Soccer Reviews Talks To Gunt22

Every boot fanatic dreams of having a vast collection of football boots, but few of us actually have the patience, or the money to build up a substantial collection. There are a couple of people out there who, while not having anything “Shoezeum“esque, have quite an impressive collection of purely football boots. One of these people is Gunt Tansuwannarat, known on the internet as Gunt22. Gunt is a 20 year old Thai living in Australia who in his 8 years of collecting football boots has ammassed an incredible 120 pairs ranging from the original Adidas Predators to boots worn by the likes of Robinho. Luckily, we had the chance to pose a few questions to Gunt about all things football boots. 

Soccer Reviews: Hey Gunt, thanks for your time. First off, how did you start collecting football boots and why?

Gunt:  About 8 years ago, I was given a birthday present from my parents, which were 2 pairs of football boots (specifically Adidas Predator Manias & Nike Mercurial Vapor I), and that significantly inspired me to start collecting football boots, as I’d seen lots of pro players(e.g. Beckham, Zidane & Ronaldo) wearing exactly the same as what I had at that time. I’ve got no idea why I started collecting football boots, but always feel truly happy whenever I got new boots coming in.

A portion of Gunt's Predator collection

Soccer Reviews: How many boots do you have? And if you have a pair, what are you favourite?

Gunt: I Recently collected the 122nd pair, both normal boots & match worn boots. No favorite items though, because I love all my boots and they all are taken care of equally, as I only collect what I actually like : ))

Gunt's Mercurial Collection

Soccer Reviews:  Where do you buy your boots from?

Gunt22: Now that I’ve collected so many, I’ve gained private connections who sell me some boots but also I use online sources such as eBay, and online retailers.

Soccer Reviews:  Do you ever actually wear the boots or are they only for display?

Gunt22:  I used to wear all my items (in real games), once getting them at the first day. However, I eventually realized that most of football boots I’d purchased were worth more than just to use them. For example, about 4-5 years ago, I bought Nike Mercurial Vapor SL Carbons as my everyday gear to be used when playing soccer with my friends. A few months later my friends bought the same boot (in brand new condition) surprisingly though, they cost him two times what I had paid for them due to the increase in demand. . That’s the reason why I started considering the value of each item seriously and not wearing them.

Gunt's two pairs of Mercurial Vapor SL Carbon Fibre (some of the best looking boots ever!)

Soccer Reviews: And finally, what boots are you currently wearing?

Gunt:  I’m currently wearing the Adidas adiZero I (chameleon purple) & the Nike Mercurial Superfly I (max orange), both great boots!

Soccer Reviews: Thanks Gunt, I think it’s safe to say you’ve made all of us here at Soccer Reviews extremely jealous of you!

Some of Gunt’s boots!

These are a pair of Robinho's signed Vapor SLs that he played in during his short and tumultous time at Manchester City!

David Beckham's Precision Platinum 2000, featuring his signature on the tongue, these boots were made entirely of K-Leather (before he became an animal rights activist)

Mercurial Vapor IIIs, back when 200g was the lightest of the light!

Puma V1.815 Ferrari - Limited Edition/Only 815 items were ever made

The original Adidas Predators made in 1994, a timeless classic.

Thanks to Gunt for taking the time to answer our questions. If you’d like to see more pictures of his whole collection in detail take a look here also, while you’re at it go and give his Facebook page a ‘like’