Lexicon said:
Show summary:
Fewer top makers at this show. I talked to people who said they were not comming back.
Alaska makers not there.
Montana makers not there.
Not to mention the lack of Bob Crowder(whom I would not place with many of the Montana crowd, even though he lives there), Todd Begg, Shane Sibert was there, but got cleaned out in Las Vegas, Lonnie Hansen, Nick Wheeler, J.P. Holmes,Tom Ferry...
There were a lot of MIA makers, and that sucked big time. I look forward to seeing those guys, if only for socializing, and their absence makes the trip that much harder to make.
Lexicon said:
There were great deals on smaller knives but even those were not super fancy.
Good selection of top quality custom folders.
Good mid-grade bowie selection but no exceptional items. I wanted a big knife this year but nobody stepped up. One maker had a good blade with mammoth tooth but it was not what I was looking for.
There were tons of great folders, but not much by way of engraved pieces. If that is what you are looking for, try Solvang, Blade or Evening of the Cutlery Arts in Huntington Beach.
I had a Burt Foster Bowie there, in my case, with a 10"+ blade and some of the craziest hamon ever made, I think that would have qualified as a BIG KNIFE, but maybe you didn't see it
Great buying show.
With a phone call, I was able to request a Ruple trapper in stag, a week before the show, which was delivered there. I also got an Ed Schempp chef's knife, an Art Washburn folder(gorgeous), an older Jot Khalsa folder at a very reasonable price, and some other pieces, one of which is a stunner.
Lousy selling show.
Lots, and lots of tire kicking, but frankly, for me, the buyers are at Blade, at Huntington Beach and other parts unknown. I had a Jason Knight fighter, TWO Burt Fosters, a Matt Roberts, that I put in the case, because I wanted to see what the response was. It was minimal, to be generous.
I sold a two knife combo that Buck stopped producing in the early '90's and a GT folder on the first day (Friday). The piece that I brought up with me that got the highest amount of interest was...........a Pacific Cutlery Bushmaster with factory sheath, in very good shape that I sold for $135.00. Woo-hoo. That covered dinner for one night. My business partner did a little better, with some antique flippers.
I do a Japanese sword cutting demo, and seminar every year at Eugene when I am there, and this year, two hours before the demo, some rocket scientist of an underpaid janitorial engineer threw our mats in the trash compactor, because they were in garbage bags, and 1/2 the people at the seminar walked out halfway through that. Guess what folks???? No more seminars from my chubby butt at the OKCA any more.
High points:
Hanging out with Steve Strauch and Michael Bell.
Entering my business partner's second forged blade into the New Maker Competition, and getting positive feedback on it (it is a smokin' knife)!
Looking at some excellent antique knives. In particular, there were two sacrificial/ceremonial pieces that caught our eye, as well as a pair of Exhibition fixed blades, made for the 1893 Paris Exhibition with a price tag of $25,000 for the pair. That was very cool.
Meeting and shaking hands with Raymond Richard. It meant a lot to me to meet him.
Hanging out with Robert Golden, Joe Shredd, JD Smith, and his crew, Matt Diskin, Grant and Gavin Hawk, Thomas W. from Kershaw, Ed and Martin Schempp and my boys from the Pacific NW (I hope that I am not leaving anyone out).
Excellent dinners at Sweetwaters in the Valley River Inn.
Meeting Gunner John from the Forums, and talking with QMCS (Ret.) "Patches" Watson, and having him sign some books for me. Big, big happy!
I will probably not go back next year. I can only do so many shows a year, and if I go to the OKCA, I cannot go to Blade in Atlanta. Blade is the best all-around knife show on the planet, so it would be my preference to go there. I will probably flip-flop between the two shows, so will be at Eugene again in 2008.
My partner and I do have a table this year at Blade Show West, so I am interested to see if that differs at all from sales at Eugene.
Not the worst OKCA show I have done, but far from the best.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
I'd say if anything the show is still strong. I guess it all depends on what sort of experiance you are looking for but I'd say it's worth the trip myself.
