The simple answer is that the youtuber should pick up a phone and call Tony. To the my knowledge he didn't ask permission even when he interviewed him. Instead he seemed to use the discussion on price as a setup to market the knives that he was planning.
This is pretty much what I was hoping to avoid after the run of Zulus. But it is at least not using the same grind. I do have concerns that's coming next. I find it both frustrating and embarrassing. It makes collectors look completely self absorbed. And it could be very damaging to the hobby in many ways.
Social media has been the subject of a lot of news recently and I'm sure that we are all aware that it is a very powerful way of marketing ideas and products. Making a video that advertises a knife as a less expensive version of Tony Bose knife, is not marketing the knife on its own merits. It's clearly using the Bose name and pattern in the marketing of that knife.
Tony Bose is one of us, sitting on the porch. He's made years of contributions to discussion. He's shared his knowledge with aspiring knife makers and made a huge impact on custom knife making. The best have learned from him and made their own way, not just pump out replicas of Tony's work. Tony has led the way for traditional knife makers to collaborate with manufacturers as has been also done with modern knives. In that respect, his work with Case has been good for everyone --manufacturers, custom knife makers, and collectors. Dan Burke and Bill Ruple have had productive collaborations with Queen. All of this is only possible because of mutual trust and respect. If opportunists want to take advantage of this system, it may not last. I hope that his son Reese will pick up the collaboration with Case when his father retires so that it will continue for many more years. I hope that GEC will seek out collaborations with knife makers rather than just copy their work directly or through SFOs.
The name "Lanny's Clip" has no meaning without Tony Bose. Tony's friend saw Tony's new pattern and bought the first ten knives. It's a curved jack. Curved jacks have been around a long time. I've seen a two blade that is a dead ringer but smaller. I don't recall seeing a single blade that's an exact match.
Rebirthing old patterns is fine. Using the name "Tony Bose" in marketing and stealing patterns from custom knife makers is just lazy and disrespectful. Not cool. Innovate. Open a book. Look at old catalogs. There are literally thousands of old patterns waiting to be reborn.
