Get out the tar and feathers...

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I was huge into GEC a few years back and bought more than I probably shouldā€™ve lol. I see a lot of familiar names that still hang out on the porch and these are folks I always enjoyed talking knives with but overall (at least to me) the atmosphere and environment of traditional knife collecting has changed. Itā€™s definitely not what it used to be and that honestly makes me kinda sad.

I have nothing negative to say about Bill, the GEC crew or the knives they work hard to make available to the public. Itā€™s a shame that it has turned into the circus it has become but itā€™s not their fault.

Oh! and I still miss Big Biscuit! I still have the last message he and I shared in my inbox where we agreed to talk knives again on the porch ā€œupstairsā€ and I plan on honoring that commitment someday.

waynorth waynorth - weā€™ll be discussing your TCs as our first order of business Iā€™d imagine!
 
CVamberbonehead said:
I think you meant to say "really low chance of ever getting one of them" lol šŸ˜
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Definitely not easy to get but honestly I don't find it that hard to snag one I'm really after. Sure, I've missed a few I wanted but oh well, I've also managed like 75% or better trying for the ones I was hoping for.

The amazing thing is, even though they're harder than ever to get, they're doing like double the annual production they were doing 10 years ago. That is another thing that really impresses me with them is they ARE ramping up production but I've yet to get a dud. In fact I'd argue their quality is going UP, especially in comparison to their early days.
 
Complaining about a company not making enough knives is pretty silly IMO. They have a business model that is working for them and allows them to keep making knives the way they want. If they started mass producing knives then the quality would probably drop, people wouldnā€™t be as interested, and they might be as successful as a business. The scarcity and the game of landing GECs is part of what makes them so successful. Complaining about a successful business model because you canā€™t readily buy a knife whenever you want is kinda silly. After all, companies must make money first and foremost so if the business plan works then Iā€™d say they are doing things correctly.

As far as quality goes there is absolutely no comparing GEC to Case. Yeah they arenā€™t perfect but the percentage of flawed knives they put out is about equal to the percentage of unflawed knives Case puts out.
 
I don't think you can really blame GEC for having a very successful model. Not every company needs to grow to meet all demand, in fact some would say it may be a smart long-term strategy to keep production below demand.

At the same time, their offerings don't hold much interest for me anymore. I'm glad I own the GEC knives that I do, but they haven't offered much lately (last several years) that piques my interest. That, combined with the insane scramble required to obtain one, have resulted in my knife buying going elsewhere for the most part.

I'm glad to see a quality traditional knifemaker succeed in this day and age, but there would only be a few specific patterns/blade combos that I might bother to chase at this point. It would have to be something pretty special.
 
DustinK said:
Complaining about a company not making enough knives is pretty silly IMO. They have a business model that is working for them and allows them to keep making knives the way they want. If they started mass producing knives then the quality would probably drop, people wouldnā€™t be as interested, and they might be as successful as a business. The scarcity and the game of landing GECs is part of what makes them so successful. Complaining about a successful business model because you canā€™t readily buy a knife whenever you want is kinda silly. After all, companies must make money first and foremost so if the business plan works then Iā€™d say they are doing things correctly.

As far as quality goes there is absolutely no comparing GEC to Case. Yeah they arenā€™t perfect but the percentage of flawed knives they put out is about equal to the percentage of unflawed knives Case puts out.
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I hear a lot of this same discussion with the craft breweries and distilleries I work with. They often get the "why don't you just make more?" and accusations of intentionally doing small batches to drive up the market but the truth of the matter is that in most any production business you CAN'T just like hire a couple more people and double your speed and put out twice your volume, things just don't scale that way. Plus, on top of that, for most of my clients, they're making a comfortable living and making enough money to not worry about debts and loans and new equipment and expanded spaces and new stress trying to manage QC on double the product etc... most of them don't ever want to be the next Yuengling or the next Flying Dog and are happy and content that they've developed a business and business model that is sustaining itself and supporting all those involved. Sure, they might expand and upgrade and speed up production a little here and there but most of them are not looking to take out another $1M loan to double their production and hope it all works out... especially now that they've found a good self-sustaining groove their business is thriving in.

I've also seen it go the opposite way; brewery does well, demand outpacing their supply a bit, so they invest a ton in upgrading and bumping their production rate. And then one of many things happens and they're now sitting on a giant lump of debt with a brewery capable of producing more product than they have demand to supply. This could be due to quality drop from production increase or it could be due to changing tastes in the market or it could be due to the overall economy taking a turn. The risk of investing in cranking up production doesn't always pay off.
 
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Unfortunately, like all things, it just takes a few bad eggs to ruin something nice. Take Rolex for example. They make a decent watch, thats about it, some would even say a good watch. Where they are on the totem pole in terms of swiss watch making, is not exactly the highest but they are known and respected. However, considering its position as a highly desired hype driven watch, it has changed what regular folks have to pay for one like they used to back then. In fact, there were years when I wanted to abstain from rolex just because of its connotation in my culture. Then I saw a model ive never seen before and here we are.
Now, lets extrapolate this to Gecs and slipjoint knives. For my part, I didnt really get into them until maybe 2013/2014 when i finished student loans and had extra fun money lying around. Some of the folks from before that time can tell you about the shift in the market through the years, especially if they have been around since the beginning. GEC has grown a lot since their early days and since my initial interest in them. It used to be a steady stream of interest coming in, but unfortunately (or fortunately) its now torrents of new interest. There is nothing you can do but roll with the tide. Can always avoid the secondary market, keep a list of flippers not to sell to and to avoid buying from, and try for the IPOs. Its indeed upsetting especially watching the same folks snatch up extras of the same models to extort trades with or to flip, seeing as they dont care about collecting, its always the dollars for them. Dont get me started about the people who always ask for "bro deals" but never offer any. But as the cost rises, I have realized perhaps its time to hold back, especially since Bill doesn't make knives the way I want them and I usually have to pay extra to get them the way I like. Maybe just try to get a few you like and call it quits? Personally, I am happy every time I see a release I don't care for, as it means I will have no part in the rat race.
 
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I have 3 of 4 from the early days.
Gave one away whose point was proud of the liners (easy fix) & worse, nearly impossible to open.

Once obtaining a GEC involved lists and preordersā€¦.. well, I wonā€™t be bothered.

I canā€™t believe what itā€™s turned into now.

Never did get that Mako either lol.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Iā€™ll be camping in Allegheny national park in July, and even though Iā€™m out of the GEC game, Iā€™m still going to drive 45 minutes to stop in Titusville.
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Slim pickings a month after the rendezvous. Maybe.
 
About this GEC supply and demand, I just don't think there's as much demand and little supply as some folks may have you believe. It's almost as if the supply is about right if people would just stop buying on impulse for fomo or for flipping. I do agree there will never be enough supply to meet the demand of certain knives though, and I'm not talking about that.

And speaking of quality, execution, fit and finish, or whatever, I won't have a Case or GEC that doesn't live up to my expectations and suit me well. I've had keepers and losers from both brands. My opinion here, for sure.

The thing that sours me about GEC is, they hold the position that a pull so stiff the average person can't even use it is normal and not a defect. That's a tough lesson learned when your first slipjoint pocket knife cost you $200 and you can't even use it.
 
Bloodloss said:
The thing that sours me about GEC is, they hold the position that a pull so stiff the average person can't even use it is normal and not a defect. That's a tough lesson learned when your first slipjoint pocket knife cost you $200 and you can't even use it.
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At the same time though, I personally prefer the heavy pulls so it's certainly not a defect to me. I'm fine with lighter pulls as well but I love a strong snappy knife.
 
Bloodloss said:
About this GEC supply and demand, I just don't think there's as much demand and little supply as some folks may have you believe. It's almost as if the supply is about right if people would just stop buying on impulse for fomo or for flipping. I do agree there will never be enough supply to meet the demand of certain knives though, and I'm not talking about that.

And speaking of quality, execution, fit and finish, or whatever, I won't have a Case or GEC that doesn't live up to my expectations and suit me well. I've had keepers and losers from both brands. My opinion here, for sure.

The thing that sours me about GEC is, they hold the position that a pull so stiff the average person can't even use it is normal and not a defect. That's a tough lesson learned when your first slipjoint pocket knife cost you $200 and you can't even use it.
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I think the supply and demand is good as well. I donā€™t understand the people who think itā€™s impossible to buy one from a dealer. Iā€™ve never had much of an issue getting one from a dealer when I desired to do so and no, Iā€™m not friends with any or on ā€œlistsā€ like someone mentioned. Itā€™s not very difficult to land a new GEC and thatā€™s refusing to buy from the ridiculously expensive dealers as well.

I also agree on the pull. I like a knife I can pinch open and some of them are way to stout for me.
 
Most of the GECs I own are from years ago when they were available from dealers, and were reasonably priced for what they were: They were American made knives that traced their lineage back to Queen. They were nice enough, but for the most part weren't exceptional. They tended to be cookie cutter knives, you could spot a GEC from across the room.

Then the stoopid happened. They became scarce, you had to know the secret handshake to buy one, you had to pay through the nose for them... but mostly what turned me off about GEC knives were GEC fanatics. You got skinned alive if you said anything unflattering about a GEC knife or the company. These guys couldn't accept that there could be a difference of opinion, let alone that a problem could exist. In short, the internet took over.

The same nose in the air thing was true of an awful lot of Case fans thirty or forty years ago. These days old Case knives can be had at bargain prices. A few years ago I bought a ton of Queen knives dirt cheap because the Internet said they were all crap based on the troubles Queen had in its end years.

These things have a way of working themselves out. You'll pay extravagant money to be one of the cool kids, and then bellyache when the bottom drops out.

Rinse, lather, repeat.
 
I wish that Case would lower their production totals and focus more on quality. Iā€™d like to see all of their knives made with the same attention to detail as the Bose collaborations. Solingen made Bokers seem to be the next best production knife after GEC. Those are hit or miss too though. Every GEC Iā€™ve ever had has been nearly perfect.
 
CVamberbonehead said:
No, I just think that GEC isnt helping the matter with the way they run things. Also, I just think that the knives just arent good enough to justify the 3 ring GEC circus. That's all. :thumbsup:
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If Case produced knives to the same standard as GEC, I would own more Case knives. You canā€™t deny that GEC excels at marketing. They know what theyā€™re doing making knives, they know how to market them as well
 
I really think 50% of GEC knives are bought, and immediately sold for 2x the retail price. Go to knife shows, check FB sales and Ebay. It seriously feels as soon as there is a new release, 1/2 of them show up for re-sale within 10 days. It's the Tulip Mania flower bubble effect, same as beanie babies in the 90s. It eventually will pop when there are more people trying to turn a profit than there are actual buyers/collectors.
 
I have a number new GEC , Case , and a few other brands of knives . After I received my first GEC in 2015 , I could see that they were in the upper quality level of knives . I knew that I had to pay more and I still bought them . I have never had a problem with any of them . There were some nit-picky things with a number of them , but I never had to return any of them , but most of them are not used much either . I collect knives for my own gratification and gifts to family members , and I am sure that there are many on these forums who do as well . IMO GEC makes more knife styles that I like . They may not be as easy to get as they used to be or as you would like , but that is Life my friend . GEC must be doing something right or they would not be as popular as they are . There are many other brands out there for you to choose from . See how you like them instead . Some of them are quite nice .

Harry
 
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