At the ripe old age of 34, I received my first pair of Oakleys for Christmas. Here's my story...
I like wearing a cool looking pair sunglasses. But I could never justify spending big coin on a pair. So would always get a pair of drug store specs for around $15. You can occasionally find some cool ones, but they never fit quite right. I put them on and I'm always fidgeting with them. I had never looked at "designer" sunglasses cuz of the price. Sunglasses for me were disposable - especially with my kids.
Anyway... About 6 months ago - just for giggles - I started looking at Oakleys. I immediately fell in love with the look of the X-Metals - specifically the Juliet and Penny. But again - I couldn't justify $300 for a pair of sunglasses that would surely get destroyed eventually. A pair of cheap sunglasses seem to last me about 6 months. But I digress. I was in a Sport Chalet one day and decided to try on a pair Juliets. They felt solid but just didn't look right on me - too big. I also tried on a few others. All felt solid. The A-Wire 2.0's fit like a glove. But I really wanted to try on a pair of Pennies - they didn't have them. Ho hum. So I got another pair of cheap sunglasses at Save-On.
Fast forward a couple of months... I'm walking through the mall and stop at a sunglass kiosk - on the 2nd floor (this is important) to check them out. They had a couple pairs of Pennies there - and an Oakley rep was there that day. I tried them on and WHAM! It was kinda like that movie with Jim Carey - the Mask - you know how the mask just sucks itself onto his face? It felt like that - hehe. So I ask the guy, "why do these things cost $300?" The Oakley rep walks over and grabs them - walks over to the railing - and drops them. That's right - he just walked over and dropped them about 25 feet. He went down and got them and brought them back up to show me. Not a scratch. True story.
From that point, I HAD to have them. I just didn't have $300 in disposable income at the time. But I was going to get them. I fawned and droooled over them on eBay all the way up to Christmas. Then on Christmas morning my wife surprises me with them. Here's the kicker. As of Christmas, finally I have what I consider to be the coolest looking and toughest sunglasses on the planet - but I can't wear them because it's pouring rain in Southern California for the next 10 days. But it's sunny now and I absolutely love these things. They are the first pair of shades I have ever owned that I can just put on and forget about. No fidgeting to make sure they're on straight. The MASK.
BTW - I think some of you are certifiable with your obsession. But it's cool. My obsession has been satiated - though I know I'll get the bug to change up the lenses at some point. I have the titanium/ice combo. At some point, I think I'd like to get some ruby lenses. Can you get polarized lenses for the Penny?
- Rob
Rob Barnhill (rebar71 - 1/14/2005 10:57:00 AM)
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Nice rob, welcome to the site. I have never heard of anyone using that particular sales pitch before. If you look over in the glasses section on the left hand side of the page you will find what I reckon has to be the most comprehensive list of Oakley products outside of Oakley HQ (thanks to our fearless leader Dann)
The penny was never released with a polarized lens set up. You would have to ask the other guys if these can be ordered (that can be a bit of a grey area)
Enjoy the site,
OTT
william brown (O.T.T. - 1/14/2005 7:22:26 PM)
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Welcome to the Forum! Great story. That's the first time I've ever heard of anything like that. Penny is probably my favorite Oakley,and they are a solid pair of glasses, but I wouldn't toss mine from the second floor!
To my knowledge, polarized lenses are not available for Penny, as they were never sold that way.
Ed Chiu (eddyc - 1/14/2005 2:23:00 PM)
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I would never toss mine like that either. But you know what? For all I know, I may have that very same pair. I know my wife got them from that same kiosk.
It really is a shame that Oakley doesn't offer more lense options for the Penny frame. I wonder why...?
Rob Barnhill (rebar71 - 1/14/2005 12:51:56 PM)
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Props for a great Oakley story. A good beginning, for sure.
I'd love to get a Penny, but my darn noggin is just too big. Oh well, I guess those Penny-lovers out there probably don't fit so well in the XX or Romeo either. Give n' take.
Paul McJannet (oogie - 1/14/2005 2:51:46 PM)
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Hi Rob welcome to the forum ! .. you may soon find out that 1 pair isn't enough, and reading the "Your Latest Purchase" thread would make you obsessed even more =)
Romel G (MelG - 1/16/2005 7:36:44 PM)
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Rob, sorry to be a killjoy and make you feel unwelcome but im a little scepticle about that story.
Surely someone would have picked them up and walked away with them in the time that it took for him to go down and get them.
Also he could have hit someone in the head with them and had a big lawsuit on his hands.
Thirdly ive heard of people who have dropped them only 2 feet onto the ground and scratched them so that also sounds unlikely.
I dont think an Oakley rep would have taken those kinda risks just to sell a $300 pair of glasses.
again sorry.
You can be skepticle - doesn't bother me - and I don't blame you. I couldn't believe it either when he did it. But it's a true story just the same. Firstly, there is an escalator right by the kiosk. Secondly, MOST people are honest and would say, "did you drop these?" And thirdly, I would've expected the lenses to be scratched too - hell, I expected them break (including the frame) - but maybe they hit just right. And as far as hitting someone on the head - he didn't do a no-look toss. Even with the exceptional care I've been taking with them, they've already somehow got a barely noticeable scratch on one lense - kinda dissapointed about that. It's really small, doesn't interfere with my vision, and you'd never see it if you weren't looking for it.
So believe it or not - that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Rob Barnhill (rebar71 - 1/17/2005 8:25:26 PM)
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I dont think an Oakley rep would have taken those kinda risks just to sell a $300 pair of glasses.
What kind of risk is that for the rep? It doesn't cost him $300. That's his job, to sell glasses; and one of the selling points of Oakley is that they can take a beating. I bet reps. have free license to do what it takes to sell the product.
E C (EastCoast - 1/18/2005 9:00:59 AM)
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but it won't benefit them if the product is destroyed.. and i doubt their profit margins are significant enough that destroying a 300 dollar pair of sunglasses would be worth it..
John Heins (john - 1/18/2005 7:40:32 AM)
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I have to agree with you EC. At the end of the day it doesnt even cost Oakley $300. The production cost of a penny is a LOT less than that. And even then the likelihood is that it would just need replacement lenses at a cost to Oakley of about, what, $10 max. If there are a few people there who get to see what kind of faith the rep has in his product that can only make for incredible word of mouth marketing. (certainly more that $10 worth) As for you Rob we might disagree on any predictions you might have for up and coming models but not everyone here is going to try and pick holes in what you say.
william brown (O.T.T. - 1/18/2005 1:43:27 PM)
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to be clear, i'm not trying to discredit the whole story, i'm just expressing qualms and playing devil's advocate. i'd like it to be true, actually - it's a very cool story
John Heins (john - 1/18/2005 7:45:14 AM)
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Sorry John. Wasnt having a swipe at you. I usually doesnt hurt to look at the alternatives.
It does sound a bit incredible but I dare say O reps arent paid for their ability to show the similarities between O's and Versace's latest offerings. A display of brute strength like that would have me coughing up the cash (but admittedly maybe I had asked for a box fresh pair)
william brown (O.T.T. - 1/18/2005 1:52:57 PM)
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yeah, id love to believe the story to but i am a very scepticle person. Rob im sorry if i have made you feel unwelcome here that was not my aim.
And William, if oakley make penny's for 100 bucks and sell them for 300 bucks.
if they smash a pair that means that they cant sell them for the 300 dollars so technically they have missed out on $300. which is an expensive game to play.
I know what you are saying about potential sales revenue compared to production costs but if you look at the $29 warrenty claim, Oakley think nothing of just fitting a new frame. So when you deduct the price of the lens thats scratched up (and therefor not replaced under warrenty) thats still well over $200 that according to you Oakley "lose" somewhere along the way. If you have a calculator with enough decimal places maybe you could let us know what kind of impact that had on Oakley's revenue.
Anyway, you had better get yourself to foothill quick. Once you tell Jannard that he has been losing hundreds of dollars on every single warrenty claim I am sure he will give you tons of free stuff (and whoever came up with the warrenty idea in the first place will be kidnapped and dropped out a plane, without a parachute) ;-)
william brown (O.T.T. - 1/19/2005 8:15:38 AM)
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