Lukes 'booty'

Luke Penman

“Instead of putting my savings into the bank, especially when you hear of banks like Northern Rock going bust, I decided to put it all into Predator boots. Predator Mania boots, to be precise.”
So writes Luke Penman, 19, from Peterborough. The teenager is the world’s authority on all things Adidas Predator, and claims to have lost count of how many pairs he actually owns. “It’s purely about researching, and turfing them out of shops from all around the world. I’ve got hundreds of pairs.”

The Adidas Predator Mania

So what is it about the Predator Mania that means Luke can’t stop buying them?
“They were the best football boots ever made, in terms of comfort, and style,” says the student. “I will never buy new up-to-date football boots from Adidas, as they are just like plastic toys now! We want real quality leather, not plasticy materials.”
And it is for their leather finish, the last of a dying breed, that the Mania are now, as Luke says, a collectors item. “Prices have risen through the years, and on eBay you can now get them from £160-£280, soft ground being least expensive and firm ground with the classy white sole being more expensive. The fact is that the price appreciates over time”

A real collection

Luke and his collection have even attracted the attention of several professional footballers, one in a ‘top league,’ who emailed Luke asking for a pair, after he ran out. “I know all the brand protection guys at Adidas too,” says Luke. They go to him for advice.

He started to spell 'Mud Sweat Badges', he says.

“I’m getting another 30 odd pairs next Monday,” he writes. “I struck gold with some deadstock in Germany.” But for the collector, he is desperate for the manufacturer to reissue what he believes to be design classics. “There are petitions online asking Adidas to bring them back into production, and a few thousand have signed up already. It’s what we all want.”

Watch this space.