The Dassler: Number 28- June 2024. Read on for enough three stripe goodness to satisfy the most obsessive adidas fanatic.

Welcome to The Dassler, Twenty-Eighth edition.

Welcome to our sixth edition of The Dassler in 2024-number 28, the monthly magazine especially written for (and by) adidas lovers.

Thank you for continuing to subscribe to our little corner of adidas heaven.

This publication loves sharing three stripe nuggets of information, that add to the mystique of the adidas legacy.

As you can see from the above graph-it’s impossible to own every single pair of adidas trainers (even though some of us try!). In 2023 adidas produced 311m shoes, obviously they’ll be some You can see how much COVID-19 hit as their was a 20 year high of 448m shoes manufactured in 2019! In case you’re interested adidas produced 330m pieces of apparel last year (528m in 2019!). So don’t be too hard on yourself when you miss out on the latest drop-there’s plenty more on the horizon!

The Dassler comes out on the Third Saturday of each Month-to take your mind off spending all your money on adidas and give you something to do while waiting for the end of the months pay day!

In this edition replacing the usual feature ‘Retro shoe of the month’ is adidas collector Hesley’s (@_theordinaryboys_ on IG) recounting his visit to Carlos’ argentianina adidas shop. With the Euros in full swing, Woody celebrates the history of the adidas Predator. Craig shares another Dassler exclusive which links to the Golden Goal. We share Hesley’s brilliant adidas Top Ten and Craig reviews the latest adidas drops of note, with more Dassler world exclusives!

A massive three-striped thank you for subscribing, it takes a lot of hours to research, write, source and edit The Dassler and your support is very much appreciated.

If this is your first visit then we’d highly recommend you run over to the very beginning (obvs wearing a pair of OG colourway adidas ZX600’s)to our earlier issues here.

News now of the promised adidas Annual. Firstly just many apologies it’s been a tricky year and we have just ran out of time to produce one this year but.. We are currently writing next years (should be a January ‘25 release) and there will be a subscriber special edition that will be extremely collectable and will include a summary of the 2023 trainers as well.

This is a monthly newsletter, that will contain ultra rare deadstock trainers, new adidas releases & brand exclusive information from 3 stripe social media giant Craig (@adifamily_ *X & Insta*), adidas oddments & apparel reminiscences written by Woody (@dadidassler *X* & Insta) plus loads of articles from special guest writers and we have some absolute adidas legends as guest writers lined up!

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Soul Searching in Buenos Aires by Hesley .

The "Sole Searching in South America" video, premiered by Spezial on YouTube in 2014, left an indelible impression on me, it still creates goosebumps with each viewing even to this day.

Reaching Argentina, a country so distant and unimaginable, seemed like a dream to me. My journey to Carlos Ruiz's shop felt like a miracle, as if fate itself had set the path for me. Despite never crossing my mind that I would be able to visit Buenos Aires, that shop or meet Carlos Ruiz, it was as though destiny had seamlessly guided me to my unexpected destination.

In 2018, I was sailing on a voyages trading between Asia and the Middle East. I've never been to Argentina and South America remained an uncharted territory throughout my career. However one day, the unexpected call from the ship's manager that I needed to load cargo from Qatar and deliver to Escobar in Argentina. It was the first time ever I had to chart the course and determine the location of the Port of Escobar in Argentina. The complexity lay in the delicate balance required: loading sufficient cargo for the journey while ensuring the vessel arrived in Escobar without being too heavy, which could lead to grounding during the river transit in Argentina.

As I learned that the port of Escobar was in close proximity to Buenos Aires, a sudden realization dawned upon me: this was my opportunity to visit Carlos Ruiz's shop in Buenos Aires. With excitement coursing through my mind, I swiftly made the decision to add this personal pilgrimage to my maps. To cut the story short, finally we had succesfully loaded at Qatar and began our journey to Buenos Aires. It was a very long 26 days journey. The leg consist of passing east of Somalia which we had to carry armed guards for security purpose and later they all disembark at Durban. Thereafter, we battled the big waves of the South Atlantic Ocean before navigating through the narrow and shallows of River de Plata. Upon making landfall, we began transiting the Parana River, bringing a huge sense of relief as we finally reached our destination.

Throughout the voyage, while ensuring the boat safely navigated its course to Buenos Aires, some parts of my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Carlos Ruiz's shop. Despite the restriction that no ship's crew are allowed to leave the ship when berthing at Escobar, a miracle occurred when I received news that I would be relieved upon arrival. According to the arrangement, I would stay in Buenos Aires for three days before catching my flight home. While knowing I'll be in Buenos Aires at the end of the voyage, I was still uncertain about how to contact Carlos Ruiz or where his shop is actually located.

A year a earlier, I had visited a friend in Hoylake. it's a different story, and probably most of you might know him. His name is Bobby Mac, a generous guy living with a fantastic and friendly family. I met him and he brought me to his loft full of adidas stuffs and trainers. I remember at a certain point, I was holding a pair of an Argentinian Siverwind acquired from Carlos Ruiz shop in size 8 which was given to him by Gary Aspden. He was the only person who ever said to me, enthusiastically,

"Hesley!! One day both of us should book a flight together and give that Carlos Ruiz shop a visit!!."

Recalling the above, I had messaged Bobby whether he knew who to contact and how could I find the address of Carlos Ruiz shop. Not very long after he gave me an answer and also said "all's sorted out for you mate!"

Meanwhile in Buenos Aires, I had disembarked and properly relieved on 6th Aug 2018. I had signed off with few of my ship mates. We had checked into the Argenta Tower Hotel in Buenos Aires. In my mind, there are only two place that I want to go after I take a good sleep and rest after all that journey prior to Buenos Aires. It's Home, La Bombonera and Carlos Ruiz shop.

In the morning, I brought along some friends with me. We took a walk from the hotel to the city centre. Our first order of business was to find the money exchange to get some pesos. We found a plaza but with not many shops open yet. However we managed to find the place for the money exchange. We got some pesos and we went for a good breakfast and latte at a nice cafe. I was already in contact with Cristian Damiani (@frain_on IG), he is the assistant for Carlos Ruiz. I told Cristian that we will arrive at the shop around noon for the meet. We took the taxi ride to get there with a really nice driver. The ride took us longer than expected due too some protest which caused a traffic jam. It's not easy to find the shop even though I had shown the address to the driver. I had kept a very sharp look out and watched out for every building that we passed.

At last I saw the shop across the road which looked very familiar , I pointed out my finger as the driver had passed the location. The driver had to make a U turn and dropped us across the road. The nice driver which I still can't recall his name kindly said that he will wait for us for return back to the city centre. I crossed the road and could see through the glass door that Cristian was standing behind it and waiting for us. He opened the door greeting us and I realised that he was wearing full set of Spezial Jacket, t-shirt and trainers.

At that moment a question came to cross my mind briefly, "What did Bobby really told these guys?", as Cristian was greeting us like some important group of adidas delegates. I smiled to myself and at Cristian. When I entered that shop, I saw a familiar old guy sitting low on an old chair around the corner. He was smiling and waving his arms to me and said something like " the shop is closed! The shop is closed!" I walk towards Carlos and said " No! No! We had came from very very long way to get here!".

I gave him a good hug and we had a good laugh for that initial introduction. While Carlos only speaks in Spanish only, Cristian speaks well in English. So it made easier for us to communicate. Both of them knows Bobby well, so the first thing I did was made a video call to Bobby using Cristian's mobile phone. All of us were really happy that I finally got there to that shop.

I was still in awe with the atmosphere in that little shop since I entered and it's hard for me to describe this in words. Whoever has watched the Sole Searching video or other interviews done in Carlos shop, must be aware of the stories and the background. All the old blue and brown boxes are well stacked and I would say that it's quite a tidy place. I'm only interested in the adidas stuff and had a good chat with Cristian. At one point, Carlos had offered to show me around the shop. I can see his walking stick beside the chair.

So I helped him up and assisted him to walk around. He was holding my shoulder and we started walking slowly while Carlos kept talking to me in Spanish. I didn't understand him but I tried to read his body language and expression. He kept opening every adidas boxes as we wander around and saying something like " take this, take this, bring it home!". I just kept enjoying the moment with Carlos, in every path that he led me within that small space. Mostly the shoes that remained in were small sizes and not many models I was interested in. Probably all the best stuff was already picked up by the Spezial team. However, for the shoes that Carlos had offered me, I was told by Cristian later on that I need to pay for it anyway.

Outside the shop there were some locals walking by all the time. Some of them wanted to enter the shop with curious faces. I could hear Cristian was stopping them and said "sorry, you're not allowed, it's for friends and collectors only". I had spent about three hours in that shop however it felt that the time had passed so quick .The taxi driver had entered the shop and I was almost forgot about him which waiting outside. My mates, who were also with me, started to show me the clock as they were more eager to go to the next destination which sold leather bags/handbags.

Before I left, there were already some blue boxes on the table counter which I picked up during the walkabout with Carlos. I never had expected that he would have allowed me to choose as much as I wanted from that shop. There was a lengthy negotiation between me and Carlos for what I need to pay for each shoe that I had selected. I was really limited with cash, even though I saw a big VISA sign next to an old cash machine at the counter, but I didn't think it was really working anyway. Carlos had put a price of each shoe which was quite good and not that expensive. I kept checking my balance of pesos for each shoe I accepted to buy. In the end I was just left with enough cash for lunch and taxi ride.

Another memorable moment happened afterwards, after the deal, I already had a hold of the lovely Argentinian Volley Super in a grey colourway. Suddenly, I remember that it was supposed to be in another colourway in the Argie Blue. I asked Cristian whether it was still available. Cristian kept telling me that there were no more Volley Super in blue and I never saw it on the shelves either. Carlos who was sitting at the end of the corner curiously had asked Cristian what were we discussing. I knew it from their body language as they were talking in Spanish. Suddenly Carlos slowly standing up and started walking to one end of the shop.

I was curious and everything was like slow motion during that moment. Carlos knows his shop well, from one of the shoe racks, his hand reached out into one of the big brown boxes and took out a pair of Argie Blue Volley super. He showed it to me and said "Its for you! it's for you!". In return I said "Papa Carlos! I love you" , I ran towards him and give him a good hug.

I didn't just go there and opened up every blue boxes that I saw . I had no regrets about that.

Before my visit I only thought maybe Carlos would let me have one or two pair as souvenirs. But I ended up bringing more including some other stuff and struggling to fit them into my luggage later on. It was great Carlos let me have those trainers. But most importantly was the feeling of visiting the man himself and his amazing shop. As the taxi driver had started to jokingly put a vintage adidas racquet without strings through my head to my neck, I thought it was time for us to leave.

We started to exchange some souvenirs which I bought earlier at Fujairah. I told Carlos and Cristian that I really wanted to stay longer or even going out for lunch together. However my time with my mates was really limited as we need to go to other places. Personally I feel a little bit sad after we to took a final photo together and left that place. However it was one of my best birthday presents-as I celebrated it the same month.

The Spezial team was lucky, not only to find this shop but the owner too with a fantastic character. It's hard to believe when I heard the news that Carlos Ruiz had passed away last year. That shop or Buenos Aires won't be the same again without him. Hopefully he will be re-united again with his loved one above the beautiful skies.

To the Dassler and their readers, apologies if I had written too long (you didn’t! TD 👟///). Even myself cannot believe that I was able to write this much. It's quite a relief that finally I am at the end of the story. Wishing everyone all the best. Thank you - Hesley-