We've had many threads about why/how we started on Oakley collecting, so let's go the opposite way. Ok, so no one here truly stopped collecting Oakley since we're still interested in the brand and reading this forum, but a lot of the truly knowledgeable and veteran collectors have indeed moved onto bigger and better hobbies in the last few years.

Question to those it applies to: Other than an evident apathy towards newer releases, why have you had less and less of an interest in Oakley as of late?

Because in its current state, its f-ing boring and just looks like a department store surf brand.

For me, it's the lack of being able to learn interesting new things. You can only maintain the status quo for so long before you start getting bored, and that's about where I'm at. I think I've pretty much absorbed all the Oakley knowledge I need and there's nothing right now that wants me learn more. I'm not exactly excited about learning about the Big Taco. Speaking of which...

I think the current range of products are infinitely more wearable than what came in the past, but it's not exactly stuff that I'd want to collect/display. It's like Wires for me. Awesome stuff to wear but doesn't create the desire as collectibles.

I think part of it is about pacing yourself and finding the cool among the not as cool. I'm so far behind with my want list that it'll be some time before I'm caught up and that is what keeps me from stopping. Plus no matter what the O releases I seem always find something cool to keep my interest. Such as Switchlock. I know I'm not talking about stopping which is what this thread is about. So my apologies. Just thought I'd throw it out there at the same time.

I would not say that i have stopped collecting but i can say I have slowed down a lot. Like OB stated above some stuff is just looking like Dept store surf brand. I remember not many years ago when I would drive down to the Vault at Williamsburg Virginia from the NYC area 7 hours each way on the same day to get my O fix,we would pick up awesome pieces at great prices, (ott, medusas, bob head key chains, collegiate XX etc..) It was always well worth the pilgrimage. these days I cannot swing a dead cat in the north east without hitting a vault or an O store and you find the same lackluster items, vaults carry about the same stuff as o stores and the exclusives they do carry are limited to maybe a t shirt or a hoody. Also the quality of almost all the apparel and accessories has gone way down. Does any one remember the first surf pack, this bag was built like a brick shithouse, these days I have seen bags with zippers that do not last a week have poor stitching and look like they will fall apart once you put in a couple of books and a bag of lunch.

I don't like reading this thread because you all make valid points and I tend to agree and it scares me!!! PLEASE STOP. LOL

I haven't stopped, and probably never will. There's enough older stuff to still get, and I'm sure items will rotate around the inner circle of collectors. I haven't been the strongest Lux nay-sayer, since I try not to base opinions on what 'might happen', however probably. But the recent Made in Chine stuff is going to hurt.

I think I really slowed down in 2007 or so. Once the Collectors editions started like the Artist, Serial editions, and of course Frogs, it all seemed too forced. Collector editions in any hobby are a sign of the end. I'm interested in the general release items that people don't bother with. Why else would I have a Monster Balaclava and a Leg Holster. That methodology works too. It takes time, but I'm seeing high demand for things that were just run of the mill at the time.

I also have a LOT of glasses. I'm saturated, and there's little left in terms of goals. There's the random item I want, but they tend to be out of reach until I happen to stumble on a deal that's doable. My main focus is on the 'Big List', some of you know what that is. Will take time, but will be awesome once done.

I can't claim to have stopped or slowed too considerably, as I still seem to find pairs and purchases continue to happen. However, I have a sense that my mentality as a wearer versus a collector could be the trigger of halting the collection.

Most of us seem to fall into collector or wearer categories. I've always been a wearer, believing that I get greater enjoyment from wearing an amazing 0.3 versus just having it in the case. I've had to blend that a bit in the past few years, realizing that many of the older pairs just can't be worn without an unacceptably high risk of breaking. So that immediately placed a chunk of my eyewear in the hands-off towers. That has been an odd, sometimes difficult, transition. I haven't quite come to terms with that, so I don't know what the future might hold - though I sort of hope the collector mentality will take root and I can take my enjoyment in just having an item.

The other big thing somewhat related to being a wearer - I've started asking myself what happens when my eyesight goes to crap in 10 years (or less?) and I need rx. I just don't think I can start popping lenses in my eyes in my 40's or 50's. I could, imagine, though, just selecting some key pairs to get rx lenses for and liquidating the rest of the collection. Justification here being the love of the o is still alive and well, just don't need all those other pairs.

Many of us are just getting old. And cranky old guys on online forums can only spell trouble for any hobby.

Darn kids with your square icons!

Because i grew up. It was fun, but real life takes presidence over hobbies. Now its a house to store them in. And the money we never had that we scrounged up at any cost to attain our grails just isn't there now, and if it is its better suited to cover costs of living, or accrued debt. I found some very cool items along the way, but there isn't that cold blooded shark eye collecting feeling anymore. So I will cull down my collection and keep what I think best represents my feverish pursuit of the O, but to make and sustain it as a hobby is a mistake, both from an economic standpoint as well as logistical.

I haven't stopped, but probably the opposite this year, but generally speaking it gets harder and harder to find the old stuff worthy of a collection piece.

The new stuff of the last 2/3 yrs doesn't interest me in the slightest as it all looks like anything else you can buy on the market, so I'm instigating my pursuit to look for different older pieces but until they come up in mint condition ill hold fire

I've done the cull and I think I'm left with quality unusual pieces but as Brennan said, home, family and looking ahead to what I will do when I retire becomes a priority

I still love it and I started late but I've got over the mad rush phase

I pretty much stopped after I found all that I was after. I still search for things, that will never stop, but I will only go after them if I can get a decent deal. The oakley collector boom really made it hard because everyone always wants that one item.

Like was said up top, it kind of turned into a department store brand (nice example). There use to be very few places that sold Oakley but now it seems pretty common for about every optician on the street corner. I'm sure it had to do with LUX.

Also I am not a fan of their current models and the way they crank out 100's of models every year in 50 different colors.

Prices also seem to have gone up. I would never even consider paying over 150$ for a pair of O-matter frames. Now I see many o-matter frames start at over $200, that is a little to much scratch for me. They better have some metals or serial numbers in them for that price. There are way to many 200+$ frames and that is just not worth it to me.

I must agreed,

Im still into my frogs and grab afew when something cool pops up. Ive pretty much sold everything else, moved my collection from 200+ to about 40 odd now.

Great points, all. I was thinking about it the other day, and it's become obvious I'm more into the chase than the product. Since the start of the year, I've pick up quite a number of holy grail items and paid heavily for them. Generally speaking, I look at them for literally 2 minutes and then quickly store them away in a cabinet since the high of finding a grail is over. There's gotta be something wrong with that.

I think for me, its the way these new releases are hinted at for a month prior then finally thrown out onto the street. There is just something missing that was there before...say like with the Jawbone (which may or may not have had Lux influence), we knew about it in say the fall/early winter and there was sort of this curiousness and thinking about it...a frame we were looking forward to for the start of spring (and cycling if your actually using it as intended). It was released and I think by now its safe to say its here to stay.

Pitboss I and C-Six. The whole 'Elite' line was hyped up beyond belief and if you paid the price you got to own and wear a design and piece of art derived from the era when there was a huge emphasis on Mad Science. Thats what made it Elite. The Timebomb Elite was awesome, as was the rare FMJ watches. Pitboss were at first a limited production, but then production was resumed and sustained for about a year..whatever, the frame is still awesome and if you are an old school Oakley fan, you probably should have a pair. Then they just suddenly kill off the Elite line. Pitboss II, which I wasn't even aware of until visiting their site early spring this year, suddenly comes out. It looks Ok, but at the end its nothing more than a refreshed Pitboss I without the 'eliteness'. Its like, what the hell is that?

Its a mix of other things too.. I'm not happy that X-metal has been eliminated. I'm also not happy that for the switchlock sport frames, the customer is forced to pay for a spare set of boring utility lenses in addition to another $30 case. So I just forgo the purchase. I also don't appreciate the 'quiet', overnight $10 price increases, especially when I recognize the price increase was applied a few times to the same model over the years.

Point is for this new stuff, whether its a sport frame or regular-wear frame (as I call it), I don't really get that thrill of how unique and different the complete glass and colorway looks on the first impression anymore. I honestly don't care about the new Jupiter carbon, Two Face or Style switch..

I could go on...

i guess im with most when i say that ive slowed down too...after hitting my only major goal (one of every Xmetal model in the Xmetal colorway), and then some, i went looking for the "cool" vintages - eyeshade, mumbo/gen1 M, Splice, Scar, Racing/Water jacket etc, but havent really fixated on a set "List". I tried doing the Zeros not that was getting steep way quick, so i lost interest. I do keep a couple around just cos.

the first sort of nudge for me was when Xmetals stopped... then the PB2 losing its elite icon, and the multitude of "collectors" frogskins... it was all losing that uniqueness. Like many, vintage is now the way for me, but havent really been "on the hunt". ive got most of what i want.. maybe a couple more pairs in colorways that i would use more often (racing Jacket, eyeshade etc), but thats it for now

I wanted to give my 2 cents, so here goes;

For me it's a combination of factors.

Firstly I'm 10 years older than when I first started heavily collecting, my situation and priorities in life have changed. It's crazy but going from being single and living with parents to married and owning a house does things to your outlook on life (and mainly your wallet).

Secondly, as others have mentioned Oakley is a different company to what it once was. I'll never forget the feeling when my Dad bought me my first pair of Eye Jackets (Gold X/Gold EJ's if you were wondering) as a present (he bought a pair but in Corten), I really did feel that they'd come straight from the hands of a mad scientist, via a little eyewear shop, to my face. Oakley was small, independent, adventurous and making, as far as I was concerned, the coolest damn things you could put on your face.

I chased that memory of my first pair for many years, I won't trivialise substance addictions by saying that it was like a drug but I wanted that same feeling, I wanted the excitement, the buzz of getting that first pair in the early ninteies. Of course I also tried to find the older pairs that I couldn't afford at the time, to buy new release pairs where the detailing made them like tiny works of art (the sculpting and detailing around the orbital and frame of a pair of Hatchets still impresses me today)

Put simply, Oakley seemed to me to be a company that would stop at nothing in the pursuit of making the highest quality, best engineered and stylish glasses. No made in China to the lowest bidder, no strange mishmash of styling lines throughout a frame, no distorting/eyeball ruining cheapo lenses. It was something to which there was no comparison.

Sadly I just don't feel that today. The company is huge, yes the lens technology is still there (and switchlock is neat) but the passion, the little details, the things that I felt made the difference just don't seem to be there anymore. A big model line with a number of (in my opinion) box-ticking pairs, it feels like another huge company trying to hold on to its (Mad Science) roots whilst at the same time being forced to meet the demands of a remote, purely financially driven, corporate office.

All that said, I still find myself doing a double-take if I see someone wearing an unusual/uncommon pair in the street or catching a glimpse of the Icon being used in a film or TV ad and I don't think that will ever go away. Ever since getting that first pair of eye jackets I have never purchased any other brand of sunglasses (to date) but these days there is no buying a pair just because it's a new Oakley release.

Over the last few years I've chipped away at my glasses collection from 80 or so pairs down to about 50, the ones that remain are things I can't bear to part with (those first EJ's or my 0.2p for example) or things that aren't worth a jot (banged up e-wires) and I'm sure that over time some will come and some will go but at a leisurely rate and without sitting on ebay for 8 straight hours, through the night just to catch things being listed in the US...

When it's all said and done, I had fun and I met some great people along the way and I wouldn't change it for a thing.

I think Oakley became self aware...and lost its art and science when it focused on limited editions, artist collector pieces and customization. dont get me wrong, custom work is cool, but i feel its more valid as an underground or aftermarket thing..rather than just replacing the emblems or swapping lenses.
This may seem radical, but the Elite series was the final nail for me. It pushed the glasses beyond reach, without a spectacular or memorable placement. Okay, millions of hours honed from a block of carbon fiber...yawn...honestly...if they really reached me aesthetically...I would pay it...but it just fell short somehow.
I also think the x metal line was the last of a great thing...

When are you going to hit us up with that spotlight Brennan? After you do a spotlight, I will have to edit my post above and put Brennan2x for the reason I stopped collecting :).

LOL. It'd get me excited about collecting again, since the collection is certainly something to aspire to. Truly one of the more focused and unique collections shown.

I promise to do a spotlight as soon as I get my stuff out of storage and into the new house. Im going to kill it...its going to be highly display driven...headquarter inspired...even the surrounding walls and floors will have treatments.
Ive been drawing the floorplans for the last year, tweaking and adjusting things. Im anxious to see what people think. Ive really become inspired by some of the collections on here and Im hoping to measure up at the very least.

Its very funny, just by writing this I realized that the passion isnt gone, its just been redirected. I may not agree with the direction Oakley has headed..but I can still recreate their past glory. Thanks for helping me realize that, and thanks for the interest and compliments...

Yep,that's why vintage is all the rage these days.

Follow up question. What's your cutoff date. Mine is generally 2005 for the vast bulk. I do like some modern designs. Looks like jims is 2007

Great question!

For me, I don't have a certain time period I focus my collection on. Each year has something I like in it, whether it be a product or display item. That said, most of my love goes to the 1993-2003/2004 stuff.

2004 for me. That is when too many things were discontinued and everything started to change I thought. So for me it is 1975-2004 as far as things I am after.