints are going to Dilla’s mom Maureen Yancey, who was diagnosed with Lupus, the same illness that took the life of her son.
To prevent people from flipping Dilla goods for the highest bidder, Shepard Fairey should print out a lot more than 400 “limited edition” prints. These ain’t Supreme Nike Trainers son.
Previously Posted — Shepard Fairey & OBEY Team Up For J. Dilla
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folks are ridiculous w/this shit.probably don’t even have the goods in hand yet. smh.
shameless…
but at the same time…in order to sell it they had to have payed the asking price that Obey/Stones Throw set for them…
as for getting on Shep(/Obey Brand/Stones Throw) for doing a limited run…lets think for a second shall we, lets say this was just a regular mass produced Obey poster (which would probably be retailed around $15)…now you have to go into full scale distribution, tons of middlemen, and have to move a whole lot more units…
The Numbers Game:
Limited Run: 400 posters x $55 (what they were going for via Obey website) = $22,000 ASAP Money (one day)
GR Run: $22,000 / $15 (guessed GR price based on limited run price) = 1,467 posters that need to be sold to get the same money in the same amount of time. (even for a legend like Dilla, thats a lot of POSTERS to move…like you said “These ain’t Supreme Nike Trainers son.”)
im not gonna front like im Doogie Howser MD and know whats what in the medical world, but im sure with Lupus (as with most things deadly in life) its better to have money ASAP then waiting around for it…who knows what an extra $22,000 would have done for Dilla
you guys are doing good with stickers and EZ-Spiltz, congrats on your venture…but its probably best to let retail professionals do their thing…and besides, showing any disdain whatsoever in a selfless act thats benefiting someone in need is never a good look
aloe vera anyone? owwwwwwww
twits – /KTVanglorious
sorry…im lifted and bored…
after looking a little more at the Obey site another thing popped in the head…should hammer my point home a little more and maybe even earn a strike through that whole last sentence…
Shep also did a commemorative poster for Proof…they did a run of 1500 and have them priced at $45!!…thats right HAVE THEM priced, meaning they never sold out…so the price wouldnt substantially go down (my guess of $15/poster was waaaay off) but the number of posters would more then triple…
doing a larger run makes them easier to obtain which lowers the demand/hype (hate that fucking word almost as much as swag)…less “hype” (*does mr. burns signiture shake & quiver* (c) The Simpsons) means they sit on the shelf longer…shelf life means no money for Ma Dukes…no money for Ma Dukes = WHAT THE FUCK GOOD DID THEY REALLY DO?
just something else to think about the next time you decide to pull out your E.T. fingers and start pointing them at people
back to my B-La
owwwwwwwwwwwww
Whats the problem?
Someone bought this and is now selling it. Yancey’s got theirs now dude who bought it is getting his.
All great in theory (very accurate as it is & to which I agree) but perhaps the greater point isn’t the Obey/ST part of the equation but the seller that he’s finding fault w/. Personally, I don’t care. I’ve seen things like this many times over in sneakers – cats claiming love, but no love overrides the love of money.
And the “retail professionals” remark? Please lol. I can’t speak for anyone else but I was making hype, online & offline, back when Chuck was tellin cats not to believe it. Think not? You’re here aren’t you?
And the “retail professionals” remark? Please lol. I can’t speak for anyone else but I was making hype, online & offline, back when Chuck was tellin cats not to believe it. Think not? You’re here aren’t you?
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i am indeed here (as if that needs confirming), as i am for the most part a big fan of the site…*golf clap*
and im sure you were/are the oh so powerful “hype creator” you proclaim to be, but dont let that mislead you to think that youre accomplishments/hype in the “retail world” and otherwise, as great as they may be, are anywhere near Obey as a brand or near what Shep/Giant/Obey pulled in the street art world
No Shots Whatsoever, but its a balloon to a blimp man…sorry if you took my backhanded compliment about your keychains and stickers personally
like the author of the piece i frown on the reseller, but like you, im an old old sneaker head and have seen this a million times over…my major funk was the blame being shifted to Obey, which was unwarranted IMO
thats all…like i said…blame it on blunts and boredom
Nah like I said, I agree b/c situations like this have been the case since eBay & Craiglists came about, making it possible for everyone to be a reseller of some sort.
The “backhanded” comment was some slickness, I’ll let it slide b/c I know much better. Nobody’s directly comparing our thing to an Obey b/c it’s apples to oranges. But if you’ve bought shoes, you can partially thank me for that too.
i’ll treat this one like an acceptance speech i guess
i have indeed bought shoes so id like to thank my dude Gotty, i dont know what im thanking you for, but you said i could so there it is…thank you for whatever youve done…id also like to thank the one and only Cowboy over at Nike, Hue at Greedy Genius, and last but certainly not least Jeff Staple for designing this highly slept on pair of beautiful Nordic Pack stabs that have barely left my feet since getting them
thank you all…oh yeah, shout out to my main dudes JC and Allah, save me some of that blunt!!!
this shit never ends
I’m just pissed that I sat all afternoon hitting refresh and then at 2.59pm the bloody obey site fell down. And the fact that they never had a sale link on the same page as the print – you had to go to the store to buy (despite all the other prints and posters having sale link on their respective pages)…
Still… glad the scalpers got theirs (as usual)… damn shame…
I slept on the Hufquake AM1′s and sorely regret it.
Here’s my quick two cents, as I am the author of this post.
J Dilla’s own medical bills aren’t paid for. So compound his expenses and Ma Dukes expenses and that’s a shit load of dough. That amount is paying only a small amount which hopefully will assist Maureen Yancey during her fight. But at the end of the day, as Dilla’s estate is all effed up, his children will inherit the debt.
So while the family can’t get money from the music, treat these prints as sometime of consistent income, even if they sell five or six every month after.
Maybe I’m reading wrong but I didn’t see a line stating that 100% of the proceeds are going to Maureen Yancey. After the Associated Press Suing Shepard Fairey for the Obama print, you never know how the split is going ya dig?
Everyone understands that the Yanceys are in financial trouble. But its not like whats being sold on ebay was stolen, the shit was bought, as far as we know. So its like ok who cares
honestly. they bought the poster, once its theirs they can sell it if they want. this is not like people profiting off leaked music at all. maybe you should congratulate them for giving money to the Yancey family, instead of hating on them for reselling their poster, and then give some yourself.