TC Barlows?

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waynorth said:
Just so everyone knows, I could not keep up with the orders, so I have been selling the Barlows through 5 dealers, most of who are members here on BF.
i take a small percentage of the factory orders for an archive I am creating, and for a group of collectors who have purchased every SFO since I started.
If someone keeps a knife for a while, any knife, and can sell it when prices are high, that is American capitalism at work. I have paid $600-700 (not very often) for an old knife that is virtually impossible to find, but I had to have it for my collection!! The key is, no one has to pay a high price, unless they "gotta have" that knife!
Now, I have as many Barlows made as I can afford. What I cannot afford, is to have a boatload of unsold knives! It's a balancing act where I also have to keep my head above water.
I am sorry if someone misses out on a Barlow, but consider this:
I have hunted for a few knives for over 10 years before a presentable one showed up!
If you are patient, you will find whatever knife you want!!

PS: I do not sell on eBay!!
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Charlie, you are a good fella to the knife community and you took what was already an awesome knife and made it highly desireable. Thank you.

P.S. You still need to do the beerlow with a long pull spear.... :p

dgebler said:
Sorry, I know I'm late to the party, but am I correct that there will be future TC Barlows coming? I am just getting into the traditional scene and have missed these beauties (I especially love the sheepsfoot...incredible). I am pretty much out of the loop and don't know who Charlie is or where to look for one. I assume there will be chatter here when a new batch comes out, but is there anywhere I should pay attention to? Is Charlie associated with KSF or do they carry these? Sorry for the newby questions just trying to figure this out in hopes I will be lucky enough to score one in the future. (has there been one with a sheepsfoot long pull main blade and a secondary pen blade? that would be my grail...)
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Do like the rest of us knife nuts and check out greateasterncutlery.net daily for updates and look for Charlie's name on the front page. Or keep up with the "What makes a good traditional Barlow?" or something like that thread. Maybe both.
 
homskrim.jpg
 
I bought my first TC barlow from a dealer for about $100. To be honest, I was disappointed at the time but it was because I was used to modern knive which come with thin, even, sharp edges (or at least the ones i bought did). Now I'm glad I did buy it cause the same knife goes for like 2x as much on the bay now.

My second TC barlow was the rendezvous special, ehich went for around $70. I think it was a steal, with the extremely interesting covers and limited availability, at that price.

I wouldn't buy one new for what they are on the bay. I'm hoping next time I can get an email through to the creator himself.
 
Rumor has it that Charlie just purchased his own private island in BC. Of course it is 15 acres. A landing strip for his Lear Jet and a boat slip for the yacht. The knife business is GOOD! ;)

15TCBarlow3rdcutstag_zpsf23c16d4.jpg
 
rma100 said:
Rumor has it that Charlie just purchased his own private island in BC. Of course it is 15 acres. A landing strip for his Lear Jet and a boat slip for the yacht. The knife business is GOOD! ;)

15TCBarlow3rdcutstag_zpsf23c16d4.jpg
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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Oh yes - he is away - I thought on a vacation.

I could see the 15 acres, knowing where he lives - but - I really doubt Charlie would ever own a Lear jet or yacht - he could never get past the thoughts "Now how many old Schrades and Ulsters would that be?" :D:D:D

Very pretty third cut - by the way!
 
I had quite a few that I regret selling/trading. If I could get one back it would be a soup bone single spear with a long pull, I might've had two of those now that I think about it.

However I've seen on Facebook groups many of these Charlows, with one handed openers. Lots of guys who think nothing of dropping coin on an expensive midtech or custom framelock seem to carry a lot of these Charlows, in many different configurations. Many of these members have bought the knives on the Bay or other auction sites. I'm just glad that knife nuts are getting into slipjoints and traditional knives. I am glad that I could enjoy these knives through Charlie and appreciate his camraderie over the years.
 
silenthunterstudios said:
I had quite a few that I regret selling/trading. If I could get one back it would be a soup bone single spear with a long pull, I might've had two of those now that I think about it.
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You know you wouldn't have as many regrets if you resisted the urge to sell/trade every knife that came into your hands. Just sayin'...

;)

- Christian
 
kamagong said:
You know you wouldn't have as many regrets if you resisted the urge to sell/trade every knife that came into your hands. Just sayin'...

;)

- Christian
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It's a sickness brother, I just traded back into four knives I traded to a buddy a couple years ago. My pile of "that's never going anywhere" is growing though ;).

Everyone at Gosstoberfest makes fun of Dan Schectman and I, at the trade table. When we are trading a whole crowd gathers around us. We get along well and he fostered my love and appreciation of Hudson Bay knives. I've made a lot of friends through trading.
 
I've had one. I did sell it, but it wasn't because I didn't like it. I rotate quite a few knives and made the decision that I would only keep the ones that I really loved. I do have a strong desire for a long pull spear in ebony..... Even a regular boy's knife would be good. Probably a single blade version, but a pen secondary would be fine.
 
Limited production, high demand.......where's the mystery? Economics 101
 
In my defense it was a Gossman Polaris, with osage orange scales and black liners, the only one Scott made. It's definitely back in the keep forever pile.
 
dgebler said:
Sorry, I know I'm late to the party, but am I correct that there will be future TC Barlows coming? I am just getting into the traditional scene and have missed these beauties (I especially love the sheepsfoot...incredible). I am pretty much out of the loop and don't know who Charlie is or where to look for one. I assume there will be chatter here when a new batch comes out, but is there anywhere I should pay attention to? Is Charlie associated with KSF or do they carry these? Sorry for the newby questions just trying to figure this out in hopes I will be lucky enough to score one in the future. (has there been one with a sheepsfoot long pull main blade and a secondary pen blade? that would be my grail...)
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Hmm I'm trying to reply to this but it wont load my reply so bear with me.... Ok heck with it, it's starting to make me mad now so I'm just going to send my reply to you in a PM. What in the heck is going on here I can't send it to you in a pm or even the email option! Just send me an email if your interested.
 
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Campbell,

So let me get this straight...I can't express my opinion on someone's business practices because I don't know this person, but you can come on here and run your mouth when you know nothing about me?!?! I'm not going to tell you what I think of you or your comments because I'm not a keyboard thug. I also won't respond anymore because I don't have the time to sit here, hours on end, arguing nonsense.

I'm not, as you say, one of these guys that missed out on a knife and then moans about the prices. As a matter of fact, I picked up the two that I wanted from this last run because I watched vigilantly for these to drop. My issue is that there's always people on every Charlow thread that want these and would gladly pay $100-$150 for them. Even these people didn't miss the release because this business never released them. When asked about the Charlows...he was "sold out". Weeks later, we all found that he sat on them to sell them for $250. If you want to form your little clique, by all means go ahead. I don't care for that. There's a lot of people that will side with me too.
 
Folks, simple request on behalf of Frank and Gary, remain civil and discuss the topic at hand (in keeping with the tradition of this forum). If you are not seeing eye to eye with someone please, do not use this thread to air out that laundry. Thank you all in advance
 
jc57 said:
They are all special factory orders, commissioned by Charlie Campagna (waynorth on this forum). They are sold directly by him, through e-mail since he has no on-line storefront.
:P
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On this last run, many of Charlie's barlows were distributed by dealers, 5 separate dealers I believe. Being aware of the great demand and almost instant sell-out of these knives, I wrote to Charley asking how to obtain a couple, i.e. reserve a couple. He responded with a list of 5 dealer's (these are also GEC dealers, listed on GEC website) and said to get in touch with them, as they were the distributors that would be receiving shipments of the TC Barlows. I did this, some told me they were already gone, but found a dealer who would take my email and let me reserve a couple knives. This is how it worked for me, and I am very thankful & loyal to this dealer. At the time, a number of them also showed up on dealer's websites for between $90-$110 shipped. I bought a couple of these as well. To me the greatest thing about these knives is the reasonable price for a quality knife. This is a direct result of Charlie's vision I believe. "A 2014 Stag BF Jack in everyone's pocket! What could be better?" The 2014 Forum knife in a run quantity of 300 or so, at less than $80. Quality knives readily available - this is the Charlow legacy too. These knives are a result of Charlie's design and the quality of GEC's manufacturing process & skill. GEC sells many knives of great quality for an average of $100 a piece. Some as low as $60, others in the mid $100's & up. Charlows are no different (except in some people's minds). There is money to be made at this price point or they wouldn't be doing it. After they are sold, it's a free world and people can pay or ask what they will for any knife. Hoarding, speculating, flipping & gouging is not illegal, but it's not in the spirit that these knives were created. It's people taking advantage of an ability to scoop them up. I posted a comment in another thread that was a mistake on my part - the post was inappropriate for the thread. But this thread is discussing the cost and availability of Charlows. I don't care that individual owners put their knives on fleabay. I WAS disappointed when I saw at least one of the 5 distributors auctioning off part of his shipment of knives on there. Not to begrudge him the money, but as not in the spirit of Charlow. Someone mentioned that this dealer (and I never named him) had done much for the BF community. Well, selling your Charlow shipment on fleabay is not doing much for the BF community. If you don't want to sell them at retail in the spirit of Charlow, then don't be a distributor. You can surely get more than retail on The Exchange, but just because you can make a few extra bucks doesn't make it right. Unfortunately for some, Charlie's vision has mutated into something else, something base, which is distasteful in my opinion, but hey, I could be wrong. This has nothing to do with Charley or his knives, it's as old as time & human nature. This too shall pass. I for one will continue to enjoy my barlows, Charley's and others and I pray I'll be able to find a "Real Charlow" sheepsfoot to add to my meager collection without having to mortgage the house!
 
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