2018 Blade Show

Makael

Makael

Loving wife, kids and life.
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Oct 17, 2015
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Just got back last night. What a day! So much fun getting to meet so many manufacturers and people in the knife industry. People from the show Alone were wandering around. Got to speak with Ethan Becker from Becker knives and he showed me the new Kephart model releasing soon.
I wanted to talk about conversations from the show. I hope @CJ Buck chimes in. I know he reads the forums on occasion. I can understand not attending every manufacturers show across the country.

Smkw had the standard Buck 110 Auto in their case at the show. That's it! There wasn't any other Buck model displayed anywhere else. I know Buck protects their dealers, but in return there needs to be some representation expectations. It can't be left to BCCI to represent. A lot of product seen in this forum were built years ago. They are great to see these knives but it doesn't pay the bills for Buck. Now large Buck dealers might place large orders now and again and this may seem worth protecting. But their has got to be representation and promoting the product. Even if it's to make sure there is a heartbeat at Buck in the industry. We know there is on the forums, but the general public needs to see it too. The largest sponsor of everything on this show was a Chinese knife company and guess what, they got most of the attention. A younger generation of knife buyers were surrounding their booth. Buck needs that customer base. We are seeing these Micarta 110s and 112s. They are awesome. These types of knives are perfect to bring new customers to Buck. Part of a protected dealer responsibility is to bring these products to the forfront to justify protecting. From what i saw SMKW did not do this.


I spent a lot of time and 90 percent of my budget with Tops knives. The president Leo Espinoza was there and his employees. They are local to me as they manufacture in my territory, Idaho. They did a great job interacting with the public.
I'm still a MASSIVE fan of Buck. I wish some of their distributors would do what's expected of them.

If there would of been Buck slim 110s and 112s in Micarta at the show I believe they would of sold a ton. Everyone I showed them to couldn't believe how cool they were. Right on!:thumbsup:

If there are people in positions to ensure Brand promotion I would have a meeting monday morning with new and exciting expectations of them. I would also be meeting with my major dealers.

 
Maybe I'm a Buckfan. Who cares. I constantly promote their product. The friends I have made at Buck are awesome genuine people. They treat me well.

I met with Gedlicks at the show. He had a grest time checking everything out. The Oregon event center was a great place to host this event. I got to park right at the front door. 20 dollars for the day. My wife, my oldest son and his wife and my youngest son all got to go. We were going to spend another night but decided to endure the 6 he drive back to Spokane to enjoy a full Sunday at home.
 
Great report Mike...Thanks for the info/product updates.
What an honor to talk with Ethan Becker & I'm sure Tops Mr Espinoza.
There is absolutely no way my wife would go with me to a blade show,unless there was a purse show next door...:(
Good deal for u tho!:thumbsup:
 
Great pics and a great report.
Those are beautiful knives u brought home. What is that massive fixed blade, the one that has a lightning bolt on the blade. I REALLY like that one.

Makael Makael url quote wouldn't show
 
My wife loves knives. I'm fortunate. I picked up this Back pack knife for her. She like the handle and pot hook.


Mr Becker spoke fondly of CJ. He is a great ambassador of the brand.

With all of the Buck History I'm sure CJ must feel like a Protector at Buck. Protecting the history and the future of the brand. It's a Big deal to be the face of the company. He has some great people under him.
 
yep. fair points on the old stuff and collectors of the old stuff. i like the old stuff and the collectors, but also glad buck keeps trying newer stuff as a company to try to attract young customers to join in with the rest of us already old and/or getting older fellas. as any company without young customers is bound to fail eventually.

dont know if blade shows is the best way or not. I've never been to one and the big one is just 8 or so hours north of me. I expect internet is the best way to drive exposure and sales to the masses, rather than industry insiders and folks like us who collect and are into cutlery. dont know though haven't seen the studies on the marketing research. sure buck has........

thanks for sharing your trip to the show. I feel the new slims will help spur some younger fence sitters into a buck buy.
 
jbmonkey said:
yep. fair points on the old stuff and collectors of the old stuff. i like the old stuff and the collectors, but also glad buck keeps trying newer stuff as a company to try to attract young customers to join in with the rest of us already old and/or getting older fellas. as any company without young customers is bound to fail eventually.

dont know if blade shows is the best way or not. I've never been to one and the big one is just 8 or so hours north of me. I expect internet is the best way to drive exposure and sales to the masses, rather than industry insiders and folks like us who collect and are into cutlery. dont know though haven't seen the studies on the marketing research. sure buck has........

thanks for sharing your trip to the show. I feel the new slims will help spur some younger fence sitters into a buck buy.
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Very true. It took 6 hrs for me to drive to the show. It takes seconds to look online. There's nothing like the hands on look and feel. Plus the knife magazines input we will see now that the show is coming to an end,
 
That Operator is nice....kinda like a Miller Bros with that thickness.
 
Thanks for your great report Mike. It was a great show. About 1/3 the size of the Oregon Knife Collectors Show in Eugene Oregon every April. I hope this one in Portland grows. It is only
about 40 minutes away from me. It was also great to meet up with Mike at the show as well as to meet his wife and son. I spent a total of $3.50 on a small soda pop. Not a single Buck knife in
all those tables and booths except for the 110 auto's at the Smoky Mountain Knifeworks booth as Mike said.
I do believe Buck needs to do something to have a presence at these shows. At least at the bigger ones such as this one and the one in Eugene. Either with Buck having a booth or with Buck
working together with the BCCI in promoting their products at these shows. I would be more than willing to work with both Buck and BCCI in accomplishing this at these 2 major shows.

The other thing I noticed is in talking to several table holders on Buck Knives they would ask me what models I mostly buy and collect and I would mention customs, limited editions, and such and than
I would show them a few pictures on my cell phone they would reply that they had no clue Buck did anything but traditionals. The standard 110, 119, and such. This is why it is important
for Buck to be at these shows. They do not have the reputation of making anything but traditional knives. When I sell and show at the Eugene show I get many people saying they had no
ideal Buck made the higher end knives, customs and limited editions. Buck has been thinking out of the box and making newer models but very few people are aware of it. Buck just doesn't
seem to be on their radar for these kind of knives yet. It will come in time I am sure as long as Buck keeps making more models and keeping up with the changing times. Bushcraft, tactical and
mid range customs seem to be very popular these days. I didn't see one bushcraft knife with a red blade. Go figure.
 
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gedlicks said:
Thanks for your great report Mike. It was a great show. About 1/3 the size of the Oregon Knife Collectors Show in Eugene Oregon every April. I hope this one in Portland grows. It is only
about 40 minutes away from me. It was also great to meet up with Mike at the show as well as to meet his wife and son. I spent a total of $3.50 on a small soda pop. Not a single Buck knife in
all those tables and booths except for the 110 auto's at the Smoky Mountain Knifeworks booth as Mike said.
I do believe Buck needs to do something to have a presence at these shows. At least at the bigger ones such as this one and the one in Eugene. Either with Buck having a booth or with Buck
working together with the BCCI in promoting their products at these shows. I would be more than willing to work with both Buck and BCCI in accomplishing this at these 2 major shows.

The other thing I noticed is in talking to several table holders on Buck Knives they would ask me what models I mostly buy and collect and I would mention customs, limited editions, and such and than
I would show them a few pictures on my cell phone they would reply that they had no clue Buck did anything but traditionals. The standard 110, 119, and such. This is why it is important
for Buck to be at these shows. They do not have the reputation of making anything but traditional knives. When I sell and show at the Eugene show I get many people saying they had no
ideal Buck made the higher end knives, customs and limited editions. Buck has been thinking out of the box and making newer models but very few people are aware of it. Buck just doesn't
seem to be on their radar for these kind of knives yet. It will come in time I am sure as long as Buck keeps making more models and keeping up with the changing times. Bushcraft, tactical and
mid range customs seem to be very popular these days.
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When I show that Buck built this people freak out. Lol

 
Guys many points you make are very good. Glad Ged and Mike went to this show and could give us the straight skinny on what they saw.
DM
 
That's exactly what I mean Mike. Buck doesn't have a reputation yet for that kind of quality high end knife within the general public. They will get there eventually though.
 
I can't attend the shows out west as travel time and expense is to high but I will be at Atlanta in 2019. How does that compare in size and attendance with Atlanta?
 
Makael said:
When I show that Buck built this people freak out. Lol

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What model is this? Very nice looking knife. Also, why can’t Buck go to the shows themselves and show off all these cool knives? Then they don’t have to worry about what the dealer/distributors are doing.
 
jstrange said:
What model is this? Very nice looking knife. Also, why can’t Buck go to the shows themselves and show off all these cool knives? Then they don’t have to worry about what the dealer/distributors are doing.
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040 Onset, titanium, bearings, Damasteel blade and backspace. Pretty cool knife.

There is some real modern Buck knives out there.

 
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