What is with A.G. Russel?

I was going to stay out of this thread but I cannot resist to answer this question...

Why would I pay more from A.G. ?

Well lets just say that as a purveyor of cutlery I am not so concerned about the walmart mentality of shopping. If I want a cheap price on a knife there are plenty of places to shop around....but for me it goes beyond this..

But in this world of no absolutes..no guarantees..no honor..there stands one man and one company that I know for a fact that if there is anything...and I mean anything wrong with my knife..it will be handled to my satisfaction.

Also not to mention that I also have a huge time and personal investment in the knife industry..and I know that A.G. has spent countless hours mentoring, encouraging and giving back to the industry as a whole.

so it goes beyond just finding the best deal...but you probably dont understand that...oh walmart shopper..
 
akadave2 said:
I agree in Retrospect I should have left it generic. I mistakenly underestimated the ability of others to go immediatly to emmotional argument instead of discussion of specifics from the point of online purchase of knives. It was not intended as a baiting post either. It turned into this due to a couple of unstable individuals. I guess I "picked" on A.G. Russell because from the few things I researched when buying knives online they came up consistantly as the highest price. I agree if the value add is sufficient then the additional cost is justified. Its just that replies like "Hes been in business for 40 years" and "The service is top notch" (paraphrasing) doesnt address my question. I agree also that if I dont like the prices then I dont have to shop there. That reply was satisfactory.

So, in the future I will keep my posts to things such as "Look at the cool knife I just got" and "Hey what is your favorite steel" and "Mantis knives! Not them again!". So nobody has to worry about controversy from me.
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Come on now, that's plain silly and an insult to even the feeblest of minds. If that's all you wanted, an answer why AGR is more expensive this thread would have ended with two posts.

They are at times more expensive because AGR owns and operates AGR and he can set the price at 20% higher, 20% lower or half price is he wishes. Why are they more expensive than other internet dealers; because for God's sake it is AG Russell and they only cater to customers who BUY from them. They don't have the time or need to cater to those who do not "shop" there because there is no profit in that!! Those that shop there are not complaining.........at all!
 
rick43t3 said:
When you say this:It turned into this due to a couple of unstable individuals. Does that mean when someone disagrees with you that they are unstable? That is a very narrow minded thought process.
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I got the impression that he was actually referring to most of AGR's detractors (excluding himself) in this thread. And I'm not entirely certain that I would object to that either. If not for the statement about finding humor in baiting others I would think Dave guilty of no more than poor choice of words and far too specific a topic.
 
AG Russell is the best, bar none. I love getting the catalogs. While I always order from the web, the catalogs are what ignite the desire for "yet another" knife.

When I suffered a short-lived lust for mother-of-pearl I sought out a number of small production knives with MOP scales. One of them was an AGR Ultimate Pen. It quickly became my favorite and I loved carrying it. VG10, Ti, MOP--it had all of the highest quality materials in an infinitesmial package, for under forty bucks! Regrettably my wife stole it from me and keeps it to herself now. It's the only knife I've ever seen her interested in.

I think I'll buy another. Or two. :D

AG, how about a version in Damascus?
 
roughedges said:
I got the impression that he was actually referring to most of AGR's detractors (excluding himself) in this thread. And I'm not entirely certain that I would object to that either. If not for the statement about finding humor in baiting others I would think Dave guilty of no more than poor choice of words and far too specific a topic.
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That was a kneejerk comment on my part (baiting people) . It was due to the ridiculous comments of one individual and I appologize for appearing the troll.

I will say this, if you believe me to be a habitiual troll then search all posts made by AKADAVE and AKADAVE2. I have actually been part of this forum for a number of years. I do not make a habit of pissing off people.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Dave, this is ridiculous. You demean yourself by being so defensive. You also insult us by selectively referring to the weakest arguments you read, and leaving out the basic information that clearly refuted your initial question:

1. A.G.Russell is not a mass-market, job-lot, hot-item knifeseller. He is primarily a purveyor of higher-end, high-quality, naturally higher-priced items, not all knives.

2. This being the case, his stock rarely coincides with that of the internet knife dealers you purport to compare him to. Where it does, he carries those items as a courtesy to his customers, which they can pick up while browsing for what only he provides.

3. If you can find some of these knives for less elsewhere, you can buy them there. How much will you have to pay elsewhere for the knives only A.G. offers? How can you compare prices across the board under these circumstances?

3. However emotional we may have gotten over what many took as a deliberate insult to a friend -- but may only have been careless phrasing -- we did supply you with specifics like these I just listed. Again and again.
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I guess Im not clear on how taking a defensive posture in the face of obvious mischaracterizations is demeaning so I will agree to disagree with you there.

I have also said in previous posts that A.G. Russell does carry items not available anywhere else so I conceded that point much earlier.

Im still somewhat taken aback at the thin skinned nature of some. While my OP might have been ill worded it certainly wasnt a direct insult to the man or the company and if it was perceived ad such then it is the wrong perception. You may disagree but you certainly cannot tell me what the intent was without reading my mind.

I agree I did gloss over some of the posts and now have the specifics. Im guessing other than further attacks on my character this discussion is done?
 
akadave2 said:
That was a kneejerk comment on my part (baiting people) . It was due to the ridiculous comments of one individual and I appologize for appearing the troll.

I will say this, if you believe me to be a habitual troll then search all posts made by AKADAVE and AKADAVE2. I have actually been part of this forum for a number of years. I do not make a habit of pissing off people....
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... until now, you mean.

Dave,

Just apologize for the stupid choices you made here and typically all will be forgiven in most cases. I, for one would not like to see your rep sullied any further.
 
sunnyd said:
... until now, you mean.

Dave,

Just apologize for the stupid choices you made here and typically all will be forgiven in most cases.
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I thought I had appologized for the percieved wrongdoing? If not. I apologize for myself.
 
I'm sure a lot of people here will appreciate that Dave. For myself, I based my opinion regarding your motivations in this thread on several assumptions: that you've not made a purchase from A.G. Russell, that your interests lie primarily in knives that are not his bailiwick, and that you have less knowledge of his history in the knife community than do many of the posters who have taken offense to this thread. So, I don't think you were trolling so much as uninformed and that, had you known how highly Mr. Russell is regarded, you would have phrased your question more carefully.


I think its important to remember that, though they have a more than significant web presence, AGR is and has always been a mail-order business. In fact, the company is regarded as a prime example of how to run a sucessful mail order company- and by more than just the knife community. http://www.catalogsuccess.com/story/story.bsp?var=story&sid=48421


edit: From that link, annual catalog circulation is around 5 million. Printing and shipping costs must be astronomical at current rates! I want to thank the Russells for continuing to put it out.

Also, you should remember that A.G. Russell is not simply an internet retailer and, as a result, can not operate at low overhead and razor thin margins. The retail location costs money, along with printing the monthly catalogs. And, in addition to the CS reps that all ethical purveyors have, they must employ sales people, copy editors, photographer, even janitors to clean the place. And then, because of the A.G. Russell shop, knifemakers must be employed on top of the contracts necessary to the knives that are made out of the AGR shop.

A.G Russell's is far from being "just" (quotes because I in no way mean to knock the quality internet retailers we are lucky to have) an internet retailer and I think that a lack of knowledge of this fact is what started this whole mess going.

Or, I could just say that I don't think you're a troll. At least not an intentional one. :cool:
 
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roughedges said:
I'm sure a lot of people here will appreciate that Dave. For myself, I based my opinion regarding your motivations in this thread on several assumptions: that you've not made a purchase from A.G. Russell, that your interests lie primarily in knives that are not his bailiwick, and that you have less knowledge of his history in the knife community than do many of the posters who have taken offense to this thread. So, I don't think you were trolling so much as uninformed and that, had you known how highly Mr. Russell is regarded, you would have phrased your question more carefully.


I think its important to remember that, though they have a more than significant web presence, AGR is and has always been a mail-order business. In fact, the company is regarded as a prime example of how to run a sucessful mail order company- and by more than just the knife community. http://www.catalogsuccess.com/story/story.bsp?var=story&sid=48421



Also, you should remember that A.G. Russell is not simply an internet retailer and, as a result, can not operate at low overhead and razor thin margins. The retail location costs money, along with printing the monthly catalogs. And, in addition to the CS reps that all ethical purveyors have, they must employ sales people, copy editors, photographer, even janitors to clean the place. And then, because of the A.G. Russell shop, knifemakers must be employed on top of the contracts necessary to the knives that are made out of the AGR shop.

A.G Russell's is far from being "just" (quotes because I in no way mean to knock the quality internet retailers we are lucky to have) an internet retailer and I think that a lack of knowledge of this fact is what started this whole mess going.

Or, I could just say that I don't think you're a troll. At least not an intentional one. :cool:
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A fair assessment. Thanks:thumbup:
 
I yahoo searched "trolls" on the computer. It came up with sqiuidoo.com/internet trolls. I now know exactely what these things are. Why do they allow these trolls to be around? What reason would a person want do these things? I knew they were bad, but I didn't understand the whole idea before. They are just trouble makers, or rabble rousers from what I can research about the subject. Nothing more nothing less. When I think of trolls I think of trolling on the boat. for fish, or those little creatures that live in caves, and so forth in the Hobbits books.
 
I don't think the guy who started this thread is a troll. I think he just wasn't very familiar with AG Russell Knives.
 
Trolling on a boat is a good analogy for it. Internet trolls intentionally throw out hooks as well in the hopes of finding a fish with enough fight to amuse them. In the past, there have been epic trolls- such as gecko45 and others across the metaverse- that are even worth keeping around but today we are faced mostly with unimaginative mimics.

I'm sure there are as many reasons for it as there are trolls. Some of them surely think that they are smarter than everyone else. Some probably try to manipulate others online in a way that they never could in real life, or in a way that happens to them in the real world, as an attempt to try and assert some control in a world where they know that they have none. And some are just abrasive and rude by nature and end up labeled a troll because no one likes them. But, I'd bet that most are just bored and simply mildly annoying hooligans (teenagers). :D
 
I would like to say a few words about much of what has been written in the past concerning this thread, and add some personal thoughts.

SeveredThumbs...it doesn't matter how much money you have or how much pink you score....if you are a dick at the core, at the end of the day, you end up broke and alone. It is much easier to buy stuff than it is to keep it....I used to practically live in Las Vegas for weeks due to work assignments...rolled with some big dogs in some sweet digs...the best hotels I ever spent time in(Bellagio, Venetian, Desert Inn, Wynn, Mandalay Bay.....) don't come close to making me feel as good as being home, and the best meals I ever ate out(you name it) don't come close to those prepared by competent cooks who love me.

There is a point to the above statement......

When I was 18 I started collecting custom knives....got the Smoky catalog, and A.G.'s...must have gotten 15 or more knives from Smoky, and ONE of them was decent. The FIRST knife I got from A.G. was a Centofante folder that was worth more than I paid for it when I purchased it. A.G. would PERSONALLY answer the phone to talk with me for hours, even if he was busy, because he appreciated a young collector that would listen to his advice, and hopefully ask good questions....he was laying a foundation for me to become a more solid member of the community.

THAT is what A.G. Russell does...he contributes to the knife community, makes it a better place, and leads by example. If that isn't worth 20% more on some of the more common knife items available, then I don't know what is.

Wal-Mart mentality of entitlement to the lowest possible prices is one of the top 3 contributors of American decline as a dominant economic force worldwide....and a wholesale killer of the individual micro-economies that make small towns the shining little gems that they are.

Good stuff is worth paying for, and buying it from good people makes it worth just that little bit more.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
A.G. would PERSONALLY answer the phone to talk with me for hours, even if he was busy, because he appreciated a young collector that would listen to his advice,

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Steven great post. But, I think you are full of the brown stuff....young? When were you young? :D:D:D:D
 
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