The Blade Show-A LOT of Overpriced Customs

I was looking for a companion knife for a bowie in my collection by John White, JS . As his big knives were too rich for my blood, I considered a hunter with one of the best looking blade and handle shapes with an ugly piece of smooth giraffe bone attached. The shape, fit, finsih was perfect, but the bone was not to my liking. I wonder if makers know how many sales giraffe bone and fake stag cost them?
 
That was an opinionated thread! :D

Seriously, I can see why a lot of people would not like it. Thanks for the info.
 
leatherbird said:
Don Hanson III,was there.Impressions?
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I've been to a few Blade Show's and Don Hanson's work (fixed blades and folders) is PHENOMENAL ! To top it off, Don's a great guy !

I want one of his folders in a baaaaaad way. Unfortunately, he continually refuses the organs that I want to donate / exchange for his work. :D



Leatherbird. . . . .if you contemplating a "trigger pull". . . . . .DO IT !
 
Gig,
Yes!:thumbup: Gotta' couple of his Bowies and a Texas Toothpick with his early Damascus,nothing current though.
On his site,a while back,he had one (Bowie),it was called Wicked Cutter,pretty awesome.I was too slow!
Don is a great guy.And an awesome knifemaker!:thumbup: :thumbup:

Doug:)
 
From my perspective as a dealer the show was excellent,,the popular guys had customers waiting at their table as usual and sold out quickly.

Phillip :)
 
I have to confess that except for one knife my purchases were all multiblades by Joel Chamblin (drawing), Reese Bose(drawing), Jack Davenport(order from Blade 2005) and Dan Burk. The quality of work exhibited by each of those makers as well as Richard Rogers was at an all time high.

Jack won best folder of show. Every multiblade that I was able to handle by those makers was exceptional in fit, finish and blade action. Prices were up a little from last year (3 to 10%), but so was the quality by all these guys.

Ron Newton had his tuxedo whittler there that is going to one of our members that was nothing short of stunning. There is a picture of it in Rogers thread that comes close but not quite. Somebody is going to be thrilled.;)

Some other traditional folks that I liked were some "trick" knives by Michael Vagnino, and Kim Breed (Blade reviewer) has started making some

I also got to spend some time with Rick Nowland. Considering the quality of his work I think his multiblades were some of the best custom bang for the buck that I saw. (I have not made it to all the tables either.)

Otha's knives were sold out long before the doors opened, so I think they all went to one dealer.

I spent quite a bit of time in the A.B.S. area today. (Danbo would be proud, I picked up a very nice mosaic damascus stag bowie at the A.B.S. auction by a J.S. in California.) Very clean with radial cut damacus guard and ferrule and with mosiac butcap and finial. The edges of the butcap are fitted to the deeply figured stag. It is a very well made knife and my cost was much more than reasonable compared to most of the table prices.

I think Anthony hit some issues directly on the head. I also think He pegged most of the good fixed blade highlights that I saw. (Keep in mind that I missed seeing knives by many makers in that area that sold out quickly.)

Ray Kirk's integrals may just be the best bang for the buck that I saw today in that area. Many of the makers I talked to had very challenging years for various personal reasons that I can easily relate to - parents and family members that have had medical problems. Whatever the overall reasons, in general I did not see the amazing jump in over all general quality that right or wrong I have normally perceived in every other years as far as forged fixed blades were concerned.

Other notalbes.

The A.B.S. Board knife (Last forged blade by Bill Moran finished off by board members of the A.B.S. Board went for $37,500 which was by far a record amount for any A.B.S. auction knife.

It sure was tough to walk by "Bill's table", but there sure were a lot of fond memories that were also stirred.

Some of the most amazing work I saw in the A.B.S. section was that of Vince Evans. He had two swords there that were incredible along with some other knives. The basket hilts were mind boggeling and the damascus danced. Work like this is not cheap, but I thought the price range on all his work was more than reasonable.

Placed a few very loose but serious orders - Evans, Kim Breed, Ryu, Rogers and Rob Patton.

Got to spend a good part of the day Friday with Gig and Ren and we had a blast.
 
Anthony,

show me something that hasn't been going up in price like crazy the last few years!

I was talking to a man a few days ago who does energy management consulting for industry, he pointed out that most busines costs have double digit price increases over the last few years, the only exception being telephone costs which have decreased slightly.

Take a look at the costs for knifemaking materials... titanium increased more than 100% in 2005 alone... steel ain't been going down either... add that to grinding belts, energy costs, etc etc. It is costing more and more to produce hand made knives and this is driving the prices up.

As has been pointed out above, another factor for non-$ based makers, currency exchange rates are terrible for those of us who export to the USA. Traveling to the Blade show and having a table costs a lot of money too.

Another point: the difference between part time Makers, who either have a day job or use other income to pay most of their bills and full time Makers who have to make enough profit to pay all of their living expenses and operate their business. The difference is huge. If knifemaking is taken up as a business it has to be run as a business and not a hobby. One very soon comes face to face with the very hard realities that the end of each month brings.

I understand your frustration with the rising prices for knives and none of my reasons are meant to justify poor quality. Otherwise, I can only say that prices for high quality handmade knives are going nowhere but up. Just like the prices for a lot of other cool and essential products and services.

I know I get frustrated when I go buy gas for the car and think what it cost last year! I buy less gas and ride my bicycle a lot more. My wife and I cancelled our vacation this summer. I hear from a lot of customers who have had to cut back on buying knives because they don't have the money anymore.

It's a bummer but the causes for the steep rise in prices lie in many - if not most - cases outside the Maker's control. Cause even in knifemaking, working and not getting paid is a drag.
 
And, well said Kevin!

I was a little disappointed that the opening salvo thread in review of the Blade Show, had a negative slant. To that, Anthony made his points--or his opinions, but it was limited in it's scope to be biased towards the forged fixed-blade lovers crowd. Anthony, that's fine. And there were some comebacks of good values AL remarked about and others. But the title of the thread doesn't allude to that. It appears EVERY custom maker is guilty. Couldn't there be tons of stock-removal folder makers whose work was a screamin value? Maybe. I dunno.

No biggie, but this is how I viewed it.

Regardless, I like to hear the good AND the semi-bad, and this was an honest appraisal from someone who went there. Thanks. As always be careful with your words, especially in a title. It paints with a broad swipe.

Coop
 
From someone who didn't go, I am intersted in hearing everyone's opinion who went, good or bad. Thanks all for the opinions on the show.
Bruce
 
The point of the thread was that I perceived much less value than in years past.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.

If you want to add value to this thread, contribute an opinion, but don't get in a bunch over the title. It was meant to draw people to the thread so add further insight, and don't start a riot.

I have been attending the Blade show since 1994 and this is what I saw and observed.

Kevin,

I value your opinion, but I am not sure a lot of this is tied to gas prices. They type of knives that I collect are usually made of simple steels with handle materials that usually cost less than 10% of the knives value. Most makers do not even provide a sheath anymore with ABS style knives, so that variable is also moot. It is the labor variable that has skyrocketed over the last 5 years in this area and I think that is attributed to poor business practices more than anything else. High prices alienate loyal customers. How much is a knife makers labor worth? $40 an hour? $60 an hour? $100 an hour?
Most people I know have not had 30-40% raises over the last 5 years and most are doing quite well. I am not sure these prices are much at all tied to the economy.

The market will ultimately make these decisions and Friday of the Blade show will usually tell the tale.
 
Anthony,

I also appreciate your observations very much. When you say you saw much less value for the money than in past years, that's certainly cause for concern. I was also concerned to hear that a dealer is seeing more and more collections dumped onto the market. None of these are good signs for the knife business.

My main point was that the costs of operating a small business have skyrocketed over the last few years. These costs - which include materials, supplies, outside labor and other costs like travel, energy and all the little things that come together - have put tremendous pressure on knifemakers. It's not so much what a Maker's time is "worth;" the deciding factor often is "what does a maker have to earn in order to survive month to month."

The "nut" each month for most guys has gotten bigger, hence either prices increase or production increases. This is without a doubt tied to general economic conditions.

It sounds like some Makers you observed at Blade are increasing prices and decreasing quality to increase bottom line profit. That's a sure was to blow yourself up in the long term.
 
Thanks for the feedback Mr. Lombardo. It's much appreciated from someone who has only attended 3 shows.

Sadly, I have noticed this trend even at the smaller shows the last few years. I was told some years back that the shows were the places to go for hands-on and good deals. Unfortunately the last few years of shows I attended, though small, showed the same trend of high priced "standards" with the occasional good deal found. As it turns out, the last 2 shows I purchased knives at, I paid more there than I could have online, from the manufacturer! I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to afford to attend shows if these rates keep up.
 
Prices do have to go up, but value doesn't. I can understand all the reasons for prices increasing. Economic pressures will always mean that over time we knife collectors will be paying more. That doesn't mean that when comparing prices now to prices last years that there shouldn't be just as much value being offered. If a certain knife from a maker was $500.00 last year and it is $600.00 this year, does that offer equal value or not? It depends on whether the maker's finished product has increased in quality. If so, then $600.00 is still good value. If not, then a 20% increase in price is far higher than the increase in the cost of making the knife and value has gone down.

What is and isn't good value in custom knives is a topic for another thread.
 
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