I know no one reads this BUT, here is a video of an Oakley display Cube that I have for sale. E-mail me at OsmosisJones14@hotmail.com if you are interested and an offer. Thanks!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Oakley Hijinx Review
I have owned at least one pair of Oakley Hijinx since late September. About a month ago I picked up two more pairs extremely cheap. I currently own the Art Chantry Hijinx, the Splatter Hijinx and the matte black/grey polarized Hijinx. After giving myself enough time to break them in and find out all there is to know about them, I will now write a proper review.
(My Personal pair of AC's)
Looks:
At first I was not wild about the shape of the lens or the earstems. The lenses are huge and the stems are rather plain. After wearing them for a while, the styling has grown on me. The top of the frame is not nearly as thick as the Eyepatch, which is my main complaint for that frame. The rounded corners also make the frame look less like the driving glasses that 60-year old women use.
Functionality:
Without unobtanium I thought this frame would fit very loosely on my face. I turned out to be wrong. They have not once slipped down my nose or off my ear. Whatever the problem was with the Fives 3.0 and them slipping without unobtanium they fixed on the Hijinx.
The large lenses provide excellent coverage and even eliminate the perihpheral problems found in Gascans. Unfortunately, the lenses are so large that when leaving one temperature extreme and going to another causes the lenses to fog up. This does not happen on many other frames. Since the lenses are so large it takes an even longer amount of time to for them to clear up that normal as well. Maybe a hydrophobic coating could help this.
Price Point:
Starting at $90 and only going to $160 for the premium colorways menas this is a great price point. Starting these lower than most other Oakley frames, these stand to become the next big hit like the Gascan was.
Major Positives:
Price point, stylings, coverage
Major Drawbacks:
Lenses fogging up
Overall Rating:
Overall I would rate these a 7 out of 10. They aren't as aggressively stlyed as Oakley usual runs, and they lack of unobtanium still makes me weary. Also the available colorways are lacking. If Oakley added hydrophobic lenses, more colorways, and unobtanium on the earstems then these would easily score a 9.
And there you have it, my Hijinx review. See you next post.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you all the good news. I sold my +Red Radars for $350 to a fellow Oakley fanatic in Singapore.
(My Personal pair of AC's)Looks:
At first I was not wild about the shape of the lens or the earstems. The lenses are huge and the stems are rather plain. After wearing them for a while, the styling has grown on me. The top of the frame is not nearly as thick as the Eyepatch, which is my main complaint for that frame. The rounded corners also make the frame look less like the driving glasses that 60-year old women use.
Functionality:
Without unobtanium I thought this frame would fit very loosely on my face. I turned out to be wrong. They have not once slipped down my nose or off my ear. Whatever the problem was with the Fives 3.0 and them slipping without unobtanium they fixed on the Hijinx.
The large lenses provide excellent coverage and even eliminate the perihpheral problems found in Gascans. Unfortunately, the lenses are so large that when leaving one temperature extreme and going to another causes the lenses to fog up. This does not happen on many other frames. Since the lenses are so large it takes an even longer amount of time to for them to clear up that normal as well. Maybe a hydrophobic coating could help this.
Price Point:
Starting at $90 and only going to $160 for the premium colorways menas this is a great price point. Starting these lower than most other Oakley frames, these stand to become the next big hit like the Gascan was.
Major Positives:
Price point, stylings, coverage
Major Drawbacks:
Lenses fogging up
Overall Rating:
Overall I would rate these a 7 out of 10. They aren't as aggressively stlyed as Oakley usual runs, and they lack of unobtanium still makes me weary. Also the available colorways are lacking. If Oakley added hydrophobic lenses, more colorways, and unobtanium on the earstems then these would easily score a 9.
And there you have it, my Hijinx review. See you next post.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you all the good news. I sold my +Red Radars for $350 to a fellow Oakley fanatic in Singapore.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The +Red/Metallic Red Radar Path Story
According to Oakley.com, this is what a Metallic Red/+Red Iridium Radar Path is supposed to look like:
And these are pictures I have taken myself of the same frame and lens in multiple lighting conditions:
There is obviously a big difference between the two sources, but that is how Oakley takes their pictures, and there is a huge problem with that with Oakley fans, but I will save that post for later.
Anyways, you may or may not know this, but Oakley has discontinued this specific color-way. After about a week of being released, Oakley began getting an unusual amount of returns/warranty claims regarding this specific pair of sunglasses. The problem was the same every time; the bottom of the lens was constantly flaking off, leaving them without any iridium coating. As +Red is one of the most sought after lens colors that Oakley has to offer, this became a huge problem.
Oakley did some investigating and found that the storage case provided with ever pair of Radars was the root of all of the problems. For some reason or another, the soft felt interior of the cases caused the iridium coating to flake off. This wasn't only a problem for +Red lenses, but it occurred the most with them due to their fragile nature.
To avoid any further returns/warranty claims, Oakley pulled all of the +Red/Metallic Red Radar's off the market. They even changed the material inside of the cases to avoid this with other lens colors as well.
It is now 6 months later and the +Red lens is still not available on the Radar. With all of these problems and the color-way being pulled off the market so fast, the amount of these circulating is extremely low. This has caused the market value of them to skyrocket. Check out this recent pair that has ended on ebay for $426!
And there you have it, the +Red Radar story.
*Update, I have decided to sell my +Red/Metallic Red Radar Path's on ebay. Check them out here.*
And these are pictures I have taken myself of the same frame and lens in multiple lighting conditions:
There is obviously a big difference between the two sources, but that is how Oakley takes their pictures, and there is a huge problem with that with Oakley fans, but I will save that post for later.
Anyways, you may or may not know this, but Oakley has discontinued this specific color-way. After about a week of being released, Oakley began getting an unusual amount of returns/warranty claims regarding this specific pair of sunglasses. The problem was the same every time; the bottom of the lens was constantly flaking off, leaving them without any iridium coating. As +Red is one of the most sought after lens colors that Oakley has to offer, this became a huge problem.
Oakley did some investigating and found that the storage case provided with ever pair of Radars was the root of all of the problems. For some reason or another, the soft felt interior of the cases caused the iridium coating to flake off. This wasn't only a problem for +Red lenses, but it occurred the most with them due to their fragile nature.
To avoid any further returns/warranty claims, Oakley pulled all of the +Red/Metallic Red Radar's off the market. They even changed the material inside of the cases to avoid this with other lens colors as well.
It is now 6 months later and the +Red lens is still not available on the Radar. With all of these problems and the color-way being pulled off the market so fast, the amount of these circulating is extremely low. This has caused the market value of them to skyrocket. Check out this recent pair that has ended on ebay for $426!
And there you have it, the +Red Radar story.
*Update, I have decided to sell my +Red/Metallic Red Radar Path's on ebay. Check them out here.*
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Oakley and eBay
I have found through my two years at the O-Review and also through people that I have met and talked with about Oakley, that a good deal of Oakley enthusiasts use eBay as a way to buy their Oakley gear.
I personally find most of my gear through eBay. I have come across some great deals but at the same time I've seen a lot of people get ripped-off. For this post, I have decided to create a mini tutorial on buying Oakley gear off of eBay.
Rule 1: Never believe that an item is "rare" based upon the description.
Everyone and their brother state that the Oakley item they are selling is rare. I've seen someone call a stock white Gascan rare. If the item is rare, then why are there 50 like it up on eBay right now? The word is overused and has almost lost all meaning when it comes to Oakley items. You'll know an item is rare when you see that the price the item is selling for is a good deal above retail value.
Rule 2: If the sunglasses have a sticker on them, THEY ARE FAKE!
Oakley has never and will never put a sticker on the lenses of their sunglasses. It goes against everything they are. Oakley prides themselves on having the best optical clarity of any sunglasses-maker, so why would they distort that by popping a sticker up in the middle of the lens? Rule 3: If you are not sure of the authenticity of the item, do your homework.
The O-Review catalog is available for anyone to use. The watches and sunglasses sections are nearly if not totally complete. Colorways and pictures are even available for almost every frame. If the item someone is trying to sell you is not in the catalog, then they are most likely fake. Also, if you are a member of the O-Review, then you can post the item's picture in the "Fakes on eBay" thread and allow members to tell you if they are fake or real. Your default action if you are not 100% sure if the item is real or not should be to assume it's fake and move on.
Rule 4: Be wary of auctions that do not hide your I.D. if the item is selling for a large sum of money.
People are always trying to scam you, so be careful. If your I.D. is visible on an auction that is selling for over $200, you will most likely receive a "second offer" e-mail from various scammers. They all tend to run along the same lines of "Oh, the winner of the auction didn't pay so I am offering it up to you for the highest price you bid up to." DON'T DO IT! Unless you recieved the same exact message and offer from the same user I.D. as the owner of the item IN YOUR EBAY ACCOUNT INBOX on eBay.com, then it is a scam and you need to ignore them.
Rule 5: If you spot a fake, report it immediately so that others don't get ripped off and to maintain the integrity of the Oakley brand.
This can easily be done through the Oakley website link designated to report fakes immediately. This is a link to that section.
Thanks and hopefully this helps with any questions you may have regarding eBay and Oakley.
Monday, November 5, 2007
November Artist Series
The latest installment of the Artist Series has arrived. The artist this time is legendary car-customizer Chip Foose. The glasses are based off of one his famous rebuilds called the Foose P-32 Hotrod. This is a picture of the car before it was totally finished:
The finished car is currently displayed in the lobby of Oakley HQ for all to see. Here are pictures from inside the lobby:
Chip chose to use the Gascan frame and then based the color-scheme and styling on the P-32 he customized. Here they are:
These are selling for $160 again like the rest of the Artist Series. There were 100 pairs available online but they are already backordered. The only places they are available now are in O-Stores. If you come by a pair, I would recommend picking them up.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Luxottica Overtake
While the merger is still taking place, it appears that the Luxottica Group will most likely be the new owners of Oakley. It was announced on June 21, 2007 that Luxottica had bought Oakley for $2.1 billion, meaning Jim Jannard, founder and majority stock owner stands to make 1.65 billion out of the deal. The reason that they are not the official owners yet is due to an ocean of legal hoops to jump through, mostly monopoly/anti-trust laws. Fortunately for Luxottica, they have been recently granted early termination of the U.S. anti-trust waiting period. More information can be found in the Luxottica press release here. As for the funding needed to be raised in order to purchase Oakley, it has all been accounted for through two groups of international banks. More about that can be found in another press release here.It looks as though this is all going to happen and Luxottica will be able to add Oakley and their recent acquisition of Oliver People's to their brand offerings. There are many people that feel as though Luxottica will now be a complete company with the addition of Oakley to their roster. Luxottica had been lacking in the sports eye-wear segment of the market and have now just filled that void with the leader in it.
Personally, I feel as though Oakley has sold out. They have always made it a point to differentiate themselves from their competitors at all costs. As a matter of fact, Luxottica was their biggest competitor and rival up until they were bought out. I guess I can understand Jim Jannard selling the company considering that he is 57 years old and recently started a new video camera company called Red.
Hopefully Oakley can still stay the way that they are but now with a much bigger bank roll that will allow them to reseach and design newer and better technologies and eyewear. Hopefully nothing terrible happens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Collection Photos
A lot of people think that collecting things is a waste of time and money, but I feel like they haven't found something that they are truly passionate about. I am a very passionate person, so I have found several things to collect starting as a little kid collecting Hot Wheels cars and recently Disc Golf Discs, Puma Shoes and Oakley products. If you think my collections are off the wall, you will love this post since I will be showing you some collection photos of some inane Oakley collectors.
Here is a picture of my collection as of the beginning 2007:
Here it is after about 9 months minus a lot of apparel and shoes and such...also there is a watch on top and a bunch of other stuff.
For security reasons behind the policies of owning Oakley display cases, I have left the names of the owners of these collections anonymous. Take a look...they make my collection look like a joke. Each of the pics comes from a different collection as well.
Yeah, this Oakley thing might need to be classified as a clinical illness.
Here is a picture of my collection as of the beginning 2007:
Here it is after about 9 months minus a lot of apparel and shoes and such...also there is a watch on top and a bunch of other stuff.
For security reasons behind the policies of owning Oakley display cases, I have left the names of the owners of these collections anonymous. Take a look...they make my collection look like a joke. Each of the pics comes from a different collection as well.
Yeah, this Oakley thing might need to be classified as a clinical illness.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
The Red Shift Line
Oakley has come out with an entire new line that is military-inspired called the Red Shift line. This is the logo for it in the middle of the picture with a pin next to it:
The tagline for the line is "Standard Issue for your personal revolution"
They have almost everything you could possibly want from bags, to shoes, to hats, to even sunglasses. The styling is based off of WWII military gear with Soviet-style graphics. Here is a picture of the bags:
For a list of all items and prices as well as information on women's items in the Red Shift line, check out the link on Oakley's website here
The tagline for the line is "Standard Issue for your personal revolution"
They have almost everything you could possibly want from bags, to shoes, to hats, to even sunglasses. The styling is based off of WWII military gear with Soviet-style graphics. Here is a picture of the bags:
These are the special release of Gascans that came out with this line, called the "Soviet Gascan" They come with the pin that is pictured at the top of this post.
For a list of all items and prices as well as information on women's items in the Red Shift line, check out the link on Oakley's website here
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
A New Artist Series and the Grab Bag
It is now October, and that means that a new Artist Series piece comes out. This time it is the Todd Francis Eyepatch. At the same price as the Art Chantry Hijinx of $160 USD, I would say that these are another must-have. Check out these amazing pictures thanks to Brent Haley (Bhaley2four) from the O-Review. On a side note, if any of the links from this blog are not accessible, I would recommend signing up with the O-Review here. If new member registration is closed, just send an e-mail here. Anyways, here they are.
Next, Oakley has just begun its "Grab Bag" promotion. In essence, whenever someone buys a pair of O-Matter frames (like Hijinx, Gascan, etc.) from an O-Store they have the option of getting a Grab Bag icon. The purchaser does not know what the icon is going to look like, and there are many different icons that they can recieve. As the supply of these icons runs out, Oakley will put out new variations. Here is a picture with a few examples of what you could recieve:
There are many many more and the program is ongoing, so there will be a lot more to check out. I have a feeling that this is going to be one series that no one is going to be able to collect all of.
Next, Oakley has just begun its "Grab Bag" promotion. In essence, whenever someone buys a pair of O-Matter frames (like Hijinx, Gascan, etc.) from an O-Store they have the option of getting a Grab Bag icon. The purchaser does not know what the icon is going to look like, and there are many different icons that they can recieve. As the supply of these icons runs out, Oakley will put out new variations. Here is a picture with a few examples of what you could recieve:
There are many many more and the program is ongoing, so there will be a lot more to check out. I have a feeling that this is going to be one series that no one is going to be able to collect all of.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Recent Purchases
Just a quick post here about some of my most recent purchases.
I just snagged a pair of Art Chantry Hijinx. These are a limited edition run recently released. They are part of the Artist Blocline series. They were a bit pricey for me at $160 retail, but I had to buy them in person. Here is a picture of my personal pair. I would definately say that these are going to be one of my few pairs that I have for display-only purposes.
Also, I picked up a pair of Crystal Blue/Black Iridium Fives 3.0 for $30 shipped from SteepAndCheap. Check that site out sometime, they tend to have killer discounts on Oakley products if you are lucky enough to catch them. Here they are.
Well, just wanted to post my two most recent pairs that I bought. I'm looking into a pair of Radar Path's with a path lense so if anyone has any feedback on them I would appreciate it.
I just snagged a pair of Art Chantry Hijinx. These are a limited edition run recently released. They are part of the Artist Blocline series. They were a bit pricey for me at $160 retail, but I had to buy them in person. Here is a picture of my personal pair. I would definately say that these are going to be one of my few pairs that I have for display-only purposes.
Also, I picked up a pair of Crystal Blue/Black Iridium Fives 3.0 for $30 shipped from SteepAndCheap. Check that site out sometime, they tend to have killer discounts on Oakley products if you are lucky enough to catch them. Here they are.
Well, just wanted to post my two most recent pairs that I bought. I'm looking into a pair of Radar Path's with a path lense so if anyone has any feedback on them I would appreciate it.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
My Obsession
To really get this blog going, I have decided to talk about how my own obsession with Oakley began and how I found the O-Review.
When I was in 5th grade, which was about 11 years ago, my friend Ben Schimizze (O-Review member Fezzik1071) and I (O-Review member OsmosisJones) would go to our local mall and pester the optician to try on the same pairs of Oakley sunglasses every single weekend. There was no way either of us ever would have enough money to actually buy a pair. Nevertheless, we still went almost every weekend to try them on.
Fast-forward to my seventh grade summer. I mowed lawns and did yard work the entire summer with the intent of saving up enough money to buy my first pair of Oakleys. After earning enough money, and then wasting it on useless things several times, I finally had enough money to buy a pair of sunglasses, but had no idea which pair I wanted since there were so many amazing pairs to choose from.
I finally narrowed it down to a pair of Minutes FMJ 5.56 w/Black iridium lenses. They were everything I wanted and more. I still have the original box and receipt from when I bought them. If I get a digital picture up of them, I'll make sure to post it.
Years passed and I eventually lost my first pair of sunglasses, but my passion remained and so I bought a new pair of SI E-Wire 2.1's which lasted me a few more years.
When those broke due to me sitting on them about 15 times, which was about 2 years ago, I decided to go out and find a new pair. I fell in love with Black Chrome/Black Iridium Why 8.2's which were just released at the time. I wanted to make sure that I never broke my sunglasses again, so I went online to find out which size case I needed to protect them. After about an hour or two of searching, I stumbled upon the O-Review. I joined the forum instantly and began posting my question about Vault sizes. Within about 5 minutes, someone posted that I needed an X-Metal Vault.
The timeliness of that response made me want to come back and learn as much as I could about Oakley. So I kept coming back, and now two years later I am a regular member of O-Review, and have purchased around 20 more pairs since then...not to mention loads of apparel, backpacks and accessories.
As for my first pair of sunglasses that sparked my obsession, well, I found them and will never lose them again.
When I was in 5th grade, which was about 11 years ago, my friend Ben Schimizze (O-Review member Fezzik1071) and I (O-Review member OsmosisJones) would go to our local mall and pester the optician to try on the same pairs of Oakley sunglasses every single weekend. There was no way either of us ever would have enough money to actually buy a pair. Nevertheless, we still went almost every weekend to try them on.
Fast-forward to my seventh grade summer. I mowed lawns and did yard work the entire summer with the intent of saving up enough money to buy my first pair of Oakleys. After earning enough money, and then wasting it on useless things several times, I finally had enough money to buy a pair of sunglasses, but had no idea which pair I wanted since there were so many amazing pairs to choose from.
I finally narrowed it down to a pair of Minutes FMJ 5.56 w/Black iridium lenses. They were everything I wanted and more. I still have the original box and receipt from when I bought them. If I get a digital picture up of them, I'll make sure to post it.
Years passed and I eventually lost my first pair of sunglasses, but my passion remained and so I bought a new pair of SI E-Wire 2.1's which lasted me a few more years.
When those broke due to me sitting on them about 15 times, which was about 2 years ago, I decided to go out and find a new pair. I fell in love with Black Chrome/Black Iridium Why 8.2's which were just released at the time. I wanted to make sure that I never broke my sunglasses again, so I went online to find out which size case I needed to protect them. After about an hour or two of searching, I stumbled upon the O-Review. I joined the forum instantly and began posting my question about Vault sizes. Within about 5 minutes, someone posted that I needed an X-Metal Vault.
The timeliness of that response made me want to come back and learn as much as I could about Oakley. So I kept coming back, and now two years later I am a regular member of O-Review, and have purchased around 20 more pairs since then...not to mention loads of apparel, backpacks and accessories.
As for my first pair of sunglasses that sparked my obsession, well, I found them and will never lose them again.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Things to Come
Hello,
My name is Justin Jones and I have decided to start a blog about my favorite company, Oakley. I plan on talking about literally everything about this company including:
My name is Justin Jones and I have decided to start a blog about my favorite company, Oakley. I plan on talking about literally everything about this company including:
- Its recent acquisition by the Luxottica Group
- Personal reviews of products
- O-Review, an Oakley fan-site
- New Releases
- Oakley.com updates
- Recent personal purchases
- Photos of my personal collection and the collections of others
- Great purchasing locations and deals
- Anything else Oakley-related
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