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I feel that. I've been looking at other manufacturers because of my frustrations. Life's too short to panic over getting a particular knife, pattern, manufacturer, or whatever.
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Lets talk GEC!
- Thread starter rockgolfer
- Start date
I feel that. I've been looking at other manufacturers because of my frustrations. Life's too short to panic over getting a particular knife, pattern, manufacturer, or whatever.
KSF shared with me their allotment of Charlows this time. I found it interesting! Clearly you had to be quick on the draw.
Inventory was:
Two Blade
8 Paulo Santo
7 Antique Yellow
6 Tan Jigged
Single Blade
3 Paulo Santo
3 Antique Yellow
2 Tan Jigged
Inventory was:
Two Blade
8 Paulo Santo
7 Antique Yellow
6 Tan Jigged
Single Blade
3 Paulo Santo
3 Antique Yellow
2 Tan Jigged
Seeing kj's French Kate, it occurred to me the cloud shield has become something I really strongly associate with the Northfield brand. I love it. But other than maybe one Menefee custom I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere else. Was it something GEC came up with or did they just revive a really uncommon shield?
Pjake
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Frankly, there does appear to be a "dark side" of the "porch". Pretty much the norm among enthusiasts, regardless of the object of desire. It is what it is. In this case, I really don't care as the TC Barlow is not a high interest item to me. Like I said in my post earlier, there are so many great knives (GEC and others), just hang on until you find one that speaks to you.
Peter
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It creates a feeding frenzy that I don't care for.
To the best of my knowledge the TC Barlow was instigated as a SFO collaboration between GEC and Charlie Campagna. Runs have always been short, at least they are spread out over several dealers....
It would perhaps ease the pressure a bit if GEC produced a large run themselves... Would this devalue what people already have? A little perhaps but theirs would still be a limited run so....
I was lucky and got one before things went loopy! Mine still gets carried, used, dropped etc like any other edc. Probably has some rust somewhere....
Sam
It would perhaps ease the pressure a bit if GEC produced a large run themselves... Would this devalue what people already have? A little perhaps but theirs would still be a limited run so....
I was lucky and got one before things went loopy! Mine still gets carried, used, dropped etc like any other edc. Probably has some rust somewhere....
Sam
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Amen, brother Bob! :thumbup:
:thumbup::thumbup:
Too often I inhabit the dark side of the porch. In that sense, my favorite GEC patterns really are like an addiction. Like Bob, I don't care for the feeding frenzy. I don't enjoy the "thrill of the hunt." I want to quit. But I can't. Instead, I've become an expert in reserving or buying knives from my cell phone.
It is time for this knife enthusiast to reconsider all the options. I'm going to look again at other manufacturers, and relish the beauty of simple things. I'll probably still be tempted by the GECs, especially the TC Barlows. But if I want to spend a couple hundred on a knife, I will put it towards a custom made.
Thanks, gentlemen, for correcting our course a bit!
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Heck, I ain't even on the porch.
I think I may be on a porch. I'm just not sure it's the right house.
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As popular as the GEC #15 pattern Barlow is I do wish they'd make a standard production version. Lose the TC on the bolster, and maybe a few other changes to differentiate the standard version from the SFO versions. Something like that might lessen the feeding frenzy & secondary market problems.
At the same time it might end up decreasing sales for GEC. I really like their knives and would hate to see their business suffer. As it stands now any Barlow they make is pretty much sold within minutes of release. Good business situation to be in. We also have ourselves to blame for generating the increased demand. Go back prior to the release of Charlie's SFO Barlows and there are only a few threads about Barlows. Fast forward to now and there are multiple threads with a few really long multiple post ones.
No real solution, other than to hope you are fast, lucky, or have the extra cash to spend in the secondary market. I'm still hoping to pick up one more single Clip Barlow. Not so much for myself, but as I'd like to give a good friend one whose name happens to be "Tom". He's not a big knife-nut, but I think he'd dig having a knife with "Tom's Choice" on it.
At the same time it might end up decreasing sales for GEC. I really like their knives and would hate to see their business suffer. As it stands now any Barlow they make is pretty much sold within minutes of release. Good business situation to be in. We also have ourselves to blame for generating the increased demand. Go back prior to the release of Charlie's SFO Barlows and there are only a few threads about Barlows. Fast forward to now and there are multiple threads with a few really long multiple post ones.
No real solution, other than to hope you are fast, lucky, or have the extra cash to spend in the secondary market. I'm still hoping to pick up one more single Clip Barlow. Not so much for myself, but as I'd like to give a good friend one whose name happens to be "Tom". He's not a big knife-nut, but I think he'd dig having a knife with "Tom's Choice" on it.
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What is the saddest to me is looking for a specific knife and finding several people that have had it and let it go to be cannibalized into a Frankenknife. I would have given it a good home and loved it for it what it was. It was perfect as originally designed. Simple is good. Now they are even more rare, which is a shame for a knife so new.
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Basically they do. It's called the #15 Huckleberry Boy's Knife
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I feel the same way...but... Have you seen Markesharpe's TC Barlow with whitetail stag covers?! At least Mark did that mod himself, with his own knife. And it looks cool!
Confession time: I had a great plan. I was going to buy one of the new 2 blade sheepfoot Charlows and send it to Dr. Frankenstein's workshop for a transplant, put some brightly colored Micarta on those handles! I was lucky to get a reservation for one. I was thinking bright yellow orange handles.
Then I saw pictures of this knife. The bone is beautiful. The jigging is perfect. I started thinking about GEC and Charlie. They really know their knives. I thought about the cutlers in Titusville. It is a well made work of art, a classic American tool with a firm location in our shared history. Now I'm all sentimental, feeling honored to be one of the few to purchase this knife.
I could never do that to a beautiful TC Barlow!
Will Power
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Most of all this is due to perceived 'desirability' amongst collectors or speculators. Lately it is the Barlow that everybody wants to talk about and apparently wants to have, or to sell on...This means that the SFOs sell out almost immediately and in some cases can be rapidly sold on for a lot extra, limited availability etc. But it's basically a trend or a whim that governs this. I do not want to suggest that the quality is over hyped because I know it isn't. However, trends can vanish as fast as they materialized and some people could be left with negative equity knives, should tastes change. And they do. Some time back it was the Peanut that took all the attention or the Stockman, now it's the Barlow and variant 15s or 77s. I'm just glad that in its short history, GEC has been able and willing to launch so many patterns, many do not seem to be the objects of frenzied attention either and this means you can still get a wonderfully made pocket-knife if your tastes don't match the current boom, or if you have patience.
Still, it seems that the must have ethos/be in with the in crowd explains why some people are prepared to devote much time and energy staking out dealer sites or lists with the help of their phone apps or whatever. Or alternatively, are prepared to pay two, three or even four times the price days later on the 2nd hand market.
One thing we can all agree on, Traditionals are a broad house and GEC is a real mansion.
Still, it seems that the must have ethos/be in with the in crowd explains why some people are prepared to devote much time and energy staking out dealer sites or lists with the help of their phone apps or whatever. Or alternatively, are prepared to pay two, three or even four times the price days later on the 2nd hand market.
One thing we can all agree on, Traditionals are a broad house and GEC is a real mansion.
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First off, let me begin by offering my congratulations and expressing my sincere appreciation to Mr. Campagna for what he has done in conjunction with GEC in regards to the Barlow. In my opinion his special factory orders (SFO's) and contributions in the What Makes a Good Traditional Barlow thread have went a long way at promoting the Barlow pattern. This has been pointed out earlier here and I wholeheartedly agree with that observation.
I too would like to see GEC do their own run of the 15 Barlows. Being a Barlow addict I would tend to think that they would do well, but admittedly as much as I hate to say it, I'm biased and I'm quite certain that they know their marketing better than I do.
Recently I've been in contact with GEC discussing a SFO of #15 Barlows. I have an idea for a Barlow that I think would do quite well with collectors. For what I'd like to do I would need to commit to a minimum of 300 knives and pay an additional approximate $500 tooling charge. I mention this simply to illustrate that for someone with deeper pockets than myself, a SFO of a particular Barlow (or other pattern for that matter) may be something to consider.
I too get frustrated sometimes with trying to keep up with what's in GEC's line-up and trying to understand how to get on "the list." As someone else pointed out, this isn't unique to knives, it happens with a lot of things in today's world. I like GEC. I'm sticking with GEC, and in fact I just ordered one of their #22 Magnums this afternoon and I'm closely watching that upcoming #38. I'm a Barlowholic, and I can change, if I have to, I guess...
Keep your joints oiled!
I too would like to see GEC do their own run of the 15 Barlows. Being a Barlow addict I would tend to think that they would do well, but admittedly as much as I hate to say it, I'm biased and I'm quite certain that they know their marketing better than I do.
Recently I've been in contact with GEC discussing a SFO of #15 Barlows. I have an idea for a Barlow that I think would do quite well with collectors. For what I'd like to do I would need to commit to a minimum of 300 knives and pay an additional approximate $500 tooling charge. I mention this simply to illustrate that for someone with deeper pockets than myself, a SFO of a particular Barlow (or other pattern for that matter) may be something to consider.
I too get frustrated sometimes with trying to keep up with what's in GEC's line-up and trying to understand how to get on "the list." As someone else pointed out, this isn't unique to knives, it happens with a lot of things in today's world. I like GEC. I'm sticking with GEC, and in fact I just ordered one of their #22 Magnums this afternoon and I'm closely watching that upcoming #38. I'm a Barlowholic, and I can change, if I have to, I guess...
Keep your joints oiled!
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Speaking of the 15...anyone else THRILLED with the new run of them in Sheepsfoot? I grabbed one in antique yellow bone and can't wait for it to get here. Such a great pattern.
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Yea, I could decide on one so I grabbed all 4 covers. Once they get here I'll make my choice lol.
I had my hands on the new charlows, but they didn't speak to me. So they quickly found new homes.
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I understand what your saying and kind of feel the same way. I have owned and used a TC for some time and eventually sold it off because it wasn't for me. So luckily I really don't have a dog in the fight on these but I do have eyes and I am watching. We cant change anything for the better or worse in a free market, we just have to ride the tide but while I ride it, I keep my eyes open. The flippers as I spot them, that have no interest in anything but profiting off of these special knives I just wont do business with. If I happen to sell a knife that is desirable I will just mark it as "I reserve the right to sell to whoever I want" and simply wont sell to these people. Not that it will matter to most but I feel better knowing I am not feeding them and well that's just where I am at with the situation.
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I think that's the best way to do it. I've angered some folks for not selling to them. But, when I sell these special knives I make sure they are good homes lol.
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Just for clarity, I'm not referring to just the TC Barlow's or any other SFO in particular. Just a generality as the feeding frenzy can happen with most any pattern.