The Cold Steel generic box

T

tess_lawrie_fan

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Apr 18, 2021
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Meet the BOXG14X3, a Cold Steel "generic" box. Have you seen this before?

There's an OSS box in the pic for size comparison.

I'm already forging my conspiracy theory to explain its existence: it was made to dispatch some knifes which will disappear from the Cold Steel's catalog. Printing a generic box instead of the original boxes, they save some money.

If you have knowledge about this, or a better theory, please tell us.


generic-box-1.jpg


generic-box-2.jpg
 
A similar box was used on a Tanto Lite and Outdoorsman Lite that I ordered a few years ago. Just stick a label on the end of the box and that's the only way to identify what model is inside. The box itself is a sturdy design that opens from the front and folds into itself and is made of thicker cardboard.I like them for that reason. Not thin and flimsy like some of the other boxes with fancy pictures on them!
 
Man with no name said:
A similar box was used on a Tanto Lite and Outdoorsman Lite that I ordered a few years ago. Just stick a label on the end of the box and that's the only way to identify what model is inside. The box itself is a sturdy design that opens from the front and folds into itself and is made of thicker cardboard.I like them for that reason. Not thin and flimsy like some of the other boxes with fancy pictures on them!
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Does your generic box form several years ago have the new CS logo?
 
They needed new boxes anyway, since the old ones contained all the Ventura contact information (interesting that they changed the toll-free number). But based on the appearance of your example, it looks like the guiding factor in the design was to make it as inexpensive as possible. I can't really blame them for that. Why make boxes exclusive to the knives when you can make just a few sizes with the company logos and slap on model number stickers as needed?

But they didn't need to make them so generic. What GSM doesn't realize (but will discover soon enough), is that non-unique boxes will make them incredibly easy to counterfeit. China will have a field day ripping off the new Cold Steel knives.


-Steve
 
A similar box was used on a Tanto Lite and Outdoorsman Lite that I ordered a few years ago. Just stick a label on the end of the box and that's the only way to identify what model is inside. The box itself is a sturdy design that opens from the front and folds into itself and is made of thicker cardboard.I like them for that reason. Not thin and flimsy like some of the other boxes with fancy pictures on them!
sean2021 said:
Does your generic box form several years ago have the new CS logo?
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No. It's the logo just prior to the newest one. Anytime/Anywhere logo with Tanto knife between Cold/Steel. BOXG14X3.
 
Man with no name said:
A similar box was used on a Tanto Lite and Outdoorsman Lite that I ordered a few years ago. Just stick a label on the end of the box and that's the only way to identify what model is inside. The box itself is a sturdy design that opens from the front and folds into itself and is made of thicker cardboard.I like them for that reason. Not thin and flimsy like some of the other boxes with fancy pictures on them!

No. It's the logo just prior to the newest one. Anytime/Anywhere logo with Tanto knife between Cold/Steel. BOXG14X3.
Click to expand...
After I posted my question, I realized it was dumb of me to ask it….how could a box from several yrs ago have the new logo, LOL! But I’m pretty sure I’ve never received a generic box. My collection is very small, but almost positive all the boxes have a pic of the specific knife on it. That was part of fun of receiving it….agree with above post…generic boxes will make creating fakes easier.
 
Man with no name said:
A similar box was used on a Tanto Lite and Outdoorsman Lite that I ordered a few years ago. Just stick a label on the end of the box and that's the only way to identify what model is inside. The box itself is a sturdy design that opens from the front and folds into itself and is made of thicker cardboard.I like them for that reason. Not thin and flimsy like some of the other boxes with fancy pictures on them!

No. It's the logo just prior to the newest one. Anytime/Anywhere logo with Tanto knife between Cold/Steel. BOXG14X3.
Click to expand...

It's interesting that the box (still) has the same code: BOXG14X3.

This new generic box opens from the extremity and is as flimsy as it can be.

I wonder if they really have more than one generic model. In this box I've received a Master Hunter San Mai, which is almost comical... a good amount of brown paper inside to help to fill the box.
 
The Tanto Lite came with a ball of wadded up brown butcher type paper to help keep the knife from moving around. Aside from the plain box I do prefer it's sturdy construction.
 
2 purchases of new CS knives from reputable dealers in the last 2 months...
-TM San Mai III Japan build - dedicated box with TM photo and model number printed on end; thicker box walls; Nylon sheath
-Master Hunter San Mai III Japan build- dedicated box with MH photo and model number printed on end; thinner box walls; Securex
Both had "old logo" on blades.

2 purchases of second-hand CS knives in the last 2 months...
-2x SRK's in 3V Italy build - generic boxes, no photo; model number (38CKD) is sticker on the ends; thicker box walls; Securex
Both had "old logo" on blades.
 
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It seems kind of obvious that the generic boxes are used when there's a lack of regular boxes.

From the info collected in this thread until now, the generic boxes were used (more recently) to pack products made in Japan and Italy. It may means nothing, but also may be a sign of changes that are coming... 🤔 🤷‍♂️
 
tess_lawrie_fan said:
It seems kind of obvious that the generic boxes are used when there's a lack of regular boxes.

From the info collected in this thread until now, the generic boxes were used (more recently) to pack products made in Japan and Italy. It may means nothing, but also may be a sign of changes that are coming... 🤔 🤷‍♂️
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Yes it is hard to tell nowadays. My local store ran out of their regular bags for while and some fast food places(well known too)were using tin foil for a while. Like you said though could be a cost cutting thing. Crazy days no doubt.
 
nephron said:
Yes it is hard to tell nowadays. My local store ran out of their regular bags for while and some fast food places(well known too)were using tin foil for a while. Like you said though could be a cost cutting thing. Crazy days no doubt.
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Yes, we're still experiencing the effects of the pandemic, or to be more precise, the effects of health policy decisions during the pandemic. Let's see what happens next...
 
I work in manufacturing (food). By far the worst materials to acquire over the last year is packaging, especially customized packaging. Worse yet, when you change packaging, people assume the product changed. When it's generic packaging, people assume the product is changed for the worse. YMMV
 
dogstar said:
My Bird and Game showed up in a generic box (BOXG9x3) packed full with brown paper. A barcode with the model number was stuck on the end. The knife itself is the last non-GSM logo. I agree with T tess_lawrie_fan that they were probably short on boxes when the knife got made.
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Another generic box, but with a different code... It's smaller? Do you still have it?

Curiously, the Bird and Game is also made in Japan... 🤔
 
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