Correct me if I'm wrong, as you guys normally do :).... but don't they do lens etching in a Vegas O store? I heard it's difficult and the machine is large and bulky. Possibly new technology that would make it easier to etch in OStores? - Lyndsey026

Montreal store did it last year, haven't been in a little while so can't confirm if they still have the machine, but it is big and bulky. My store was slated for it but never happened. Let's not forget it's a $20K machine, so it's hard to make it valuable with $20 etchings..

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If I lived out near there I would be digging through the trash....

Heh, I found an A Wire box once at the HQ dumpster

If I lived out near there I would be digging through the trash.... - GRFMotorsports

Some have probably done it hahaha

Looks like SGH managers, got to go to RED last night as the end of their yearly management meeting and they still had all the DBD stuff set up. They got the program re-ran for them but with a few of the guest speakers missing (and none of the media or athletes around).

I think I'm getting old and even more cynical ......

Yeah fancy show, well put together, but if you look past the lights and lasers, free drinks, free expensive gifts (no I'm not envious ;0) ) what have Oakley actually done? They've just coined a new catchphrase/slogan and launched it. Oh and the more detailed custom service, oooh!

I'm all for recycling stuff, but Oakley, everyone in the industry knows about xyz and impact tests, you've been showing everyone the same tests for years, having a "mad scientist" at this event doing these tests isn't anything special.
Loads of old photos and promo stuff in the pictures posted on here. Oakley, if you're talking about a whole new design and vision then let's see a whole new way of promoting the brand.

If they'd have done all of that then showed the world some amazing new bit of kit and said this is us, this the new Oakley, then yep, I'd be applauding them, however just for a new catchphrase?

Meh.

Agreed. I think a lot of us are being cynical on this. They're really not saying anything different than what's been said over the past last 5 years.

To me it's just another marketing campaign like Beyond Reason. It was a cool launch party and great gifts, but it ultimately does nothing for the fan and collector. We'll have to wait and see what they come up with. I'm sure they'll do cool re-releases for their 40th anniversary, maybe they'll even do something like a OTT or Zero re-issue, but nothing's too exciting about it thus far (other than a cool gift set for collectors to start chasing).

I hear you. There has been a fair amount of "just wait to see what's around the next corner", but after 4 corners, you realize you're in circles. Personally, I'd have to make a choice whether or not to stay with the hobby or jump ship. I'm not jumping, so I will patiently wait and see what it will produce.

I'm glad at least one agrees, was afraid I'd get shot down!

Notice the glaringly obvious error in that gift set? Just the one grip! (I know it's really for display but c'mon!)

"just wait to see what's around the next corner", but after 4 corners, you realize you're in circles

Great (cynical) slogan.

For now its fluff, we'll see as 2015 comes

Sometimes it’s better to not know anything at all. Back in the day, it was rare you heard about what Oakley was releasing. Oakley collectors were small and dispersed, and not many put effort into grilling employees on what Oakley’s next product is. You find out when you find out. The X-metals were the only real time when stuff started leaking on a mass level. So basically, your expectations were low or perhaps you had no expectations at all. When new stuff came out, you were instantly gratified by the designed because you weren’t hyped for it for a year in advance.

Nowadays, Oakley hypes its upcoming year/upcoming releases and insiders rave about what’s in the pipe. This raises our expectations to sky-high levels and it’s only inevitable that we’d be disappointed. It always makes me wonder if the current releases would do better in a different environment/time period of collecting. A lot of products are still cool.

I see the pic of Jim was taken down...

By request. Steve took it down too

Sometimes it’s better to not know anything at all. Back in the day, it was rare you heard about what Oakley was releasing. Oakley collectors were small and dispersed, and not many put effort into grilling employees on what Oakley’s next product is. You find out when you find out. The X-metals were the only real time when stuff started leaking on a mass level. So basically, your expectations were low or perhaps you had no expectations at all. When new stuff came out, you were instantly gratified by the designed because you weren’t hyped for it for a year in advance.

Nowadays, Oakley hypes its upcoming year/upcoming releases and insiders rave about what’s in the pipe. This raises our expectations to sky-high levels and it’s only inevitable that we’d be disappointed. It always makes me wonder if the current releases would do better in a different environment/time period of collecting. A lot of products are still cool.
- Oak

this environment is all I've ever known of oakley, maybe it's because I'm inside the pipe, but it doesn't feel so bad to me nowadays. We'll see in 2015.

I do miss the days where I'd have to stop by the OPD every so often to see what's new. Or worst case you see it appear on the website, and there's at most 3 weeks before it hits the store. Too many eyes in the sky now, but I think they will be clamping down a bit more after the Ferrari leak. Least to the point where the hot sheets are handed out to stores a month prior to release.

I do miss the days where I'd have to stop by the OPD every so often to see what's new. Or worst case you see it appear on the website, and there's at most 3 weeks before it hits the store. Too many eyes in the sky now, but I think they will be clamping down a bit more after the Ferrari leak. Least to the point where the hot sheets are handed out to stores a month prior to release. - Dann

makes sense

I'm really hoping that there are some things in the pipeline that they have been waiting to drop until after this event. We've been hearing rumors about the WTF for a couple years now, and if this event was 2 years in the making, that would be around the right time frame...I think that we are all hoping this marks a bit of a turnaround for Oakley.

With the new focus on Oakley's heritage with the rereleases of the Frogskin, Razor Blade, and Eyeshade, hopefully the next step will be to look at where they went from there. In my opinion, that was Oakley's real heyday, from the Eye Jacket, through the X-Metals, up to the Elite line. Since then, with the exception of technological advances like Switchlock and new hydrophobic/oleophobic/anti static lens coatings, where are the huge leaps forward that we've come to expect? That being said, the fact that Oakley is starting to dabble more with carbon fiber (at a sub-4 figure price point) is pretty cool...

At this point I can confirm the "full customization" option in (select) OStores launching in the next week. Options mostly include lenses and frame color (as usual) but now also includes icons, cigar bands (Jupiter sq), and other temple pieces (such as on the radarlock). Apparently they've been testing the program out in a few stores (Mall of America) for the last couple months. But I feel like there might be something more they haven't told us yet.... :) - Lyndsey026

Congratulations. They should have been doing this in store about five years ago. I was always blown away by the fact that you could do full customization online, but not in-store. Lets hope they roll this out to all stores and Vaults soon.

At this point I can confirm the "full customization" option in (select) OStores launching in the next week. Options mostly include lenses and frame color (as usual) but now also includes icons, cigar bands (Jupiter sq), and other temple pieces (such as on the radarlock). Apparently they've been testing the program out in a few stores (Mall of America) for the last couple months. But I feel like there might be something more they haven't told us yet.... :) - Lyndsey026

Congratulations. They should have been doing this in store about five years ago. I was always blown away by the fact that you could do full customization online, but not in-store. Lets hope they roll this out to all stores and Vaults soon.

- nightsx2

This will be an O-Store only program. All O-Stores will have the program by the end of the year.

Hah, this is one of my customers. Small world.

I've learned that the box set in the pics posted here was a freebie for the athletes and VIPs at the DbD launch event, with no plans for it to be for sale... Bummer :-/

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/127578-oakley-smart-glasses-are-coming-with-google-glass-in-their-sights

Interesting. Moreso since they will be competing against Hans, not with him now.