Lets talk GEC!

Danke42 said:
I don't thing they overshot demand at all. It's very beneficial to have that product in a case where customers can see and buy it instead of waiting for the next production run and potentially missing out because there were only a few made.

By the time they do another beer scout run the current one will be all sold.
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Agreed. There should be a "magic number" of days that a run stays in stock at dealers. I would guess somewhere around 90 days. Of course some dealers would disagree with this!


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i totally agree with Danke42. Christmas just hit and tax season is right around the corner. Many people, I'm sure, only bought one or two and probably wanted more but picked a cover that they feared wouldn't last. 1 year ago multiple dealers had multiple knives in stock from different patterns. most frames had at least one variant available, going back to a few years available at once. Now good luck finding something from 6 runs ago.

I've been after a 53 T.K. cuban for 6 months. There were 20+ available at the beginning of the year at the last retailer I could find, I was gonna go back and get one in a month or two once funds available. they had been stagnant for 9 months prior. then poof... nowhere to be found. People like these and don't want to give them up so waiting for another run, but not super popular so who knows how long it will be.

long story short, I agree the beer scouts will be gone before ran again.
 
Wurrwulf said:
My understanding of things:

-GEC limits the number of SFO orders and limits the accepted SFO order totals to 500 units to prevent GEC from becoming an SFO-exclusive knife manufacturer.

-GEC is still a small company, and they don't have much interest in pumping out a few thousand of the same models year round to satisfy demand. They limit production numbers in order to provide more patterns throughout the year.

-That being said, I'm quite certain that this last run of Beer Scouts/15s was the largest run GEC has ever done. This run of 74s seems quite large, as well, which may indicate that they are attempting to meet demand. Look at how many Beer Scouts/15s are still available from this last run (as well as 14s), and it would seem to me that GEC overshot their mark on demand, which is not good for them. They seem to be trying to figure it out, though. As far as "having a pretty good feel for models", Beer Scouts are probably right behind TC Barlows and NF Barlows as far as demand goes, and they are still readily available from every distributor that bought them. I'm sure they thought they would "vaporize in minutes" based off of how quickly previous runs sold out.
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Well said sir. This is an interesting niche market...within a niche market. Cheers to fine craftsmanship, and to the elusive, affordable Barlow. ;)
 
willythekid said:
I want to apologize to Mike as well as I used the word "misinformation" as well... at no point did I mean to imply that someone was deliberately spreading false information.
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No apology due me; I just want to clarify as someone may come along in a couple years and read it differently. I didn't feel like either of you meant it negatively.

mb> said:
Is demand purely outpacing production, or does GEC intentionally limit the size of their runs? Wondering why they don't just increase the lot sizes they produce for the hot models. They should have a pretty
good feel now for the models that will sit on shelves a while vs the ones that vaporize in minutes.
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Yes, and Yes. They are in a nasty little cycle now where everything they are make is fairly popular. And knowing their own schedule, they have to limit the number of knives to fit the time they have to make them. Some feel they are spending all their time on popular patterns; but they are actually trying to do quite the opposite. My stock has gotten quite embarrassing because I do not have the sense to forecast with any accuracy. Most times the factory will announce a pattern to the dealers and give the dealers a few days to turn in an order. So, I throw them on the Early Reserve system and expect a few days of action to tell me where the demand will be. Sadly (with the #74), the interest seemed anemic, but once they were coming available demand actually came in very strong.

They won't make a pattern that was not popular previously. And if they made all the popular patterns that dealers would like; they would have 4-5 knives a year. But we are in a cycle in the U.S. and increasing capacity significantly would not only affect quality but would need to be unraveled once the cycle ended. But selling every knife they can make is not a bad problem to have; especially when the first several years they had large inventories to deal with. The addition of a couple of large retailers lately, has not helped the quantity aspect either.
 
The real 'problem' is that they generally make excellent and interesting knives, many enthusiasts, users & collectors have noted this and want more and more.

I agree with Mike, none of us want to see slackness or a lowering of standards to crank out extra 'production' They are a small firm who work on relatively small runs especially SFOs. I do think it would be a pity if they did not repeat certain patterns but this can possibly be rectified by noise on the forums showing interest and by customers telling dealers what they would like to see more of. The fact that GEC can and does suddenly announce a run without much prior planning is in itself positive, it ignites interest. The new 38 surprised me and whilst I would've preferred a single spring 2 blade with Clip it still shows the kind of spirit of daring that I think characterises this firm right from the outset.

As a European, I sometimes do miss out on releases but that's mainly due to the small numbers made not my location . I hope I am not uncritical of GEC, some stupid fanboy worship serves nobody in the long run, it can lead to complacency or lowering of standard. That said, I'm very thankful GEC exists as it makes the best American Traditionals at the moment, there are other American manufacturers who do make desirable knives, but GEC is the most consistent. Consistency is the most desirable quality of all.
 
Well said Will. I agree 100% with everything you said. The only thing I can think to add witch im sure has been stated many times. No matter what GEC Does (Or any other knife company for that matter) there's going to be people unsatisfied. The one thing most everybody agrees on is there consistency in a Quality product. For that I am grateful and constantly digging up cash for another GEC run lol. :D
 
TheApostleP said:
I totally agree. I gave hem detailed photos, and even checked to make sure they received them. They gave no indication hey wouldn't be able to do that, or even ask if I was Ok with it. The first I knew about it was the picture in "What's Happening." It's a head scratcher. I'll have a bit more direct contact on the next SFO. But that said... the jigging is growing on me.


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Will there be a video to show them off like the ebony video?
 
I would also love to see a jigged bone video Rob, I have watched the ebony video about 5 times now, loving the Heartlands! The whole run seems amazing so far :thumbup:
 
TheApostleP said:
Probably not. There aren't any available, and I'm not feeling very stoked about the content of a video if I made one. The only thing left to talk about is he bone, and I've said all I care to about that. I don't want to belabor the point, but I'll stay more involved in the next one.


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Copy that. I understand the sentiment.
 
TheApostleP said:
I totally agree. I gave hem detailed photos, and even checked to make sure they received them. They gave no indication hey wouldn't be able to do that, or even ask if I was Ok with it. The first I knew about it was the picture in "What's Happening." It's a head scratcher. I'll have a bit more direct contact on the next SFO. But that said... the jigging is growing on me.


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""the jigging is growing on me. "" So Rob. For what it's worth, I have the DLT Autumn Leaf and I really like the jigging. I also have a Rope and I'm sure that would have been extremely nice too. It's a shame there was an error in communication or whatever happened but, it's not the end of the world. The bone looks great! I got locked out (my own fault, I was away) of getting one of yours or else I would have 3 now? It's a great SFO regardless.
 
Just noticed gec has updated their production schedule for the #71 Bullnose and have included a Burgundy linen micarta. Does anyone know how that might compare to their maroon micarta?

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knifeswapper said:
No apology due me; I just want to clarify as someone may come along in a couple years and read it differently. I didn't feel like either of you meant it negatively.



Yes, and Yes. They are in a nasty little cycle now where everything they are make is fairly popular. And knowing their own schedule, they have to limit the number of knives to fit the time they have to make them. Some feel they are spending all their time on popular patterns; but they are actually trying to do quite the opposite. My stock has gotten quite embarrassing because I do not have the sense to forecast with any accuracy. Most times the factory will announce a pattern to the dealers and give the dealers a few days to turn in an order. So, I throw them on the Early Reserve system and expect a few days of action to tell me where the demand will be. Sadly (with the #74), the interest seemed anemic, but once they were coming available demand actually came in very strong.

They won't make a pattern that was not popular previously. And if they made all the popular patterns that dealers would like; they would have 4-5 knives a year. But we are in a cycle in the U.S. and increasing capacity significantly would not only affect quality but would need to be unraveled once the cycle ended. But selling every knife they can make is not a bad problem to have; especially when the first several years they had large inventories to deal with. The addition of a couple of large retailers lately, has not helped the quantity aspect either.
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Hi Mike. We appreciate you taking the time to help us understand how that all works.

Question for you. Could you list for us the models you think GEC will not produce again due to them not being popular previously?

There are some models that I am waiting to be produced again. If those models won't be, I will have to increase my tolerance for paying secondary market prices.

Again, that's in advance for taking the time to answer our questions.
 
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