any excuse to go to Eugene is valid. A lot nicer place to visit than Atlanta! I'm gonna try to get my ass down there next year
Hey Lorien,
I'll address your post first.
I hate Atlanta with a passion....but the Blade Show rocks and is excellent for both buying and selling, as pretty much the whole knife world shows up, and certainly there are exceptions to that, but it is a magnet that draws many, many.
Eugene is very cool the 2nd or 3rd time you are there....by number 10, you are very sick of the crap food offerings at the Lane County Fairgrounds, and have pretty much eaten every "bring from your hotel room(Valley River Inn, yeah!) thing that you can think of to stave off hunger at the show.
It becomes like the movie Groundhog Day after a while. Minor changes but the experience is always the same.
It's an Oregon college town, which may appeal to you, but my tastes tilt towards Portland, Portland 30 years ago, and Portland now and am old enough to know both quite well.
Very limited on accommodations, quality restaurants and even decent shopping for those looking for a different experience from the show.
I will agree with Steve this show is ok at best really its like a swap meet for knives very few high end collectors but I have sold high end knives there. lots of buyers in the 200 to 500 Range and lots of knives in that range. But with that said its one of the funnest show for me I go for the folks and the wood and the deals and it seems every year i find at least one great deal on some ivory. I have two tables this year like I did last year I will have stag scales rounds and tapers one one table. On the other table my two apprentices Luis Pina and Andrea my wife will have their very nice kitchen knives. I will have 4 shop rats and one kitchen knife. but I will get to see old friends relax for a while and not get on a plane. So STeven is right this is much more like a swap meet for knife makers then it is a show for selling knives to collectors. At one time lots of big time makers did this show so I have been told. Its nice to see some of the old timers coming back like Bill Gary Wade hell at this rate Shane might even show up but I am very happy that it seems to be on the up swing.
Hey Dave!
Hope to see you soon my friend, will be back in Sea-Town for Thanksgiving, maybe we can get together if you are willing to come back North! Thanks for being honest about your experiences, and you are totally correct, back in the early '90's this WAS the show to do, but show management(Dennis Ellingson and the Board for the OKCA) decided it was more important to have a family friendly show filled with everything except dedicated and moneyed collectors than look at it from a business perspective drove off the very best makers from places like Montana, which is likely how the PKA(Professional Knifemaker's Association) came to be a show in the first place.
Calling a show with 25 makers that limits entry to 175 buyers the best knife show ever is pretty extreme to say the least. As far as I can tell they don't even sell knives at that show, just "investment grade art work."
Have you or Kevin ever BEEN to the AKI? Without a "yes" to that, you don't know what you are talking about....you are both smarter than that, so spouting stupid is beneath you.
Are the knives there expensive? Yep, but there are some deals to be had. The room contains some of the most talented makers, and dedicated collectors you have ever seen in one place. There is a "collector's show and sell" lasting for a couple hours at the end that is worth coming across the world for alone. I have bought and sold knives for as little as $200.00...so there is definitely something for everyone.
Steve, sorry it's not in Washington. I enjoyed living there...but now in California, have to say, there are some excellent knife shows and knifemakers. Expand your horizons a little, it won't kill you. If you want to come to the AKI this year, I'll put you up at my home and pay your way into the show. The plane ticket is on you. We can go shooting at a 100 yard indoor range 10 minutes from my house. You'll be pleasantly surprised! It still sucks here, but there are some cool things as well.
Ben is doing his thing. I appreciate that, but unless you are driving just a couple of hours, or have a maker attending that you have been hot to talk to or possibly purchase knives from and have had no other opportunity to do so, it's a MASSIVE waste of time(Ron Lake shows up to support the show...if you wanted one of his knives from the maker himself, that would be the AKI, his table is decorated with photos every time I have been there). I look at all shows from a business perspective. There IS such a thing as a bad show for me....it's when I cannot get something for a better price or have available to me as a buyer.....it's also when I can't sell a knife and have experienced both more times than I care to think about. Attending the OKCA Show has cost me probably $10,000 over a 20 year period...and there's no refunds.
Good times? Yep, but some crappy ones too. Listening to someone's baby cry for 3 days sucks when you are there to do business(not the same baby all three days, but damn, when did babies start buying knives, understand me?), and there is nothing you can do about it. Screw a pile of that.....business first, family friendly is about as necessary to me as free parking(not very).
YMMV
Mic drop.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
