k i c k s t a r t m o n d a y s: l a g e a r r e g u l a t o r s...

Welcome to this week's installment of Kickstart Mondays. This week we feature a sneaker that compliments last week's entry where we discussed the iconic Reebok Pump. With the introduction of the Pump, many wanted to leverage the phenomenon Reebok created with the air bladder technology. One company stood above the rest in leveraging this technology, L.A. Gear who released the L.A. Gear Regulators in the '90s. The L.A. Gear Regulators contained very subtle differences between themselves and the Pumps. The first was the over sized pumping mechanism. The Pump sported a small circular pumping mechanism in the shape of a basketball or tennis ball (depending on the model) while The Regulators had a much larger half circle pumping mechanism in the shape of gauge. The release mechanism also differed; The Pump had a release button often located beside the pumping mechanism or on the back while The Regulators had a release switch located above the pumping mechanism that had to be pushed to the right to release the compressed air. The Regulators which were owned by a company focusing on the youthfulness of LA also sported flashier colourways than Reebok who remained relatively traditional with its colourways. Even with the aesthical differences between the two shoes, many would still consider them to be knockoffs or cheap imitations of The Pumps.

The beauty of The Regulators was not that it was the most "original" shoe but rather it appealed and touched a broader market. The Reebok Pumps were very expensive when they were first released and many people such as myself could not afford them. L.A. Gear focused on this point and released these alternatives at a lower cost allowing more individuals to own a pair of these shoes. Reebok simply could not compete with this simple economic feature and allowed L.A. Gear to flourish as a brand. The success of The Regulators indirectly gave way to L.A. Gear's most notable success, the L.A. Gear Lights.

In the early '90s, I remember when I was growing up that these inflatable shoes were the biggest thing in athletic footwear. I was in Primary School when these came out and growing up as kid from Scarborough, I didn't have much means to obtain the highly coveted Reebok Pumps due to the extremely high price point. I remember I really wanted a pair and my family simply could not afford to spend 200+ (keep in mind most sneakers at this time costed no more than 130-150) at the time for sneakers for a kid who was still growing. I really wanted to have a pair of these shoes and since my Mom really wanted to give me the most that she could, she opted for the more cost effective alternative which were the L.A. Gear Regulators. I owned a pair of White/Royal-Blue Regulators and Fatz owned a pair of the White/Vivid-Pink. As a kid I didn't really know the differences between the two and I didn't really care at that time cause as long as they pumped up and could air out, I was happy. Many people like myself owned a pair of The Regulators for this exact reason. To this day I don't know one person who hasn't wanted or have tried to pump up an inflatable shoe and then tried the release valve.

Although The Regulators will not be as fondly remembered as an iconic shoe to many, it still holds a special spot in my heart. If you got a DS pair of The Regulators in Men's 9.5 and want to let them go, give me a shout!