Blade Show 2012

Thomas W said:
Cool, glad you enjoyed it. Much appreciated on the congrats. A ton of work goes into this show, and we're quite pleased to be in front of our customers for this special event.
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And the ton of work shows! Great booth.

Enjoyed meeting you again (met you last year, but it was very brief) and being able to chat a bit longer this time.
Was quite flattered that you and your associate asked my opinion on the knife I believe you were going to submit as award entry.

So many outstanding looking ZT designs it almost gets confusing.

Like Barry H, the flipper with CF really caught my eye, and I'll be hoping to get one.
 
23xdm3.8 said:
Jenn from ZT said in about a month...I said this in the kershaw/ZT forum, she's one pretty lady..hard to focus on the knives. I was like :p the whole time she was talking to me
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Not many things go better with sweet knives than pretty ladies :D
 
jimw451 said:
Haha, I hear ya. Not opposed to being part of any of the lotteries, but I also don't want to be part of the next "d-bag" group. If we can organize a VA group trip, I'm in! I know a few others locally that may want to go as well. I think a year is enough notice, no? :D
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Plenty of time buddy..we won't be as obvious when we take over the lotteries ;)
 
23xdm3.8 said:
Already made plans for next year again..we need a big group from VA to get in on the lotteries like some d-bag and his group did..completely monopolized some of the lotteries and apparently pulled the same $hit last year
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How do you monopolize a lottery?
 
fatherhudson said:
How do you monopolize a lottery?
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This is just my assumption, and a pretty safe one..I can still be wrong, so forgive me if I am
This dude had a group of about 8 people with him(a well known custom knife dealer-they were all wearing the same shirts). I noticed that knifemakers weren't checking ID's to see if names matches with lottery tickets. Each person in the group couldve entered two names in the lottery giving them 16 chances to win. Some of the lotteries drew huge crowds and for his group to win 4 in a row at one, then 3 at another, then 3 more at another..just seemed a little fishy. And that was just on Friday. Saturday was the same thing, and apparently did the same last year according to a handful of people

..and just to clear it up, I'm not serious about doing the same thing, it's just not fair and quite annoying
 
23xdm3.8 said:
This is just my assumption, and a pretty safe one..I can still be wrong, so forgive me if I am
This dude had a group of about 8 people with him(a well known custom knife dealer-they were all wearing the same shirts). I noticed that knifemakers weren't checking ID's to see if names matches with lottery tickets. Each person in the group couldve entered two names in the lottery giving them 16 chances to win. Some of the lotteries drew huge crowds and for his group to win 4 in a row at one, then 3 at another, then 3 more at another..just seemed a little fishy. And that was just on Friday. Saturday was the same thing, and apparently did the same last year according to a handful of people

..and just to clear it up, I'm not serious about doing the same thing, it's just not fair and quite annoying
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It is a shame that stuff happens but it is not surprising. It would be interesting to be another rival group on the lottery stuff though.
 
Piper Maru said:
It is a shame that stuff happens but it is not surprising. It would be interesting to be another rival group on the lottery stuff though.
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It's just really annoying..I guess in the knifemakers pov, at the end of it, they're still gonna get paid. From a fan and enthusiast pov, it's a little discouraging...knowing that the outcome of those knives are marked up prices
 
Lotteries originally started to level the playing field, giving everyone a fair shot at a popular knife or maker. Prior to that, some areas were almost brawls at times with people pushing and shoving to get their mitts on a knife, any knife. It was almost like what you see at Christmas when the police show up at the big box store when someone has been trampled to death or outright brawls are in progress.

This also caused problems with makers at adjoining tables because people could not actually get to their table with the massive throngs at the "hot" table. Heck, I had to completely avoid some rows at times because there was no way to get through to a crossing aisle.

Now, those same people are essentially getting friends, spouses, adult children, etc. to stack the deck in their favor. Pretty shameful really but, when there is money involved some people will always try to game the system and will stoop to any level to make a buck.

There are plenty of class acts out there so, all I can say is don't patronize the "syndicates" that are spoiling it for the average person.
 
Sid Post said:
Lotteries originally started to level the playing field, giving everyone a fair shot at a popular knife or maker. Prior to that, some areas were almost brawls at times with people pushing and shoving to get their mitts on a knife, any knife. It was almost like what you see at Christmas when the police show up at the big box store when someone has been trampled to death or outright brawls are in progress.

This also caused problems with makers at adjoining tables because people could not actually get to their table with the massive throngs at the "hot" table. Heck, I had to completely avoid some rows at times because there was no way to get through to a crossing aisle.

Now, those same people are essentially getting friends, spouses, adult children, etc. to stack the deck in their favor. Pretty shameful really but, when there is money involved some people will always try to game the system and will stoop to any level to make a buck.

There are plenty of class acts out there so, all I can say is don't patronize the "syndicates" that are spoiling it for the average person.
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Well said.
 
23xdm3.8 said:
This is just my assumption, and a pretty safe one..I can still be wrong, so forgive me if I am
This dude had a group of about 8 people with him(a well known custom knife dealer-they were all wearing the same shirts). I noticed that knifemakers weren't checking ID's to see if names matches with lottery tickets. Each person in the group couldve entered two names in the lottery giving them 16 chances to win. Some of the lotteries drew huge crowds and for his group to win 4 in a row at one, then 3 at another, then 3 more at another..just seemed a little fishy. And that was just on Friday. Saturday was the same thing, and apparently did the same last year according to a handful of people

..and just to clear it up, I'm not serious about doing the same thing, it's just not fair and quite annoying
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This is more than annoying. It would downright piss me off!
 
Great show.

Everyone that attended, on both sides of the glass, were in some great company.

Moose
 
Sid Post said:
Lotteries originally started to level the playing field, giving everyone a fair shot at a popular knife or maker. Prior to that, some areas were almost brawls at times with people pushing and shoving to get their mitts on a knife, any knife. It was almost like what you see at Christmas when the police show up at the big box store when someone has been trampled to death or outright brawls are in progress.

This also caused problems with makers at adjoining tables because people could not actually get to their table with the massive throngs at the "hot" table. Heck, I had to completely avoid some rows at times because there was no way to get through to a crossing aisle.

Now, those same people are essentially getting friends, spouses, adult children, etc. to stack the deck in their favor. Pretty shameful really but, when there is money involved some people will always try to game the system and will stoop to any level to make a buck.

There are plenty of class acts out there so, all I can say is don't patronize the "syndicates" that are spoiling it for the average person.
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Well said..another gripe I had was with the "VIP" admissions, that were pretty much pointless. So you pay extra to get in early, giving you a better chance at picking up a knife..easy enough. Some, including myself, even waited 3-4 hours early to be at the front of the vip line..all the while some people who werent exhibiting, somehow acquired exhibitor passes and had free reign on everything even before vip's were let in, resulting in some tables who weren't running lotteries to be sold out. Big thanks and appreciate a few tables that refused to sell before 12 on Friday
 
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23xdm3.8 said:
Plenty of time buddy..we won't be as obvious when we take over the lotteries ;)
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Plenty of time indeed. When I read "take over the lotteries" the Pinky and The Brain theme music started playing in my head. :cool:

I've heard of these lottery monopolizers and it does sound discouraging.
 
23xdm3.8 said:
This is just my assumption, and a pretty safe one..I can still be wrong, so forgive me if I am
This dude had a group of about 8 people with him(a well known custom knife dealer-they were all wearing the same shirts). I noticed that knifemakers weren't checking ID's to see if names matches with lottery tickets. Each person in the group couldve entered two names in the lottery giving them 16 chances to win. Some of the lotteries drew huge crowds and for his group to win 4 in a row at one, then 3 at another, then 3 more at another..just seemed a little fishy. And that was just on Friday. Saturday was the same thing, and apparently did the same last year according to a handful of people

..and just to clear it up, I'm not serious about doing the same thing, it's just not fair and quite annoying
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There is a lot of politics in the industry... I will leave it at that...
 
Thanks to the OP's for the nice descriptions of customs and the excellent pix. :) You guys know who you are. I sure would like to go next year. Gosh, these things just make me drool compared to the production knives that I mess with.
Sonnydaze
 
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Yesterday was my first Blade Show and it was everything I thought it would be. I met and chatted with Mike Fuller and Leo Espinosa from TOPS and ended up buying a CQT Magnum 747 folder which I had been lusting for forever. What a BRUTE! (the knife that is)
Leo was actually a sort of shy gentle giant and when he showed me that the 747 was his folder that sealed the deal. Both men were true gentlemen.

I met the owner of Knifeworks.com and ended up buying my first Spyderco (Endura plain edge-gray frame) and cannot believe I waited so long as it is my new EDC.
I also bought a ESEE 4 plain edge from these great folks as well. So now I have the little brother to my ESEE 6.

Next I spoke with Mike Perrin for a while at the ESEE booth and he was totally cool with the fact I called him Jeff Randall. Oops. Super guy! I can't say enough about their fine product and the job ROWEN does in making knives worthy of these two adventurers.

Finally I was at the KaBar booth questioning a rep about my son's (USMC Grunt) complaining about his issued blade. He informed me the Marines are not issued his blades but a certain other New York based company's instead. I was relieved to hear that. So next he placed a BK-7 on the counter and said this is what the Corps really needs (I totally agree!) It was then I finally noticed his ID badge and realized who I was speaking with. You guessed it. Mr. Ethan Becker himself! This alone made my trip to Atlanta worth it! He was absolutely gracious and without a doubt one of the coolest dudes I've ever met! We shared a few stories and thoughts on the current state of our military and he was so patient when I proudly showed him a picture of my young Lance Corporal.

Anyway the show was overwhelming IMO as I had never seen so much Knife Art in one place at one time. Most of which though, again IMO was really overpriced. I guess I'm still too new to the knife scene to truly comprehend the value of the art on display and hope to one day. In the meantime I'll just enjoy the magnificent view!
 
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Is bladeshow usually around this time of year annually? I think I would have a good chance of hitting up I-95 and showing up next year if that's the case.
 
Engraving looks good, I went to his booth. I did'nt know Tim was there though, I thought his wife was running his booth. Every time I went she was the only one I seen. I was talking to some people at at his booth, they say a lot of his stuff comes from China and that he out sources a bunch of his work.
 
Why dont you give us the name of the dealer so we know who we are dealing with, so to speak? ;)

23xdm3.8 said:
This is just my assumption, and a pretty safe one..I can still be wrong, so forgive me if I am
This dude had a group of about 8 people with him(a well known custom knife dealer-they were all wearing the same shirts). I noticed that knifemakers weren't checking ID's to see if names matches with lottery tickets. Each person in the group couldve entered two names in the lottery giving them 16 chances to win. Some of the lotteries drew huge crowds and for his group to win 4 in a row at one, then 3 at another, then 3 more at another..just seemed a little fishy. And that was just on Friday. Saturday was the same thing, and apparently did the same last year according to a handful of people

..and just to clear it up, I'm not serious about doing the same thing, it's just not fair and quite annoying
Click to expand...
 
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