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Vintage Japanese Frogskins Info Requested

five56

Oakley Enthusiast
87
123
Hi All, new to the forum, and thought I would post these with a few questions. I have some other various vintage Oakley stuff that I'll be posting later.

This was my very first pair of Oakleys, and the only Frogskins I ever had. To set the stage, I got these in the early 90's at an Oakley dealer in Osage Beach, MO when on a short weekend trip with my parents, I was about 13 or 14. I originally wanted a pair of the dark crystal framed Frogskins, with the blue iridium lenses, but Mom was having none of it as those were a little more expensive than this pair. I think these were around $35-40 and the pair I wanted was about $50. She couldn't justify spending too much on sunglasses.

These are the Rootbeer frames with Bronze Mirror / Iridium. They are the darkest tinted glasses I've ever seen, like really dark.

Just found out about the O-Review website and found these there. These have the same SKU number (03-059) for both Gen 1 (1985-1990) and Gen 2 (1990-1996).

Could anyone tell me more about these? They are Japanese made, with the metal hinges, so would that make them the Gen 1 or Gen 2?

Are these a more rare combination? I no longer have the box, but as best as I can remember, it was a clear plastic box. (like a dummy, I threw away other Oakley boxes too, but still have some)

Thanks!!

Frogskins 1.jpg


Frogskins 2.jpg


Frogskins 3.jpg


Frogskins 4.jpg


Frogskins 5.jpg


Frogskins 6.jpg


Frogskins 7.jpg


Frogskins 8.jpg
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum!

These are definitely Gen 1 frames and lenses (I have the same ones :)). The quick way to tell is they have metal hinges. When the Gen 2 model was released, Oakley went to plastic hinges. I know there's a thread here that shows side by side comparisons of Gen 1 through Gen 4 hinges, which is the primary difference you'll see between different generation frogs. The original plastic frames are brittle, so use caution if trying to remove/replace the lenses.

Not very rare, but a great pair nonetheless
 
Gen 1. Not rare at all probably one of the most common colourways.
Thanks! I was a little confused because this is the original micro fiber bag and that is labeled as "Made in USA" but the glasses are Japanese made. Plus since the Gen 1 and 2 share the same SKU number.
From digging around, it seems that some rivets are different on the hinges also?

Did the Gen 2 have plastic hinges, or was there some production cross over?

FWIW, I never really liked wearing these. Had to have them at the time, then I realized that they weren't that comfortable after a short while of wearing, hence why they are like new still.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forum!

These are definitely Gen 1 frames and lenses (I have the same ones :)). The quick way to tell is they have metal hinges. When the Gen 2 model was released, Oakley went to plastic hinges. I know there's a thread here that shows side by side comparisons of Gen 1 through Gen 4 hinges, which is the primary difference you'll see between different generation frogs. The original plastic frames are brittle, so use caution if trying to remove/replace the lenses.

Not very rare, but a great pair nonetheless
Cool, thanks for the detailed info!
 
Check this thread out...

 
Hi, open to all in the know.

Does Frogskin Gen-1 have two types of hinges ?

One with a hollow style rivet & another with a full style rivet ?

I have uploaded a photo of the full style rivet.
 
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