Noticing sales?

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

Slipjoint Addict
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Messages
20,039
I've seen a lot of sales, clearances and close outs on Case, Buck and other big name slipjoints. These sales have been at Walmart and assorted big stores, as well as mom and pop hardware and sporting goods stores. Most of these sales are coinciding with mentioned stores switching over to brands like Maxam and Frost :barf:.

While I stay away from Case SS products, at detriment to myself I agree, I have not seen as many sales for CV products. For the display case collectors, I have seen a fair amount of empty cases, shoved in corners, with maybe about five knives on the display board, and maybe a few doubles of those on the display board. Guessing that when those knives are sold, the displays go in the trash.

Some members have been commenting on finding good deals. I have seen these sales in the York/Baltimore/DC corridor, and surrounding areas.
 
The same happens out here in the Great Plains, although I see a lot of the knives you mention sitting in the old Case/Schrade display cases. Never a bad idea to ask if you can rummage around inside the storage compartment. I have found a few treasures like that.
 
Hi,

Yeah, I've been noticing that myself. I picked up 3 Buck trappers at a Wal-mart for $7 each. They were red-tagged and marked closeout. The week before they were $20. They should be fine give-aways. Even the SAKs were down to just a couple of Classics and one SuperTinker. Though there was no price cut on those.

The observation that I made was that the slippie patterns are out of there. Doesn't matter who makes them. Even the cheapies are gone. The only traditional patterns left on display were Buck 110's and 119 Specials. Everything replaced by Gerber's for low end and an amazing selection of Kershaw's on the high end. All tacti-cool and testiments to modern design and tastes.:grumpy: Honesty forces me to admit, I did buy a Leek while I was there. So please forgive me, as I have sinned.:D

I think that slippies are rapidly becoming a niche market. And with on line price shopping, it's impossible for brick and mortar Mom and Pops, and even big chain stores to compete with the likes of Shepherd Hills or Smokey Mountain in that niche. I'm not going to drive 70 miles to pay $45 for an SS Case Peanut in a store. When I can log on and shop "anywhere" with a vastly larger selection and better prices even with shipping. I understand that stores have overhead and need profit. But, I have overhead and need to profit also. So I think we will need to adjust. We will need to get used to not being able to find our slippies on the shelf anymore.

dalee
 
I have noticed this too. I am now buying a lot of case knives at the $30 range....as a new collector I like it but are sales dropping off for case in a big way or are all sells just going to the internet now?
 
Wish I even had to opportunity to buy any slippies in a brick and mortar....they're virtually unheard of in the NYC area.
 
I never see anything good on sale locally...

And the only place I've seen Case CV knives at a B&M lately was at the Shepherd Hills showroom in Missouri. They had some fantastic super-duper closeout prices on select knives, but none of the CV models were on sale. But their prices are so far below msrp it's as if they're always on sale anyway. ;)
 
I think dalee has a bit of a handle on it. It's a combination of change in values of a society, as well as the harsh economics of marketing. It's going to be very hard to market a little traditional pocket knife with real bone handles for more money than a black zytel bead blasted knife that costs way less to produce. Lets face the music; we here on a traditional knife forums care about the asthetics of the thing, while most people who by some miricle do recognize they need a knife, will get the cheaper knife. They don't care if the handles are black plastic, or the blade is a stamped out tumbled finish thing, all they care about is will it cut?

It's like what is going on in the gun world. The parralel is close. Glocks and SIG's fly off the shelf as does anything with a black stock and stamped receiver. Not many shooters these days are going to high end rifles with hand cut checkering on Turkish walnut stocks. Of the gun shops in my area, there are none that have a selection of nice rifles or shotguns. But if I want an AK or AR, or even a SKS, well, there's plenty to choose from. The nice guns with the afor mentioned turkish walnut stocks are now a nitch market.

I think we're living in an age where style, beauty of design, all have been sacraficed on the alter of function. The old saying of form follows function has been tossed aside for just function. No asthetics. Why would one even want jigged bone handle's, let alone stag, when for less money one can have black synthetic that you can run over with a truck, throw against the side of a building, with little or no damage?

Our little family of folksy looks at an old knife and wonders what memories it holds, or love it for the past era it represents. The new kids on the block see it as an old relic from the past that has no value to them at all. Some are even mystified as to how the old geezers used a knife that (horror upon horror) didn't even have a blade lock, or need two hands to open.

I do think the slip joints are going to becone a nitch knife for two groups of people. The older guys, who like the guys who ride Harleys instead of crotch rockets, care about the style of the thing as well as having memories of a dad or graddad who used a similar knife. Or some younger guys who are lucky enough that they had a graddad or older mentor who used one. There may be some young guys who by accident of fate, get to use a traditional knife, and experiance the cutting ability, and versitility. For all of them, the companies like Case, Queen, GEC, will be the nitch marketers that keep them in traditional knives. But they will be the minority of the knife buying public, like the well heeled white collar people who buy a side by side Mercle shotgun with engraved receiver, rather than a tactical outfitted 870 with light bar under the extended magazine.

It's all about values, or the lack of, that drives the markets. The proffit must be increased, no matter what loss of asthetics.
 
jackknife said:
I think dalee has a bit of a handle on it. It's a combination of change in values of a society, as well as the harsh economics of marketing. It's going to be very hard to market a little traditional pocket knife with real bone handles for more money than a black zytel bead blasted knife that costs way less to produce. Lets face the music; we here on a traditional knife forums care about the asthetics of the thing, while most people who by some miricle do recognize they need a knife, will get the cheaper knife. They don't care if the handles are black plastic, or the blade is a stamped out tumbled finish thing, all they care about is will it cut?

It's like what is going on in the gun world. The parralel is close. Glocks and SIG's fly off the shelf as does anything with a black stock and stamped receiver. Not many shooters these days are going to high end rifles with hand cut checkering on Turkish walnut stocks. Of the gun shops in my area, there are none that have a selection of nice rifles or shotguns. But if I want an AK or AR, or even a SKS, well, there's plenty to choose from. The nice guns with the afor mentioned turkish walnut stocks are now a nitch market.

I think we're living in an age where style, beauty of design, all have been sacraficed on the alter of function. The old saying of form follows function has been tossed aside for just function. No asthetics. Why would one even want jigged bone handle's, let alone stag, when for less money one can have black synthetic that you can run over with a truck, throw against the side of a building, with little or no damage?

Our little family of folksy looks at an old knife and wonders what memories it holds, or love it for the past era it represents. The new kids on the block see it as an old relic from the past that has no value to them at all. Some are even mystified as to how the old geezers used a knife that (horror upon horror) didn't even have a blade lock, or need two hands to open.

I do think the slip joints are going to becone a nitch knife for two groups of people. The older guys, who like the guys who ride Harleys instead of crotch rockets, care about the style of the thing as well as having memories of a dad or graddad who used a similar knife. Or some younger guys who are lucky enough that they had a graddad or older mentor who used one. There may be some young guys who by accident of fate, get to use a traditional knife, and experiance the cutting ability, and versitility. For all of them, the companies like Case, Queen, GEC, will be the nitch marketers that keep them in traditional knives. But they will be the minority of the knife buying public, like the well heeled white collar people who buy a side by side Mercle shotgun with engraved receiver, rather than a tactical outfitted 870 with light bar under the extended magazine.

It's all about values, or the lack of, that drives the markets. The proffit must be increased, no matter what loss of asthetics.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Don't you be puttin' down the SKS, it's still made out of wood and blued steel! Ain't no plastic in that fence post.:D:D

While functional design has become very important to consumers, I don't think much if any aesthetics has been given up. It's just different from what we grew up with. After all, many of us here remember tail fins on cars that were supposed to remind us space ships.:eek:

From all the new materials that there are to choose from and modern manufacturing technologies, comes new ideas on aesthetics. Frankly, we where pretty much limited to natural materials and old manufacturing technics. The horizons have greatly expanded and changed. And the Young-in's have embraced the change. Although I don't think they've totally abandoned our slip-joint traditions yet.

The older I get the more I hang on to what was, (my weakness for Ken Onion designed Kershaw's aside), and the more I desire to go back. But I do try to understand what the next generation wants in a knife design. At least us old fogies can come here and feel at home. And as long as we keep some room on the front porch, I think those youngsters will come and sit a spell and whittle with us and then they'll learn about our slippies.

dalee
 
I am a youngster (relatively) and was seduced by the dark side for quite a while by the"coolness"of tactical, plastic pocket-swords. I am lucky enough to have grown-up in Titusville Pa. where on recent visits I, finally, went through the Queen and GEC shops and saw the locals creating something that just "hit the spot".

It may be my relatives growing up or just a primal attraction to truth and worth in something steeped in tradition, but I fell in love with the craft and the culture. Im even a member of California Knife Makers ass. and know many makers like Bob Loveless who are enticing me down the road toward making my own slippies.

That is how much this "hobby" has taken hold!

I certainly hope that others in more recent generations will put down their I pods and Blackberrys long enough to notice what I eventually did.

BTW this forum has been a reinforcement of my enthusiasm for traditional knives as well as a good educational tool.
Thanks for being here.

I will do my best to spread the word and stop the bleeding, but I fear I may be swimming against the current. I am old enough to remember the many, many small stores that all carried great pocket knives that made me and all young boys drool.

Long live the drooling!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top