Coldsteel Sold???

I appreciate Lynn taking the time to publish that address. I truly hope his optimistic vision of the future proves true. The fact of the matter is that, if GSM bought everything (inventory, IP, accounts, existing contracts, real estate, etc.) then Lynn won't be able to do much if GSM decides to target the Walmart, blister-pack market and cut off the R&D that made Cold Steel exceptional.

I hope the former CS staff land on their feet and find new employment quickly.
 
not2sharp not2sharp there was a video in post #160 of this thread where Lynn addressed the sale and the future of Cold Steel. It looks like that video no longer works.

Edit: thanks Eli Chaps Eli Chaps for posting a functioning video.
 
not2sharp said:
What address? I haven’t seen anything from Lynn on this.

n2s
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My personal opinion is that when somebody builds a large successful company that purposefully goes against the grain, it must take a tremendous amount of passion, grit, and creativity. That is not the kind of person to cash out and not care weather or not their creation dies a slow pathetic death in the Wal-Mart return bin. If he can realistically prevent that indefinitely is another issue I suppose. I'm sure Lynn had to make concessions on the deal, maybe the warranty for example, but I firmly believe him to be the kind of person who would take great pains to ensure his company would stay true to his vision as much as possible, while still being able to make a good deal and enjoy the fruits of his labor into retirement.
I feel like a lot of questions will be answered with the 2021 catalog, the Cold Steel rep on BF did say that there's a lot to be excited about. Or maybe the 2021 lineup could have been finalized prior to beginning the process of selling. If in fact Lynn and the designers stay around and have a bigger r&d and production budget, this could be awesome in the short term. About 90% of my collection is CS, mostly discontinued knives still in the box. I spoke with Lynn in person and kind of gave him a hard time about discontinuing my favorite knife, he looked me in the eye and said it's coming back. That was a year ago, so I'm hopeful for that and for the near future of CS. Beyond that, I think the Lynn Thompsons era will be a highlight in this industry and will never be duplicated.
 
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sledbot said:

My personal opinion is that when somebody builds a large successful company that purposefully goes against the grain, it must take a tremendous amount of passion, grit, and creativity. That is not the kind of person to cash out and not care weather or not their creation dies a slow pathetic death in the Wal-Mart return bin. If he can realistically prevent that indefinitely is another issue I suppose. I'm sure Lynn had to make concessions on the deal, maybe the warranty for example, but I firmly believe him to be the kind of person who would take great pains to ensure his company would stay true to his vision as much as possible, while still being able to make a good deal and enjoy the fruits of his labor into retirement.
I feel like a lot of questions will be answered with the 2021 catalog, the Cold Steel rep on BF did say that there's a lot to be excited about. Or maybe the 2021 lineup could have been finalized prior to beginning the process of selling. If in fact Lynn and the designers stay around and have a bigger r&d and production budget, this could be awesome in the short term. About 90% of my collection is CS, mostly discontinued knives still in the box. I spoke with Lynn in person and kind of gave him a hard time about discontinuing my favorite knife, he looked me in the eye and said it's coming back. That was a year ago, so I'm hopeful for that and for the near future of CS. Beyond that, I think the Lynn Thompsons era will be a highlight in this industry and will never be duplicated.
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Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite knife that was discontinued?
 
jbmonkey said:
thanks for posting this

more importantly. what we Lynn apologizing for? things he said and did in the past? huh?
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It probably goes back years. Lots of old timers disliked some of the old ads he ran (one in particular about the Tanto's Kevlar piercing ability) and the way he did promos back in the late 80's - early 2000's and such (the Cold Steel challenge). He was way more abrasive back in the old days. Also the quirky things like the CRKT lawsuit - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/cold-steel-vs-crkt-lawsuit.1296659/ .

I also don't know the ins and outs of it, but Lynn and AG Russell allegedly got into a lawsuit years ago that was vicious, and they hated each other for years over it. I mean real hate. One of the claims AG made when he was fired up was that Lynn had a lot of ill will in the industry because he was kind of litigious.
 
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The demko lock videos are a turn off. Propping yourself up by making others look bad isn't going to endure you to your peers.
 
He didnt have to make a video explaining his actions.But he did. And i hope everything he says is true, and Cold Steel comes out with even more good stuff in the future.
 
goldie said:
He didnt have to make a video explaining his actions.But he did. And i hope everything he says is true, and Cold Steel comes out with even more good stuff in the future.
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Of course he did. This little propaganda piece was probably part of the terms of sale. Do you think LT sounded at all like LT? He doesn't, because he is reading someone else's script.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Of course he did. This little propaganda piece was probably part of the terms of sale. Do you think LT sounded at all like LT? He doesn't, because he is reading someone else's script.

n2s
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I dont know squat,......but it did seem like gsm pushed and prodded for a video to calm the fan base down. it just didn't seem completely sincere to me, but what do I know, maybe it was.

be great if Lynn and Andrew were there, but they have no control anymore, so its more of a marketing angle. as in we're here but make no decisions. plus somehow I dont see that lasting beyond the sale terms contracted couple of years or whatever was in the agreement.

maybe its all true and above board and all, but it aint hitting me that way.
 
Just in the interest of history, I mentioned a bit on A G Russell and Lynn a few posts up. Here's a little more on it -

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/cs-vs-russell.84812/ .

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/a-g-russells-regard-or-lack-thereof-for-cold-steel.1330634/ .

Old Rec.knives post were AG mentions all the people that alledgedlly had trouble with Lynn back then -

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.knives/c/5Ugp8Swte8k/m/6ZI7l-i4XQ0J .

Bob Engnath (somewhat famous old time sword / knifemaker, insperation behind CS's "Urban Dart" from years ago) comments - https://groups.google.com/g/rec.knives/c/DuyiV1M6rbA/m/SMQf4AlQzgQJ .

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It's a shame rec.knives is so hard to search, there was a lot of gossip and history that is gone now.
 
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