The black box era was, and still is the weakest of the Nike SB era.

Think about the success the Silver and Pink boxes had in comparison to the Black boxes. Now that we're into the Gold box era, it's easy to see that Nike has realized the lack of demand post-black box.

Because of this lack of demand, they've since (and this is all speculation) stepped up the amount of releases with ACTUAL limited amounts. The Skate or Dies! were simply a 'Pro' release, yet they are by far the most expensive, hardest to find (Dunk SB) gold box thus far. Speaking of hard to find, other releases (Donatello's, and now Piet's and Thrashin's) are becoming harder and harder to come across upon release. In contrast, the black box era releases seemed flooded, readily available, and in general underwhelming.

Perhaps it's that the gold box (Dunk SB's) are more appealing. Better designs, better materials, and perhaps more hype has increased the demand, and thus made it harder to find basic releases. Maybe they're not actually releases lesser numbers of a certain shoe, but perhaps the popularity of the SB Dunk has decreased the chance of getting a pair on release day.

So... is it that Nike IS choosing to release them in fewer numbers, or do people want SB Dunks that much more?

It'd be interesting to hear anyone's thoughts...