Cold Steel panic buy thread

johnnywizzo said:
Yesterday my second GI Tanto arrived, I had to have another when I realized how good a thrower it was. I don't try to sneak anything past my wife, after almost 50 years she realizes how hopeless it is. For example, three separate delivery trucks rolled down the driveway... I always show her my new toys and so far she hasn't killed me / left me / or filed for divorce.
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Since nothing happened, I would suggest to buy another one.
 
The old steel knives will become ridiculously collectible as time goes on, especially because the vast majority were used and not safe queens because they were made to be used and offered at a price that you weren’t scared to use the heck out of them. Reminds me of Glock collectors market.

Secondly, WHEN GSM completely shits the bed and makes terrible knives, old steel prices skyrocket but I bet they’ll do ok for a while because they’ll keep all the old manufacturing contracts in place while they make the transition to cheaper options in materials and labor. Then, some accountant (who knows absolutely nothing about knives and probably has never carried one) will be tasked to cut overhead by some small percentage, they switch manufacturers/suppliers to get their 2-3% reduction, 3-4 idiots in the C-suite will get really big bonuses for hitting their quarterly numbers and this will be the death of Cold Steel.

What also matters is that the company sold to a corporate giant, who’s doesn’t care at all about knives, and all the Lynn era old steel knives will be extremely collectible. It’s even easier for the collector market to take off because they changed the logo. I’m panic buying like crazy while prices are somewhat still reasonable, although some prices are already spiking. It’s a matter of WHEN GSM kills Cold Steel not if they’ll kill Cold Steel.
 
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bayouace said:
So, with the ownership change is the opinion now that CS still makes good knives?
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Still to be determined, if the CS knives being made now are any indication, the brand will be more expensive for the top level gear, and the same for everything else. Time will tell.
John Phillips said:
The old steel knives will become ridiculously collectible as time goes on, especially because the vast majority were used and not safe queens because they were made to be used and offered at a price that you weren’t scared to use the heck out of them. Reminds me of Glock collectors market.

Secondly, WHEN GSM completely shits the bed and makes terrible knives, old steel prices skyrocket but I bet they’ll do ok for a while because they’ll keep all the old manufacturing contract in place while they make the transition to cheaper options in materials and labor. Then, some accountant will be tasked to cut overhead by some small percentage, they switch manufacturers/suppliers to get their 2-3% reduction, 3-4 idiots in the C-suite will get really big bonuses for hitting their quarterly numbers and this will be the death of Cold Steel.

What also matters is that the company sold to a corporate giant, who’s doesn’t care at all about knives, and all the Lynn era old steel knives will be extremely collectible. It’s even easier for the collector market to take off because they changed the logo. I’m panic buying like crazy while prices are somewhat still reasonable, although some prices are already spiking. It’s a matter of WHEN GSM kills Cold Steel not if they’ll kill Cold Steel.
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Possible, but I can't see them removing certain knives like SRK and Trailmaster. Too iconic for the brand. The really Japanese designed ones? They'll be gone soon I fear. Anything niche will probably go. But again, time will tell. The C-suite will likely make 60% terrible decisions, 25% okay, and 15% sensible. That's been my experience.
 
IaccidentlyCutmyThumb said:
Still to be determined, if the CS knives being made now are any indication, the brand will be more expensive for the top level gear, and the same for everything else. Time will tell.

Possible, but I can't see them removing certain knives like SRK and Trailmaster. Too iconic for the brand. The really Japanese designed ones? They'll be gone soon I fear. Anything niche will probably go. But again, time will tell. The C-suite will likely make 60% terrible decisions, 25% okay, and 15% sensible. That's been my experience.
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Agreed they’ll most likely keep on producing the SRK and Trailmaster. However, my point and my guess is they’ll cut corners to reduce cost over time. This could involve cheaper heat treat, cheaper quality controls, cheaper everything which will result in a cheaper knife that will not resemble an old steel SRK or Trailmaster.

Also worth noting, I imagine the vast vast majority (90%) of all cold steel purchasers have no idea they were sold to GSM. Most will keep buying until they notice a drop off in quality.
 
John Phillips said:
Agreed they’ll most likely keep on producing the SRK and Trailmaster. However, my point and my guess is they’ll cut corners to reduce cost over time. This could involve cheaper heat treat, cheaper quality controls, cheaper everything which will result in a cheaper knife that will not resemble an old steel SRK or Trailmaster.

Also worth noting, I imagine the vast vast majority (90%) of all cold steel purchasers have no idea they were sold to GSM. Most will keep buying until they notice a drop off in quality.
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I think CS pre GSM already did some of these things. They hollow ground the SRK, and their "SK5" has had some issues. Wasn't it them that came out with the 4034 Trail Master that has an idiotic price point? I appreciate what Lynn was trying to do, but I think towards the end some of the bad decisions that GSM has/will make were laid out for them in the final pre-buyout years. Heresy I know, but we gotta take things as they come. I still love the products, even under GSM...for now.
 
It will be interesting to see CS’s 2023 line-up video….considering the 2022 vid was widely considered a dud.
 
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I just ordered a 3V Laredo from you-know-where. I’m pretty excited, even more than I was for the Natchez, which didn’t disappoint. I’m probably going to pass on the 3V Trailmaster for now though.
 
CA504 said:
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I just ordered a 3V Laredo from you-know-where. I’m pretty excited, even more than I was for the Natchez, which didn’t disappoint. I’m probably going to pass on the 3V Trailmaster for now though.
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I know I’ll kick myself once it goes down in price -and it likely will—but I put one on the ol’ creditcard. Been waiting way too long for the Laredo. I do feel guilty that I ordered it though :( nonetheless thank you for the heads up. I didn’t get a notification that it was in stock
 
NP. The way I justified it to myself is that I can buy a Natchez and a Laredo for much less than what a mint condition Hell’s Belle would cost me, and I don’t know of any other current production blades with Bagwell blade geometry. Besides, I had saved up some reward points before ordering!

It’s odd about the Laredo though, it isn’t in stock at CS’s store. The Natchez and 3V Trailmaster were in stock at CS first before being available at their distributors. They probably missed out on quite a few orders by letting that happen.
 
CA504 said:
NP. The way I justified it to myself is that I can buy a Natchez and a Laredo for much less than what a mint condition Hell’s Belle would cost me, and I don’t know of any other current production blades with Bagwell blade geometry. Besides, I had saved up some reward points before ordering!

It’s odd about the Laredo though, it isn’t in stock at CS’s store. The Natchez and 3V Trailmaster were in stock at CS first before being available at their distributors. They probably missed out on quite a few orders by letting that happen.
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I’ve seen that happen before with a bunch of items, where ‘this place we do not speak of’ gets them first. I imagine they are drop shipped there. I didn’t know this place had rewards by the way, unless you’re referring to Knife Center? Or did you mean credit card rewards?
 
EveryDayIsHalloween said:
I’ve seen that happen before with a bunch of items, where ‘this place we do not speak of’ gets them first. I imagine they are drop shipped there. I didn’t know this place had rewards by the way, unless you’re referring to Knife Center? Or did you mean credit card rewards?
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Yeah I meant my CC rewards, but “their” birthday pricing is awesome. I’ve gotten items that were already on sale for an extra 50% off. It lasts for about a week I think.

And that makes sense about the drop shipping, but I figured that since the Laredo is a pretty big release, they would have sold a decent volume at $500+ to the panic buyers if they’d offered it first.

Whenever I order direct from CS, I use the CSWELCOME10 code for 10% off. Somehow it seems to work on every order too, not just the first one.
 
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