What's the magic production number that keeps both collectors and users happy, and in the sweet spot price wise? If 1000-1500 is too many for a collector, then they should know that, and pay accordingly. If a 1000-1500 is to few for a user, then they should know that and also pay accordingly. Yea? No?
An excellent question. How may I as a buyer know what the anticipated size of the production run will be? Is that something disclosed on the Kai site? Will my dealer know?
One of the books I read many years ago when I was involved in a dot com suggested that the seller who provided the most (relevant) information to the buyers would appeal to the geeks, the neophiles, the early adopters, the opinion-setters. They illustrated their point with a restaurant that beside the price, the menu gave all the nutritional information, including cholesterol, protein, carbs, and other information that nutrionally aware people valued, not just calories. Their appeal was very niche, but their niche had the money to support them and they set a trend in the industry that continues to this day (depending on where you eat--but even McDonald's now has that kind of information available on the net).
If Kai provides that level of information for us, the knowledgeable consumer, I would expect them to reap the benefits of enhanced reputation within the marketplace as well as a higher economic profit (yes, I know some argue the existence of economic profit over time--work with me, here).
For example. I have an 0801. I'd like the 0801CF--no particular reason; I'm a knife addict. I think it looks pretty. I just came from the ZT website, and they tell me they have no idea when or how many. Hard for me to plan and budget appropriately. I'm certain others feel the same way.
The knife industry has come a very long way in the past thirty years. I anticipate future changes that will be very important for the manufacturer, the dealer, as well as for the consumer.
Let me toss in an idea. Is there some reason ZT or Kershaw can't run a Dutch auction for the first X number of knives from a production run? (Aside from possible channel conflict.) That keeps the scalpers to a minimum, but lets the serious collector get in early, but still gives dealers a large chunk to play with--you need the dealers, obviously.
It also preserves the most economic profit for the manufacturer. Nice thing about a Dutch auction, we get to set our own price. If we win, epic! If we don't, no harm no foul. But, the process is entirely transparent and filled with information for buyers.
To be clear, I don't mind ZT or Kershaw making a fair profit. Frankly, I think if you guys makes good money, you'll expand, bring in more excellent engineers, even better materials (as difficult as that is for me to visualize), more interesting manufacturing techniques, finishes, and styles. Hard to do all that on a shoestring. As a serious knife addict, I don't mind supporting my pusher, er, manufacturer. If a knife gets too pricy for me, I'll pass (please god, more likely I'll auction the children--wait, I don't have any children), same as people already do today.