Proto Question

Mulder

Mulder

Joined
Oct 13, 2005
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Not sure if it's just me or if others have the same question.

I am wondering if the Ganza Proto's are actual prototype's of new models yet to be released or is this just marketing genius????

piglet
 
Mulder said:
Not sure if it's just me or if others have the same question.

I am wondering if the Ganza Proto's are actual prototype's of new models yet to be released or is this just marketing genius????

piglet
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Good question I guess that applies to the previous batch of FBM Protos we saw as well ... not all Prototypes make it to market. So I guess neither answer would be wrong heh?

Greg
 
i think these blades (fbm proto, sh proto) were ground during the design of those knives, but for whatever reason did not end up being the final design.
there are probably quite a few with a lot of variation.
some will likely become customs and variants as well as those being marked "prototype".
 
I would think that the FBM & FSH displayed at Blade 2004 would be the real protos, for the said knives. These... if they are not for models to be released, are marketing genius.

My question... how many is too many???
There were 20 to 30(?) FBM protos, 10(?) bowie protos at blade west, and now these in the ganza... another 10 or 20 of each???

Even better question... how many more will we be seeing??? :confused:

Come on Boss... keep'em rare! ;)
 
I had this same discussion with another HOG.

"Rant mode on"

These FBM Protos (both the Bowies and the first ones) in my opinion are "Custom Shop" knives, not prototypes, so I wish they were called as such. When you normally make a prototype, you will make a couple a different ones to see how they turn out, not continually make them until no one wants to buy them any more!

"O.K., rant mode off"


Now, GRINDUCCI knives are true Prototypes, because no one would want to see a second blade like the first!!!! :eek:



 
I tend to think that they are not actual prototypes (i.e. actually made during the designing of said knives) but instead are copies of a prototype.

Thus there may be only one that was actually made as a prototype, but then copies of that one are made to sell as 'prototype' models.

I don't see anything wrong with doing that, quite the opposite. Gives us more to play with.

But then, what do I know??? I'm just a piglet.
 
I'm thinking along the lines of Grinducci. There were probably a bunch of FBM Prototype blades (bunch being a subjective term) that were ground out to different blade styles like the bowies and FSH bowies. To me, this would be a Custom Shop knife, that used Prototype blades. Not a true Prototype. Now the shop could've ground out the FBM and Bowie FBM blades all at the same time to decide which one would go into production. In that case, then I would say they are prototypes.

Just my opinion.

-Dan
 
gimmejr said:
How many more are you willing to buy?
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If he's going to be releasing 3 and 4 a year... that may be all I'd buy anymore... skip the rest, and probably only the ones I like at that.

If you think about it in general terms and all Busse knives... if he keeps up with the quantities he's been spitting out lately, I really don't know how collectable these will be any more. How long will it take for a particular knife to be spread out across the 4 corners of the world, and become hard to find, if there are thousands upon thousands of them?

Don't get me wrong... I like the knives for what they are (toughest there is)... but why collect a bunch... just get what you want to use and maybe a few others, because you'll always be able to pick up a new one at a reasonable cost.

.
 
I don't know, but after my email debaucle last night, I hope he makes more. It is the only model I went for and the only model I currently covet. Especially since Foo keeps buying them all before I can get my hands on one!!!!
 
From their names I had though that they were protos (left hanging around) of knives that had already been produced but in a different form.

But if they are not actually protos but rather customs just marked “proto” then it wouldn’t be marketing genius but rather marketing disaster. It takes years for small companies to develop their brand and a valuable trade mark. Those intangibles are actually very fragile for example, it wouldn’t take more than very few FBMs to fail in normal use to really rock the fundamentals of Busse Knives. Also it wouldn’t take too many misrepresentations on the marketing side for the customer to lose trust. So knowing what little I do know about Jerry Busse I just don’t think that he’d start stamping things “proto” that are really just customs.


Besides that, it just wouldn't add up in my mind, the risk to the brand isn't worth the potential gains. I mean really.... there have been say 30-40 protos of three different knives. Does anyone think Busse would mismark knives just to sell 90 - 120 more knives? Have they EVER needed to do that?
 
Lil' Foo said:
If you think about it in general terms and all Busse knives... if he keeps up with the quantities he's been spitting out lately, I really don't know how collectable these will be any more. How long will it take for a particular knife to be spread out across the 4 corners of the world, and become hard to find, if there are thousands upon thousands of them?
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I hope that Jerry has little to no regard for how his actions affect the collector market. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that he sells tools, not investments.

Rick
 
rbmcmjr said:
I hope that Jerry has little to no regard for how his actions affect the collector market. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that he sells tools, not investments.

Rick
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Couldn't agree more. In a previous thread on the whole "collector" topic, I tried to explain my outlook on it. I don't buy knives for investment or for them to be safe queens. I buy them for use. Hard use. I do not own a knife that is bought due to a collectors market factor.

Having said that, its been the main reason I have hesitated in buying a Busse up until very recently. I have zero intent of paying over market price for what is deemed a "collectors item." I'm buying to use! Collecting be damned! :D

I look at knives on the exchange and look up the original price and try to guage whether it is something considered a "collector."

If it is, I won't buy it. Why deprive a collector of a unique item when I'm just gonna beat the crap out of it?? :)
 
rbmcmjr said:
I hope that Jerry has little to no regard for how his actions affect the collector market. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that he sells tools, not investments.

Rick
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Rick,

I don't mean to disagree with your train of thought, but the vast majority of resent show and Ganzaa knives have come out of the custom shop and have been targeted toward collectors. Everyone (including the Boss Man) agreed in another thread on natural materials, that creating an SFNO or HOFSH in Satin with a natural material (e.g. wood, bone, etc) reduces its overall resilience / versatility and is primarily catered toward the collector crowd. I guess you can say they are "tools for collectors" ;) - which is all cool by me.

Greg
 
rbmcmjr said:
I hope that Jerry has little to no regard for how his actions affect the collector market. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that he sells tools, not investments.

Rick
Click to expand...


I think I have to disagree on this one as well...

I think without the collector, Jerry would be selling half the blades he does now.
And I have to believe he just loves it when hogs post the collection pics... it's just good for business. ;)

.
 
Maybe another angle, the Prototype knife was and actual knife in that line that had a grinding or cut flaw. How else to make good use of INFI steel, re-cut and regrind a bit different and call is a Prototype?
 
Lil' Foo said:
I think I have to disagree on this one as well...

I think without the collector, Jerry would be selling half the blades he does now.
And I have to believe he just loves it when hogs post the collection pics... it's just good for business. ;)

.
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I agree with you on this Lil Foo...most of the ganza knives were far more expensive than the "tool" they were bred from and where definite collector knives. Even the fact that a LE FBM costs twice the price almost of a fat fbm shows one as a collector (that many use) and one as a tool. It takes about 10 mins to pull the coating off and make a rough "tool" that will cut just the same as the move expensive one (rough finish after 10mins, nice finish after a couple of hours). There has definitely been a huge glut in the number of busse's released lately with a lot of really weird stuff coming out. Have said that, the two I wanted in the last ganza I would have taken without any problem, but they would have been strictly collectors items. Flooding a market is a big mistake. Also, not listening to what buyers want is another big mistake. Everyone has been calling for general releases of the ASH, NO and Hellraiser. Those are what everyone wants so lets see them. I would personally grab at least one of each as a cg grade and one of each in an LE grade.
 
well, it takes mre than 10 knives to study a design. Remember the FSH protos? There was probably 60-70 of these at least. So why not 60 to 70 FBM Bowie protos or the other FBM protos. I would say that that there were probably mre protos than shown. So keep them protos coming:thumbup::D
 
I simply prefer the old line up with LE's thrown in every once a while.
All this new stuff is way to fancy for me to collect and/or use and the price tag these days is purely for the ones that got the means.
Fantastic sale policy but not attractive for me no more and sadly I only just started to get exited about Busse.
 
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