Fstar TT

I've got the Canon EOS 350D which I'm really happy with, good value for money, but still a high price if you only want to take snapshots. It's a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and you have a lot of manual options. It's quite big, not a camera you can carry in your pockets. Only consider a DSLR if you really want to experiment with photography, otherwise you'll spend to much money on a big camera with options you won't use.

If you want to make big prints than the amount of pixels is important. For regular size photos around 3.0 MegaPixels is more than sufficient. For use on your computer screen you really don't need more.

For years I'm also using a digital compact camera, the Canon PowerShot S110 (I bought it in the USA, In Europe this series is called Ixus, I believe), which is a good easy-to-use camera and I still use it for snapshots, for example when I go out and don't want to carry a big camera. All newer versions have more pixels (the more pixels, the bigger you can print, or zoom in on the picture), but furthermore are more or less the same quality.

So Canon is one of my favorites, but also all other main brands (Nikon, Sony, etc) offer more or less similar quality. Easiest is to think about what you want (for example: a lot of zoom), how much money you want to spend and just check a site that compares camera's and/or sites with consumer reviews.

F*CKING WHATEVER

I do agree that sometimes it makes you wonder why something is priced so high, but in the end that's just the way fashion works, fashion = business. You could ask the same question about why a second-hand Richard Kidd skull hoodie with holes in it has a price-tag of $325..

http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=6417

But nobody forces anybody to buy expensive clothing. There are also a lot of brands that sell really cheap / reasonable priced clothing. It's just the costumers choice how much he/she is willing to spend on the amount of exclusivity/quality/image that is given by the brand. That's all there is to it, nothing more nothing less.

Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes not. Your choice.

F*CKING WHATEVER

Maybe we should forget about this topic, indeed everything has been said about it by now.

Simple conclusion: Either you (still) like Bape or you don't like Bape (anymore) for different reasons.

F*CKING WHATEVER

nice pict )

F*CKING WHATEVER

In the end everything is a knock-off. With Bape it's quite obvious, but he also doesn't pretend it's a totally different design. I rather see it as playing around with existing popular design/images. Nothing totally new, but just giving it a twist.

The biggest problem is probably indeed the hype and attitude around it, which spoils it. The high prices attract the wrong attitude. And a lot of fakes.

A lot of brands have been killed like that here in The Netherlands. Once worn by people just to show off and the appearance of a lot of imitations, you don't really want to be associated with it anymore.

A pity, hope it doesn't get that far too soon here.

F*CKING WHATEVER

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Bump this.

Seen way too many nice shirts that I can't fit.

Fuck graniph in particular.

--- Original message by The Omar Administration on Nov 25, 2005 09:26 AM

I recently bought some nice t-shirts from Graniph when I was in Tokyo, good fit and fair prices.

But then again, I'm just a medium/large person.

F*CKING WHATEVER

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US specifically hawaii.

--- Original message by amplifi3d on Nov 24, 2005 11:21 PM

ah ok,

I guess on the North America continent there might be an over-exposure of Bape with half of the hiphopscene and other celebrities wearing it, followed by.. followers

Singapore: overload

Japan: overload?

F*CKING WHATEVER

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Alot of people hate just because. That's the bottom line.

--- Original message by amplifi3d on Nov 24, 2005 11:03 PM

snif... I don't wanna be hated...

which COUNTRIES do you all live?

Or is it just hate worldwide? snif..

F*CKING WHATEVER

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Its more of the attitude of the people wearing bape than bape itself that digusts me.

--- Original message by DJ_Flame on Nov 24, 2005 10:24 PM

If it becomes too much of a hype I can imagine that the a lot of people with an attitude problem are gonna wear it, but again, here in The Netherlands it's still quite unknown and therefore not associated with a 'wannabe-attitude'.. as far as I know

I just like to buy shirts from (graphic) designers/artists from all over the world. The only difference between most of these brands and Bape is that Bape is much more expensive and because of that it might get worn by people just for the fact that it is expensive.

So fortunetly it's not hyped here yet, but I do see it more and more often on TV (MTV) worn by people I'm not sure if I wanna be associated with.. so I do understand your argument

F*CKING WHATEVER

Over the years I've bought some A bathing Ape (Bapes, Baby Milo..) items and I'm not worshipping the brand, but I (still) like the brand, at least some designs (in my opinion even a good brand has just a few items that are worth buying). It sold millions, so I must not be the only one, but I've also noticed a lot of anti-Bape reactions as well, what made me curious to know who likes or dislikes the brand and especially for what reason.

At least I think Bape is quite a fascinating phenomenon: Is there a strong idea behind it or is it nothing more than just a few prints and imitations, did it become big because of devoted designers behind it or is it just smart marketing.. or is Nigo playing around with all these values etcetc. I've already been able to read a lot of opinions, but as far as I know the topic itself wasn't asking for an opinion.

I do agree there's a bit of a Bape-overload in some parts of the world. I can imagine that people in Japan/Tokyo are a bit bored of it. Also the over-exposure in the (American) hiphopscene and many other celebrities wearing it, might almost want you to forget about the brand, because it almost looks like you wanna imitate them or at least because it loses it's 'exclusivity'. I know worldwide it's not the 'newest underground' brand anymore, but here in The Netherlands (Amsterdam) still not that many people know and wear the brand. Besides, wearing a brand because it's 'unknown & underground' shouldn't be the only reason, although I must admit that if everybody here, from slick celebrities to the big masses, was gonna wear it, that that wouldn't make the brand more appealing to me.

I can imagine people don't like Bapes for reasons like:

1. just because they don't like it.

2. it's mostly based on existing designs.

3. too expensive.

4. over-hyped.

5. too childish.

1. I can imagine that people just don't like it, tastes differ.

2. I actually like the fact that it's all based on already existing designs. Maybe he doesn't know any better, but it does reflex today's world: almost everything already exists and we're just reinventing the same things over and over again. Like Andy Warhol made mass-production paintings/silkscreen-prints in a time that mass-production became big. He owns a lot of Andy Warhols', so he might have thought about it... But maybe I'm getting too deep )

3. Some items are indeed overpriced, but I don't think that for example the sneakers are that much more expensive (if you buy them from official stores) than other brands I buy. And maybe some items are worth the price, to have 1 Bape item that hardly anybody has instead of 2 or 3 items of another cheaper brand that everybody wears. Of course it's very likely also just a marketing trick, to show off you can afford it, but in the end it's like that with most popular brands.

4. If you like Bapes or not, you must admit Nigo is a pretty good business man.

5. It is a little childish, but who wants to grow up, let's keep our 'inner child' alive )

Blahblahblah..........

Superbored as I am right now, I'm just curious what others think, but in the end it's just about a brand, not war, so keep in mind:

APE SHALL NEVER KILL APE

F*CKING WHATEVER

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The way Bape works is: They got a bunch of stuff. Sell it all the next day. Sell small stuff for a month, then get another shipment which then becomes sold out the next day and so forth.

Don't expect to get anything you want unless you get it put aside for you or want to wait in line for 2 blocks

--- Original message by Marcus on Nov 23, 2005 03:46 PM

If you like Bapes or not, you must admit Nigo has pretty good business skills

F*CKING WHATEVER

As far as I know all the authentic Bapestas on the internet are overpriced. In the official stores (for example Tokyo, NYC, London) the prices aren't that bad, especially in Tokyo you'll be able to get them for around 15.000/20.000 Yen, that's about $150/200 or 112,50/150 Euro. If you look around you might find some specialized stores that have a few authentic Bapestas in stock for I guess around $200.

By the way, there are much more color variations than just the 'lollypop' colors. Over the years I've got myself a pair of plain white canvas Bapestas, a pair of leather white/silver Bapestas and indeed one shiny pair in 'lollypop' colors > i'm a bit of a clowning monkey indeed )

I don't really understand all these anti-Bapes reactions. I do agree that maybe in some areas in the world there has been a Bapes-overload. And I even do understand that people just don't like the brand or think it's too expensive (though personally I think that for example the sneakers aren't that much more expensive than other brands I buy). Everybody is free to dislike Bapes, but why the urge to say that? There are more brands that I don't like than I like, but personally I don't feel the urge to spend time in topics I'm not interested in. This dislike of Bapes by some people does fascinate me though, I wonder what's behind it, I might start a topic about that )

F*CKING WHATEVER

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I'll do this for the entire board..

Hot: Whatever nobody has heard of or can't find.

Cold: Whatever more than 50 people like and is popular

--- Original message by youwish on Nov 19, 2005 11:33 AM

Then my superinfamous brand F-Star Seeking is Hot as Hell

F*CKING WHATEVER

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yeah they only put the collections out a few pieces at a time. Sometimes if you`re lucky and go on the right day a popular item will be put out again later in the season after it already sold out the first time. When Ape was popular in Japan it was more blatant. Sometimes they wouldnt sell you shit that was on display if they didnt like you.

Save the red camo, shark hoodies etc which sell out in a morning, these days they almost suck your dick trying to get you to buy something.

Some of the more limited stuff is only sold at Bapexclusive in Aoyama but its no secret.

--- Original message by MilSpex on Nov 23, 2005 05:09 AM

I thought so. A little disappointing though, because the collection in store wasn't that exiting and the stores were almost empty...

I've bought a few BAPE items over the years (London, NYC) and even though I've to agree that nowadays BAPE is a little overexposed in some parts of the world, now that I went to Tokyo I just wanted to bring back a few items from 'the source' Tokyo/Japan. In The Netherlands still hardly anybody knows about it or wears it, so here it's still a quite unknown brand between the mainstream brands.

F*CKING WHATEVER

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Can you post the link to the offical website, i've been trying to get that for a while now....thanx

--- Original message by Kustim on Nov 23, 2005 04:50 AM

Hi Kustim: www.bape.com

F*CKING WHATEVER

First of all: I don't wanna start up (again) the discussion if A Bathing Ape is still hot or not or whatever, either you (still) like it or you don't.

My question:

Recently I went to Tokyo and visited the main Bathing Ape Stores*. To my suprise they all had a very small collection in store, more or less the same few items in every store (which unfortunetly I didn't really like). In the catalogue and on the website BAPE shows a much bigger collection - autumn/winter 2005 (such as leather jackets etc.).

Is there anyone who can tell me what this is all about?

Are all the best items already sold out? Do they sell a few new items every month? Are there limited editions that are only sold in hard to find stores or on particular dates? Are there other (hidden) shops that are only known to people who know every little alley in Tokyo? They do have mail-ordering, so are some items only available by mail ordering?....????

Who KNOWS?

(Fortunetly I found some other shops that also sold Bathing Ape items which I did like, so I still got me a few nice souvenirs straight from Tokyo. But I'm still curious to know why the main stores displayed just a very small part of their whole collection)

* Busy Work Shop, Harajuku / Bapexclusive, Aoyama / Bapy, Aoyama / Baby Milo Store

F*CKING WHATEVER