Premium titanium? Wonder what that is going to be now. More marketing foo like "X-Metal" which basically meant any old Ti alloy we could get our hands on: https://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/xmetal-what-is-it.119152/page-7#post-1968719 - andr3

I assume it’s because the Tailend Ti is made in Japan. That type of branding carries a “premium” tag. Japanese-made titanium in the eyewear industry is like “Swiss Made” for the horological industry.

Oakley bought a golf club factory for its X-metals in the mid ‘90’s. It was always gonna be made of consumer-grade materials, especially since eyewear made of titanium was a relatively newer thing back in the day; they certainly weren't gonna invent a new grade of Ti. While the industry has advanced enough these days where some brands use purer titanium (such as Leisure Society’s Pure Block Titanium), most of the high pricing these days is attributed to relatively expensive small batch manufacturing techniques (such as cold rolled titanium in some of Massada’s eyewear) or DMLS printing (such as what Oakley did with the Plantaris Ti and the MUZM X-metals).

Or at least that’s the spin marketing gives you so you pay more.

The LA Times. Plus the news site that The Free Library pulled from that is no longer available:

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Oakley+Holds+Successful+Preview+of+X+Metal+Sunglass+Line-a018943114

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Oakley+Celebrates+Release+of+New+Eyewear%3A+X+Metal+XX+and+New+Straight...-a058086224

50th Anniversary. 48 for the public, one for Jim, one for Rick. - Dann

Ha Ha! Or they gave two away to influencers because they didn’t make enough of the polished version. Gotta make sure they’re taken of. - yelkao

You're probably right on the mark. Neymar Jr. got a pair of the Raw Titanium frames, though not sure if it’s a numbered version.

There have been a bunch of the Polished Titanium ones given out that are not part of the numbered 20 (such as the 3 Podpah guys who got theirs on a podcast). It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if there were 100 made with 50 given away.

24K and Cosmos are different, but do look a lot alike from my understanding.

Also there were supposed to be a very limited run of the 50th Anniversary Elipse with Cosmos in them. I don't think they were intended for sale, but for marketing (influencers famous people Etc) but the only one I have heard happened is the one Oak mentioned. - Defenderoftheo

If what Sergio got was Prizm Cosmos, and if my eyes don't deceive me, it seems it's a tad duller gold than Prizm 24k. Either way, being involved in a space program this publicly is exciting. Probably the most exciting thing to come out of Oakley for me in a long time.

Oh cool, glad to see they're out there in the wild.

Also, just a reminder that Haven in Canada is introing the Tailend Ti tonight. I know most of you have seen the two standard colourways, but there's actually 4 SKUs to the product at present. I assume Haven will get one or both of those missing colourways.

That's how telesales and field reps represented it back in 2000 for 24k Gold Iridium, especially on the XX X-metal. That filtered to dealers who then told clients that. How accurate it is and exactly how much gold is used in the iridium if it is indeed true is a big question (as well as to what quality). I wish we still had access to the PR articles from product intros (such as with the XX and Oscar) from the LA news site, but they no longer listed.

They way I interpret his response is that all astronaut visors are normally coated with gold as a standard. Prizm 24k has gold, so technically it infers that it's the same between both. Not sure what the difference between Prizm 24k vs. Prizm Cosmos will be, but you're right, it'll be interesting to see what the marketing spin is.

I don’t know even one song by Travis Scott, but this teamup seems like a good thing. Their vision seems to be aligned so it’ll be interesting what comes out of it. The in-thing these days is to appoint celebrities and musicians to Creative Director roles (Pharrell with LV, A$AP with Ray-ban and Puma, Harry Styles with Gucci, etc.), so it makes sense and the collaborations always seem to yield some interesting things.

Other than that, I look forward to seeing the Plantaris Square in person. I assume a Ti version will be made, so that gives us collectors another thing to bitch about. :-D

I recalled his name being on the patent, but I'd have to check again - Dann

I recall that as well. Hijinx, Thump 2, Eyepatch and Twitch. Along with Colin, Lek, Hans and others, of course. But I'm sure his contributions are less technical design and more conceptual ideas.

Hans Moritz:
- Medusa
- Juliet (TBC)
- andr3

Hans is listed as designer and/or contributor to a lot of things including:

1. Movie props like in X-men
2. Gascan and Oil Rig/Drum
3. A lot of the early electronic stuff
4. Hollowpoint watch
5. Jawbone/Racing Jacket
6. X-metals

And the list goes on. At one point just before the pandemic, Hans was starting his own brand called "Hanszo". Some of his first offerings included rash guards and t-shirts. There was suppose to be sunglasses and he previewed them for release in 2021 or something, but they never materialized. They were Wayfarer-like glasses with pad print to highlight his art, nothing crazy. Then the brand just died off. I bought a couple t-shirts since the printed art was fantastic.

I don't know if I previously posted this pic on the OR, but I posted on IG at one point and got questioned over it so I pulled it. Apparently, only one was suppose to be made for the winner of a sales contest and the print file was only available to the Design team. Eventually others were made/painted in various sizes:

I look forward to what they do with Prizm Cosmos in terms of consumer products. Oakley gave a pair of the Gold Fleck Ellipse to Sergio Sacani (which of course was presented in the big honking and cool custom tube), and Caio said the lens is the same the astronauts will use, but it's really just regular Prizm 24k. I look forward to what the difference between Prizm Cosmos vs. Prizm 24k will be.

The Plantaris Ti itself is pretty cool. It’s a big beefy chunk of titanium. At least the orbitals are anyway. Way thicker and more mass than anything in the X-metal line, though not necessarily the most functional as comfortable eyewear (about as heavy as an Aluminum C Six). Everything else about the release seems to involve very little thought:

1. The eyewear doesn’t sit snuggly in the box’s foam during shipping, so it bounces around everywhere. It’s a miracle that any of these come in pristine condition to the buyers, especially since it’s shipped with a metal case next to it.
2. Speaking of the metal vault, I think Oakley just threw it in to throw it in. I’m actually surprised it came with a Vault at all since all the other $2k+ releases didn’t include anything (MUZM Mars, MUZM Juliet/Romeo), but it would’ve been better if they created a Vault that actually fits the Plantaris with the nosecone on.
3. The whole Future Genesis campaign is about product through story telling. You’d think the inclusion of a thermal colour changing pouch would warrant some type of story feature. It’s not even mentioned anywhere.

Even the most forgettable expensive release, Moonveil, had much more thought put into it. A shame. Plantaris Ti is actually a good product but doesn’t have the consideration put into it.

The dreads look good. 1,600 LEDs for them is quite a bit, insane actually for what it is. Looks like a fun project.

Oakley has commissioned a working Future Genesis Medusa from a well-known cosplay developer, so looks like we may see it on display/action soon. Some of the 3D-printed parts:

The pads on fake ones are thick foam/rubber like materials - barok0208

Yep, the pad is one of the top 3 easy-to-spot differences. The shape/depth of the padding well and the more pronounced bump on the back of the frame (on the “braincase clutch”) are the others IMO. There are other subtle indicators as well that no one has ever mentioned, but I won’t mention it either, since I don’t want the fakers to improve on them.

A WARNING TO THOSE BUYING OTTS THESE DAYS:

This is just a note because I didn't know where to put it. The OTT pictured in this thread is real, but I wanted to address the avalanche of fake OTTs coming to the market these days.

I have a local collector friend that thought he scored on an OTT for $50 CAD, shipped. He showed it to me and I could tell they are fake, but they are getting damn close. Other than the bulky forehead padding, lesser trained eyes will have a hard time with it. I even replaced the lenses from his fake into one of my real ones (and vice versa), and they fit perfectly.

I see a certain oversees website known for selling replicas are offering them for cheap, so BUYER BEWARE!

PS. I get a lot of questions on IG about the lenses being interchangeable with the Romeo. The simple answer is “no”. The lenses actually follows the same path and is a near match height-wise, but the Plantaris lenses are longer.

https://braveststudios.com/products/foot-clogs

I saw this the other day. Had to pick a pair up:

Pacing is a little on the slow side sometimes, but Terminator Zero on Netflix is pretty great. Classic anime in the style of Ghost in the Shell adds some variety to the Terminator franchise:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/terminator_zero/s01

I think there was a question about when the Plantaris will be released. They should be stock in stores now (both dealer and O Stores). Some are even selling it right now. Not sure when the official street date is.

I acknowledge this thing is one of the items that is difficult to price out by its components, but the premium it carries from a consumer standpoint is obviously high. How much is a Flex Scape at retail? $375 each? How much would we figure the hood would be? In simplistic terms, the differential between them is the premium you pay for the limited edition-ness and the cache of the marketing. Even at Oakley’s highest pricing on previous products, I can find some defense in their pricing structure, no matter how thin the reason may be. But this is as egregious a gouging expedition as they’ve ever done.

Unfortunately it was always gonna sell out with only 100 units and good marketing. The real test is what it does from here.

https://www.oakley.com/en-us/product/W0OO9502?variant=888392664136

$1500. HA HA HA HA HA! Go fuck yourself, Oakley.

Official pics are being posted online by the cast and crew of Deadpool & Wolverine. Still, these are heavy, heavy, HEAVY spoilers and I DO NOT recommend looking at the pics until you see the movie, since the reveals are amazing.

....last spoiler warning....

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53903290502_348d6074ca_o_d.png

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53904440528_1127fa3549_o_d.png


And officially found here:

https://x.com/VancityReynolds/status/1820452669061779952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw