Hey guys. I just purchased something that I took a leap of faith on, and I am hoping someone here can help me ID these. I was actually looking purchasing an Ichiro signed ball when I got interested in Ichiro edition Oakleys. I don't have any, but I wanted to pick one up. I was actually looking for a pair of Radars when I stumbled onto these. The guy selling said he was a collectable dealer in Seattle and he said that he purchased these directly from Ichiro when dealing with him for a private signing. His ebay seemed very good so I decided to take a chance. Since I had never seen these before I was pretty skeptical. Well I got them today and they look pretty good. Authentic Oakley Romeo 2's for sure. The lens was not exactly slate though, and I thought all the Ichiro editions are. I think its black iridium. It is not quite as dark as other black iridium's that I have, but not nearly as light as my slate jawbones either. I have links to some pics below. If any of you guys have seen anything like these, please let me know. I would love some history. There is no serial number that I can see and it has no sample markings either. I am guessing it's either Ichiro's personal glasses or a fake where someone just engraved a plain Oakley lens. That would not be cool.

Here are the links:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/hkwinger/IMG_0715.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/hkwinger/IMG_0716.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/hkwinger/IMG_0717.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/hkwinger/IMG_0720.jpg

Thanks for any light you may be able to shed on these.

Congrats! I was wondering who would end up with them when the seller pulled the auction. I can't say what the lenses are from those pics (I had previously assumed it was Slate Irid. from the seller's pics, but it's not from your observation). All I can say is they are real and very rare.

Rumour on the street back in 2005 or 2006 was that Oakley wanted to release an Ichiro R2, but the release never came about. Oakley did produce pairs for him to use of course, and you got one of them. If you look for some of Ichiro's training camp photos back during that period, you will find him actually wearing a pair with his sig on the lens. The pic was also posted on the forum, but it's long gone now due to the Turkish hackers.

Here's one thread about it:
http://o-review.com/portal_detail.asp?ID=2731

Oak,

Once again, Thank You! I was pretty nervous they were a Frankenstein Fandango. I knew that they were real when I got them, but I knew something like this wouldn't confound this group. If anyone has a link to the pics that Oak was talking about, I would love to see them.

Thanks again

Wow! Very cool, Aaron! Congratulations on those!

Can't find the exact version, but here's one of them:



http://www.seattlepi.com/default/photo/Ichiro-Suzuki-answers-questions-from-the-news-884874.php

Very, very nice pickup! I'm guessing Slate Iridium for the lenses as well, since he's been wearing that for years now and was at the time those were produced.

Congrats, Aaron. Ichiro might be the most spectacular baseball player I've seen play. And I'm not even a Mariners fan, nor Japanese. Very good for you!

Thanks guys!

Stanley, I agree. I remember all the chemically induced home runs ten years or so ago, Ichiro was like a throw back and a breath of fresh air. He is always fun to watch. I am an Oakland A's fan so its hard for me to like someone who is a league rival, but Ichiro is awesome to watch both on offense and defense. At least he is not an Anaheim Angel, or should I say a Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim.....whatever.

I don't often get jealous, but those are worthy.

wow, AARON those are sick! I have 4 Romeo 2's....wish that was my 5th