My Observations

[Oakley_Sight]

The thing is we all have our own idea's about what was & is great about Oakley. Would Oakley be the company it is now without the buyout from Lux? I for one miss the Romeo 1, love the monster dog & long for a Splice 2 sunglass to be launched. I believe Oakley is a company that will & does, move with the times & will not nor does not forget it's heritage look at the jawbone, split jacket & radar's as well as the pit boss c-six & bit bull. We all love Oakley for different reason's & that is what make's Oakley the company it is. Diversity is the key................

 

[TOWSNBN]

That is a very thought provoking question. I think even without the buyout Oakley would be at the same spot they are right now. Before Lux took over Oakley was already diversifying their lineup and the stocks headed upwards because of it. The Why 8.x, aviator frames, Dartboard, Riddle, Gascan, Montefrio and the like are not traditional Oakley designs you would think would be in their lineup but there they were before the Lux buyout. Similarly you would not think Oakley would buy a fashion brand like Oliver Peoples but that is what they did. Jim Jannard had a vision for the brand and it was pretty similary to what Lux is carrying out right now. Lux did not really take Oakley in a new direction as a result of the merger. They just really continued what was already happening.

Would Oakley be the company it is now without the buyout from Lux?

 

[Oakley_Sight]

Jim Jannard had a vision for the brand and it was pretty similary to what Lux is carrying out right now. Lux did not really take Oakley in a new direction as a result of the merger. They just really continued what was already happening.

This is what i mean & with a big company behind you you can invest heavily into design & development. A forward thinking company needs to move forward BUT not FORGET its roots as its roots are what has put the company where it is today. I think the X-Square, Jury, Pit Bull, Jawbone, Split Jacket, C-Six, Pit Boss & the 3D ltd edition glasses are a mix of never forgetting your roots & also a step forward & DAMN GOOD MIX of the two.

 

[Unknowndoom]

Would Oakley be the company it is now without the buyout from Lux?

Sort answer, no

Long answer, it would most likely be similar, but not the same, I know i mention it a lot, but one not so major thing would be shaun white, only corporate companies would keep someone like that on for so long. Good? Bad? Your pick, I never said the lux takeover was good or bad, I see both pros and cons, one major pro is the fact they have more money to spend, one con is corporations don't like stepping to far out of the box, even less so if they are comfortable in the box, smaller companies can take bigger risks that corporate owned companies arnt allowed to

 

[Oakley_Sight]

@Unknowndoom this post of your's is excellent as it can provoke so many different thoughts & answers, pro's & con's. Everyone has their own opinion's & it will be good to see what others do think on this one.

 

[Unknowndoom]

@Unknowndoom this post of your's is excellent as it can provoke so many different thoughts & answers, pro's & con's. Everyone has their own opinion's & it will be good to see what others do think on this one.

Thank you, twas my hope, I like hearing other people's opinion to further my own

 

[xmetalmaniac]

I don't get why people want Medusa's, has anyone ever seen anyone walking around wearing it? I think they were made purely to make some publicity buzz at the time and they did that job and now we move on. There's a difference between wanting Oakley to reproduce something because we as collectors want to own one without paying the premiums certain models now have, and Oakley reproducing something that will sell at any worthwhile profitable level.

My concept of why the medusa was made was for motorcycle riders...... I would never go out without a helmut on, if I was on a bike, however consider how cool it would be wearing these and the googles while riding and letting those tentacle dreads blow in the wind. I am sure it would turn a few heads....

 

[Unknowndoom]

My concept of why the medusa was made was for motorcycle riders...... I would never go out without a helmut on, if I was on a bike, however consider how cool it would be wearing these and the googles while riding and letting those tentacle dreads blow in the wind. I am sure it would turn a few heads....

I agree with that, but where mine would see the most use it parties, I go to many parties where people will wear something batshit insane just to be seen (google morphsuit, seen at least 4 of them), is the best conversation starter if you only know a person or two at the party, but I'm younger then most on the forum so I'm the minority

 

[Hed568]

I find that we as collectors have selective memory. A lot of times we think of the past as being perfect but it was not. There were some crap stuff Oakley put out in their heyday as well. Imagine following up the successful original Frogskin with the New Frogskin in today's collecting world? There would be a riot. When it comes down to it there were a lot of crazy cool stuff back then as there are crazy cool stuff now. It's just that some like to focus on the ever broadening lifestyle releases rather than all the other cool releases like the Pit Boss, Pit Bull, Time Bomb II, Xsquared, Jawbone, Wind Jacket, C Six, FMJ, Hollowpoint, new Ten, Gearbox, all the crazy frame colours including tennis ball fuzz on the eyeshade, and the addition of cool innovative features like changeable icons and 3D HDO. In 10 years time the collectors from today's era will also complain how great it was in 2011 and that they wish Oakley went back to how it was done today.

that is so very true sir