How and when were you first interested in O ? Also, what has launched the insanity ?

For me, it started when I broke up with my girlfriend a few years ago...chech this out :

This girl I was with, let's call her "A"...while I was with her I had bought her a 200$ necklace for Christmas and the matching 100$ bracelet on her b-day...but when I broke up with her (to go with another girl ;)), she gave me back both pieces of jewelry...now I didn't know what to do with these...my mother came up to me and told me that since she too realized that I couldn't give them to my new girlfriend nor could easily sell it for a good price, she proposed SHE'd buy it from me and in terms of paying, as my high school graduation was approaching, she would buy me whatever I wanted for the equivalent price...all I had to do was add $10 and the Silver/Fire Square Wire 2.0 Spring Hinge were MINE !!! I had begged my parents to buy me Os ever since I was like 12, and they'd never even considered it, even if I would've paid for it...they simply wouldn't let me access my bank account which only they had the control on when I was a lil' kid...but now that my mother had given me her word that it could be any caprice I wanted...AHA ! I seized the chance and realized my dream with a beauty pair of Os ! Proudly wore them at graduation, even at night, at prom and after-prom, in the woods...those glasses were supposed to be my only pair since "they will last for ever"...but there is no need to explain you why, but a year later, Titanium/Ice Penny was added to my collection, PLUS I bought my gf the same Silver/Fire sq. w., which didn't matter since I was always wearing my Pennys anyway (still am). My 9-year old bro has already been introduced to the insanity as I previously said on another thread...bought him Blue XS Fives for his b-day...so that's it for me, I'm curious about how you guys have started your craziness and your collection !

Alexandre Fréchette (Freesh - 10/20/2004 2:58:11 PM)
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At 14 When I bought my Black Gold/Gold Iridium Eye Jackets I just loved them sooo much I wanted more and more but couldnt really afford them so I just slowly built my collection pair by pair. that was 9 years ago and now look at me.

Alexis Watkins (LEX7 - 10/20/2004 3:33:49 PM)
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Roughly pulled from my bio page:

About two years ago I was spending money on nothing but bills for school and who knows what. My brother had just gotten Scars, to which my impression was "that's really dumb to spend all that money on sunglasses", but then I tried them on and really noticed the difference in quality. I'd never seen a lens be so clear before. My comment was Everything looks like the Autolevel function in Photoshop. What a nerd I am sometimes. At that point the Splice came out and my brother wished he had waited and gotten that instead. So one day when I was at a cookout playing hooky from work, the one shred of champagne taste that I had kicked in and I decided to get the Ice Splice's.

After that 'the sickness' as we call it, took over and I got a minute cheap, but it didn't look good, so I sold it to my sister, and then got the Leather Mars, simply because it was rediculous looking. Then followed Square Wire Fire, Overthetop Ruby, XMetal XX 24k, Timebomb, Valve Fire, Romeo Black, TWire, Wisdom, Trenchcoat Pearl, Dartboard, Square Wire HIBlue etc.. Not counting the accessories and what not. Things are slow due to being married and a homeowner, but I still manage.


Dann Thombs (Dann - 10/20/2004 4:22:54 PM)
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In high school I got contact lenses the summer between freshman and soph year (i think that's when) and my mom and eye doctor kept saying I needed a good pair of sunglasses. I bought the classic Frogskin, crystal/violet iridium. By x-mas I had crystal/blue iridium M-Frame Sweeps.

In the meantime I had taken notice that the local Oakley dealers had these 2 page and 4 page posters hangning that would display an entire family. I started writing Oakley and in return I started to receive said posters, which were actually 4 to 6 page oversized pamphlets. I would get cards of athletes wearing the glasses, pamplets for items not even released yet, etc.

By summer just before senior year I had 0.4, E-wires, Sub Zeros, and 2 pair of Eye Jackets. And a hell of a lot more literatre from O.

I think I have my time frames correct. So I guess that's were it all started. One little pair of Frogskins and a letter to Oakley.

Dann was nice enough to post shots of my pamphlets and all oakley sent for the archicves of this site.
http://dcj.amaltd.com/oakley/promodetail.asp?model=Brochures
http://dcj.amaltd.com/oakley/promodetail.asp?model=Tech+Flats

Phil Barket (kingphilbert - 10/20/2004 4:46:39 PM)
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I was at the mall and I decided to take a look at the Sunglass Hut. There I saw a pair of gold E wires and I loved them!
They looked completely different than any other sunglasses that I had ever seen before.
That was it, I was hooked.
I can't remember what the next pair of Oakleys that I bought was, but through the years I have owned:

Titanium T wires
Leather square wires
Shooting Star Minutes
Red Twenties
WHY3 blue irridium
X Metal Juliets Plasma-Fire
Juliet Polish-Ice Polarized
Juliet Carbon-Ruby
OO E
WHY 4 clear
XX Metal 24k irridium
Awaiting the arrival of WHY 8.0 gold polarized!

Sallie Schimmel (xstarr - 10/21/2004 12:51:48 AM)
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Saw the 0.3P which was crazy, wanted a pair but couldn't afford it.
(Saw them for sale NEW at a dealer once for $85 Canadian and didn't have the dough. Grr.)

A year later, started surfing oakley.com and got hooked. This was during the build-up to the Romeo when they were listing teaser pics every week or month or something.

It took them _forever_ to start listing Canadian prices though, probably for the best since I would have been turned off had I known the cost of these gems right off the bat.

Then the O Shoe, followed by Shoetwo and Shoethree came out and I was sunk.

Ultimately I'm convinced there's an addictive chemical in those little black boxes that gives you a subtle high. There's no other explanation.

E C (EastCoast - 10/21/2004 7:10:59 AM)
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Oakley first caught my attention when I watched Greg LeMond in the Tour de France. He wore Eyeshades, Razor Blades, and Mumbos/M-Frames. I wanted M-Frames for cycling but could never afford them.

Then Lance Armstrong came on the scene and started wearing Eye Jackets and M-Frames. I finally started earning real money at an internship, so I bought a pair of Cobalt/+Red Eye Jackets because they seemed a bit more practical and suitable for casual wear unlike the M-Frames. Another pair of Eye Jackets and a pair of E-Wires followed within the next year or so, then I didn't buy any Oakley for a long time.

About two years ago, I felt it was time to start building a collection, but I couldn't bring myself to pay retail prices. Then, just over a year ago, I finally took a look at eBay, and the rest is history.

Ed Chiu (eddyc - 10/21/2004 12:03:49 PM)
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what a great place here!! i've known oakley sunglasses for quite long before actually getting one for myself. thought it was ridiculously expensive for sunglasses.

then a friend's dad recently broke into oakley fever(can u believe it? he's over 50!). in july/august, he bought a pair of juliet to retire those cheapo sunglasses he had for daily morning cycling.., and just in one month the one pair juliet carbon became 4 pairs of oakley collection that are: juliet, mag switch, splice, half jacket. all black iridium except for the jacket. talk about something addictive inside those black boxes.. lol.

following the step of the uncle, i joined the oakley club by getting myself a pair of juliet plasma/fire. i was saving up money to get one, but in coincidence a guy i know has one to let go. so i bought his. a month later, realising that i'm gonna part with it for a few months to get ruby lenses fitted in and have some services done.(done in US via a friend of mine, in a day or two, yeahhhh baby!!! oh also, i'm in backwater country indonesia),
i bought another pair of oakley to hang in with: square wire 2.0 spring hinge silver/ice. why oakley? cos the lenses, they're the best! it's really noticable compared to cheapo sunglasses! i bought this new pair using the spare budget from new juliet i was planning before, also, i broke it the 4th day i had it because i kept adjusting the nosepiece sitting, but the warranty replacement got me another new pair. great warranty service policy(coming from Oakley USA)

now i wear the wire everyday and i love it. i think i'm gonna wear the wire daily and keep the ruby juliet later. only to wear em for special occasions. also, i'm planning to get either the unknown black polarized(wanna try the polarized lenses) or a pair of chop top 2.0 for prescription glasses by the end of the year. and for next year, i'm definitely getting both the carbon and xmetal frame juliets. and who knows what cool shades oakley will release next year.

see, the fever is like this: i have minus eyes but never wore glasses cos i hated em. the minus itself are insignificant, just -100 or -150 L/R. but now? i have found the reason to wear one.., chop top, it's oakley and they look soooo good on me(tried em last time).

i talked some friends into getting oakley, had some successful persuasion and more unsuccessful ones(the price's the main reason).

Paul Liandy (zeroshiki - 10/21/2004 12:18:07 PM)
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Mine started with the movie X Men. I wanted the exact Ruby Quartz Juliets that James Marsden wears with the goggle like features/extensions at the side of the frame.. when I lost hope I purchased the version made for the market in 2000. Then the Romeos due to MI2. Then while waiting for X Men 2 had a couple of more.

Looking forward to X Men 3.

BTW would you have any news where they put the ones worn on the X Men movies ? Are they in a museum or something ? In the Oakley HQ ?

And do you guys have any pics of the actual Xmen Juliet and Penny ?

Romel G (MelG - 10/22/2004 1:49:20 AM)
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maybe start a new thread for that, melg

i fully blame dann and his brother for my insanity. i'm clinging desperately to my sanity right now actually, but if i had more money it'd be all gone

they gave me my first pair for christmas two years ago, half jackets... sorta like a drug dealer gives you your first hit for free. then i went and bought juliets.

John Heins (john - 10/22/2004 3:34:37 AM)
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Bruuahhahaa, ain't it true.

Dann Thombs (Dann - 10/22/2004 8:54:08 AM)
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A friend started working there over 12 years ago, got me my first pair of Razor Blades, and the insanity started from there.

Jay Dannen (okyman62 - 10/22/2004 1:42:36 PM)
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I was normal with a pair of Eye Jacket for three years till i had the desire to get an X-Metal XX. After i saved up and bought it, soon after i got a pair of Shoeones. So it was at that time when my insanity took off.

My addiction to the O actually started with a pair of shoes years ago, they were fantastic, bought another pair, and another... then the shorts, shirts, jackets, hoodies, etc... Just started picking up the shades this year. Funny huh? My O addiction has gone into high gear the last 12 months or so and I am sure it will go in cycles but its been a fun ride so far.

It all started in in school one day when my friend introduced me to Oakley. He had a pair of half jackets and they were small on my face but I still liked the lense quality and design. So the next day I went to my trusty Oakley store and they had the flying tiger gascans (keep in mind this was 2009). I immediately feel in love with the gascans. They fit my face PERFECTLY and the looked really good on me. Then I could not stop buying. Next I got polished aluminum radars, then jawbones, then first gen. clear oil rigs, and now I have 17 pairs including my most recent pair, x metal xx 24k in pristine condition. That's how I caught the sickness.

Its interesting how some start with apparel first and then progress with eyewear. For me it was the other way around. There just wasnt a lot of apparel to speak of in my part of the world at that time. I thought it was a novelty that oakley made anything other than eyewear. Of course we go through cycles based on desires and practical needs. There was a time when i had enough eyewear, so looked at apparel and footwear. Now i tend to look at eyewear again because space is an issue, plus having the chance to get those pairs ive always wanted. You can never have enough glasses. It may sound insane, but its true. Its something you can treasure for a long time.