Protocol Snow

Although my A Bathing Ape collection is rather modest, especially compared to some diehard fans, my Bape posts so far have been well received so let’s continue! Today’s update strays from clothing into the world of print publications.

The e-mook is a Japanese concept that hasn’t seemed to catch fire outside of Asia. Half catalog, half magazine, e-mooks are promotional material dedicated to specific fashion labels that highlight clothing and goods from the upcoming season. They also contain articles about the company and pictorials of models and celebrity customers. Average price for an e-mook is $20. Seems strange to pay for advertising, but the hook for many collectors is the exclusive gift included with each e-mook.

Starting in 2005, Bape has published a quarterly e-mook. It is borderline impossible to track down the older gifts on the aftermarket so I didn’t even bother, but I recently finally completed my collection of the print material.

Typical e-mook gifts include tote bags, small backpacks, pencil cases, cheap plastic watches and other miscellaneous goodies of variable utility.

This is a sweet desk clock from the Bape 2009 spring collection e-mook.

Handy tote bag from 2010 autumn collection e-mook. I’ve started using this when buying groceries in an effort to be more eco-friendly.

Here’s a few sample pages. I find e-mooks to be much more interesting than the gifts. They’re fun to flip through, particularly when looking at old e-mooks to check out designs and merchandise from the company’s past.

I picked up these style manuals purely for collector purposes. Each manual is only about 10 pages, and scans for all of them are readily found online, but I liked the thick cardboard stock of the pages.

These are a couple nice coffee table books related to A Bathing Ape. Book on the left is a pictorial journey through the history of the company, showing marquee designs and special limited productions.

The Baby Milo Nintendo DS was a hot item in Japan. Although the retail price was a reasonable 16800 yen, limited quantities and gigantic lines meant that interested parties most likely had to resort to the aftermarket where asking prices were easily double that.

The 2nd book “Wonderwall: Masamichi Katayama Projects No. 2” showcases the mastermind who designs interior and retail spaces for all of Bape’s stores. I’ve been to 6 Bape locations and nearly all of them are spectacularly stylish. Every Bape fan should especially try to visit the stores in Asia, as they are substantially more impressive than the American and European locations. It’s too bad store employees vigilantly stop customers from filming because I would love to watch nice Youtube videos of the stores.

Due to popular demand, I have compiled all my Bape posts into a dedicated page for easier viewing. I’m getting close to covering my entire collection. Just T-shirts and a few miscellaneous pieces left and that’s all, folks!