Collectors Spotlight - December 2012

Collectors Spotlight - December 2012 - tmsorrel1

Age: 21 / South Carolina

tmsorrel1: Thomas Sorrells

I would say I have officially been collecting for about 5 years now.

I first got into the actual collecting of Oakley when I purchased my first pair of artist series glasses (Frank Kozik Hijinx) from the Orlando O-Store in 2007. The employee told me there were more pairs in the artist so I went on a search to find out what the other pairs and found them on the Oakley Website, and decided I needed more of them and eventually all of them.
Then the Frogskins phase began…I use to hate the ways these looked truthfully then I finally bit the bullet and purchased a pair and it was all downhill from then on out. From the Andrew Petterson to the supremes and then to the Eastern Boarders, I just couldn’t stop. I loved all the combinations and collaborations Oakley was putting out, even though now there have not been many good collaborations being released.

The first item I remember having was a pair of black razr-wire sunglasses with the Bluetooth headset. My parents purchased me this pair when I began to drive because they did not want me using the phone while driving… so much for that idea as they were stolen out of my car the weekend I purchased the Frank Koziks in Orlando (Used to replace the stolen pair, Great choice right?)

Three things come to mind on this. First, passing on a pair of white city supreme frogskins about 2 years ago… now they have become the missing pair in my quest to complete the supreme frogskin collaboration. Second, is not buying splice when they were easier to get a hold of. Recently I have become addicted to these and want to have a complete set of them… however some of them are extremely hard to get your hands on. Third is not really regret, but a tragedy…I ran over a pair of titanium spikes in my drive way right after the spikes got discontinued…. Luckily the store in concord was able to track down a pair in another store and had them transferred so I could re purchase them

My next Oakley purchase will most likely be another display case or a couple. Its extremely hard to fit 200 pair plus watches into 2 double wides and a single… takes a lot of rearranging and time to figure out.

This one is quite easy to answer for me considering I own 4 of 50 Andrew Petterson Frogskins. #43 came first, then all at once I had the opportunity to purchase #9, #37, and #45 which I could not pass on.

I have two double wide displays and a single.

My favorite retailer is the Oakley Vault in Concord Mills Mall, in Concord, North Carolina roughly 15 minutes from Charlotte Motor speedway. I love this place all the employees are friendly and take care of the customers as well as let me know when they get new products in and hold them for me until I can get to store to pick them up (as they are 2 hours from me).

I have never been a fan of customizing pairs as I prefer my pairs to remain as they came from the factory, but recently I have been playing around with ideas on a couple pairs that I have duplicates.

I enjoy a wide variety of the mircrofiber bags. I buy most of them as they come out. I also love their golf polos and own about 35 of them or so. I own a couple pair of goggles, but I do not live anywhere to use them. So I mainly stick to glasses.

I don’t have a lot of time for other collections at the moment because I currently working on my master’s degree as well as working full time.

My advice to new collectors is to buy what you believe in not what others say are better or worse. Buy the pairs that you like and enjoy.

This is a tossup… some people think I am crazy while others think it is awesome.

My fondest memory of Oakley is finally acquiring the David Flores 1.0 Brown with Orange Icon Gascan. I spend nearly 3 years trying to find these on the forums, Facebook, craigslist, and eBay. About 6 months ago a pair popped up on eBay for an incredible buy it now price… I did not even hesitate. I clicked and purchased…. By far one of the greatest pairs Oakley has ever released in my opinion.

Collecting Oakley has become a passion for me not just a collection or a hobby. I live for Oakley.
I would also like to thank fellow collectors for helping find various pairs and for their time and the opportunity to share my collection with you.

View Thomas's Collection View Thomas's Gallery View Thomas's Profile

posted by Dann

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