At my local store it was an interesting change of pace. There were 5 of us waiting for the store opening time, the other 4 people were all bmx collectors. They were seriously happy about the grips and it was some different conversations for once.

I was happy with the violet and blue, the red was a little transparent to me for some reason.

Can anybody take pics of the new T Wire? Is it standard box or original style box? Does it have "Made in China" inside the stem?

Did the vintage originals have "Made in USA," I don't think they did, right?

Someone else can take pics, but some answers:

Standard current black box is included.
It says "China" on the left earstem. "Made in China" on the box.
At least the ones I've seen, the Original T Wires did not say "Made in USA".

Thanks Oak, that answers all my questions about the new one, I was hoping it just wouldn't say anything on the glasses.

It got me curious about the older wires. I only have two in my collection. My "New" Square Wire doesn't say USA or China, only has the CE and sku stuff on the glasses. My Gen1 leather wrap Square Wire does say "Made in USA" on the earsocks.

The original T wire did come out (1994) before the Gen1 Square Wire (1996), so I would assume the originals were "Made in USA" if the Gen1 Square Wire was made is the USA.

That sucks about the new one...that may just have saved me $200. Maybe during the "Friends and Family" I'll think about them.

I have a NOS Gen 1 E Wire (one of the first made, apparently) that doesn't have country origin markings on it.

Years ago, I was told that if there's no "Made in USA" markings on eyewear, it's a safe bet it was made overseas. Makes sense since Oakley likes to boast about making stuff domestically. I don't know if the comment extends to 1990s Wires.

Again I have no problem with it being made in China, no difference between the usa and China for me. I suppose they've also noted it on the frame to stop people trying to sell them as originals

Same here. I've become indifferent about the China thing, but that's because I'm not American. I suppose I would care a lot more if I was.

Yea, it does carry a certain stigma here. Can't say I'm not hesitant to add any China marked frame to my collection. I'm sure for a lot of the US guys, one of the initial main selling points was the "Made in USA" markings to help get us over the hump of spending 100/200+ for glasses and feeling good about it.

Oh well, as far as getting more info on wire frames, I wonder about frames like the Deviation and Plaintiff. I got one early example of each and I know they don't have China on the frame, but I believe both now come with the China markings when it comes to newer releases. I think the change started to occur after the news broke out that Oakley was moving more and more frames to China production.

I believe it's a law here that all made in China stuff must be visibly marked. So I'm guessing if it has no marking it definitely wasn't made in China, but also doesn't necessarily mean it was made in the USA. Could have been made in a country that doesn't require Oakley to mark the origin of the glasses by law. I guess for me, if it's not made in USA, I rather not know where, haha.

Just random information, the new 10/2013 Wiretap's I just purchased for a friend were marked China. It surprised him since all my other pairs he had seen said USA. It pains me some, but hey, it happens.

I believe it's a law here that all made in China stuff must be visibly marked. So I'm guessing if it has no marking it definitely wasn't made in China, but also doesn't necessarily mean it was made in the USA. Could have been made in a country that doesn't require Oakley to mark the origin of the glasses by law. I guess for me, if it's not made in USA, I rather not know where, haha.

- mtedenajimenez

That's a good point. I don't know when the law took effect. Back in 2005/2006 when the Riddle came out, it caused a stir because it was said it was made in China, yet no country of origin mark was put on it. Same with the original Crosshair. Makes you wonder.

Did anyone else get the free grips from black friday?
I got them at Headquarters TODAY actually. I told the warranty dept that I intended to go on Friday but didn't make it and he said we still have grips if you spend 150 and I got them

Good to know.

How many digits is the serial number on the employee dog tags?

There's placeholders for 7 digits. Not quite sure if they're sequential or just the employee's ID number, since I seen some in the high 4,000s when they first hit the stores.

Are they unique to the employee or are they turned over to another once they leave. With retail turnover being what it is, I wouldn't imagine they'd invest that much.

I asked a couple people and they said it's sequential, turned over to other employees once they leave the store. If that's true, that means they made at least 5k of these things. Seems excessive, especially with only 200 stores.

They made 5000 bottle openers and were given to only a handful or people, so sounds more like a minimum production number to be somewhat cost effective.

there might be only 200 store but some store employ over 40 people. so im not sure on the actual number made but mine is upper 3k

That does make sense then, both the employee numbers and minimum production.

I asked a couple people and they said it's sequential, turned over to other employees once they leave the store. . - Oak

All true. Also One Icon knows what stores have what numbers so if they end up on eBay they know what store to investigate.