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2019 shoe revival challenge - submit entries HERE

stook1

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I don't think it's the judging format, I just think it's the time constraints. I'm not trying to be difficult or confrontational, just pointing out the timelines.

- You posted re: the start of the contest on August 6th, which was also the start of the purchase window.
- People who commented on the 2018 Challenge thread may have seen a notification re: this year's Challenge, but not everyone is going to see it as soon as it's posted, so some people lose a few days. Also, the original timeline was Sept/Oct so people may not have been paying close attention.
- Even if you started looking on the 6th, most people seem to be getting their shoes on Ebay. If you're super lucky, maybe you find something suitable, in your size, and under the max price as a Buy-It-Now, but if it's an auction you can lose a week+ waiting for it to end. And, of course, there's no guarantee you won't get outbid, at which point you're starting over.
- Once you buy some shoes, you're at the mercy of the seller's shipping. If they ship once a week, and they're on the opposite side of the country, it could be another ten days before you get the shoes. Hell, I bought a pair Aug 14th for which I'm now trying to get a refund because the a-hole seller never shipped them at all. So, you could easily be down to two weeks left before you even have a pair of shoes in your possession.
- If you didn't previously participate, and don't have a stock of shoe restoration supplies, you need to evaluate the shoes once you get them and buy the requisite restoration supplies. Some things are specialty items not available with Prime (and not everyone has Prime), so you're purchasing from a mom-n-pop online store that's not getting it to you in a day or two...e.g. it took nearly a week for my dyes to arrive after I purchased them.
- Some processes (e.g. glycerine treatment, or a water soak) can take days to perform and can have a "cooldown" period of several days while they dry, etc.
- As I mentioned in my case, my original plan proved unworkable, so I had to switch directions. That required another round of purchases/shipping/delays, so I simply ran out of time.
- And of course I don't think anyone here is a cobbler, so we're all doing this in our spare time. Like shoenoob, I have three kids who just went back to school so there's that and various other things that are challenging to juggle.

I don't really mind missing out on the contest, but I do think the timeline discourages really crazy modifications/restorations which are the kind of thing that add the most value to the community in terms of letting people know what's possible - e.g. "Jeez, these are cool old longwings but ____ is a problem. I wonder if that's fixable?" For example, I am probably going to rip off the rubber heel on my project shoes and construct a leather heel from some NOS leather heel stacks I bought on Ebay after switching direction. I may fail spectacularly, but if so it will at least be a cautionary tale for other people. If I succeed, then next time mreams99 might take the plunge and rip his heel off entirely to do the brown heel/edge treatment he really wanted.

I will add I'd love to know more about how florent redid the soles on his Church's as he did an awesome job.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. Lots of great work here, and thanks for running the Challenge!

Would likewise love to learn more about @florent resole work. Very impressive.
 

Monkeyshines

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"That won't stop folks from having strong opinions on the Internet!"

Ahhhhh, hopefully that wasn't directed at me/my post, which had very little in the way of opinion (strong or otherwise).
 

actionjbone

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"That won't stop folks from having strong opinions on the Internet!"

Ahhhhh, hopefully that wasn't directed at me/my post, which had very little in the way of opinion (strong or otherwise).
I never direct accusations, I just state facts.

Anyone it applies to tends to call themselves out, anyway.
 

Monkeyshines

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I never direct accusations, I just state facts.

Anyone it applies to tends to call themselves out, anyway.

OK, good - I'm always willing to discuss factual inaccuracies, I just don't have a lot of respect for people who throw out passive-aggressive "unaimed arrows......"
 

florent

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I don't think it's the judging format, I just think it's the time constraints. I'm not trying to be difficult or confrontational, just pointing out the timelines.
I agree, in my case I was lucky enough to find a pair I thought would be interesting to work on quickly enough. But the project took most of my spare time in the last 2 weeks to complete in time (and I don't have kids ;)). I wouldn't have spend that kind of effort for the random crappy shoes you find in thrift stores here.

I will add I'd love to know more about how florent redid the soles on his Church's as he did an awesome job.
Would likewise love to learn more about @florent resole work. Very impressive.
Thanks guys! Just in case you missed it in my original post, there are some pics of the process here (link).
Beyond that I'll be happy to answer any question
 

Monkeyshines

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I agree, in my case I was lucky enough to find a pair I thought would be interesting to work on quickly enough. But the project took most of my spare time in the last 2 weeks to complete in time (and I don't have kids ;)). I wouldn't have spend that kind of effort for the random crappy shoes you find in thrift stores here.



Thanks guys! Just in case you missed it in my original post, there are some pics of the process here (link).
Beyond that I'll be happy to answer any question

Awesome! Thanks for that - I'd missed the link to the imgur photos.
 

hbk320

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I will follow up to see why we have less entries this year. I assumed a standardized evaluation would be preferred. I am clearly wrong.
I don't think you're wrong. I've humbled myself to leave my work for others to judge and I'm fine with it. I think many that have shared agree with me.
Others may not be so, not sure the reason.
It could be that they didn't have enough time or they'd prefer last year's easy voting system or even they have issues that prevent them from entering
 

Thomas Crown

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I don't think you're wrong. I've humbled myself to leave my work for others to judge and I'm fine with it. I think many that have shared agree with me.
Others may not be so, not sure the reason.
It could be that they didn't have enough time or they'd prefer last year's easy voting system or even they have issues that prevent them from entering
I agree that the judging system is definitely not the problem and I for one am quite happy not to cast a vote as I’m just enjoying everyone’s efforts and more than comfortable with the judges. I think that was an improvement and encourages camaraderie-I only dare to make the bold suggestion that perhaps a price limit is really not necessary. I have seen project shoes at all price points and it doesn’t generally benefit anyone to spend more money as it would usually insure less of a project anyway. If it makes it easier for someone to aquire their entry be it the price difference of Japan or an uncommon size to find,I say whatever makes it likely for more participants to join in the better for our mutual nerdery!
 

suitforcourt

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I agree that the judging system is definitely not the problem and I for one am quite happy not to cast a vote as I’m just enjoying everyone’s efforts and more than comfortable with the judges. I think that was an improvement and encourages camaraderie-I only dare to make the bold suggestion that perhaps a price limit is really not necessary. I have seen project shoes at all price points and it doesn’t generally benefit anyone to spend more money as it would usually insure less of a project anyway. If it makes it easier for someone to aquire their entry be it the price difference of Japan or an uncommon size to find,I say whatever makes it likely for more participants to join in the better for our mutual nerdery!

Thank you for everyone's feedback so far.

For next year, I will run it in August. With advertisements throughout the spring and summer so people can start looking. I will also extend timeframe to 2 months for work to be done.

Price limit will be removed. I suspect nobody will spend $150 on a pair of trashed shoes, but that would be someone's prerogative.

I am going to assemble the judges and hope to have final results within a month.

Thanks again for the participation and enthusiasm.
 

suitforcourt

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Thank you for everyone's feedback so far.

For next year, I will run it in August. With advertisements throughout the spring and summer so people can start looking. I will also extend timeframe to 2 months for work to be done.

Price limit will be removed. I suspect nobody will spend $150 on a pair of trashed shoes, but that would be someone's prerogative.

I am going to assemble the judges and hope to have final results within a month.

Thanks again for the participation and enthusiasm.

Another option is to set up the competition in May, and deadline for sometime in August. That way, people have all summer to find shoes and do the work.

The original intention behind the 1 month time limit was to make people look for shoes quickly. Given this is a hobby for all of us, I now recognize it's hard to do so many things at once.

Maybe this route will boost participation next year? @mreams99 will be happy.
 

stook1

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I agree, in my case I was lucky enough to find a pair I thought would be interesting to work on quickly enough. But the project took most of my spare time in the last 2 weeks to complete in time (and I don't have kids ;)). I wouldn't have spend that kind of effort for the random crappy shoes you find in thrift stores here.



Thanks guys! Just in case you missed it in my original post, there are some pics of the process here (link).
Beyond that I'll be happy to answer any question

Thanks for reposting the link. I had indeed somehow missed it. You make it look so easy! I still can't believe you pulled off a resole not to mention one that looks SO well executed. I hope that pair of shoes are in your size because they look like a really great pair. Congratulations on an excellent job, again.
 

woofmang

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Thanks for reposting the link. I had indeed somehow missed it. You make it look so easy! I still can't believe you pulled off a resole not to mention one that looks SO well executed. I hope that pair of shoes are in your size because they look like a really great pair. Congratulations on an excellent job, again.
+1
 

florent

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Thanks for reposting the link. I had indeed somehow missed it. You make it look so easy! I still can't believe you pulled off a resole not to mention one that looks SO well executed. I hope that pair of shoes are in your size because they look like a really great pair. Congratulations on an excellent job, again.
Thanks for your kindness! To be honest they are not that well executed when you look at them in person (some ugly stitches here and there, I lacked a bit of time to really finish the heels, etc.) so there's still room for improvement. I've done a couple resoles before and it's just a matter of proceeding each step one after another but there's nothing difficult (except cutting a clean channel, which I still struggle to). It just takes a lot of time and tools and materials are not easy to find as a amateur.
They aren't anywhere near my size but it's ok, I have far too many shoes anyway!
 

eTrojan

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Another option is to set up the competition in May, and deadline for sometime in August. That way, people have all summer to find shoes and do the work.

The original intention behind the 1 month time limit was to make people look for shoes quickly. Given this is a hobby for all of us, I now recognize it's hard to do so many things at once.

Maybe this route will boost participation next year? @mreams99 will be happy.

I think this is a solid approach. August is tough for me -- at home, my kids go back to school the second week, and for work (university administrator), the kids come back to campus the third week. But if I have the summer to find shoes and pull something together in what limited free time I have before the chaos begins, a) I will be more likely to participate, and b) I can be a little more adventurous in sinking some time here and some time there, because my weekends frequently get blown up by kids' activities.

The other feedback I might offer is that the judging sheet gave me pause. It felt like the majority of points were assigned to actual cobbling tasks, most of which I have no interest in attempting. If my entry is at an immediate disadvantage because I'm only eligible for 30% of the available points, then I might as well do them on my time for my own benefit. Not that I have any designs on winning, but that's usually a considerable part of the motivation for entering a contest/challenge. Perhaps there should be two categories, one more technical and one more creative.

My $0.02. Which is pretty much worthless in the overall scheme of things.
 

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