Advisory Board Crystals’ Fantastic Four Puma Pre-Orders are Arriving and Customers are Not Happy

There has been a lot of talk about using pre-orders for sneakers to ensure that everyone who wants a shoe can get one. It’s probably the most democratic and fair way to drop a shoe, but the caveat is that customers have to wait months before they can actually get products in hand. Advisory Board Crystals (Abc.), the LA-based fashion label, went an extra step and offered blindbox pre-orders for its recent Puma x Fantastic Four collab in July. For $200 you were guaranteed to get an ABC x Fantastic Four x Puma sneaker, but no one had any idea what the sneakers looked like. After months of waiting, customers are finally getting their sneakers delivered, and many are disappointed.

Reddit threads and chatter on X and Instagram began a few months ago as Abc. went radio silent on updates. Customers were worried about their sneakers, but the company reassured everyone that shipping would begin soon. Last night on the r/sneakers subreddit, two different users posted that they received their shoes. Once it made its way to X, users were quick to throw shade at the designs.

At the end of the day, everyone who purchased went in knowing the silhouette and design could literally be anything. You were taking a gamble on whether or not you would like the sneaker. The Puma Majesty is not a popular model, or even a sneaker that Puma puts out too many colorways of to begin with, so using that as the base for the collab was an odd choice. In terms of execution, the sneakers definitely scream Fantastic Four and feature nice little call-outs and Easter eggs for their respective characters. It’s just… can you really wear those out and about?

Nicholas Vlahos

Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. When not writing for Sole Retriever, I enjoy attending concerts, catching the latest movies, and trying new food. Email: nick@soleretriever.com