As a New Zealander- any knife I buy in American Money is very costly- I pay easily 50 to 60% more than the average American when you take in Shipping as well - all because of the exchange rate

Yet I have many- this doesnt speak well for my mental state lol

GEC have their marketing sorted out as a business that is a sensible model- it works! and those left behind moan and groan - not thinking that you as Americans are extremely lucky to have one of the World's top quality Cutlers in your Country, lets not forget the demise of such Greats as Schrade, Camillus, Queen, Canal Street etc and more so- GEC are producing knives that on the average are
almost Custom Quality - and at times I believe equal to, at around the average of $120 or so Wow!
Limiting numbers is a very smart idea- not an idea that has some evil man behind it snickering as dozens of victims fall by - We just need to look at the survival rate of a Cutler Firm in America today.
We are so so very lucky to have Bill Howard at the Helm of a Cutler business that is recreating amazing old Time Frames and patterns - for those who are so quick to damn- do a bit of homework just how talented Bill Howard is- I think we are extremely lucky to have this man who is able to employ people in America making Hand assembled knives that are extremely good value when compared to the very high quality.
There is not an American Cutler firm who produce on the average of extremely good quality Knives like GEC do.
A lot of people who knock GEC would actually benefit from touring the GEC factory as I have- its an amazing eye opener just how much goes into each knife with the Human hand handling each knife over 100 times during production.
I often see people state that "that knife better be near perfect if I am going to pay $100 for it"...wow! I have a chuckle at that because if you call a Plumber you have spent that by the time that guy gets out his Van- your $100 on a Traditional knife gets you a knife that - if a drop of oil is placed in the joints now and then - and use but not abuse- this knife will outlast you, your son, his son and probably his son as well.
One other thing..... people who get absolutely livid at people being "flickers" etc, the fact is that if there is a good artist, a good Knife, a good car etc- it will appreciate in value because of what you get out of them, its a buyers market and if people want to pay $300 to $400 dollars for a SFO that is so very hard to get- that knife just may finalise the buyers collection - or may be his/her grail that he or she may think its worth every cent.
I guess its very much like this- If I heard a guy knocking flippers who sell a GEC knife for three time as to what he bought it for- because people are buying them up at a great rate at those prices- and I then walk into the guys garage and see his '69 Z28 Camaro, I would gladly pay the factory price of $3000.00 for it- and exclaim profanities because he is making a profit with his asking price

, or I will ask him how much he paid for his house that he bought 5 years ago and buy it off him and expect for him to make no capital gain- ok ok that's going a bit too far comparing a knife with a Car or a House - but the principles the same- buyers demand- there weren't 200.000 Z28 Camaros made so therefore there's a higher buyer demand- that car is a wanted grail to some, as are many GEC's in the knife world there are people who in a drop of a hat pay 300 to 400 for a year or 2 year old SFO - take for instance an earlier 85 Frame Stag etc.
I just let it be for what it is.
I think we are very lucky - SO lucky to have still - in todays tough economic situation dealing with China's ability to copy and blitz great companies such as the above stated, and really..... what would we do if GEC had to close their doors? that woyuld be another great loss that would be hard to accept.
I think we are so lucky to have this great Cutlery firm here in America - surely you have to embrace this?
I do- and I dont even live there, I am in New Zealand - yet I see what a treasure you have, and yes I have traveled to the States and experienced the GEC tour- which was an amazing eye opener.
I own many knives, and collect, soon I am looking to move some fairly collectible GEC 's and I will sell them for what they are going for at today's rate- which may be 3 or 4 times for some of the releases - compared what they were originally were sold for.
I wont accept anyone coming in an trying to yell down my sale because of this, I have had to pay to get knives I have wanted - usually at a higher rate than the dealer rate when new, I have also paid 6 to 7 times the price to obtain a GEC SFO that was a rare one to make sure a certain person who had every single particular SFO release- could get that one- so I too have paid greatly- but...it was supply and demand - I had the choice of buying the knife or not, there was a gap that needed filling in a collection - the price paid to do that equaled the need.
The knives I will be buying to replace these GEC's I intend to sell - are are very much more greatly priced than what they were when released- it's just the price we pay for liking a certain object - we do have choices.
To everyone, I apologise for the rave- I just don't want you or me to experience another great loss of the Cutler world - we have something very good going on here.