Lets talk GEC!

cbr1000 said:
Don't get too excited... that quantity is only for 24 knives.

Hope that's not the micarta they plan to use on the Beer Scouts

Where did you find the picture?
Click to expand...

It was in the 92 gallery on GEC's site earlier. Looks like they deleted it!
 
cbr1000 said:
Don't get too excited... that quantity is only for 24 knives.

Hope that's not the micarta they plan to use on the Beer Scouts

Where did you find the picture?
Click to expand...
Just so you guys know, that micarta will not look exactly like that once cut and sanded. It will likely be lighter.
 
I'm new to Traditionals. Will someone please explain the plan behind the Mystery Knife with only 24 being made. It would certainly be exclusive, but how will it help sales,etc.

Thanks.
 
tdkfm said:
In the worst color possible
Click to expand...

Not in my book :D I like the Red Micarta, really would like a Barehead Talon, Spear in this material. The only thing I don't care for is GEC's tendency to make micarta knives with ugly sink-hole pins, not flush or domed as they can manage on bone or even stag.:grumpy:

Here's a Tidioute 25 in it.

IMG_3701.jpg
 
shadowram said:
I'm new to Traditionals. Will someone please explain the plan behind the Mystery Knife with only 24 being made. It would certainly be exclusive, but how will it help sales,etc.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping that means 24 being made in that handle material with more from other materials. I'm hoping for a smooth ivory bone, or smooth white bone, or gabon ebony, or african blackwood. A fellow can dream can't he?

Rick
 
shadowram said:
I'm new to Traditionals. Will someone please explain the plan behind the Mystery Knife with only 24 being made. It would certainly be exclusive, but how will it help sales,etc.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

With this pattern, GEC doesn't need any help at all with sales. They'll sell out before or immediately when they hit the dealers shelves. I wouldn't call it a mystery knife, according to that picture either. It'll be a Tidioute 92 wharncliffe with maroon micarta covers. I'd also be willing to bet there will be more than one handle material as well. In the past, with short add on runs, each dealer will probably get 2 or 3 knives in each flavor. How they decide to sell them is up to them. I'm just curious why GEC is being so secretive about it. Photo one day and the next it's gone!

Maroon linen micarta is pretty dark after its finished. The following knife looks almost black indoors unless it's next to something black.

 
rdave said:
You make a fair point (though us collectors like the current production schedule), but, I can go to several dealers stores at this moment in time and find some of GEC best selling classic knives for around $80 including 2014 & 2015 #15s and #77s ad #47s along with a slew of current production knives.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can find almost any GEC you want, but it's often not a simple process, and this definitely deters "average Joe." He wants a good ol' American high quality knife, he hears GEC makes the genuine article. He checks it out: "Oh man, $80 for a knife? That's a lot of coin... Well, you get what you pay for, I guess. I want a stockman. That's the epitome of Traditional Knife, my dad and grandpa and great uncle all carried them.... I see GEC makes a few, and man, they're gorgeous!" Then he goes to order this Pattern 81, or 82, or 53, and discovers that exactly nowhere can he actually find the thing in stock, that it's been years since they were made, and that if he wants one he is going to have to pay even more money, and probably spend weeks hunting online, especially if he's at all picky about the aesthetics. If he's dedicated, this process might turn him into a collector. If he's not so dedicated, he'll throw in the towel and buy a Case or Buck or Rough Rider.

The problem is one of production capacity. GEC has made a lot of nice knife patterns over the years, but if their max capacity based on the 2015 figures is about 16,000 knives per year.... That's fairly finite, and there's not a lot they can do to increase it, that doesn't entail major risk. We all want to be able to go to our favorite dealer and choose from 40 patterns in stock or able to be backordered with delivery within a few weeks, in multiple interesting levels of trim and handle materials. But that's not possible unless GEC really scales up. It is frustrating to really want a particular knife and not be able to find it. I don't think the problem will get much better, unless another big economic downturn puts the hurt on the "luxury" purchase of pocketknives, as happened in 2008-2012 or so. The company has a lot of potential customers, they just have to figure out the best way to serve them. Make 32 runs a year of 500 knives? Rename themselves "BS Co" and make 1000 73s to keep the supply fresh, alongside 15,000 beer scouts? ;)

I think they're doing the best they can, trying to keep current customers, attract new ones, please dealers new and old, and also keep making the knives they actually want to make.
 
I hear your point about the stockman patterns. I had a smilar experience.

Stockmans are what got me into traditionals, and I had a nice little collection going that I wanted to upgrade, which took me to the GEC designs.

But as you expained, GEC seems to have lost interest in producing the quintessential slipjoint, and most of their production is various flavours of jack knife in slightly different configurations. Endless 15s and 47s and 77s and 85s. Plus lately we have seen a few different sizes of the same jack knives.

It would be great if we saw a few new stockmans coming out. And i mean pocketable stockmans, a classic little knife that people would keep in their pockets for years to come.
 
Will Power said:
Not in my book :D I like the Red Micarta, really would like a Barehead Talon, Spear in this material. The only thing I don't care for is GEC's tendency to make micarta knives with ugly sink-hole pins, not flush or domed as they can manage on bone or even stag.:grumpy:

Here's a Tidioute 25 in it.

IMG_3701.jpg
Click to expand...
I'm a University of Texas grad and fan. Hating maroon is a requirement :)

I'd also be in for a stockman. I have noticed that when people here start clamoring for a certain pattern they seem to pop up before too long. Maybe these posts will help.
 
Thanks for the information. Lots to learn around here.:)


draggat said:
With this pattern, GEC doesn't need any help at all with sales. They'll sell out before or immediately when they hit the dealers shelves. I wouldn't call it a mystery knife, according to that picture either. It'll be a Tidioute 92 wharncliffe with maroon micarta covers. I'd also be willing to bet there will be more than one handle material as well. In the past, with short add on runs, each dealer will probably get 2 or 3 knives in each flavor. How they decide to sell them is up to them. I'm just curious why GEC is being so secretive about it. Photo one day and the next it's gone!

Maroon linen micarta is pretty dark after its finished. The following knife looks almost black indoors unless it's next to something black.

Click to expand...
 
GaiusJulius said:
Yeah, you can find almost any GEC you want, but it's often not a simple process, and this definitely deters "average Joe." He wants a good ol' American high quality knife, he hears GEC makes the genuine article. He checks it out: "Oh man, $80 for a knife? That's a lot of coin... Well, you get what you pay for, I guess. I want a stockman. That's the epitome of Traditional Knife, my dad and grandpa and great uncle all carried them.... I see GEC makes a few, and man, they're gorgeous!" Then he goes to order this Pattern 81, or 82, or 53, and discovers that exactly nowhere can he actually find the thing in stock, that it's been years since they were made, and that if he wants one he is going to have to pay even more money, and probably spend weeks hunting online, especially if he's at all picky about the aesthetics. If he's dedicated, this process might turn him into a collector. If he's not so dedicated, he'll throw in the towel and buy a Case or Buck or Rough Rider.

The problem is one of production capacity. GEC has made a lot of nice knife patterns over the years, but if their max capacity based on the 2015 figures is about 16,000 knives per year.... That's fairly finite, and there's not a lot they can do to increase it, that doesn't entail major risk. We all want to be able to go to our favorite dealer and choose from 40 patterns in stock or able to be backordered with delivery within a few weeks, in multiple interesting levels of trim and handle materials. But that's not possible unless GEC really scales up. It is frustrating to really want a particular knife and not be able to find it. I don't think the problem will get much better, unless another big economic downturn puts the hurt on the "luxury" purchase of pocketknives, as happened in 2008-2012 or so. The company has a lot of potential customers, they just have to figure out the best way to serve them. Make 32 runs a year of 500 knives? Rename themselves "BS Co" and make 1000 73s to keep the supply fresh, alongside 15,000 beer scouts? ;)

I think they're doing the best they can, trying to keep current customers, attract new ones, please dealers new and old, and also keep making the knives they actually want to make.
Click to expand...

You just described the last two weeks of my life. I'm new to traditionals but I've discovered that I really like stockman pattern knives. I ordered a Queen and while I liked the pattern I wasn't super impressed with the actual knife so I started looking for a GEC. In two weeks I've found exactly 5 (81x2, 66x2, 62), only two in a size I wanted(81s), and none in a handle material I was particularly interested in. Also, of those 5, one was serialized and another a prototype so they're about $30-$40 above the normal price. Also doesn't help that a lot of the distributors have wonky search features on their sites.
 
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draggat said:
With this pattern, GEC doesn't need any help at all with sales. They'll sell out before or immediately when they hit the dealers shelves. I wouldn't call it a mystery knife, according to that picture either. It'll be a Tidioute 92 wharncliffe with maroon micarta covers. I'd also be willing to bet there will be more than one handle material as well. In the past, with short add on runs, each dealer will probably get 2 or 3 knives in each flavor. How they decide to sell them is up to them. I'm just curious why GEC is being so secretive about it. Photo one day and the next it's gone!

Maroon linen micarta is pretty dark after its finished. The following knife looks almost black indoors unless it's next to something black.
Click to expand...

We wanted to do an SFO and the folks at Great Eastern were kind enough to let us in with the 92 pattern which we decided to do in the northfield with the snakewood, blue camel bone, stag, and red wind jig bone. It looks like while doing our SFO a small run of the maroon linen were added in there for another customer. I'm not sure where those will be sold, but I wouldn't complain if they were actually for us :).
 
Eric@DLT said:
We wanted to do an SFO and the folks at Great Eastern were kind enough to let us in with the 92 pattern which we decided to do in the northfield with the snakewood, blue camel bone, stag, and red wind jig bone. It looks like while doing our SFO a small run of the maroon linen were added in there for another customer. I'm not sure where those will be sold, but I wouldn't complain if they were actually for us :).
Click to expand...

Sometimes Great Eastern Cutlery makes small runs of knives for their own, unannounced, purposes.
 
"will be two Short Runs Mystery Knives. These will be regular release and not SFO's", although mentioned that things could change at any time and that such info was just what dealer took from a talk.

so my guess it that these "short runs" will be few in number but split up to distributors. to which and how many is the big mystery. my guess.
 
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mystery and unannounced are two different things and "my take", means, just a guess...and if you know something - no teasing, just say it

swaybacksteve said:
"will be two Short Runs Mystery Knives. These will be regular release and not SFO's", although mentioned that things could change at any time and that such info was just what dealer took from a talk.

so I take it that these "short runs" will be few in number but split up to distributors. to which and how many is the big mystery. my take.
Click to expand...
 
BREAKING NEWS! For BF insiders only!!!

OK, I may have overstated, but if you want to know where to find some great, short run examples, try the GEC Rendezvous in August. They always have some special items available for purchase during their open house - plus you get a tour!
 
Oh how I wish I could make it to the rendezvous, but present circumstances just won't allow it. I know all of you who go will have a great time.

In the meantime, it's nice to see the return of this tang stamp!

 
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