Wal Mart Native!

When I went to my local wal-mart I asked to different clerks whether they had a spyderco native. Both of them assure me they did not. I finally found the storage and they were in its unfortunate that you have to assume Wal-Mart employees at least in Southern California are incompetent or walk away without looking for. So for those view against the Wal-Mart native don't worry they're not trying to sell.:mad: :mad:
 
Druid, I used to be a manager at Wally World before my new job, and I'll tell you this, those people don't care about making a sale. They don't want to be bothered by you or anyone else.

That said, I went to the old WM I used to work at on my day off today, and the sporting goods manager was putting out the new display sheets. On there I saw lots of new faces, including the Native, some CRKT, new Leathermans etc. I even think I saw a Buck Strider collaboration, but I think that was just wishful thinking. LONG story short, I got my Native. I had a regular Native, the ones that came in the multi pack boxes with no retail box, and that was so blunt, I couldn't get anyone to put an edge on it. This knife is great. I've used it a couple times today, and went ahead and put my EDC, a Native III, back in the knife roll. I talked with the sporting goods manager for a while about knives.

Oh yeah, I also saw a lot of their old knife stock under glass, on clearance. Looked like some good deals.
 
longbeachguy said:
PS I was very tempted by that VG10 Native on ebay for $38.00. I can't believe there'd be a significant difference in performance between one with VG10 and one with S30V.
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I will add my two cents here for the differences between the two. Aside from the steel issue, there are a few differences between the Golden Native (sometimes refered to as the "II") and the Native III.

The clip has been noted. The II has the standard clip, the III has the wire clip. I personally think the wire clip works better on this knife, but some folks can't stand the wire clip.

The swedge is different. It extends back more on the III.

The "grooves" on the spine are deeper and closer on the II than on the III.

The biggest difference (other than blade steel) is the handle. The II's handle is pretty flat. Well it is flat. It has a sort of radiating spider web pattern. The III's handle is a bit more interesting. It has "flat spots" where your fingers might go, it also swells out (in width) towards the blade. Meaning the handle is thinner at the butt than at the blade. What this means is the III feels better in the hand. Especially if you are not using the finger coil, and are gripping the knife farther back.

As has been noted, the III is pretty stiff to open. Not to the point that most will be turned off by it. But if you have limited use of your hands (age, you know...) you might want to try the particular one you are buying out. I hear it breaks in with time. The Golden Native (II) does not seem to have this issue, and opens on par with any other rocker lock.

The III feels better in the hand, the II works better in the pocket. The II is easier to present from the pocket than the III IMHO. This has to do with the design of the handle, and some issues it produces.

In the end, it comes down to this... Is the III's superior ergonomics able to over come the difference in steel? That you will have to deceide for yourself... :)
 
I stopped by WalMart today to check to see if they had any Natives. They apparently do because they had changed the cardboard knife display to include the Native and a few other new knives. I couldn't find anyone to open the case to check one out; big suprise. There wasn't a price listed for the Native, but I guess it will be about $40.00 here.

As much as I hate WalMart, I'm tempted to buy one.
 
I looked mainly out of curiosity (I already have several of different variations).

Of course nobody was at the sporting goods counter, even though it was Friday at about 6:30 and the store was packed. Of course there were two other people already waiting at the counter and others wandering about. Funny how I always forget how much Walmart sucks.

The first employee that shows up doesn't even work in that department, but got me the knife. I looked at a couple, and one of them was so much better fit together than any of my other Natives (except for the Native II with the steel handle, which is perfect). A little left/right blade play, but less than my others and no up/down blade play. The lock bar was perfect in both open and closed positions. So of course I had to get it.

But the first employee had to leave and another one showed up to replace him. It was a major step down. The second guy didn't work in that department. He noted that they only had 2 people to work there, and I think he meant in total, not just for that day. I made some sarcastic comment like "oh well, at least it's the slowest part of the year" and I think he didn't even get it.

One thing I had not thought of until I was looking at their display is they don't ever say anything about the knives on the display. I guess that's true of most retail stores, but shopping online I have come to expect some kind of information. How is someone supposed to know that this knife, buried in a flood of 440a and 420, is any better?

The new display pictures are also not to scale. Many of the knives are shrunken down.
 
OneKnifeMan said:
Why did walmart started displaying the pictures instead of the real thing like they used to do?
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Well, it saves them a lot of money in displays. They are always running out of stuff, and of course they "can't sell the display," but then they have money locked up in knives in display cases.

Less heckling too. People will buy some items that have been opened and played with, but not if it was on "display" without arguing about getting a discount.
 
I'm a little late to this party, but I'll admit that I am disappointed that Spyderco is doing business with Wal-Mart. I'm in the nursery business and I know people that deal with Wal-Mart. It is never a pleasant experience. In my little town the coming of Wal-Mart meant the loss of the pharmacy, and video stores, and a hardware store, and a grocery and a nursery and the general death of downtown. It also meant the death of service and product knowledge. But, the people of this town voted with their money. Unfortunately, their money is now in Bentonville, Arkansas. And like all the big box stores Wal-Mart relies on predatory pricing so the locals never really had a chance. I'll still buy Spyderco products, but I won't buy any from Wal-Mart.

Jack
 
I stopped by Walmart today, and they had 3 Natives in stock. Price was $35.00. Unfortunatley, all of them had a lot of blade play an uneven grinds so I left empty handed.
 
ElectricZombie said:
I stopped by Walmart today, and they had 3 Natives in stock. Price was $35.00. Unfortunatley, all of them had a lot of blade play an uneven grinds so I left empty handed.
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That's too bad. I was hoping it finally got "better" since the first ones I bought. The first one I looked at when I was there was pretty good, and of course the second one was great.

You might want to just try again later when they get more. I sure do like having a good one finally. Too bad they can't all be like that.
 
Stopped by the local Walmart yesterday after reading this thread. $40 bucks for a knife with an S30V blade? I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. The clerk told me they had put out the new display board out that morning and by the time I arrived, they had already sold 3 of the 4 Natives they had in stock. Naturally, I had to have it before it was gone. My sample is superb. Solid lockup, no bladeplay and a wickedly sharp plain edge.

I think it's too soon to tell what will become of this Spyderco and Walmart venture, but I hope it works out in favour of Spyderco of course. If it does, the Native may very well surpass the Delica in popularity and overall sales. Again, $40 bucks for a folder with an S30V blade is unreal. I have a feeling that the Native will be selling like candy.
 
Personally I don't like the cardboard display. For one thing the picture gives no realisitic view of the actual size of the knife. The pic of the Native for example is small compared to the actual knife and if people see just the picture they will automatically disregard buying it or asking to see it based on the size unless they know the knife. That to me is bad marketing. If they really wanted to sell any of those knives better they be far better off to have actual size pictures of the knives. If I were one of the manufacturers selling knives to them to sell I'd strongly suggest this to them in my next meeting with them.

STR
 
STR said:
Personally I don't like the cardboard display. For one thing the picture gives no realisitic view of the actual size of the knife. The pic of the Native for example is small compared to the actual knife and if people see just the picture they will automatically disregard buying it or asking to see it based on the size unless they know the knife. That to me is bad marketing. If they really wanted to sell any of those knives better they be far better off to have actual size pictures of the knives. If I were one of the manufacturers selling knives to them to sell I'd strongly suggest this to them in my next meeting with them.

STR
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STR is right. I noticed that too. It looks like a mini Native.
I wonder what the next WM Spyderco offering will be?
 
Got the last one in the case tonite.
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Picked one up as I didn't have a Native yet. The knife is typically obscenely good Spyderco quality. A little smaller than I normally prefer, but I like the design.

I've heard it over and over again how Walmart destroys small businesses... seriously, if your gun/auto parts/video/hardware store is destroyed by WalMart, your gun/auto parts/video/hardware store seriously sucks big ones. By selling everything, Walmart also sells a lot of nothing. I still have to go to a real gun store, a real auto parts store, a real video rental place, a real hardware store, a real pharmacy etc. because Walmart does not have everything I need, just a few staples.

I hope this thing sells like crazy so I can go buy the latest Spydercos locally without paying shipping and handling charges, or inflated retail prices.
 
I picked up one as well--because of the excellent steel at that price and because I like the Native design. Mine is solid. Good grinds, tight lock up, and nice overall appearance. Very sharp out of the box.
 
DeadManWalking said:
I've heard it over and over again how Walmart destroys small businesses... seriously, if your gun/auto parts/video/hardware store is destroyed by WalMart, your gun/auto parts/video/hardware store seriously sucks big ones.
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Not at all. The local pharmacy/video/hardware stores were just fine. They just can't compete in an unfair market place with Wal-mart's retail prices being below their wholesale cost. Plus these people are my neighbors. They know my kids, my parents. They stay open late in an emergency. They special order. They care about me. When my daughter was killed the Walton family didn't send me a damn thing. They don't care about me or my community. In fact, just the opposite. Otherwise they wouldn't continue to place stores in communities that don't want them.

Look, buy things wherever you want, but New Graham sells that knife for about 60 bucks. They probably pay more for it than Wal-mart sells it for, but I would hardly call that an "inflated retail price" and they contribute to these forums. Why not support the people that support you?

Jack
 
donovan said:
Look, buy things wherever you want, but New Graham sells that knife for about 60 bucks.
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Spyderco.com says the MSRP is $75:
http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=20

40% off, not an uncommon discount amount for online knife shops on almost any knife brand, should bring it down to $45 from most dealers. I don't know why that knife is $65 everywhere. Maybe the wholesale price is higher vs. the MSRP than other models?

However, whatever deal Walmart worked out, all dealers ought to get the same wholesale price.
 
Donovan, I used to be a manager at WM. One day a coworker asked one of my higher ups why we were underselling the other businesses around us, we couldn't possibly be making a profit. My managers response was that when the other businesses went out of business, we could jack our prices back up. That seems to be the MO for all WM dealings these days.

EDITED TO ADD I own WM stock and shop there regularly. My review of the Native is above.
 
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