3/8
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brennan2x
I Brennan
Feb 2, 2011 9:22 PM
I agree Oak...I think it is about quantity or quality.
I think Cferr must be right up there near the 1000 mark, but I question the drive...or the pursuit.

I think I still feel that after a certain number, the goal is lost, and perhaps you are collecting only because of routine, and really not for any real purpose. This is where I believe collecting and consuming intersect. That's where you start thinning the collection out, and trading or selling for other stuff...because there is no real attachment to the individual pieces, just that you have them.
happens on Ebay all the time...something gets sniped...and it doesnt always go to the deserving or appropriate collector...but then you can make a private deal soon after for twice the amount. When it becomes a money game, I think something is lost in translation...its what has somewhat warped the collecting landscape of this site over the past 4-5 years.


Oak
Twenty Fifty
Feb 2, 2011 9:44 PM
For the record, I wasn't referring to Cferr.
OsmosisJones
Justin "Scorpion Zero" Jones
Feb 2, 2011 9:49 PM
FactoryPilot? Jim Jannard?
DrChop
www.drchop shop.com
Feb 2, 2011 9:49 PM
Collecting is not a quantity game, yet a quality. Many of us here understand this and focus on a product line/item that is of importance to us...Others gobble up the mass numbers and boast of it.

Ponder on this: Are you acquiring items because you have some sentimental attachment? Are you trying to complete one or more series? Are you gathering for a potential financial gain? Or are you gathering all you can put your hands on at any and all costs (monetary and collateral damage) for the sake of having them?

Is there a real purpose for having more than say...3 of 1 specific pair (excluding the likes of exclusive stuff)? Is there a reason one needs 8 identical juliets? Or say 6 gascans? Now if they are a daily wearer and have been disco'd I can understand a few and all the lenses you can find if you truly beat on them, but just to sit in boxes somewhere to collect dust? That's hoarding plain and simple...

With that said, I have managed to acquire every Monster Dog sold retail and several others that weren't. That was a massive achievement for me and I can totally relate to the feeling of achievement. Now however, I have grown distant from the product line since there is really only 1 or 2 lines that I can see myself collecting. I plan to reduce mine to PitBoss, Fuel Cells, certain timepieces, Oil Rig II, and the ones I am attached to.

Other than that, I just don't have all of the drive I did before, but I think that is because the product line has become bland and diluted. How many pairs can you smash together to make one before it is all vanilla and boring? Sure, there are some great colors and special releases, but there are just too many that look the same.
brennan2x
I Brennan
Feb 2, 2011 10:53 PM
Sorry Oak...I know Cferr is right up there though.

Anyway, Josh, you make excellent points, maybe the interest slows because the product line is somewhat diluted...I think I like the Xsquared and fuel cells, jawbone... but little else. But I think its good that it slows down. Who wants to throw money away at an incredible rate in perpetuity?
Oak
Twenty Fifty
Feb 2, 2011 11:17 PM
I've always wondered how much of this collector apathy was due to a general dislike of the lineup or just too much too soon. IMO, the Minute, new Frogskin, Five, Ten, etc. don't look any less bland then the Fuel Cell, Antix, Batwolf, etc. I'm curious if it's because we've packed 20 years worth of buying and collecting in 5 years. I'm sure most of us have experienced burnout, so this may just be an extension of that.
flippj
paul jewiss
Feb 2, 2011 11:16 PM
good point oak, are we collecting or just buying because its the latest thing out....
DrChop
www.drchop shop.com
Feb 2, 2011 11:34 PM
IMO, the Minute, new Frogskin, Five, Ten, etc. don't look any less bland then the Fuel Cell, Antix, Batwolf, etc. I'm curious if it's because we've packed 20 years worth of buying and collecting in 5 years.
Very good thoughts...Mine however is that those styles (Frogs, Minute, Five) don't fit, so they are not in my equation of bland. I do feel the frogs are pretty sick, and wish we had the quality in the material back in the 80's and 90's that we do now because I wore them then...As for the others, Fuel Cell didn't mimic anything when it was released, unlike the Rig, Batwolf, Antix, Ten, Necessity, and so on...Many, and by many I mean most, of the "new releases" are just morphed shield lens versions of past items. That to me is where the "Bland Factor" comes into play. Also, it's a fitment issue on many of the new pieces. Batwolf for example should fit me, it's freaking huge!! It doesn't. Sits right on my cheek bones. Such a let down

Now, as for the packing in 20 years of collecting into 5, that really isn't an issue for me. I have only a handful of the "Vintage" pairs left after my house cleaning that I just cleared up. Eye Jacket, M Frame, my very first T Wire, and a few other pieces is all I have clung on to. The rest never saw the light of day, and to have them just to say I have them was stupid, so off to better homes they went. That is the future I see in many of my Dogs, Gascans, and others. If I won't wear them, then I won't keep them, that simple. I still get excited to see what's next, and I am chomping at the bit for Pit Bull!! So the passion is still there, but the fuel for the fire has diminished due to the lack of creativity coming out of HQ in my opinion.

Not all can be Straight Jackets and XX Twentys...Those were iconic pairs as noted by the fact the Vault Versions still do well. Those were pairs that just worked. Gascan ran it's course I think. A great pair, but didn't have the staying power of the classics. Could also be that the passion went with Jim, and now it's all about the cash for Lux and it's reflective in the product line. I did see the Canvas and Troy Lee Fuel Cell shades in person yesterday and Mark's and man, they are WAY better in person, so it goes back to having to hold my tongue until seen and touched. Take the gearbox for example, I didn't even realize it was missing a date counter like all the others...Who would have thought it, but it's a huge and insanely cool watch.

All I am saying is that the passion isn't there with Oakley like it was, and maybe that's just the evolution of the business, or a product of trying to make the big big dollars, I don't know.

Dann
Dann Thombs
Feb 2, 2011 11:41 PM
We've caught Cferr still listing things we know he parted with, as well as source pairs for customs (having the originals and results listed twice or three times), so I doubt he even had that many back in the day.

Looking back to the 90's though, if we were fresh off the Zero's and such, then were presented with the New Frogskins, Tens, XX's, Fives, Straight Jackets, etc... There may have been the same fallout, but soon after we had Splice, Scar, OTT, Plate, Half Jacket. It goes in waves.
DrChop
www.drchop shop.com
Feb 3, 2011 12:00 AM
true, very true. Maybe this is the calm before the storm?? I hope so. I can't see any other company that will draw a following like Oakley in the eyewear industry. And yeah, the whole series of Minute, XX, SJ were all variants of the same thing, but the difference is they fit different head sizes...These new ones, they almost all are built around medium to large head profile so they loose a little there. I just keep my fingers crossed for the Pit Bull...haha.
Oak
Twenty Fifty
Feb 21, 2011 1:28 AM
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...
I hear that. So many other hobbies, so little space to fully display them.
Oak
Twenty Fifty
Feb 21, 2011 10:59 AM
are we collecting or just buying because its the latest thing out....
I suspect that a good size of our collections is a "Keeping up with the Joneses" thing. Remember the times before you officially considered yourself a collector, before you knew there were others as big an Oakley fan as you? You bought what you really liked and easily discounted anything you didn't. Nowadays, you'll have 10 Hijinxes and didn't even know you liked the style! I'm being facetious of course, but something like that certainly adds to this rut some of us are in. Some are rectifying that by trimming down their collections to what they really like, which is probably a good way to extend their love of the hobby.
Dann
Dann Thombs
Feb 21, 2011 9:29 PM
I'm disappointed at how many gascans I have.
defiant00
Z B
Feb 22, 2011 2:41 AM
I keep telling my wife that I want to thin down the collection by as much as half, but she says no, and that the collection is our kids' (that we don't have yet) college fund!

That said, when I first started thinking about paring the collection down, my thought was "if I can get it all to fit in just the doublewide, I'll be okay," which by any non-collectors perspective is beyond twisted. I just find that amusing.
DisturbedEarth
Nik Gutscher
Feb 22, 2011 3:26 AM
I'm disappointed at how many gascans I have.
Haha. I totally agree. It's really cool to see how a lot of us have matured with our collecting and collections.

I am kind of torn - I parted with a few here and there like Hatchets because there was just no way they were ever going to fit me but in general - I always regret selling frames. That said - what I really need to thin is my display stuff - we'll see.

At least now I can watch others enjoy the Batwolf, Frogskin etc... stuff that I know I won't wear and really have no interest in yet still feel good about others raving about and enjoying. No more keeping up with the Joneses.

Seems we are more into the purity and enjoyment of it for ourselves individually - which is what it should be. I don't even think I'm into completeing an entire "line" anymore.

LOVING the Plaintiff, but probably one more will do it and then time for PB and WJ...
Stew
Stew Robinson
Feb 22, 2011 3:55 AM
I'm disappointed at how many gascans I have.
I'm always willing to take donations :P
DisturbedEarth
Nik Gutscher
Feb 22, 2011 4:04 AM
Heh.. I understand but up your donation standards a bit - would ya?
Ian
Ian Morris
Feb 22, 2011 5:35 AM
Nik, I'll second the "take a Gascan" thing. A bottle green one, please.
DisturbedEarth
Nik Gutscher
Feb 22, 2011 6:08 AM
LOL.. GC's were like a dirty drug for me. Thankfully I have gotten rehab for those...

Rick
Rick (The Doctor) Fawcett
Feb 22, 2011 7:07 AM
I have an intense relationship with my Grape Gascan. Don't know why, but I love that son of a bitch.
Stew
Stew Robinson
Feb 22, 2011 7:34 AM
I actually quite like my gascans. It's not the flashiest design or most innovative frame, but I find that they fit me quite well, so I do find myself wearing one of my two pairs fairly often.
DisturbedEarth
Nik Gutscher
Feb 22, 2011 7:49 AM
Not that I dislike them but one question. Peripheral vison. Seriously. Can you see out the sides of them when you drive?
Ian
Ian Morris
Feb 22, 2011 8:05 AM
Yes, I can easily see out the sides. I turn my head. ;)

I dig the Grape Gascan as well, even though I never wear mine. Two of my all-time favorite pairs are Gascans: The Red Shift version, and the N3L Clear version. Both kick surprising amounts of ass.

With that said, I didn't ever like them until I got the Red Shift, and after that they grew on me quite a bit.

Plus, some of the all-time sweetest "innovations" came on the Gascan, the clear artwork earstems, the bamboo icons on the Burnquist version, the text graphics, etc.
Stew
Stew Robinson
Feb 22, 2011 9:03 AM
I don't find my peripheral vision affected that much by them. Granted, they're not as good as my flak jackets for driving, but I still don't have any major issues with them.
DisturbedEarth
Nik Gutscher
Feb 22, 2011 9:11 AM
Maybe it is just me but Flak and Radar are King when it comes to hunting and/or driving in traffic.

3/8

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