Discontinued Kershaws on the website please

[netdude65]

Since some of the fine folks at Kershaw watch and actually respond to messages in this forum I thought I would say thanks for making some great knives. I also have a request.

How about a place on the Kershaw website cataloging all the discontinued models on an official History of Keshaw link?

What to list:
1) All the specs on each model as done for currrent models: Blade steel, handle materials used on variants, Special features, locking mechanism, size, weight, etc.
2) Dates and places of manufacture.
3) A picture.
4) blade stampings
5) Links to similar current models. Ie.., This model is no longer available but you might like these...
6) Orignal MSRP

Benefits to Consumers
1) An AUTHORITATIVE resource for some great old knives as opposed to suspicious non-autoritative information on something like Wikipedia (which is really lacking on Kershaw info)
2) To satisfy nostalic consumers and collectors who would like to see what those old models were all about, or just see a picture and specs of old favorites.
3) A resource to help protect against fakes on the secondary market.
4) A nice reference to compare original MSRP to current secondary prices.
5) A place for people on bladeforums to link to when talking about a discontinued model so the rest of us can easily see what the model(s) they are talking about if a pic is not provided in the original post.
6) More Keshaw related material and hsitory I"m sure every Keshaw fan would love to read about.

Benefits to Kershaw for all this overhead I am suggesting
1) Increased hits on the website.
2) A link to current similar models (who could resist that?)
3) A page on Kershaw's history wtih bio's of VIPs and designers along with a listing the discontinued models would give Kershaw more of an American Institution look and feel increaseing consumer confidence and brand loyatly. See Harley Davidson's or BMW's History links for a great example of this.
4) Increased consumer feedback (What marketing dept. doesn't love that?) on old models people would like to see come back. (I vote for the Hawk, Wild Wild Turkey, and Talon - yes, with the bottle opener, I loved that feature)

Having said all of that, I will ask if anybody knows of a definitive online database of Kershaw knives past and present?

 

[SPXTrader]

netdude, this is a good idea, but probably too time consuming for Kershaw.

If you're looking for a definitive online database of Kershaw knives past and present, just ask Dave (kershawguy). He's a walking encyclopedia of all things Kershaw!

Also, the stickys at the top are some good sources of info regarding current steels, and change over dates.

 

[SladeGT40]

or you could always do it yourself and post a wiki

 

[netdude65]

netdude, this is a good idea, but probably too time consuming for Kershaw.

Thanks for the reply SPX. I realize the idea might seem to Kershaw to be unecessary overhead, thats why I tried to list some benefits they might get for doing it to justify it.

I am thinking of doing some Wiki pages. I recently helped a guy out on the Schrade section on bladeforums asking for pictures of a Sharpfinger for his Wikipedia page on that model and that is one thing that got me thinking about it. A defunct company like Schrade, yeah, Wikipedia might be the only way a comprehensive online model library might get built.

However, I also noticed that Spyderco is listing their discontinued knives.
Here is an example: http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=193
I think they are missing out some by not putting links to similar current models but the point is, I think if the company is still in business, unlike Schrade, it believe it should fall to the manufacturer to do this. After all, they are their products, discontinued or not. One to be an official authoritative source, and they should have all those knowledgeable resources walking around the office and plants to draw from.

I suppose if I can't interest Keshaw in doing this, I could request help from bladeforums members to make some Wikipedia pages and include links to bladeforums as references (with permission of course). I"ve seen some wonderful pics of Kershaw blades on here that are much more aesthetically pleasing than some pics on Kershaw's website that would sure be nice have out there.

 

[kershawguy]

It certainly is a great Idea. I doubt also that Kershaw would find it cost effective to do at this point. As time passes and more and more people become collectors, there will be more pressure. If someone had the time to start doing something on the forums , I would be happy to help with data from my catalog collection as time permitted. I know it would be very time consuming to do it properly. I know of one individual that is currently compiling info for a Kershaw book , but I don't think he is planning the detail you are talking about. I think his book will be more about the history of Kershaw and the knives they have made, just not in the extreme detail most Bladeforum guys would want.


Dave

 

[netdude65]

To add a bit more to my spyerco reference earlier. You can go to:
http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/

then pulldown the list titled "All Products Sorted Alphabetically By Name..."
then pull the slider down until you see the models that start with the ~ symbol
Example: ~ Syperco Adventura ~ C102

It seems all they are doing is a little editing on the web pages they used while the knives were currently available with all the info minus the manufactured from and to dates and how many were made and just marking them "Discontinued" I also stand corrected as some of the discontinued pages do have links to over knives.

Seems easy enough.

 

[netdude65]

I know of one individual that is currently compiling info for a Kershaw book , but I don't think he is planning the detail you are talking about. I think his book will be more about the history of Kershaw and the knives they have made, just not in the extreme detail most Bladeforum guys would want.

Thanks Dave

I would be interested in a book like that. My point to Kershaw is if they had something like that on their own website, well it would be impressive. I know an end user consumer I like to read about things I am buying or plan to buy. It seems the more I read the more enamored of the product I become. Also I think it has to do with image. I think if you want to be thought of an Apple Pie American Institution you should simply appear as one and thats over half the battle. A good website detailing the history of the company and its products over the years would go a long way towards that these days.

 

[SPXTrader]

I suppose if I can't interest Keshaw in doing this, I could request help from bladeforums members to make some Wikipedia pages and include links to bladeforums as references (with permission of course). I"ve seen some wonderful pics of Kershaw blades on here that are much more aesthetically pleasing than some pics on Kershaw's website that would sure be nice have out there.

I don't think breaking it up by model # and asking for help from the residents here would be a problem. The tought parts will be obtaining the info on older models (Thomas, Dave and OE come to mind as the "experts"), and then picking someone (you, I suppose) to compile all of it and post it. I'll help out when time allows, as I too think it would be a good read. Perhaps Dave could hook you up with his buddy that's doing the book, and yall could share info.