2012 wbc 112 le

jb4570 · Feb 25, 2012

Hi All,

Thank you to Larry Oden for getting me one of the 2012 limited edition WBC 112 Wolf LE's from this years catalog. See the 112 WBC Elk Stag Wolf photo's below. I am totally disappointed with the knife. The photo in the add shows the stag scales to have a nice bark finish, the front scale on mine has no bark , in fact it looks like smooth bone that was dragged around on asfault and that made it look scrathed up and dirty, it also has two cracks in the scale that I can feel with my thumb nail. This should have been a factory reject not a very high priced collectors knife IMHO. Note that the scale color on this knife has poor contrast with the pure white wolf insert on the scale.

I'll be sending it to Joe for replacement. I have not contacted him yet, I've taken some photo's of the knife this weekend to share here and to send to Joe. I was not sure if I was going to make my feelings public on the forum or not. But, this is not the first time I did not get what I expected in a high priced collectors knife. This time I will not just keep what I don't like. I also have another high $$$ stag LE on order from the 2012 catalog, ordered from Larry. If that knife also comes not as advertised I'll return it for a full refund and not pre-order any more knives that I don't see before buying....BCCI knives also.

To add insult to injury, in the bottom of the black LE box is a card that states:
"you will find natures own "brandmarks". In most cases, these markings are not flaws, rather nature's own design."
When you all see the photo's of this knife, you tell me if you see what I see. I bought this knife to give to my Daughter as she is in love with Wolves, I know she would love it as is. But, that's not the point IMHO.

I now have 3-4 of these stag Buck LE's from the last few years and this is the only one that is not like the advertised knife. All the other LE's are truly beautiful knives. I do love the knife design and the craftsmanship of the knife is not in question. It's the poor quality of the Elk scales put on this one knife, at least for me. I'll take some photo's of a few of the other Buck stag catalog LE's from years past. All of those stag LE's look like the advertised knives in those catalogs.

Sorry for the rant folks, enjoy the photo's
jb4570

jb4570 · Feb 25, 2012

I said I'd post a few photo's of some other Buck stag LE's
Here is the 110 stag eagle feather.

Here is the 110 bear claw.

Here is the 110 chippy

jb4570

sitflyer · Feb 25, 2012

***deeleeted***

Plumberdv · Feb 25, 2012

I see what you mean John. That's pretty pathetic. In my opinion, that one should never have left the factory. It's not even Factory Blem quality as far as I'm concerned.
I can't imagine Wild Bill being happy having his name attached to that one.

sitflyer · Feb 25, 2012

Plumberdv said:
I see what you mean John. That's pretty pathetic. In my opinion, that one should never have left the factory. It's not even Factory Blem quality as far as I'm concerned.
I can't imagine Wild Bill being happy having his name attached to that one.

I agree that that knife looks awfull, but who actually did the work? I would assume if I bought a ( famous name here ) Buck custom, that the artist would have made it.

Plumberdv · Feb 25, 2012

sitflyer said:
I agree that that knife looks awfull, but who actually did the work? I would assume if I bought a ( famous name here ) Buck custom, that the artist would have made it.

That's a good question. I figure he's got some help and maybe he's just the designer? They list a total production of 750 knives in this years collection with his name on them. If he worked 365 days a year, that's a hair over two knives a day he'd have to put out. Seems like a lot to me.

If he did do that one himself and let it go out like that, then shame on him in my opinion.

BG42EDGE · Feb 25, 2012

Yeah, but working 365 days without a day off can get you a little slap-happy.

Maybe he got to the point where he just didn't care.

He should form a union. Wild Bill Local #1.

jb4570 · Feb 25, 2012

sitflyer said:
I agree that that knife looks awfull, but who actually did the work? I would assume if I bought a ( famous name here ) Buck custom, that the artist would have made it.

I could be wrong....it would not be the first time and it will not be the last. But, I think WBC designs the knife and it's built in the Post Falls factory. I know Joe and his staff will make this right. I just wonder how many of these not so nice LE's find their way into customers hands? If this was the first one I had bought, it would have been the last. As you can see I have a few of them and I really like the style.

Dave can you post the catalog page with this knife on it? The catalog page with a little bark on the stag and the white wolf is quite nice. That is what I want to give to my daughter

jb4570

Plumberdv · Feb 25, 2012

Here you go John. Remember, this is a screen shot of a scanned catalog, so it's not that great. I does show well enough what you should get.

Pack Rat · Feb 25, 2012

Nice Job on those scans! :thumbup:

Bummer JB,,

Joe will fix it.

pinnah · Feb 26, 2012

I find those "asphalt" scratches to be wonderful. Looks to me like battle scars from a tough old elk buck. To my eyes, that makes the knife better, not worse.

ItsTooEarly · Feb 26, 2012

JB, I would send it back... I was going to buy one the other day after talking to you about all the new LE's that were new for 2012... Well, there still holding it for me... But, I wouldn't buy it now... ITE

Plumberdv · Feb 26, 2012

pinnah said:
I find those "asphalt" scratches to be wonderful. Looks to me like battle scars from a tough old elk buck. To my eyes, that makes the knife better, not worse.

There you go John. Maybe you can sell yours to pinnah for the + OR - $250 that it cost you and get Joe to send you one like they advertise.

jb4570 · Feb 26, 2012

pinnah said:
I find those "asphalt" scratches to be wonderful. Looks to me like battle scars from a tough old elk buck. To my eyes, that makes the knife better, not worse.

Hi pinnah,
I'm sure there are more folks in the world, like you who will love this knife as is. If all of the knives are/were made like this one that's what the catalog knife should look like and they could have called the knife "Battle Scar wolf Spirit". I expected the knife to look like the printed catalog photo (all of my other catalog knives from this type of issue do). I have been collecting these catalog issue LE for years now, this is the first one that was a unpleasant surprise out of the box. As a collector I expect the item to look like what is in the picture that moved me to spend my hard earned cash (If you went and bought a new car, no that's to big....a new lamp for your home and you opened the box at home and it was hot pink, not the color on the box....would you be happy?). As a collector of these stag issue knives that is the contrast I see with this knife and I'm sure many others would also.

[/QUOTE]
jb4570
jb4570

st8yd · Feb 26, 2012

They may well be battle scars, but it definitely looks more like its been kicked around on the asphalt. It appears to be artificially distressed.
I can't imagine that if the two were sitting side by side on a shelf for the same price that anyone would even consider the scratched up one.
I wouldn't even consider it at walmart prices.

sitflyer · Feb 26, 2012

***deleted***

pinnah · Feb 27, 2012

jb4570 said:
Hi pinnah,
I'm sure there are more folks in the world, like you who will love this knife as is. If all of the knives are/were made like this one that's what the catalog knife should look like and they could have called the knife "Battle Scar wolf Spirit". I expected the knife to look like the printed catalog photo (all of my other catalog knives from this type of issue do). I have been collecting these catalog issue LE for years now, this is the first one that was a unpleasant surprise out of the box. As a collector I expect the item to look like what is in the picture that moved me to spend my hard earned cash (If you went and bought a new car, no that's to big....a new lamp for your home and you opened the box at home and it was hot pink, not the color on the box....would you be happy?). As a collector of these stag issue knives that is the contrast I see with this knife and I'm sure many others would also.

JB, couple of thoughts...

First and foremost, I agree with you completely that the cracks are a big problem. Even understanding that antler and bone are prone to cracking, I wouldn't accept a crack in a new knife purchased sight unseen, regardless of the colorations and patterns in the material.

Second, beauty is in the eye of the collector. If a purchased knife doesn't strike your fancy when you have it in hand, return it. As a rule, with finer things I find buying sight-unseen to be a roll of the dice and if I'm not sure I'm going to accept something's looks when I get it, I buy with an expectation that I might return it. IMO, the buyer has the right of whim and that's what return policies are for. I've lived this working retail for long enough that I really believe it.

Third, regarding consistency, I think we have different perspectives on that. To my way of thinking (not advocating this, just testifying as to how I view it), when I move to more exotic materials, I move away from consistency. When I move to more exotic materials, I want to see unique variations, otherwise I would move towards more common and domesticated materials where I have a greater expectation of consistency to a norm. Now, when I go up in price for custom things, I also have a greater expectation of custom selection. For example, if I'm looking at knives with burl scales, I have a very high expectations that the scales will be chosen to well matched with each other. In contrast, on a production item, I don't have that expectation. For example, I have a production 110 and 112 here on my desk as a write this (both 2 dots). They have standard ebony scales and particularly on the 112, there is a significant variation in the color of the ebony. I find this acceptable in a less expensive production knife but would not accept mismatched scales in an expensive collectors knife. FWIW, I think the scales on your knife are reasonably well matched.

But, so long as the scales are matched, I can accept quite a variation on the look of an exotic material. In fact, I quite expect it. If I'm considering burl, I *want* the burl on my knife to be so unique that I could pick out that knife from its stable mates. That's exactly why I'm looking at burl in the first place, instead of ebony or rosewood. I feel the same way about antler. I *want* my antler to be recognizably different from *your* antler. If I wanted consistency, I would be looking at a different material, like cut bone, where the maker has the ability to control things more.

I disagree with the poster who thinks your knife looks artificially distressed. As a hunter and outdoorsman, yours looks more authentic to me. While the other knives posted in this thread look more consistent, to me (and just to me) I find them rather boring in their sameness. Pretty much indistinguishable from each other. To me, that sort of consistency starts to smell of artificial "Stagalon". But yours... yours undeniably came from a particular elk who got involved in some particular rough and tumble and holding a knife like that (or an antler like that found in the woods) allows me to briefly connect with that moment in a visceral sort of way. It's like touching somebody's scar.

Again, I'm giving you *my* personal reaction in seeing that knife. I don't like the crack but other than that, I would pick it out of the line up of otherwise similar looking clones just for the story it carries in the scars. I'm glad Buck had the guts to produce it.

But this is my taste, not your taste. I'll end with what I said above. Things of this sort need to suit your taste. If it doesn't, return it.

Plumberdv · Feb 27, 2012

It looks like it's about five to one who think it's a poor job and should go back.

st8yd · Feb 27, 2012

As a hunter and outdoorsman all my life, those scratches don't look characterstic to antlers I've seen. Granted I havn't had the pleasure of taking an elk yet, but hope to one day, I've seen plenty of white tail antlers and the scratches don't look the same. The right side appears to be more real but the left side with the wolf just looks bad.

Variations are expected and typically desired but that is what I would consider 2nd's material, pass it off for bone. Now had the certificate of authenticity said something along the lines of it being the last known antler of an animal that had been extinct for millions of years well then that would be a different story.
Yes some of the others appear to be over done, but I'll take that over a scratched up piece of bone.
But as you said we all have differing opinions and taste.

st8yd · Feb 27, 2012

Here's a fine ex. of antler variations by EEE