GEC Popularity Question

jc57 said:
Depends on what you are into in terms of "desirability."

When originally planned and designed, they weren't expecting to end up being scarce highly-sought after Veblen goods.

Northfield was the premium brand with extra design elements, so maybe expected to cater to the collector market.
Tidioute (carbon steel) and GEC (stainless) were the "daily carry and use" brands. Same patterns, but generally a bit plainer with the less premium handle materials.
The original 'Red Neck' which became Farm and Field was the "no-nonsense working person's knife" - tool steel, synthetic handles, similar to Case's basic Sod Buster knives.

Originally, the pricing bands were in line with this - Northfield patterns up near $100 or a little over, Tidioute down in the $65 to $85 range, Farm and Field down around $50-60, and GEC stainless, when you could find them, generally similar to Tidioute but the elk stag up there with Northfield.

That was back in the glorious days of the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath, when GEC releases actually made it to dealer inventory, and would sit there for a while waiting to be sold. They had not yet established their reputation for quality to the point where people would be willing to pre-pay for knives that had not yet been produced.

Today is is all about excess demand and limited supply, so the original pricing and market segment targeting no longer applies. But it was originally like I laid out here.
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Thanks for the history and thoughtful reply. I personally never paid them any attention till about 4 years ago... always been a Buck, Case, Camillus, Western, etc guy. Appreciate the perspective. -S&D
 
One gec pattern that really catches my eye are the ebony with silver caps with a really nice silver emblem or without. They are mostly older patterns so obviously idont have one.but hopefully gec does one in the near future.
 
Will Power said:
In terms of simplicity, the Farm & Field range are aimed at work-use so they have tough scales such as Micarta (generally) and all steel construction and they certainly do live up to expectations but finish is the equal of the others' no rough n' ready there :D very sturdy and satisfying.

If we consider scarcity, that can lead to appreciation by the more driven collector and there are some ultra minuscule releases in single figures. It's rewarding to look at the recent thread initiated by Charlie @waynorth on GEC early years 2006-11 many scarce knives here. In connexion with scarcity, it can be argued that the Great Eastern marque for stainless pocket knives is itself pretty rare as releases are few & far between. Fans of the stainless have few to choose from and here's an example: I got hold of this 2012 release of a 68 pattern White Owl Light Tan jigged bone one of just 5- so only 4 left in the USA now. Not the usual 'tyre-tread' jigging here either....

k14AzST.jpg
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That’s a real looker, Will. Just needs a little patina… 😉🤣

jc57 said:
Depends on what you are into in terms of "desirability."

When originally planned and designed, they weren't expecting to end up being scarce highly-sought after Veblen goods.

Northfield was the premium brand with extra design elements, so maybe expected to cater to the collector market.
Tidioute (carbon steel) and GEC (stainless) were the "daily carry and use" brands. Same patterns, but generally a bit plainer with the less premium handle materials.
The original 'Red Neck' which became Farm and Field was the "no-nonsense working person's knife" - tool steel, synthetic handles, similar to Case's basic Sod Buster knives.

Originally, the pricing bands were in line with this - Northfield patterns up near $100 or a little over, Tidioute down in the $65 to $85 range, Farm and Field down around $50-60, and GEC stainless, when you could find them, generally similar to Tidioute but the elk stag up there with Northfield.

That was back in the glorious days of the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath, when GEC releases actually made it to dealer inventory, and would sit there for a while waiting to be sold. They had not yet established their reputation for quality to the point where people would be willing to pre-pay for knives that had not yet been produced.

Today is is all about excess demand and limited supply, so the original pricing and market segment targeting no longer applies. But it was originally like I laid out here.
Click to expand...

Dang, you’re making me feel all nostalgic for the good ol’ days of **checks notes to see when I first got into GEC** 8 years ago. 😢😁
 
I personally prefer the Northfield “look.” I like a little excess decoration for decoration’s sake. I like the Northfield SFOs even more because I think they often have a little extra flair that the regular factory models lack.

I don’t think most collectors or GEC customers really obsess over pecking order within the hierarchy… they like what they like. For some that’s “everything,” gotta have an example of every single knife. For some that’s certain cover materials or trim level (Tidioute vs Northfield) and for some it’s all about chasing SFOs or rare variants.
 
When the company started it was Great Eastern, Northfield then Tidioute in order of prestige. Great Eastern were all stainless, high polish and stag or horn scales. Northfield was a step down in carbon, high polish and natural handle materials. Tidioute was more glazed or satin finish with primarily bone, micarta and acrylic scales. Farm and Field was last with satin finish and Delrin/micarta scales.

Which is more popular I have no idea. GEC collecting is all over the place. When GEC first came on the scene they were not popular at all and received a lot of flak. I think a lot was driven by FOMO. Camilus had folded, other high-end makers like Queen and Canal Street soon followed. Boker shifted most of their production to China and South America. Their Solingen models were few and far between. Most other Solingen makers did the same or folded shop.

GEC, Case and Bear were the last men standing. GEC used more traditional methods and materials in construction and had better QC.
 
GaiusJulius said:
I personally prefer the Northfield “look.” I like a little excess decoration for decoration’s sake. I like the Northfield SFOs even more because I think they often have a little extra flair that the regular factory models lack.

I don’t think most collectors or GEC customers really obsess over pecking order within the hierarchy… they like what they like. For some that’s “everything,” gotta have an example of every single knife. For some that’s certain cover materials or trim level (Tidioute vs Northfield) and for some it’s all about chasing SFOs or rare variants.
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Thanks for the perspective

dundak said:
When the company started it was Great Eastern, Northfield then Tidioute in order of prestige. Great Eastern were all stainless, high polish and stag or horn scales. Northfield was a step down in carbon, high polish and natural handle materials. Tidioute was more glazed or satin finish with primarily bone, micarta and acrylic scales. Farm and Field was last with satin finish and Delrin/micarta scales.

Which is more popular I have no idea. GEC collecting is all over the place. When GEC first came on the scene they were not popular at all and received a lot of flak. I think a lot was driven by FOMO. Camilus had folded, other high-end makers like Queen and Canal Street soon followed. Boker shifted most of their production to China and South America. Their Solingen models were few and far between. Most other Solingen makers did the same or folded shop.

GEC, Case and Bear were the last men standing. GEC used more traditional methods and materials in construction and had better QC.
Click to expand...
Love the history, thank you!
 
jc57 said:
They had not yet established their reputation for quality to the point where people would be willing to pre-pay for knives that had not yet been produced.
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Is there really a dealers who do that? I mean, take prepayment when new model has been just announced?
 
Alex.Y. said:
Is there really a dealers who do that? I mean, take prepayment when new model has been just announced?
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I'm sure there are and I'm sure that there are more customers that wish there were more vs. the crazy cart robbing frenzy that's become commonplace.
 
Will Power said:
In terms of simplicity, the Farm & Field range are aimed at work-use so they have tough scales such as Micarta (generally) and all steel construction and they certainly do live up to expectations but finish is the equal of the others' no rough n' ready there :D very sturdy and satisfying.

If we consider scarcity, that can lead to appreciation by the more driven collector and there are some ultra minuscule releases in single figures. It's rewarding to look at the recent thread initiated by Charlie @waynorth on GEC early years 2006-11 many scarce knives here. In connexion with scarcity, it can be argued that the Great Eastern marque for stainless pocket knives is itself pretty rare as releases are few & far between. Fans of the stainless have few to choose from and here's an example: I got hold of this 2012 release of a 68 pattern White Owl Light Tan jigged bone one of just 5- so only 4 left in the USA now. Not the usual 'tyre-tread' jigging here either....

k14AzST.jpg
Click to expand...
A true treasure Will and happy for you, it's neat to have a rare and unique piece of cutlery. It's a great feeling to use and appreciate it for what it truly is. Also, it's neat seeing someone like yourself who appreciates such a knife be its caretaker :thumbsup: :)
 
Will Power said:
In terms of simplicity, the Farm & Field range are aimed at work-use so they have tough scales such as Micarta (generally) and all steel construction and they certainly do live up to expectations but finish is the equal of the others' no rough n' ready there :D very sturdy and satisfying.
Click to expand...

Very true. The Farm & Field knives are the ones i use the most. They feature the cutlery rivet pivot which makes them very reliable.

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There aren't many patterns in this lineup, so i've had to get some Northfields and Tidioutes. What else to do ?

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Dan.
 
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