This month we saw something different. Fruity Pebbles took over. We got a collaboration with Kith x Nike x Post. It started with a cereal bowl. Then they gave us a pop up store promotion, but it was a…Lebron 4?!!?! Most importantly, we might have gotten the best special box that Nike has ever offered? Lets get into it.
Special boxes aren’t new. But the Lebron 4 Fruity Pebbles special box is the best offering that we have seen in a long time. Maybe ever. The cereal box on its own would have been great. The bowl on its own, nice touch. But the special box they gave us was incredible. The colors pop, the engineering of the box is different and its engaging.
Kith is a brand that has continued to do big things. The New York based company has collaborated with multiple brands. And the Post cereal company may not be the first name you think of in sneaker or streetwear culture, but just as General Mills has taken steps into this market, it appears Post is ready to as well. A Fruity Pebbles collab comes after the Reese’s Puffs made waves by featuring Travis Scott in 2019 and Kaws in 2021. In 2022, we got a full collection of boxes for Yoon Ahn’s Ambush label crossover with Kaws and Lil Yachty.
The Lebron 4 release included a Fruity Pebbles take over at Kith’s Treats locations in LA and Manhattan with a HUGE cereal box display and cereal bar with colorful theming and Fruity Pebbles paired ice cream offerings. Lebron himself had to drop in to take a look. The shoe came in a standard box and also the limited special box. There are two slide out compartments under the shoe box that contain a box of the Kith collab cereal and the second slide out holds the bowl. It also includes a clear kith vile of the cereal. The Kith Fruity Pebbles cereal boxes were sold on their own at the pop up for $10 a box. The cereal bowl was also available individually.
Since the drop, the Lebron Fruity Pebbles 4 are now available BELOW retail in the standard box. Originally, the Nike Lebron 4 “fruity pebbles” was a “player edition” for James back in 2006. But after this general release, the shoe can be found and purchased easily. But is the price of the Lebron 4 special box “worth it”? LBJ love for fruity pebbles has led to the fruity pebbles dunk, fruity pebbles Lebron 11, 12, 13 QS, 15, 17, 19 low, 20 and a Lebron 4 vapor edge cleat. So why would the 4 get this treatment? Someone at Nike must LOVE this shoe.
But is the Lebron 4 x Fruity Pebbles the best special box? Hard to say. Last year the Jarritos Dunk got a special box that included all four of the sodas in the bottles. In 2021 Nike created a SB box that looked like a locker for the movie Space Jam 2. The Space Jam special box came with an Xbox! The shoes were the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner 18s. The orange locker box opened to showcase the console, controller and even a Bugs Bunny card in the his space jam uniform.
In 2011, the Air Mag got a plutonium inspired case with a pop-up clear case that allowed the shoes to be pugged in to display the LED features. In 2002, the Jordan 17 came in a memorable metal brief case. The Kobe 7 had an incredible special box for the “Year of the Dragon” release. The running community also received the special box treatment with the Nike Alphafly 3. The neon yellow box is impossible to ignore but the book opening style box showcases the shoes individually suspended with elastic straps.
With all of the incredible special boxes that have been offered, there is a clear leader in the storytelling and artistry of everything a special box should be. CNCPTS. Concepts International is a retail brand that was founded in 1996 with its flagship location in Boston, MA. In addition to the Boston location, the shop now has locations in in New York, Miami and Dubai that offer premium essentials for streetwear and skateboarding. CNCPTS was the first brand that collabed with Nike SB. They gave us the Lobster Dunk. And the storytelling on each Lobster release is miles ahead of the rest. No one was ready for shoes that came in a brown grocery bag, or a Styrofoam cooler, or a wooden lobster crate. If you haven’t watched Jordan Geller’s video on the Lobsters, watch it. It will be the best 8 minutes and 43 seconds of your day. The last verified sale of a pair of yellow lobster dunks in my size was $30,839. Geller had two pairs!
This month, CNCPTS also gave us the Nike SB TurDUNKen with one of the craziest special boxes even by their standards. The Turdunkens come in an appliance box with a food trey and socks to match.
My daughter’s dunk grail is the Chunky Dunky. The special box for the Chunky Dunky is next level. Its arguably the most iconic special box that Nike has released and every time you see one, you know someone paid. The Ben and Jerrys collab hit the $2K mark at the peak of its hype. If your reading this, you know what this shoe is.
Nike SB turned a pint of Chunky Monkey ice cream into a dunk. The soft cow fur and dripping swoosh are wrapped over the clouds and green rolling hills. They were dropped on SNKRS and sold through skate shops with the standard SB striped box. But the “friends + family” offering included the giant size pint shaped ice cream container. As I type this, if I want my size on your favorite app, I’m at $1800. If I want the F+F special box version, I’m at $3012. The F+F box does include the sox, the cup, the laces and the shoe horn/scoop but its ultimately a $1200 box.
So what is the best special box? Is it the Fruity Pebbles Lebron 4? Do you spend on the box? This community loves exclusivity. These boxes are some of the most exclusive releases in the sneaker space. A standard box for the same shoe might be easy to come by. But the Special box can be a grail for some. What camp are you in for special boxes? What special box didn’t make my list? But whatever box you buy, make sure you wear your shoes.