Lets talk GEC!

Jordan@DLT said:
This surprised us too. Did not expect to see these when we opened the box from GEC.
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Does a GEC dealer have to accept whatever GEC sends them? I am sure some extra barlows in the box is a pleasant surprise, but a hundred #97's might not be.
 
LastRodeo said:
Does a GEC dealer have to accept whatever GEC sends them? I am sure some extra barlows in the box is a pleasant surprise, but a hundred #97's might not be.
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We take whatever they make, other than SFOs for other companies, and as many as they will send us. Sometimes it bites us a little like on the #97s we still have tons of, but most GEC stuff tends to sell well and the rest sells almost instantly.
 
JohnDF said:
I'm sure GEC knows full well what's going on, Bill isn't dumb (I'm sure).
They are allowing it to happen because it drives up interest in their product and the dealers have no trouble selling their stock.
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Personally I want Bill to make knives as economically as possible and put them in the distribution channel. Finding some ill-intent on behalf of the factory because they refuse to get involved in the greatest free market in the world is a bit perplexing to me. The selling channels that dealers use should, over time, separate the wheat from the chaff.

In the meantime, one dealer profits $15 on a knife the next profits $300+ on. If you had a rock in your hand and two guys walked up to you - one offering $15 and one offering $300; which would you take? It is not a secret what I think of dealers becoming flippers - but in doing so they will clear more profit on one knife than I do on all of mine. And let's don't fool ourselves - a good portion of the buyers at $64 are going straight to eBay to get their $300. So, with GEC putting out $64 TC Barlows I thought I would at least see a slowdown in "factory controlled market" discussions.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Just looking around and it seems Case is doing the Copperhead pattern again. Honestly not a bad runner up for the next GEC we miss. I have a feeling I’d end up sending it to J jsdistin to get it up to the GEC quality...
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Thanks man, can do. How is that lignum vitae aging and wearing in so far? I made myself a chef’s knife and used the rest of it for the handle. I assume it just darkens but maybe you’ve had some other results like if it remains polished or gets dull from wear.
 
LastRodeo said:
Does a GEC dealer have to accept whatever GEC sends them? I am sure some extra barlows in the box is a pleasant surprise, but a hundred #97's might not be.
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GEC knows on all allocated runs that all dealers will take what they send. Open orders (example #97's) are different because they actually take dealer orders and produce to that number. But there are several of the newer / larger dealers that have standing orders (example: 110 of everything produced). They won't get that number on an allocated run; but the factory knows how many to send without contact.
 
knifeswapper said:
Personally I want Bill to make knives as economically as possible and put them in the distribution channel. Finding some ill-intent on behalf of the factory because they refuse to get involved in the greatest free market in the world is a bit perplexing to me. The selling channels that dealers use should, over time, separate the wheat from the chaff.

In the meantime, one dealer profits $15 on a knife the next profits $300+ on. If you had a rock in your hand and two guys walked up to you - one offering $15 and one offering $300; which would you take? It is not a secret what I think of dealers becoming flippers - but in doing so they will clear more profit on one knife than I do on all of mine. And let's don't fool ourselves - a good portion of the buyers at $64 are going straight to eBay to get their $300. So, with GEC putting out $64 TC Barlows I thought I would at least see a slowdown in "factory controlled market" discussions.
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so will those who missed out from your original drawing be getting a shot at these other barlows?
 
knifeswapper said:
Personally I want Bill to make knives as economically as possible and put them in the distribution channel. Finding some ill-intent on behalf of the factory because they refuse to get involved in the greatest free market in the world is a bit perplexing to me. The selling channels that dealers use should, over time, separate the wheat from the chaff.

In the meantime, one dealer profits $15 on a knife the next profits $300+ on. If you had a rock in your hand and two guys walked up to you - one offering $15 and one offering $300; which would you take? It is not a secret what I think of dealers becoming flippers - but in doing so they will clear more profit on one knife than I do on all of mine. And let's don't fool ourselves - a good portion of the buyers at $64 are going straight to eBay to get their $300. So, with GEC putting out $64 TC Barlows I thought I would at least see a slowdown in "factory controlled market" discussions.
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What a lot of people were confused was why two barlows that are the same except one the cover material(synthetic vs natural material) and on an sfo and one regular production, is the 64 vs 150ish price difference. That's not 15 or 20 bucks difference. That's the "cat out of the bag" mentality that they are feeling, in my opinion, FWIW. Also, the cheaper on is the rarer one.
 
NewBlades16 said:
What a lot of people were confused was why two barlows that are the same except one the cover material(synthetic vs natural material) and on an sfo and one regular production, is the 64 vs 150ish price difference. That's not 15 or 20 bucks difference. That's the "cat out of the bag" mentality that they are feeling, in my opinion, FWIW. Also, the cheaper on is the rarer one.
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I don't think people are confused. GEC is moving away from sfo's. But they cannot afford to walk away from their most popular patterns. Giving Charlie the ability to have one more run before re-taking the pattern seems as close to equitable as possible. Charlie did what everyone was telling him to do - take the margin out of the knife for the flippers. So, Charlie's sfo's have an extra layer of distribution and cost a lot more. Yes, the $64 barlow is a bit of a slap in the face of Charlie as far as I am concerned. But my margin on Charlie's sfo is exactly the same as the glitter gold. You would think though that having a $64 TC barlow would eliminate the argument of Bill propping up the market by small production numbers - but, nope. People still act like they are taking 45 minute breaks every hour just to make sure they starve the market.
 
knifeswapper said:
I don't think people are confused. GEC is moving away from sfo's. But they cannot afford to walk away from their most popular patterns. Giving Charlie the ability to have one more run before re-taking the pattern seems as close to equitable as possible. Charlie did what everyone was telling him to do - take the margin out of the knife for the flippers. So, Charlie's sfo's have an extra layer of distribution and cost a lot more. Yes, the $64 barlow is a bit of a slap in the face of Charlie as far as I am concerned. But my margin on Charlie's sfo is exactly the same as the glitter gold. You would think though that having a $64 TC barlow would eliminate the argument of Bill propping up the market by small production numbers - but, nope. People still act like they are taking 45 minute breaks every hour just to make sure they starve the market.
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I was being tactful in my choice of the word "confused." I was not aware of the taking the margin out of the flippers hands until another seller stated that. I did not realize people were encouraging Charlie to do that.
 
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It is nice to finally see a Production Schedule update from GEC - though I do find it somewhat perplexing.

Two popular patterns that I suspect rather short runs of, limited cover options, and overall pretty standard configurations. I do wonder how much GEC is struggling - this differs quite a bit from how things were prior to the pandemic. If the runs are as short as the non-SFO Barlows appear to be, this is just going to continue to sour things for folks. There is nothing fun or glamorous about trying to claw your way to the top of a 500+ person pile just so you can maybe get your name on one of 5 pieces...

Truth be told though, nothing would please me more than to see 1000+ of the Boys Knife in Cocobolo being made - all steel construction, tried and true blade, and at a $60ish price point. If the 85s get made without an EO notch, I would be inclined to try them again as well.

Good to see GEC is still wanting to make knives but the whole "starting-2021-off-with-a-bang" doesn't seem to be materializing quite yet like I had hoped it would.
 
Pàdruig said:
It is nice to finally see a Production Schedule update from GEC - though I do find it somewhat perplexing.

Two popular patterns that I suspect rather short runs of, limited cover options, and overall pretty standard configurations. I do wonder how much GEC is struggling - this differs quite a bit from how things were prior to the pandemic. If the runs are as short as the non-SFO Barlows appear to be, this is just going to continue to sour things for folks. There is nothing fun or glamorous about trying to claw your way to the top of a 500+ person pile just so you can maybe get your name on one of 5 pieces...

Truth be told though, nothing would please me more than to see 1000+ of the Boys Knife in Cocobolo being made - all steel construction, tried and true blade, and at a $60ish price point. If the 85s get made without an EO notch, I would be inclined to try them again as well.

Good to see GEC is still wanting to make knives but the whole "starting-2021-off-with-a-bang" doesn't seem to be materializing quite yet like I had hoped it would.
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Do you mind me asking what you don't care for about the EO notch?
 
mcc850 said:
Do you mind me asking what you don't care for about the EO notch?
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Not at all! It's a great question.

The EO notch is a great feature for those who might otherwise have difficulties opening their knife (weak or no fingernails, shallow nicks, or really stout pulls, etc). I don't have any of those concerns so I find the EO notch to be unnecessary. That is just my general view of EO notches.

With regards to the 85, due to the relative shortness of the frame, an EO notch breaks up an otherwise rather comfortable pattern. My ring finger tends to awkwardly settle halfway over the notch and it is uncomfortable and off-putting - I could never get used to it so I moved the ones I had along. If this new run makes them without the EO notch, I will definitely be interested.
 
Pàdruig said:
Not at all! It's a great question.

The EO notch is a great feature for those who might otherwise have difficulties opening their knife (weak or no fingernails, shallow nicks, or really stout pulls, etc). I don't have any of those concerns so I find the EO notch to be unnecessary. That is just my general view of EO notches.

With regards to the 85, due to the relative shortness of the frame, an EO notch breaks up an otherwise rather comfortable pattern. My ring finger tends to awkwardly settle halfway over the notch and it is uncomfortable and off-putting - I could never get used to it so I moved the ones I had along. If this new run makes them without the EO notch, I will definitely be interested.
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Thank you! I haven't had one with the EO notch yet, and thought they looked kind of unique. I never thought about what it would do in terms of handle comfort. Looking forward to seeing the bone on these 85s as I've been wanting to add a smooth bone handle to my collection.
 
jsdistin said:
Thanks man, can do. How is that lignum vitae aging and wearing in so far? I made myself a chef’s knife and used the rest of it for the handle. I assume it just darkens but maybe you’ve had some other results like if it remains polished or gets dull from wear.
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It's great Jeff! I'm at work or I'd go snap a picture. I think it's remained fairly unchanged since I got it in the mail, but that's fine by me. It's some durable stuff- not a noticeable scratch or dent yet. At this rate I think the blade sharpen to nothing before the Lignum Vitae wears at all. I love that knife- it's got me hooked on wood covers.

knifeswapper said:
And let's don't fool ourselves - a good portion of the buyers at $64 are going straight to eBay to get their $300.
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*sigh* as usual, Mike's the voice of reason.
I say "to heck with it"-
knifeswapper knifeswapper
J Jordan@DLT
You guys go get yours, mark 'um up whatever you think you can get for them. I'd rather see you guys benefit. I really appreciate that you guys are some of the last hold outs.

If purchasing a GEC can only be done by the affluent or the irresponsible, then I'm going to have to find something else.

Send me to Rome and call me "Nero"; I'm gonna learn how to fiddle.
 
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