GEC Beagles

e9evdx.jpg


I can hear the choir singing! Ordered mine last night. Now the wait! :eek:
 
As I feared, my pre-order had been oversubscribed, a disappointment. I really don't like this recent GEC attitude that they can be extremely vague about bone type, shield etc and expect people to sign a blank cheque as it were. I would prefer to know what's on offer beforehand (as in the past...) and take my chance that dealers get some in. This latest strategy guarantees blind sales it seems to me, I think it will have repercussions in the future.
 
Will Power said:
As I feared, my pre-order had been oversubscribed, a disappointment. I really don't like this recent GEC attitude that they can be extremely vague about bone type, shield etc and expect people to sign a blank cheque as it were. I would prefer to know what's on offer beforehand (as in the past...) and take my chance that dealers get some in. This latest strategy guarantees blind sales it seems to me, I think it will have repercussions in the future.
Click to expand...

Will, This is probably best suited for GB&U. GEC just makes the knives. Dealers make the decision whether or not to take presales and when. Buyers (flippers?) decide whether or not to preorder them.

This Beagle thread is overrun with Coyotes. ;) I'm looking forward to seeing the Beagles! :)
 
Will Power said:
As I feared, my pre-order had been oversubscribed, a disappointment. I really don't like this recent GEC attitude that they can be extremely vague about bone type, shield etc and expect people to sign a blank cheque as it were. I would prefer to know what's on offer beforehand (as in the past...) and take my chance that dealers get some in. This latest strategy guarantees blind sales it seems to me, I think it will have repercussions in the future.
Click to expand...

GEC doesn't do preorders. Dealers do preorders. If you don't like how a dealer does their preorder, use a dealer who does preorders how you like or doesn't do them at all. 0% GEC's fault IMO, they could probably say what shields and jigging patterns will be on each model but bone color isn't an exact science.
 
ALLHSS said:
GEC doesn't do preorders. Dealers do preorders. If you don't like how a dealer does their preorder, use a dealer who does preorders how you like or doesn't do them at all. 0% GEC's fault IMO, they could probably say what shields and jigging patterns will be on each model but bone color isn't an exact science.
Click to expand...

Not an exact science no the colour but SOME adjective is not too much to ask. They certainly can and used to release accurate info about the shields and bolsters, I want to buy a knife I like the look of not a must have to complete a collection. Moreover, since I live in Europe I am restricted to the number of dealers who will send abroad, or at least at a reasonable cost...Naturally I'm aware that GEC don't do pre-orders but it seems they don't tell dealers much about pricing or allocation of general orders beforehand either. Understandably, a lot of their work seems SFO biased these days and this is having an effect on general releases it seems to me.

Anyway, got a Northfield Blackwood Yote on order now, if the dealer is sent any...:rolleyes:but no idea what the embelishments will be on this knife....
 
Preorders started months in advance. Everyone could wait until the knives are finished. All of the product information will be documented on GEC's website (and in greater detail than from any other manufacturer) by the time they are actually ready to ship. But the market is a frenzy.
 
ALLHSS said:
GEC doesn't do preorders.
Click to expand...

Where did this information come from? From what I've heard from dealers, GEC asks the dealers to place their orders before the handle options are finalized. Dealers are even able to say how the knives are going to be portioned out before they're made. I don't know how they'd do this without taking some form of preorders. Obviously, the SFOs that are tacked on as a different handle option when they run a particular pattern are all preordered.

I could be wrong as this is all hearsay, but this is the first time I've heard anybody say that GEC doesn't take preorders. I'm curious as to where you heard this.
 
Cory Hess said:
Where did this information come from? From what I've heard from dealers, GEC asks the dealers to place their orders before the handle options are finalized. Dealers are even able to say how the knives are going to be portioned out before they're made. I don't know how they'd do this without taking some form of preorders. Obviously, the SFOs that are tacked on as a different handle option when they run a particular pattern are all preordered.

I could be wrong as this is all hearsay, but this is the first time I've heard anybody say that GEC doesn't take preorders. I'm curious as to where you heard this.
Click to expand...

GEC doesn't do pre-orders to consumers. Again, your argument comes back to the dealers. They decide how they offer knives to the consumer.

Obviously GEC takes orders from their dealers, that's how dealers work.
 
Cory Hess said:
Where did this information come from? From what I've heard from dealers, GEC asks the dealers to place their orders before the handle options are finalized. Dealers are even able to say how the knives are going to be portioned out before they're made. I don't know how they'd do this without taking some form of preorders. Obviously, the SFOs that are tacked on as a different handle option when they run a particular pattern are all preordered.

I could be wrong as this is all hearsay, but this is the first time I've heard anybody say that GEC doesn't take preorders. I'm curious as to where you heard this.
Click to expand...

GEC doesn't take RETAIL PRE-ORDERS. Dealers have no say in how the "knives are portioned out", other than REQUESTING a certain number of each option.
 
Will Power said:
As I feared, my pre-order had been oversubscribed, a disappointment. I really don't like this recent GEC attitude that they can be extremely vague about bone type, shield etc and expect people to sign a blank cheque as it were. I would prefer to know what's on offer beforehand (as in the past...) and take my chance that dealers get some in. This latest strategy guarantees blind sales it seems to me, I think it will have repercussions in the future.
Click to expand...

Which one were you looking for? We might can scare one up somewhere...

Cory Hess said:
Where did this information come from? From what I've heard from dealers, GEC asks the dealers to place their orders before the handle options are finalized. Dealers are even able to say how the knives are going to be portioned out before they're made. I don't know how they'd do this without taking some form of preorders. Obviously, the SFOs that are tacked on as a different handle option when they run a particular pattern are all preordered.

I could be wrong as this is all hearsay, but this is the first time I've heard anybody say that GEC doesn't take preorders. I'm curious as to where you heard this.
Click to expand...

When GEC decides something is going on the schedule they will contact dealers for (what I would call) pre-orders; as they are taken well prior to production. Very rarely is my pre-order shorted; mostly in the event of a significant loss at the factory. But, as an exception, there are sometime short runs (such as the #98's are going to be) wherein the factory either does not put it on the schedule or does not allow pre-orders and instead just allocates at time of production. That is where the status bar on my Early Reserve comes from - the order quantity is actually entered into the tool such that reservers will have a gauge of where they are at. But there are times where the factory made a few extra and I can up my numbers; so knives have been known to go from standby to ok.
 
knifeswapper said:
When GEC decides something is going on the schedule they will contact dealers for (what I would call) pre-orders; as they are taken well prior to production. Very rarely is my pre-order shorted; mostly in the event of a significant loss at the factory. But, as an exception, there are sometime short runs (such as the #98's are going to be) wherein the factory either does not put it on the schedule or does not allow pre-orders and instead just allocates at time of production. That is where the status bar on my Early Reserve comes from - the order quantity is actually entered into the tool such that reservers will have a gauge of where they are at. But there are times where the factory made a few extra and I can up my numbers; so knives have been known to go from standby to ok.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification, Mike. That's pretty much how I understood it to work. I don't want to get too much into the consumer buying from the dealer side of things, but I find it interesting as to how the dealer ordering from the manufacturer side works. I was pretty sure from conversations with a couple of dealers that they were placing most of their orders before the knives were run, and Mike verified this. Sorry for the derail.

As far as the Beagles getting released in April, are they running the 98s between the Coyotes and the Beagles? If so, has a reason been given for this? It seems like it would add to GEC's cost to switch the machining over to run the 98s and then back to run the Beagles. I understand that they also have to go back to the 47s once the snakeskin acrylic arrives from Germany. Hopefully all of this switching back and forth isn't too difficult and doesn't push them off of their schedule too much.
 
Dealers taking preorders is a relatively recent development. There were GEC knife sales for years before preorders. The original complaint was about the availability of product information from GEC and I think we need to keep some perspective that consumers are getting early access to a lot of information. Sometimes the information is months in advance. This is different than what we expect from most manufacturers.
 
supratentorial said:
This is different than what we expect from most manufacturers.
Click to expand...

Which manufacturers don't give information in advance? The only other manufacturers that I really keep up on are Case and Queen and they both put out a catalog at the beginning of the year that tells you everything they're doing that year, aside from some short runs. Maybe I don't understand exactly what you're saying, but it seems to me that other manufacturers release the details and pictures of what they're making well in advance of when GEC does.

GEC does a great job of keeping us informed on what they're currently working on with their blog, but they don't show anything further out than the 98s, which will be the next pattern run. We don't have any idea what patterns they'll be running in October and November, much less what covers they'll be offering.

Other manufacturers put their information out enough in advance that I can plan out which knives I want to pick up through the end of the year. One of the aforementioned short runs might throw a wrench in the works, but last year I knew in February which Queens I'd be buying for the year and it pretty much worked out exactly as I had planned. I expect the same for this year. I have no idea how many/which GECs I'll be picking up this year as I don't even know what they'll be making two months from now, much less this fall.
 
GEC doesn't have a yearly catalog but there are some big differences. As one example, GEC just designed the 98 pattern. They haven't been making the pattern for years. GEC started from scratch. They shared the pattern with us at a very early stage. And now it's on their production schedule. I don't recall ever seeing CAD drawings of new products from Case or Queen... or production photos. For the most part, they're making the same thing every year but the handle materials vary. With the annual Case/Bose knives, there are already examples of the knives when they are revealed to the public.

Regardless, it's all good for GEC. Every new update causes a frenzy of discussion.
 
Last edited:
Cory Hess said:
As far as the Beagles getting released in April, are they running the 98s between the Coyotes and the Beagles? If so, has a reason been given for this?
Click to expand...

Yes. Obviously it would cost to switch tooling back and forth; maybe not as much when switching from the coyote to the beagle anyway. But I believe they probably made a commitment to a knife club to have their #98 in time for their knife show; as the only reason for a short run of a new pattern is to supplement a small club order with a few general production. (some speculation involved) Charlie will also run some of the #98's, which will also help numbers.
 
supratentorial said:
GEC doesn't have a yearly catalog but there are some big differences. As one example, GEC just designed the 98 pattern. They haven't been making the pattern for years. GEC started from scratch. They shared the pattern with us at a very early stage. And now it's on their production schedule. I don't recall ever seeing CAD drawings of new products from Case or Queen... or production photos. For the most part, they're making the same thing every year but the handle materials vary. With the annual Case/Bose knives, there are already examples of the knives when they are revealed to the public.

Regardless, it's all good for GEC. Every new update causes a frenzy of discussion.
Click to expand...

I agree that GEC definitely gives us more information than other manufacturers. I just don't see it as being as timely. I don't think that this is intentional on their part, it's just a byproduct of their business model. It's obviously working out for them, as most of their knives are sold out before they're even made. However, you can see how it would be frustrating to somebody that lives overseas and doesn't have an easy way to mitigate their losses if they get a knife that they end up not liking. I'm not saying that they should change anything, just that I empathize with those that are hesitant to make a commitment until they find out what the knife is going to be and by that time it's too late to buy.

The plus side is that it has to be beneficial for the dealers to be able to have most of their order sold before they get the bill. I'd imagine that this allows our favorite dealers to place larger orders, which gives us more opportunities to get the knife that we want from the dealer that we prefer. Regardless, I doubt that things are going to change as long as all the knives are moving through the pipeline so quickly. There are always going to be trade offs, and in this instance it seems that GEC has found a balance that works well for them. I doubt that they want to upset that.

knifeswapper said:
But I believe they probably made a commitment to a knife club to have their #98 in time for their knife show
Click to expand...

This makes sense. I hadn't considered this possibility. I'm sure that there are many nuances to getting their schedule set. It seems like one of those thankless jobs that gets no appreciation if everything goes without a hitch and everybody notices when things have to be adjusted.
 
If GEC eliminated all of the sneak peaks and progress photos and only showed the finished knives.... and if GEC dealers only accepted orders after the knives were finished...then there would be no more "frustration". There would be a lot less information to get excited about. There would also be a lot less talk.

We even know about the minutiae such as the supply issues for the acrylic and production schedule changes to accommodate deadlines for club knives. The next step is a camera mounted on Bill's hat and a live feed on their website. ;)

What is going on at Queen or Case right now? We won't know much until next year when there's a new catalog. Likewise, there's not a whole lot of discussion about Queen or Case. As I've said in a prior discussion about Queen, it is my opinion that Queen would benefit greatly from following GEC's example.
 
Mods are going to lay the smack down soon!

I want to see beagles! I think I will pass on the coyotes
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top