X metals as investments

[KarlBlessing]

I don't look at those things as long term 'investments' versus say owning land.

 

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[heslop15]

Perusing the X metal forums and I've noticed quite a few people who mention keeping their pair of minty R1s or matching serial XXs in their safe.

My plasma XXs had not been worn at all after a tune up and my X metal XXs had never been worn, just stored in their box.

How many people are looking at their XX, R1, Penny, Mars, whatever, as investments? Keeping them safe and not (or rarely) wearing them?

And *are* X metals a good "investment" do you think? If I spent $2,000 on some nice, rarer X metals, could I expect a decent ROI in a couple years?? I understand supply and demand, and I know that anything with a fixed supply that is no longer made and rare (baseball cards, coins, cars, sneakers, etc) will always sell well, but do you think prices will continue to rise for X metals?

Just wondering peoples thoughts.

For what its worth, I would buy Romeo 1 as an investment to have a pristine pair to occasional pick up and look at. I would also have at least one pair to wear regularly, but when you do that, eventually parts need replacing and you no longer have a completely original pair so nice to have the "investment" ones to keep looking at. The first pair I bought in 1997, and still own, are probably worth 2 or three times what I paid for them new and I have had 28 years enjoyment out of them.

 

[teach42]

My general feeling is that the value of the original X-Metal will go up. But, tangible or intangible, it's still kind of hard to outperform the SP500 or what you might consider "safe" stocks today. So, the ROI isn't going to be as good as other investments, as I think there'll be a ceiling.

I was thinking through the criteria needed for an increase in value. Here's my take:

• Supply must stay constant or decrease
  • For X-Metals, obviously production has stopped so this criteria is met; even if there are re-releases, there's probably still a premium / desire for the originals
  • The RIGHT re-release could affect supply though, if Oakley were to truly replicate or make new ones, in large enough numbers, that were somehow more desirable
  • I don't know if the supply will decrease much, since we have folks who can tune up and customize the original frame, etc.
• Demand must increase
  • As others have noted, if some influencer today were to profess the awesomeness of these sunglasses, that could certainly increase demand
  • If Oakley did do some sort of re-release, that could also increase awareness of the originals, and potentially drive up prices
  • However, I think the biggest downfall for X-Metals as an investment instrument is the question of why would you really want one? For me, the 24k XS seems like a good example: unless you just had to complete your collection, why would you plunk down $1700 or whatever on pristine pair? Would someone today who is JUST getting into Oakley's and learning about X-Metals really want one? This is kind of related to my next bullet
• There aren't alternatives (you could argue this one could be considered part of Supply or part of Demand, but I'm putting it by itself )
  • At $2k, there's lots of cool things to blow your money on, that could be considered investment worthy or collectable, why these sunglasses? One would have to have an unique appreciation, such as having grown up during that time period and watched the MI2 trailer when it was released
• Your timing has to be right
  • Based on what others have said, the X-Metals are as high as they have ever been, so you'd have to be betting on a buy high, seller higher situation to make money--obviously less desirable than buy low sell high

In summary, from an investment standpoint, I'd rather put that $2k in the SP500 or a stock of your choice (Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, heck even Bitcoin).

But if you want something cool and tangible that you can look at, maybe wear even, remind you of your youth, and not "lose" too much money if you get tired of it, then X-Metals are the ones for you.

Nailed it. I collect vintage toys. Some go up, others maintain. And what makes some go up? Pop culture. New SW series? Vintage star wars bounces up. New Indy movie? That'll get a bump.

Otherwise, I see things staying pretty flat or dipping (if you assume there was an uptick due to The Last Dance)

 

[KarlBlessing]

Prices will probably go down (after going up a tick) if we ever come to a point where rubbers, screws, and lens (or the service of cutting good lenses) ever diminishes.

So I imagine something like the Romeos has a higher risk of losing value when available lens and cutting services start to go away because the lenses will not last long in them unless you choose to just stick them on the shelf without the screws screwed in (or simply not handled).

Course the collectors market will probably keep it going for a lil while longer, but I imagine the collector population is smaller than the user community.

 

[Rotten Ronnie]

I wouldn't hold by breath on prices coming down.....

 

[KarlBlessing]

I wouldn't hold by breath on prices coming down.....
View attachment 903854

Not for a few years at least

 

[Inkkoonce]

I wouldn't hold by breath on prices coming down.....
View attachment 903854

That video is insane.

 

[Necrodoommonkey]

X Metals are only investments if you can convince some poor schmuck on eBay to bid more than what you bought them for.

 

[Oakman1992]

Truth of the matter is anything can become an investment if you get it for the right price.

 

[dragonvoi]

A friend and member here who I purchased a lot from about 5/6 yrs ago had a rule of thumb for xmetals, I was skeptical because I thought some models were not worth it, but he said xmetals $200 and under, intact, just buy it!

Also @GRFMotorsports I think mentioned before he had a habit of keeping $100 bills handy so if he saw a valuable pair he would offer people cash for their glasses on the spot hoping the person just never really thought of selling 10-year-old glasses off their face.

I am glad to report that these tactics have paid off pretty well!