You can give it to Louis Vuitton for inventing the "bag-of-the-month club," but no one keeps the unnecessary product flow moving like A Bathing Ape. This week, the brand's latest set of pins drops, adding to over a decade worth of Bape-branded ridiculous-ness. You got to give it to Nigo for creating the whole idea of making any and everything limited edition, even a set of stickers. Whatever it is, buy it now, 'cause you can bet it won't be available next week.
Read on below for a history of Nigo/A Bathing Ape's most ridiculously awesome limited edition crap. If you bought any of this stuff, you probably felt super-cool at the time, but when you saw the next shit you kind of wished you had your $300-$1M back. Shucks...
2005: THE BAPE CARD
• The BAPE brand is like the strip club. There's always another tier, and someone always has product that you don't. The Bapex card debuted as a way for "special members" to log A Bathing Ape purchases and cash in with points, the same way one would with an Amex. Just like an Amex, you had to pay for your Bapex, and you had to pay blindly, with no idea what the special offers were going to be. Oh, the mystery.
2005-2006: "BAPE CAPE" CONDOMS
• If you find a chick who thinks Bapecamo condoms are awesome, hold on tight. Seriously. Pull this out of your safe, put it on, and hold on tight.
2006: BAPE X DISNEY WINNIE THE POOH DOLL
• Hopefully this has a different consumer base than the Bape condoms, but with the kids these days doing what they do, who knows.
2006: BAPE ECSTASY
• These, of course, weren't official, but definitely made your night when that blond-haired Harajuku chick you met during the day slipped them to you in the back of some dark Japanese club.
2006-2007: BAPE PEPSI
• If you close your eyes and think really hard, you can taste the cool in every little bubble.
2007: A BATHING APE TOILET PAPER
• Each New Year's, card-carrying Bape members can show their membership Bapex and get the year's new roll of Bape toilet paper with every purchase at the flagship stores. Make that shit last!
2008: BAPE BATH MAT
• If you're so steezed out that you get out of the shower onto branded product, hit us with an email. We've got an internship spot open for you.
2009: BAPE TOOTHBRUSH
• Coming soon! Nigo recently snapped these and posted them to the Internet. The top two are rumored to be 24K gold. F. O. H.
