lol!

This is an interesting thread. A lot of interesting points and I will take a shot at it.

Everything on this site is all about Oakley. period. Weather you are an enthusiast, old collector, new collector, hoarder, scalper, or any other title you want to give out. The fact of the matter is, we all want anything and everything Oakley.

Myself, I just get a few items here and there. I have been fortunate to acquire about everything that I have wanted when I started. It was hard. I was into Oakley in the mid 90's. You know, the days where if you owned a simple eye jacket it was like damn. Now, you can go down to bobs discount barn and get some Juliets. Everyone has them now. Back in the day I wanted a double wide so bad the first time I saw one. I couldn't believe when I found this site that there were members that scored all kinds of huge displays. Eventually everything fell into place and I to found things I was after. I still consider myself a new collector. I started late, years after I fell in love with the brand. I just didn't have the money to get everything I wanted at the time.

I know it is probably pretty hard for newer collectors. Sometimes when I read posts (and maybe this is just me) but it seems there is some haters/jealousy between members old and new. Some are jealous of what others have, say for example only.. five rep briefcases. Some new members automatically think that since another collector has doubles or triples of an item they are entitled to one and throw a couple hundred their way and its theirs right. WRONG. Some people don't realize that it takes years and years to acquire some of the collections out there. They didn't just wake up and go to the local vault and have their buddy hook them up with 20 acrylic bobs. It might have taken that person searching daily for years to finally come across some of the things out there and still had to pay high. They might have even found a few at one time. Some people want offer low-ball prices to other collectors for rare items, then get mad when they get laughed at in their face.

We are all collectors here, and no one is stupid. Everyone knows or has an idea the value of what they have or want regardless if they plan on selling it. If the first thing you think of is the $$ amount associated with an item, then I don't believe you are a collector. All of us have paid a lot for what we own, but we try not to think of it. Oakley collecting isn't a cheap hobby, or easy. I myself am the guy that has paid the price from the scalpers over and over again. Not anymore though. Scalpers aren't dumb either, they know what people are willing to pay for things. I didn't live by any vaults or know any reps. 95% of everything I own is retail or eBay. I have probably got into bid wars with about every member here and it's tough. People here have some thick wallets :).

I hope I never have to let any of it go.

Some of the best collecting advice I ever got was when I was brand new to the forum. Seeing everyone with massive amounts of gear made my jaw drop. They always said, don't ever compare your collection to someone else. Don't buy a ton of items just for the appreciation of others. Just take it slow, get what you love and eventually everything will go your way.

You bring up some great points T.

It has taken me a long time to get to the point where my collection is at, but when I started I didnt know it would get so out of hand.I didnt collect everything oakley in sight, but I definitely had the fever.

I should add, that I have never really engineered deals that were in my favor financially...but I try not to think about that...such that my oakley obsession is what it is, it was always about the acquisition.

Looking back, it has been a very expensive journey, but I love the collection, and just having it nearby brings me some form of comfort. I too hope I never lose interest in it or for financial reasons have to part with it. I dont think I could ever get back what I put into it anyway, but I never started collecting in hopes of making a profit. later on.

This is such a great thread, and I'm on the same wavelength as everything said. Especially great words Nik.

Where do I want my collection to go?

To put it simply, I want my collection to go with me wherever I go.

Every single time I go into my bedroom, even if it's just to get a different shirt, I catch a glimpse of my collection in the corner of my eye and I just stand there with a smile. THAT is what my collection is about, as long as it's there, I'm happy.

It also feels like the spectrum of products that really help define one's collection has broadend greatly over the years. It used to be all about the 0.3, brown Juliet and carbon ichiro.

This is so true. I used to be all about the eyewear. Now that I've got most of what I want in the eyewear department, I'm hard pressed to find something to buy, which is why I've turned my attention to display items, footwear, backpacks, and accessories. Diversifying really does keep the passion alive.

I couldn't agree with you more Justin. When i walk into my room and see my collection I just feel happy. A few years ago when i was living in a small apartment at college and couldn't have everything with me I would love coming home and seeing it all again.

I also hope that I never lose interest. I really don't see that happening. I couldn't imagine parting with a lot of my collection and really don't think anything will change that.

On the actual glasses front, there are really very few pairs that I'd like to have. My main thing would probably to fill out the x-metal line of glasses. I have some of them but would like to have at least one of each. I'd like an artist series here and there I suppose but won't spend huge bucks for them.

Other than that, I'm mainly interested in the more unique items, whether those be display pieces-parts, signs, interesting bags or things like that. I like seeing the full breadth of the oakley design language across all their product types. The glasses are certainly cool, but there are so many fun details in their other products.

The one thing I most want but know I'll never have is a carbon CSIX, but that's not going to happen. With my obsession with carbon fiber, that would be my ultimate but I'm just not rich enough to get one.

Where do I want my collection to go? I guess my answer is "on full display". I am very happy with the collection I have amassed and I am looking forward to soon having the space to properly display it in its entirety. I may add a pair or two a year, but there are many other competing hobbies these days...and a kid on the way in a few months!

Wow. This is one of the most awesome threads I have seen on any forum. Really. Passion and love articulated in the written word.

As far as where I want my collection to go. It's already gone SO far. I was a mere enthusiast for many years and just starting to collect whilst I was living in China in 2002 (can you say "NO ACCESS" to product) to moving back to the US and being able to buy stuff easily in 2006. And then it went from being hidden from my wife in the the trunk of my car to my wife saying "it would be cool if you had 10 pairs". Then it was the cube, and the signed Shoe One, then the towers and then came the pairs I was looking for.

So, I can really say that collection has gone as far as it can go at the moment and I'm really moving on to customizing pairs, making combos that weren't ever produced. Just to have something that's "extra special" (like polished titanium X hairs with Slate lenses or Livestrongs with Jade lenses).

But really, I think the collection/collecting is really going to be more about the people than about the eyewear.

D

I love the responses this thread has generated.

I was just thinking that our combined collecting truly has taken on a life of its own for the brand. We have managed to create mini museums of products frozen in a historical timeline.
And if you think about the reactions you've had when friends or family see the collection...it truly does vary. Some are completely intrigued, whereas others are like wtf?

In a way, its like collecting classic cars...the very mention of words like vintage, limited, or rare conjures up images of carbon x metal, glimmering iridium, riveted aluminum or perforrated o matter...it stirs a passion inside of collectors.

Inadvertantly, we have been seduced by Oakleys architecture of design...delivered week after week in small cardboard boxes. Who knew our collections would go this far?

I feel comfortable in speaking for Dann

I need to retract that. I'm not now nor ever trying to speak for Dann - nor do I ever think I could. Dann and I have had conversations on this point (and others as well) and I was trying to emphasize a point - but it came out wrong and I do apologize.

However my point and comments otherwise do not change. Nice to see us growing as a group. Can't really ask more from a website. I wonder if this type of group thinking is what evolves us from enthusiasts into true collectors.

We are truly evolving as a group. We are the worldwide expert on O as a group and website - pretty cool in itself.

Love the comments. Here we grow!

I speak for Dann on a wide variety of topics.

Too much lovey lovey crap. You all make me sick.

No, not really. This is a great thread and it really makes me think of our collecting history.

Dawn and I were definitely hit with the Noob Fever. That is, once our eyes were fully opened to the wide world that is Oakley beauty, we went nuts. Though we don't have any purchase regrets because we love each piece we own. We never bought an item we thought just looked cool but would never wear. It was about longevity. And part of me is grateful for our buying frenzy because otherwise we would have never gotten our hands on such gorgeous rarities like the Kenseth Splice, Text Gascan or Sorenstam Unknown.

As for where it's all going now...well, we still buy here and there. It's definitely slowed quite a bit. There are pairs we'd love to have, but other priorities have developed and once we've taken care of them, maybe the buying will go back up some. Oh there are pairs both new and old we'd die to get our hands on. And hopefully one day we'll be able to get them. As we were once told, a lot of the thrill is in the chase. Hell, it's that chase that led us here and we wouldn't trade that for all the Oakleys in the world.


~Yukio

You can speak for me; saves me the trouble.

I want my collection to stay in my family. Hopefully my son/daughter will understand what my collection meant/means to me and what its underlying symbolization is to me (Success = Opportunity + Preparation).

Lately, my purchasing has slowed down quite a bit since I'm not really running out and buying new styles as soon as they are to market. If I don't like a style, I'm letting Oakley know by not purchasing it. I've become quite thrifty with purchasing this stuff for as much as one can be.

My objective nowadays is to collect “cool” things that I considered “art”.

Oak said it for me.

However, I do pick up clothes or accessories for its functional capacity. I could buy them somewhere else however I don't think there are any other stores out there :)

I had a conversation last week with a fellow member about this thread. I have made some great friends on this site worldwide. As many of us have. My collecting has evolved into many personal relationships with some great people.

It's almost like collecting has become secondary to events and opportunities to spend time with fellow enthusiasts. Since we are so widespread - it's expensive and tough to achieve but still totally rewarding.

We really have some great people on this website. Having adventures with fellow enthusiasts is as good as it gets if you ask me.

I'd go as far to say that meeting other members, the friends we have made here as equal to getting a Holy Grail, sure was for me anyway

*blushing*

So recently one of our members reached a milestone, 600, a major achievement by any standards, and it got me thinking once again about my own collecting.
I found myself thinking about just what 600 pairs of sunglasses really means...how insane a number that really is.
I collect rarities, or what I deem worthy of the obscure or off the beaten path, and that is what has kept me interested. When I hear the enormity of a number like 600, I question how the pieces can sustain interest, individually...and where the goal or direction of the collection is going.
I suppose I have always known that there must be a limit, a ceiling that I simply must reach, or I might find myself teetering on the razor-like precipice between collection, and illness.
I am not sure (for me) that I would ever want to reach that kind of a number...as I believe that the appreciation for individual items would easily get lost in the mass. Maybe the sheer mass of it all is the goal...maybe the need to simply have more than anyone else on the planet is the bane of certain collectors, I am not sure.

With a number like 600, appreciation would have to wane over time, just like the laws of diminishing returns in economics. I think that collecting and consuming travel parallel, and at times the clear lines that divide can be blurred...
Any thoughts?

i think it was shown here befroe that having 500 + or 600+ is amazing, having rareties in them wauw, i think collecting should be still focuse on the core for some one. meaning, i want all the moon's or what ever model you like or what ever makes you happy.. and if you can snag some stuff extra and cheap hey why not. still am not in the buying market am just looking to make months end, and working on the o room, Still need to finish getting some pairs, and that is for me, like the art series, as another membber already did..all i can say is if you can't enjoy what you are doing why keep doing it, just for the glory or to scalpel later on.. and this is not directed to any one..

brennan i love the pieces you have, i know some of them you realy had to deal with satan him self.. again, there are some many things some many collections that are worth a look and say wauuuww this guy is dedicated and loves the brand,

to me oakley has been more than a brand, it is a lifestyle, well that was more in the pre lux era, but well

greetings to all !

Marcel

I'm not really sure where I want the collection to go to be honest. At the moment, I'm resigned to buying pairs that I'm actually going to wear and selling any pairs that I don't. That way, I don't see the collection expanding much at all. By the way, 600+ pairs is beyond insanity, how you keep track of that many and store them would be a logistical nightmare, but good luck with that.

It depends on what you want for your collection...quality vs. quantity. I suppose you can strive for both, but a large collection generally means there'll be a lot of fodder in the ranks. The only exception I could see is another member (who doesn't log in anymore) whose eyewear numbers has likely hit the 1,000 mark. Half of that is factory produced customs, prototypes, one-offs and the like, so he's got both quality and quantity. I don't see any of us normal folk without ties to the executives having that kinda spread.

That said and for us normal folk, in the near 7 years the O-review has been up, I see a general movement towards quality over quantity. A small collection with amazing pieces is generally preferred over large collection with more run-of-the-mill stuff. I have no doubt we'll see more well-crafted collections in the future as collectors mature and are more selective with what they bring in, which is something I look forward to.

As for myself, I'm at a point where I don't know what else to get for the collection (eyewear-wise anyway), since I don't desire anything. I think my upper limit for eyewear will be 200, maybe 250. Like most, I don't like everything Oakley puts out and I have no intention of completing entire colorways for models. Buying only the items I want and would love in a case are my only criteria, so the numbers won't reach all that high.

A collection is all personal taste. So in the end, buy what you like.

I'm at 230, and I have over time reduced some that I just wasn't in love with, but I feel I can't lessen that much more. I think Oak's value of about 250 seems right. I've definitely leveled off, and even if I had the money, I'm not sure where it would go. My goal is to complete one more model set, and then perhaps complete the latest two X-Metals, so I have one of each again.

I think a primary goal is to get them set up better. I have tons in boxes now, and my main display space has been taken over by snakes, so I can't view them all properly at the moment. I think doing more with what I have, rather than getting more will be my drive in the future. Thus one of the reasons, I started the video review series, so I could look at each pair in depth and appreciate what I currently possess.

ive only got 60-70 pairs and that has dropped by some 15 over the past 6 months or so, purely as i wanted a smaller collection of quality pieces rather than a large collection of pairs i didnt really want or like or what were in average condition.
collections of 3/4/5/600 is mental, but for me personally, i would get in the rut of buying for the sake of buying rather than coa i want it-thats just me and we all have our own reasons why we collect to our own levels.

well as you know my collection focuses on the vintage so i buy when i see something that i need to complete a line or set.....

looking at my set up, i prefer the less is more look compared to even 2 years ago....and i think it will probably take me another 4 years to reach 100 pairs lol as what i want is hard to find in condition or never becomes available or my priorities for money is different, like at the moment my poorly wifey.