Very Disappointed

R

Ralf

Joined
Oct 11, 1998
Messages
565
It's about Mick's new knife. I like it a lot and contacted Tripleaughtdesign as soon as I heard they were going to have some in stock. Well, yesterday I got a message from them saying that the knives had arrived and I could have a shot at the 6 ½ “ model I was interested in. Price quote: $725.- !!! First I thought it was a misprint but that seems to be the price. Sorry to say, but I feel like I'm being taking for a ride here.

Before I now jump to any conclusions, could someone please explain why the price for this piece is more than double what any other maker would charge for that kind of work?
 
Well i might be in the minority but you get what you pay for. This is a sole authorship knife, a Mick Strider custom not just a normal strider.
 
I understand your sentiment Ralf 'cause I asked myself the same question. It's difficult to judge the price without inspecting the knife first hand. You might even say it's a bargain after inspecting one. I hope they have them on hand at the Blade Show West. Fortunately, there is the regular line available for the rest of us.
 
that's really not that bad for what you are getting. i believe the seal 2001's are priced about the same. personnally, i would like to add both them to my collection but i'm in the process of selling my hk mark 23 socom for a les baer "srp" 1911. i should probably say screw the 1911 and buy the striders! thank god there are no show's around northwest indiana that the strider guys go to or i would probably own their whole line.

killerkain
 
These are priced within the same context as the Seal 2000 and Tigers.

We also offer a whole range of "regular" Striders (when in stock;))... at prices which seem to be more to your liking Ralf. Let me suggest one of those.

Mick Strider Customs, are the few and the proud. I invite to "step up" if you are so inclined. If not, then that is also your choice.
 
They are sweet blades, worth what is being charged. To bad I can't justify 800 dollars on anything right now.
Reed
 
Anybody that wants to pay me lots of money for Cheerios sculptures or handmade towers of toothpicks, please let me know.

Do you guys know that some guy won an art show by putting two shop vacs in a plexi-glass case and called it "the vaccum of space".

I want to do that sort of thing.
Reed-the starving poor guy
 
Maybe this could provide some of you another point of view...

Absolute Term:
$325 vs. $725
$400 difference (you could get another "L" version of standard models)
same blade length
unique blade style

Relative Term:
$325 vs. $725
13:29 ratio
It's like owning 2 knives of unlimited quantity and of standard breed VERSUS something which is only a handful in this world plus a unique style.

As a collector, IMHO, the knife more than justifies itself for its price range when you take the relative point of view into account. Just for comparison's sake, do you know how much a one-of-a-kind Microtech knife's worth. 10,000 thousand bucks!...if you're lucky to find one.
 
As a longtime Microtech collector (whose life was saved by a Strider AD), could you please tell me which Microtech knife sells for $10,000?
 
Well,
Both knives sold at the price asked by TAD in a very short amount of time. There is the answer as to whether or not they are worth that kind of money! People bought them for 700+ so that is what they are worth. If you missed out due to sniveling over price, I laugh at you! I've handled those knives and they were worth every penny if not more! Wait until Mick shows the ones that are all dressed up. Then you'll be in serious trouble.
 
Thanks for the postings so far. Let me first make some comments to them.

Click on any of these Maker's names to see what nice craftsmanship you can get nowadays for around $700.-
Fighting knives index
Compared to those, it doesn't seem a bargain anymore to pay that much for a flat piece of bead blasted steel with a piece of cord as a handle, does it? ;) Other makers offer satin or even mirror finish and sculptured handles. Features which take a quite some time and skill to produce, so it seems fair to charge for them.

Even the quoted $10,000 Microtechs sell for a little bit less in reality
Microtechs For roughly the price of the new Strider you can get the Halo-3 with a hand ground Devin Thomas Damascus blade. Limited to 100 pieces.

Now let me state my main point:
The new knife is not much different from the current MT or MH models which sell for less than half. That means the new model can't be that much more to produce since there is little difference in craftsmanship or material (ok, I know I'm getting flak for this one...). What it actually is, is marketing. Everybody knows that Striders are "hot" right now, so customers are willing to pay more for them. So what you do is produce a “limited edition” and presto, you can sell it for double. That's fine with me and I leave those pieces to others.

But now take a look at this:

The initial goal was to provide a field service knife constructed with the finest components available, yet affordable to the average enlisted man and within his maintenance abilities
Click to expand...

So either things have changed dramatically over the last couple of years or I'm missing something here. A >$700 knife affordable by an enlisted man? The Strider guys with their military background know best that this can’t be. Knives in that range are clearly collector pieces and I bet that not too many people are actually going to use them. Those knives go straight in the safe or on the wall.

After all the prior postings about how Strider knives are meant to be used, I'm (as mentioned) very disappointed that those statements are thrown out of the window as soon as there is the opportunity to make some extra cash.

I’m not saying Strider can’t produce collector pieces and sell them for a premium. The nice knife on the custom forum the other day is the best example. It had a nice finish, bolsters and handle scales. In other words, it was a real (one of a kind) custom piece. But selling a knife so similar to the regular line for more than double leaves a very bad aftertaste.

Still your (disappointed) fan,
Ralf
 
Hey Ralf, are you the AntiChrist?! (Check out his number of posts) That sure is some EVIL stuff to be posting here!! ;)

Look, here's how I see it. The Mick Strider customs are way out of my league, price-wise. But they ARE custom special pieces- not part of the regular line. As you can see, TAD had no problem selling them in like 2 days. I have no problem with the price tag (except for jealousy for the lucky bastards that were able to get them).

I guess subjectively I'd agree that they are too expensive. Fact is, there are a LOT of things that I think are too expensive. I think Lexuses are too expensive, but it doesn't diminish the fact that for lots of folk the price is easily justifiable.

My way of handling this whole issue is to make a cardboard versions of Mick's knives, wrapped in aluminum foil. Then I paint up my face and chase old ladies around the park.

Um... I need some sleep.
 
Pricing is not necessarily based on what something is worth but on what the market will bear. Like any products being sold, there is a buyer for everything at every price range. For some people, the cost of the product is not even a consideration. Like the old saying "If you have to ask about the price, you cannot afford it." I just have to drool over pictures of things that I cannot afford.
 
Ralf,
As an enlisted man in the military, I know what one can and can't afford. I can't afford to buy a "one-off" collector piece such as this. Mick is still making knives that are every bit in the price range for the average soldier to use and abuse.(I own 6) If he decides to get a little creative, it seems that you are dumping on his original mission statement. The regular line is what that statement is intended to represent. (my interpretation) The custom pieces are sold as collectible and are not intended for a regular enlisted guy nor were they marketed for one. If you like it so much, buy it. If you can't afford it or don't want to, don't trash the maker. One last thing to think on:
Who sets the price for that knife? The dealer that is selling a custom piece that hasn't had an equivelant out there to guage price on. Or, the maker that sold it to the dealer. While there are standard prices for the regular line as dictated by Strider, are there the same limits to be used on a collectible? All collectors items are priced by what the collector wants for pay for them. In this case, the market caused the price to be set at $700+. I guess the price was right on as they sold so fast.
Don't bash Mick for your lack of understanding of the free market system. Go take an economics class.
 
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