Ever since its quiet rebirth in 2024, Mizuno's Wave Prophecy Moc has remained one of the weirdest and most difficult to acquire sneakers in the world. I'm not even really exaggerating.

Everyone from Japan to America and everywhere in between is clamoring this thing. No one can find it.

Secondhand, sure, it's not that hard to find Mizuno's weirdo sneaker-loafer-boat-shoe Moc. Just be prepared to pay several hundred dollars over retail.

But if you want Mizuno's Wave Prophecy Moc for under $300? You gotta get crazy lucky.

I've been loosely tracking the Wave Prophecy Moc's most recent round of drops as they hit indie boutiques and retail giants alike. Not a single store, regardless of size, can keep this thing in stock.

The Mizuno Moc's rare international appearances at stores big and small? Same sitch. You ain't gettin' one unless you yourself are actually prophetic.

I can't recall the last time I beheld hype this heavy for a shoe this bizarre.

Hyped shoes, and their inevitable sell-outs, are old news. Obvious stuff observed by even a casual sneaker enjoyer. But a shoe this odd is typically relegated to the realm of sale racks.

And the Wave Prophecy is a truly strange sneaker, a hybrid moccasin-running shoe that's actually quite an old style — I remember coveting pairs of Mountain Research's Mizuno moc over a decade ago — but its success does feel terribly of the moment, what with the deluge of sneaker-loafers driven by the superb success of the New Balance loafer.

About two dozen Japanese stores received the most recent round of Mizuno Moc shoes in mid-March, this time lined with GORE-TEX — because the only thing that could make a low-top loafer-moccasin-running shoe make less sense is to make its barely ankle-covering upper waterproof.

It sold out instantly.

A handful of stores restocked Mizuno's Moc in early April. They also sold out instantly.