Lil' Matriarch Discontinuation.

R

Rum. Monkey.

Joined
Nov 16, 2012
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143
Hey fellow knife nerds, I recently picked up a Lil' Matriarch for a general utility blade because I love spyderco's serrations for my uses. I also noticed yesterday that the Lil' Matriarch was being discontinued in 2015, and this has me worried because I love this blade so much. Perhaps someone with more experience in the world of spyderco can share some insight with me into how spyderco normally does things. I'm wondering if the Lil' Matriarch will be discontinued for good, Or do you think they will be re-releasing a sprint of some kind? Just curious as this is such a useful blade and if it's out of production for good I want to pick up a couple more. :thumbup:
 
Be not sad Rum Monkey, if something does not sell well it gets replaced with a different product. Sal has discussed the process of deciding which models get canned and which continue many times. It basically boils down to sales.
 
Hard to say whether it will come back or not, but buying a back up or two now wouldn't be a bad idea if it's a knife you don't want to be without. As RevDevil noted, poor sales are almost always the reason a model is dropped. Some get revisited, some do not. As for the Lil Matriarch, the handle is the same one used on the Delica 4, so Sprints Runs or Dealer Exclusives in some of the other D-4 colors would be easy to do if Spyderco, or a sponsor, thought they'd sell.
 
So it's safe to assume that the Lil Matriarch did quite poorly sales-wise in the year it was in production? definitely sounds like I need to order one or two (or three...or four) more just to be safe. I really hope Spyderco keeps up with the great utility Reverse S blades like these.
 
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I grabbed one the day I seen it on "THE LIST" (insert melodramatic movie score..."dum-da-DUM...!") :eek:

I haven't even used it but my Mat 2 needed some company... I always like matching pairs or similar pairs of knives if I can afford them.

I like my PLAIN EDGE DENIM BLUE LIL MATRIARCH... even better... :D
 
Rum. Monkey. said:
So it's safe to assume that the Lil Matriarch did quite poorly sales-wise in the year it was in production?
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That would be my guess. I'm not seeing a different colored, waved, black bladed, or PE version in the 2015 catalog, so it's not just being phased out in favor of another version.
 
david from nc said:
i grabbed one the day i seen it on "the list" (insert melodramatic movie score..."dum-da-dum...!") :eek:

I haven't even used it but my mat 2 needed some company... I always like matching pairs or similar pairs of knives if i can afford them.

I like my plain edge denim blue lil matriarch... even better... :d
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where can i get one
 
Current exclusive vendor is Bentos Box Shop. I had been eyeing them and got lucky and kept pestering a contact on another board who had one until he sold it. They SOMETIMES pop up on the forums.
 
David From NC said:
Current exclusive vendor is Bentos Box Shop. I had been eyeing them and got lucky and kept pestering a contact on another board who had one until he sold it. They SOMETIMES pop up on the forums.
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Looks like I'll have to patiently wait for the next blade in the Matriarch series (Wishful thinking) :p
 
I have to say that I'm surprised that the Lil' Matriarch didn't sell well. With all the adulation of little knives on this sub-forum [ including admiration for the Man Bug!] I would have thought it would be a hit. I like big knives myself but I think the Lil' Matriarch would be a devastating self-defense tool despite it's 3" blade. Maybe that's why it didn't sell, it's too capable for the weeny knife lovers.
 
Larry Turko said:
I have to say that I'm surprised that the Lil' Matriarch didn't sell well. With all the adulation of little knives on this sub-forum [ including admiration for the Man Bug!] I would have thought it would be a hit. I like big knives myself but I think the Lil' Matriarch would be a devastating self-defense tool despite it's 3" blade. Maybe that's why it didn't sell, it's too capable for the weeny knife lovers.
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I think you're absolutely right. Too small for a knife that's marketed as a self defense tool. Most people picked up the Regular Matriarch for that purpose I'm sure. It's also gotta be the serrations, if it were more widely available in plain edge, I think it would have sold like crazy. Personally I absolutely adore serrations on a blade shape such as the Reverse S.
 
Do the Matriarchs come with a card saying not to use as an EDC/Utility knife? I'm almost certain I read somewhere [they] are for self defense only and the warranty is void if Spyderco determines the knife was used as a utility blade.
 
Bushido185 said:
Do the Matriarchs come with a card saying not to use as an EDC/Utility knife? I'm almost certain I read somewhere [they] are for self defense only and the warranty is void if Spyderco determines the knife was used as a utility blade.
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I think when the Matriarch was first released it came with that paperwork. But the Matriarch II's are thicker and more robust and slightly more suited for utility and I guess they stopped marketing it so heavily as a defensive blade. The Civilian is the one that comes with that paperwork every time.
 
Bushido185 said:
Do the Matriarchs come with a card saying not to use as an EDC/Utility knife? I'm almost certain I read somewhere [they] are for self defense only and the warranty is void if Spyderco determines the knife was used as a utility blade.
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Mine did not, just the normal manual and then one about how to use the Emerson opener. I'm not sure the Civilian still does either, all of the ones I have seen at HOB did not have that tag.

Amusingly, the new Tatanka comes with a tag that says (paraphrasing) "this knife is really big so be careful closing it and don't use it like a cleaver".
 
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