Match Made in Heaven Massdrop and WE Knife Co. ?

Whatever the quality of the knives, I find the whole pitch uninspiring. They don't come across as knowledgeable about knives, or sensitive to what makes a great knife, or like they're part of the knife community. Instead their focus is on pushing all the right buttons to convince the modern EDC lifestyle consumer they're engaging with something 'authentic'. They can take someone with as much soul as Bob Terzuola and make his work sound like an amusement park attraction, even before they add their bubble gum logo. I'm sure that's effective marketing, but it's repulsive to me.
 
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Lots to unpack here. I've bought exactly one of the Massdrop knife offerings - the Laconico Keen by WE. I have no objection to the MD branding. It's no more obtrusive than ZT, Spyderco, BM, or most anyone else. I think what gets under the skin of some is that it's branded by the seller, not the manufacturer, rather than the appearance of the mark itself. Being objective about it, the overall "billboarding" on the Keen is significantly less than on most knives.

I'm a fan of pretty minimalist designs, and am turned off by funkiness of blade shapes, handle shapes, grinds, etc. so, I love the Keen. The blade stock is a tad thicker than it might have needed to be, but oh, that grind! It's a slicing machine.

Finally, I own no custom knives. I've lusted after a Thorburn, but haven't taken the plunge. Maybe I'm nuts for saying/thinking this but the truth is that if I bought a Thorburn flipper and its action matched that of the Keen, I would be happy as a clam. It's like glass and perfectly "dialed in." For the price, it's the best knife I own, by a longshot. YMM, of course, V.
 
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vanadium said:
Whatever the quality of the knives, I find the whole pitch uninspiring. They don't come across as knowledgeable about knives, or sensitive to what makes a great knife, or like they're part of the knife community. Instead their focus is on pushing all the right buttons to convince the modern EDC lifestyle consumer they're engaging with something 'authentic'. They can take someone with as much soul as Bob Terzuola and make his work sound like an amusement park attraction, even before they add their bubble gum logo. I'm sure that's effective marketing, but it's repulsive to me.
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They’re bridging the gap between being a retailer and a “manufacturer,” and it’s not a trick that’s easy to pull off without hiccups. Their customer service is hit-or-miss (not that that’s unique to them in the industry), and their business model turns some people off (although there are obviously plenty of people who are okay with it, and plenty more who sit on waitlists to get products they want, and that’s not limited to just customs).

But, Massdrop does actually listen to its customers (i.e. the ones who buy from them, post in their forums, and vote in their polls). They literally select products based, in large part, on customer input.

However, Massdrop’s biggest contribution to the industry is that, where other retailers specializing in knives might commission sprint-runs of production knifes, Massdrop actually buys designs from respected designers, and uses reputable OEMs to manufacture them. The big internet knife retailers aren’t putting out entirely new models that they brought to market (and they may be unable to do it without damaging their relationships with the brands they carry). Honestly, the enthusiast community should celebrate the precedent that Massdrop has set, and encourage others to follow suit.
 
Just as a quick note on MD, my Ferrum Forge Falcon stripped the clip screws when I tried to rotate them to the left hand side. I send an email to MD explaining what happened and they sent me a brand new knife right away and provided shipping on the old one.

People have been asking for left hand option on MD for awhile, they are starting to provide alot more of their new items in LH configuration.
 
HappyDaddy said:
Lots to unpack here. I've bought exactly one of the Massdrop knife offerings - the Laconico Keen by WE. I have no objection to the MD branding. It's no more obtrusive than ZT, Spyderco, BM, or most anyone else. I think what gets under the skin of some is that it's branded by the seller, not the manufacturer, rather than the appearance of the mark itself. Being objective about it, the overall "billboarding" on the Keen is significantly less than on most knives.

I'm a fan of pretty minimalist designs, and am turned off by funkiness of blade shapes, handle shapes, grinds, etc. so, I love the Keen. The blade stock is a tad thicker than it might have needed to be, but oh, that grind! It's a slicing machine.

Finally, I own no custom knives. I've lusted after a Thorburn, but haven't taken the plunge. Maybe I'm nuts for saying/thinking this but the truth is that if I bought a Thorburn flipper and its action matched that of the Keen, I would be happy as a clam. It's like glass and perfectly "dialed in." For the price, it's the best knife I own, by a longshot. YMM, of course, V.
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I'd prefer the logo to have a little less contrast, but there's nothing offensive to me about it. As to the Massdrop branding being on the products at all: if Spyderco commissions the design of a new knife and sends it to an OEM in Taichung to produce, it's still branded Spyderco. Massdrop does the same thing, but people get bent out of shape. I don't get it.
 
clearkevin said:
As I think back on my favorite knives from the last year two are from Massdrop the Keen and the Crux (both really well built by WE). I am impressed by the quality, materials, utility and for sure value. I've also been really tempted to pick up the Thresher collaboration but haven't yet (I'm not sure I like the blade shape). With that in mind I have two question one more serious one just for fun. The first is do we have any clues about what might be coming next from Massdrop and We? Second What would you like to see if you could get whatever you wanted from this partnership? I would personally love a 3.5" bladed Crux.
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This doesn’t really answer your question because this knife is being manufactured by Reate and not WE, but in case you’re interested, the Eric Ochs Orca liner lock knife is supposed to ship in February, with options for carbon fiber scales and MokuTi clip and pivot collars.
 
I haven't used Massdrop yet but they are clearly a growing and powerful force in the knife market and I imagine other markets.
The Keen looks like a great knife. The design, quality and pricing have resulted in a very popular knife.
If you like liner locks, check out the WE Practic. It also has a clean design, slicey blade and high quality build. I love mine.
 
To echo some of what's been said above WE does an awesome job building knives but they often don't come in at the price points massdrop is able to offer. The other thing I often find is they are just a bit too much I tend to like simple which I think is why I am drawn to the massdrop offerings. I have one issue which is size a 3.5" blade from Massdrop would be fantastic. I find myself recommending them a lot because many people want that level of quality and materials but don't want to pay even the price for a ZT so massdrop makes a lot of sense.
 
Monofletch said:
WE makes some great knives. The Fanatic Edge Omen is another WE collaboration.
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lol fenatic edge is one of the worst modders. How he became friends with so many people to get himself an art knife made I have no idea. Dudes destroyed values of knives from big makers. Ruined the blades he's sharpened and overall made ugly knives. I'm not sure how he got ishem to design a knife that he put his name on which sounds strange to me.
Konig even had to state that modded knives would void warranty because of him.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
They’re bridging the gap between being a retailer and a “manufacturer,” .......... Massdrop actually buys designs from respected designers, and uses reputable OEMs to manufacture them. ....... Honestly, the enthusiast community should celebrate the precedent that Massdrop has set, and encourage others to follow suit.
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However much I like Massdrop's business model, as you've described it, hipster EDC lifestyle marketing is a smell I can't stand. Why did they have to make the Ferrum Forge guys look like a boy band? Meanwhile:
  • Alliance Designs is listening to the hardcore knife community, buying designs from respected designers, and using a quality OEM (Reate) to manufacture them, without billboarding the blades or telling makers which styling product to put in their beards.
  • Monterey Bay Knives is productionizing Ray Laconico's stuff using a quality OEM, listening to the community, and letting the designs speak for themselves, with Lacinoco as co-owner AFAIK.
  • Giant Mouse is financing the production of Vox/Ansø designs, again with a co-ownership structure (although I find it pretty nauseating that they use the slogan "Danish Design, American Ingenuity" to sell knives that are manufactured by Tecnocut in Italy).
  • Independent makers are contracting with WE and Reate to produce their stuff, without even needing a third party for marketing or financing.
Perhaps Massdrop lighted the way for some of that. They're also working on high volume and razor-thin margins, which makes things harder for smaller players. Sanford Owen from MBK said he can't believe how little they're making on each knife. At this point they might be playing a break-even or even loss-leader game to establish their market position. I'm not sure whether they're going to be a positive influence overall.
 
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vanadium said:
However much I like Massdrop's business model, as you've described it, hipster EDC lifestyle marketing is a smell I can't stand. Why did they have to make the Ferrum Forge guys look like a boy band? Meanwhile:
  • Alliance Designs is listening to the hardcore knife community, buying designs from respected designers, and using a quality OEM (Reate) to manufacture them, without billboarding the blades or telling makers which styling product to put in their beards.
  • Monterey Bay Knives is productionizing Ray Laconico's stuff using a quality OEM, listening to the community, and letting the designs speak for themselves, with Lacinoco as co-owner AFAIK.
  • Giant Mouse is financing the production of Vox/Ansø designs, again with a co-ownership structure (although I find it pretty nauseating that they use the slogan "Danish Design, American Ingenuity" to sell knives that are manufactured by Tecnocut in Italy).
  • Independent makers are contracting with WE and Reate to produce their stuff, without even needing a third party for marketing or financing.
Perhaps Massdrop lighted the way for some of that. They're also working on high volume and razor-thin margins, which makes things harder for smaller players. Sanford Owen from MBK said he can't believe how little they're making on each knife. At this point they might be playing a break-even or even loss-leader game to establish their market position. I'm not sure whether they're going to be a positive influence overall.
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If hipster-friendly marketing offends you, you’re going to hate the Instagram-centric future of the hobby. It doesn’t bother me any more or less than the high-speed-low-drag SpecOps marketing nonsense that’s been pervasive in the industry for the last 20 years.

The Massdrop model is much different from a designer securing his own financing to bear the costs of outsourcing production and selling or distributing a product. MBK (“founded” by Ray Laconico and Sanford Owen), Alliance Designs (which uses the same contact email as LaconicoKnives.com, so likely owned by or at least closely affiliated with Ray), and GiantMouse (Voxnaes and Anso as part-owners) went that route, so they bear the risk for their products.

Massdrop offers a way for designers to get designs to market while getting their money up front and not having to deal with production, marketing, sales, etc. As I’ve said before, it’s the same basic process (commission a design, send overseas for production by an OEM, sell it as “your” branded product) that Spyderco has used for years on its Taichung-made Bradley and Southard designs (along with numerous other designers). The difference is that they’re a retailer with what’s essentially an in-house brand instead of an established knife brand.

I’m skeptical as to whether it really makes things harder for these small market entrants, given that Massdrop focuses primarily on the lower end ($90-150) of the market, while these smaller brands you’ve mentioned have low-end prices that are more than that (GiantMouse Ace line is $175 retail). For the most part, they’re in the $300+ range. I’d even say that it’s likely that selling the Keen design to Massdrop provided revenue that helped Laconico finance MBK and Alliance.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
They’re bridging the gap between being a retailer and a “manufacturer,” and it’s not a trick that’s easy to pull off without hiccups. Their customer service is hit-or-miss (not that that’s unique to them in the industry), and their business model turns some people off (although there are obviously plenty of people who are okay with it, and plenty more who sit on waitlists to get products they want, and that’s not limited to just customs).

But, Massdrop does actually listen to its customers (i.e. the ones who buy from them, post in their forums, and vote in their polls). They literally select products based, in large part, on customer input.

However, Massdrop’s biggest contribution to the industry is that, where other retailers specializing in knives might commission sprint-runs of production knifes, Massdrop actually buys designs from respected designers, and uses reputable OEMs to manufacture them. The big internet knife retailers aren’t putting out entirely new models that they brought to market (and they may be unable to do it without damaging their relationships with the brands they carry). Honestly, the enthusiast community should celebrate the precedent that Massdrop has set, and encourage others to follow suit.
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Are they a supporting dealer here? What knives have they manufactured? I see no reason to support a company that bait and switches components after a sale. Big internet retailers have exclusive models brought to market all the time.
 
Early on I feel like I saw that Duane from edcknives was somehow affiliated with massdrop - was I misinformed about that?

Supppy chains are flatening it's the way of the future. Fighting it is probably a lot like trying to shape water.
 
I'm excited to see what they have on deck, because I can't imagine there's nothing simmering. It's been months since the last knife drop and I feel like they must be ready for something fresh after all the stress of the Perpetua, SG2 Spydercos, and the Terzuola upset. Their collaborations were some of my first nice framelocks and a great way to get a WE knife for work.
 
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