RCCC Les Robertson

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Hey Real,

Can't we all just get along! :D

Not a bad group of guys. A few pointers:

Say nothing that could be misconstrued in a negative light about Don Fogg to Joss (keeper of the Fogg Shrine) :D Joss I hope you made no money on that Fogg Shiv as some would misconstrue that as an ivestment that made you a profit.. On the plus side if you did you have it for a week or so you will not be charged with the Arbitrage penalty. However, if you owned the knife for less than a year and you did make a profit. Please insure you notify the IRS of this short term captial gain and pay the appropriate 25% tax on the profit.

Next and Speaking of Arbitrage, if you choose to use a custom knife as an investment (most here would argue that is as much an apparition as a ghost in the wood work.) Whatever you do you make sure there is a sufficent period of time between buying and selling a knife for a profit. Violation of this will have Wulf charge you with a 5 minute major and will send you to the Arbitrage Penalty box. :D :D

Seriously there are some very knowledgeable collectors here. No one knows more about Don Fogg than Joss. Wulf has an extensive collection and is quite knowledgeable as well. Same goes for Roger P, Keith Montgomery, Peter Gill, Stephen Foster and Anthony Lombardo. However, insure you distance yourself from the dreaded and feared Danbo, who I suspect will show up in this thread very soon. :D

PS: Coop and Meglobyte (Meg felt left out when I didn't mention him last time).

WWG
Arbitrage Custom Knives
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
Hey Real,

Can't we all just get along! :D

Not a bad group of guys. Seriously there are some very knowledgeable collectors here. No one knows more about Don Fogg than Joss. Wulf has an extensive collection and is quite knowledgeable as well. Same goes for Roger P, Keith Montgomery, Peter Gill, Stephen Foster and Anthony Lombardo. However, insure you distance yourself from the dreaded and feared Danbo, who I suspect will show up in this thread very soon. :D

PS: Coop and Meglobyte (Meg felt left out when I didn't mention him last time).

WWG
Arbitrage Custom Knives
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DAMMIT, WWG!!!!:grumpy: I have been collecting longer than Roger, Stephen and Peter put together, I am pretty sure, but not as long as Danbo, who has been on the planet one day less than Jesus:eek:

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
WWG,

You left the great Garssoni off the list! :eek:

Real Deal (Bob Neal?)

Get that tongue out of your cheek :rolleyes:

P
 
Hi STeven,

Please accept my most humble apology. We all know your knowledge is vast and far reaching. Perhaps only the dreaded and feared Danbo has a more complete knowledge of custom knives......Nah! It is true that when Danbo went to school he rode there on his dinosaur and at the time history was not yet a subject. Danbo, who in dog years....is dead. :D

Peter, no Real Deal is not the second best dealer I know. While Im sure he would echo what Real Deal has written, he would not do so in a public forum. :D

WWG,
Guru of Steel
Arbitrage Custom Knives
 
RealDeal said:
looking like a real fun forum, i could have had a blast here, cant get by the thing with Bro Les, bad bad bad on you guys for sensoring and allowing this to happen, he is a top rate guy in all ways very honorable, you guys limit your horizons by allowing commerical interests to decide who you will be advised and engaged by, really sad.
Ill self ban and miss nothing you folks miss a whole segment of your world on line, to think, burn the books, someone doest like what they say. Truly sad.
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I normally try not to make any judgements based on grammatical inconsistency, because I am very susceptible to it myself. However, when it gets in the way of understanding what is being said it becomes problem.

I may be completely off in my interpretation, but it may help some.

Edited for grammatical clarity:

RealDeal (edited) said:
This looked like an entertaining and lively forum that I could have had fun posting on. However, I can not understand the banning of "brother" les robertson. Shame on you forum members who are actively sensoring and allowing this situation to occur. Les robertson is a "top rate guy" who is honorable in every aspect of his personality and life. You actively limit your horizons by allowing commercial interests to determine who you associate with and are advized by. This is a very sad situation.

I will ban myself from this forum without any sense of loss. By censoring another persons opinion in an online forum, you lose valuable information (?) and miss out on an important portion of your life. A good example of this type of logic is the burning of books that are deemed to be socially unacceptable. This is a very sad situation.
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That (?) is where I kind of lose track of what is actually being implied. Is "miss out" proper english???
 
quite new to the forums but have been collecting knives since 1988. Knew Les and dealt with him in 94, 95 before he had a website.
Me and a couple of others stopped dealing with him when he started to put down ESTABLISHED makers.
E.g. When I asked him about Loveless knives, he went on and on about how Loveless didnt do all the work because he had Jim Merrit to help him. He then went on to promote George Herron, saying that he made a superior knife. Please dont get me wrong, Herron is a legend in his own right, but, Loveless is well, Loveless. Everyone knows Jim has been helping him for a LONG time, but there is no shortage of people who want a Loveless.
My point is you want to push a maker you carry or who gives you a dealer discount, fine, thats all well and good. We know its a business for you and a serious hobby for us. But when you put down a maker of Loveless stature, its unforgivable for me and others.
And through other serious collectors, I learned that Les put down Phill Hartsfield who has been only making custom Japanese style knives since 1978 and promoting another maker who he says is superior to Hartsfield in every aspect.
Im not here to say that any one maker's knife is superior to another. We all have our likes and dislikes, not everyone likes a Loveless or Hartsfield. But please don't put them down just because you want to promote other makers' knives that you carry.
Sorry for my rambling on, just had to get it out after so many years. As for me and others who have been collecting far longer, we prefer to bring our business to Dave Harvey or Rhett Stidham, dealers who dont insult our choices in makers.
 
This is a pretty f'ingly stupid post. Of course Les is going to promote the knives he believes in over those he doesn't and of course he's going to carry the knives he believes in and not those he doesn't. It's not that he just carries knives he got on specials at a foreclosure somewhere and then decides to push those.

I don't agree with Less in many occasions, but this is completely assinine. Of course, people have strong opinions sabout maker X vs. maker Y. That's what makes discussions interesting.
 
Joss, you get what Im saying from my stupid post? Sure, we all have our likes and dislikes but how many dealers you know would put down Loveless? IS that completely assinine?
 
Loveless is arguably the most famous maker alive, but the question from a purveyor pov is who else to promote......Les has thrown his hat in with Lovett, which, IMHO, is about as shrewd and intelligent a decision as any has been made in the last 10 years...take a look and decide for yourself if that is the "right" move. YMMV!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The only thing I know is that Les's (virtual) spirit lives on, and the forums are an informative and entertaining place because of it! :D

I also get the very strong impression that he doesn't need anybody to fight his battles for him ;)

Stephen
 
Joss said:
This is a pretty f'ingly stupid post. Of course Les is going to promote the knives he believes in over those he doesn't and of course he's going to carry the knives he believes in and not those he doesn't. It's not that he just carries knives he got on specials at a foreclosure somewhere and then decides to push those.

I don't agree with Less in many occasions, but this is completely assinine. Of course, people have strong opinions sabout maker X vs. maker Y. That's what makes discussions interesting.
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What Joss said. :mad: Except I am more often in agreement with Les than not. Brilliant contribution for your 6th post.

Roger
 
Joss said:
I don't agree with Less in many occasions, but this is completely assinine. Of course, people have strong opinions sabout maker X vs. maker Y. That's what makes discussions interesting.
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Oh no!!!! You called him Less.
 
Hi Talon,

Interesting choice of makers for your collection. As you wrote "Loveless is well Loveless". That may be true about him, however his knives are not a Loveless, they are primarily someone else. Yes there are plenty of people who want his (well work with his logo on it), primarily for the reason of making a buck. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. Question for you, how do you think the knives would sell if Jim's logo was put on the knives instead of Loveless. Second Question, could Loveless continue to make knives now by himself and what would the quality be?

George Herron's knives have always had a great following. His knives are now going up in the aftermarket. This is due primarily to George's position in the custom knife market as much as his personality. Something that Lovless has always had trouble with.

Bob Lum is generally given credit for introducing the Tanto to the US. Phil did a great job of marketing. Phil had his son at the East Coast Custom Knife Show a few years back and was explaining to show goers that his son would be helping with the knives. Someone asked would the logo change, Phil answered "No, as a Hartsfield would still be making the knives."

Talon, question do you think a blade from Phil's son cost the same as an original Hartsfield. If the logo is the same how would you tell them apart?

To Phil's credit he did say he son would be helping with the knives.

I have no doubt that Phil, if he chose to, could go the extra mile and put a nicer finish on the blade, use Same, etc. and produce a beautiful knife. However, why do that when you can get top dollar for the work he has made.

However, until he does produce knives of this quality. RJ Martin's Japanese tacticals are in every way shape and form superior to Phil Hartsfields work. As well his knives are generally about half price. Talon one of my criteria for buying knives has always been value for the money.

My comments now and then have nothing to do with "bad mouthing" makers. It has to do with the truth.

Many collectors fall in love with a makers work and accept the maker and their "marketing" warts and all. When you are selling knives and offer the trade in policy that I have. You have to look past the "marketing" and hype.

Having not promoted Loveless or Hartsfield and promoting Herron and Martin has obviously not hurt Loveless and Hartsfield or my business. My opinions annoy a lot of collectors, primarily because I do not agree with their choices.

Talon, you should buy what you like. If you like Loveless and Hartsfields work then that is where you should spend your money. Each collector should do enough research so that their purchase will stand alone. That is to say whether somene agrees or disagrees with your choice....you are happy with it.
 
I've been watching this thread, and trying to keep my mouth shut! But it has crossed the line. First off let me say that George Herrons knives are gaining in value because George made a hell of a knife, was very prolific, and one of the founding fathers of the Guild. A lot of people know Georges Knives that don't know Georges personality. George Herron and Bob Loveless are both Friends of mine. As is Jim Merritt at the Loveless Shop. Now for my two cents. Jim Merritt is "NOT BOB LOVELESS'S HELPER" Are you listening there woody? Jim is and has been Bob Lovelesse's "FULL PARTNER" for years. In other words he has been making Loveless Knives for a lot of years. About 25 years worth. Nothing you can say is going to damage the business relationship Bob and Jim have. And it isn't going to change the relation ship I have with them. And I for one could care less whether you like it or not. Many makers have partners, workers, helpers. Shall I list the ones I know of right off. And what would be the point! I don't because I simply don't have the room, but if i could mabe people like you would quit bitching that I'm too slow. You have also put down my relation to Loveless, and Jim, saying that it doesn't make any difference. Having the permission to make, and receiving guidance in the making the Loveless connection knives has no meaning. That having the logos means nothing. Then the incredibly rude e-mails when my father was dying. letting me know in no UN-certain terms that you were more important. How did you put it, "Always an interesting turn of events". Well sir, Let me tell you. Jim Merritts knives of later vintage, bring top dollar. Knives out of the Loveless shop marked Loveless-Merritt bring top dollar. Loveless Collectors from all over the world are collecting Lovett-Loveless Connection Knives. Many customers being sent to me by The Man himself. Seems to me, your not quite the all knowing guru that you claim. This is supposed to be an enjoyable business. Why do some have to be arrogant pricks just to make a sale. IT's CALLED GREED!!!!!!
 
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