De Leeuw Friction Folder are you serious?!?

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vilePossum

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Copied from a know retailer site:

Spyderco De Leeuw Friction Folder, C167GP, 2.8" VG-10 Blade Steel, Black G-10 Handle
Suggested Retail: $299.95 Sale Price: $163.63 You Save: $136.32

I have been waiting for a long time for this knife. and at this price i will be waiting a whole lot longer still.
seriously, are you kidding me? Yes, quality comes at a price, but this marks a ridiculous trend.
Compared to other friction folders and considering the got rid of the mosaic pins compared to the prototype shots, this is just overpriced. heck even compared to other great knives from spyderco this is overpriced.

in my eyes this is a continuation of the current trend at spyderco to sell novelties and style at a premium price. luckily there are still the "for use" knives available.
and btw, that price isn't even considering what it will cost over here. usually the retailers in germany will just take the suggested retail and slap an euro sign on it. most of the time it is just cheaper to buy from a store in the us.
 
so buy someone elses friction folder?? :confused:

While I wouldn't pay that price that's because I'm not a fan of friction folders.
But if you don't like the price then don't buy, as the consumer you have a voice and purchasing power with your money. Companies that practice bad business/don't make what you want/exclude your tastes/upset you, why not take your money to another company. Also, MSRP prices are always steeper than online retailers and even local brick and mortars(usually). $163.63 isn't THAT bad, spyderco makes a quality product and stands behind it in my experience, but if it isn't for you then support another company that fit's your needs. Also, Germany's practices in price shouldn't reflect on spyderco, that's a bit unfair.

here's some other friction folder in a similar price range

Monkey EdgeFellhoelter Knives Frikky

Nagao Higonokami Tanto

http://michael morris knives

Felix Wunderlich Knives



Either way best of luck finding a Fricky that suits you, no hostile intent from my side here, purely conversational.

Best of luck, stay safe
-Nick
 
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mrnotsam123 said:
so buy someone elses friction folder?? :confused:

While I wouldn't pay that price that's because I'm not a fan of friction folders.
But if you don't like the price then don't buy, as the consumer you have a voice and purchasing power with your money. Companies that practice bad business/don't make what you want/exclude your tastes/upset you, why not take your money to another company. Also, MSRP prices are always steeper than online retailers and even local brick and mortars(usually). $163.63 isn't THAT bad, spyderco makes a quality product and stands behind it in my experience, but if it isn't for you then support another company that fit's your needs. Also, Germany's practices in price shouldn't reflect on spyderco, that's a bit unfair.

here's some other friction folder in a similar price range

Monkey EdgeFellhoelter Knives Frikky

Nagao Higonokami Tanto

http://michael morris knives

Felix Wunderlich Knives



Either way best of luck finding a Fricky that suits you, no hostile intent from my side here, purely conversational.

Best of luck, stay safe
-Nick
Click to expand...

no hostile intent perceived. actually it is pretty much spot on with my thoughts... though my disappointment got the better of me. i own some other friction folders and certainly will buy others in give time (also partially due to legal reasons). so i voiced my opinion and will move on.
and thanks for the links, some of them i didn't know yet.

@lycosa i hear you buddy!
 
vilePossum said:
in my eyes this is a continuation of the current trend at spyderco to sell novelties and style at a premium price. luckily there are still the "for use" knives available.
Click to expand...
Aside from the nagging worry that Spyderco could put itself out of business if too many of these high priced collaborations are total flops, I'm fine with them being offered, even though none of them appeal to me. Spyderco has been in business for nearly 40 years now, so I figure Sal must be fairly good at reading the market, but he's said himself that even he doesn't know for sure that a new model will sell.
 
Just buy one from Fillip direct....they're a lot cheaper that way ;-)
At least compared to the MSRP.
 
Thanks lx, geez I am an idiot, that never occurred to me that this might be the better choice, him being on the same continent etc.
But first our little project time and money permitting.

@deacon I think Sal knows what he is doing and I guess the market is expecting more high end models. Maybe my expectations were wrong in the first place.
 
The Deacon said:
Aside from the nagging worry that Spyderco could put itself out of business if too many of these high priced collaborations are total flops, I'm fine with them being offered, even though none of them appeal to me. Spyderco has been in business for nearly 40 years now, so I figure Sal must be fairly good at reading the market, but he's said himself that even he doesn't know for sure that a new model will sell.
Click to expand...

I'm with you Deacon. I'm fine with the trend of high-priced collabs, as long as they don't abandon the sub $100 market (and I don't ever see them doing it). I may not be able to afford, or like, all of these new offerings but they are nice to look at.
 
The Deacon said:
Aside from the nagging worry that Spyderco could put itself out of business if too many of these high priced collaborations are total flops, I'm fine with them being offered, even though none of them appeal to me. Spyderco has been in business for nearly 40 years now, so I figure Sal must be fairly good at reading the market, but he's said himself that even he doesn't know for sure that a new model will sell.
Click to expand...

It's double-edged. If they put out a bunch of models that no one wants, they essentially end up discontinuing the model, selling all stock (possibly with a steep discount), and eating a loss. But if they don't put out a bunch of models, they don't create the market exposure which is necessary to determine what will sell. So if you want to know what will sell well, you have to make a bunch of stuff that doesn't.

Even if this friction folder does poorly, Spyderco will walk away with valuable information (don't make friction folders, change the price point, etc) that will help them with new designs and marketing practices. And in that regard, even an unsuccessful model is a winning proposition.
 
Seems like its the collabs that cost a lot of money, personally I agree with you 163$+ is.... excessive, to point it lightly, when you consider the other options in that price range, and lower. But I think collab pricing is influenced by the designer.
 
I'll admit, that I am disappointed. I would pay $150+, but only for something that I really like. Dropping the mosaic pins, and the fact that the sheath is synthetic and looks a bit cheap from the pictures I've seen puts me off.
 
LX_Emergency said:
Just buy one from Fillip direct....they're a lot cheaper that way ;-)
At least compared to the MSRP.
Click to expand...

Is he still active? Though he had taken a break from knifemaking... Might have to get in touch if he still makes customs..
 
NoFair said:
Is he still active? Though he had taken a break from knifemaking... Might have to get in touch if he still makes customs..
Click to expand...

Considering he was present at the last Dutch knife show with a pretty nicely filled table I'm guessing that he's still active. His website is down though. If you can get in touch with him I suspect he'll still have stuff in stock. Although I don't know how many of those will be friction folders.

His framelocks are nicer anyway ;-)
 
The only thing putting me off IS that it's a friction folder.

Me, my luck and a friction folder in my pocket makes reaching into my pocket like dipping my arm into a piranha tank. ;)
 
The price doesn't bother me at all. The knife, however, seems a step down from the prototype that was shown previously with polished scales (like the Street Beat) and mosaic pins. I agree that is much less exciting than anticipated.
 
Just got the spyderbyte email with this one in it. Any idea why they cost so much to make? I ended up double checking other sights expecting a mistake, polished G10, VG10, Seki made, no lock for a $300 msrp? This is well above what many custom friction folders sell for.
 
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