What would you pay to change the color of your new Delica?

[Carl64]

I am curious to know exactly how bad anyone else would want a non-black Delica, in money terms.

If they sold slabs you replaced yourself, how much would you pay Spyderco directly for a set of new slabs, in addition to however much you paid for a Delica from a discount dealer? How much would you pay "if you had to" and how low would the price have to be for you to buy more than one set (either to convert two knives, or to swap occasionally)?

I would pay $30 if I had to, just to convert one knife to satisfy myself.

For $20, I would probably buy two or more sets over time or as new colors came out.

 

[The Deacon]

Maybe when I was younger and enjoyed tinkering with things just for the fun of doing so. Now, if I want two colors of a given model, I would rather purchase two complete knives and be able to just grab the one I felt like carrying, rather than have to be taking one knife apart in order to change the color. Especially with a knife like the FRN Delica, where the street price for a complete one is likely to be in the $40-$45 range. Too much opportunity to lose a screw, strip the threads, or bugger the head.

 

[Carl64]

Maybe when I was younger and enjoyed tinkering with things just for the fun of doing so. Now, if I want two colors of a given model, I would rather purchase two complete knives and be able to just grab the one I felt like carrying, rather than have to be taking one knife apart in order to change the color. Especially with a knife like the FRN Delica, where the street price for a complete one is likely to be in the $40-$45 range. Too much opportunity to lose a screw, strip the threads, or bugger the head.

The whole point is Spyderco doesn't MAKE whole knives in different colors, and has not done so it so long that the odds of it happening seem low. So I guess your answer is "$0" for both.

 

[The Deacon]

The whole point is Spyderco doesn't MAKE whole knives in different colors, and has not done so it so long that the odds of it happening seem low. So I guess your answer is "$0" for both.

Dunno Carl, you could have fooled me there. I've got a blue Delica, a pink Delica, grey Calypso Jr, Goddard, and Enduras, a burgundy Calypso Jr, yellow versions of every Salt, yellow and orange Rescues, orange and blue rescue Jrs, red and orange SnapIts, Jesters in pink and two shades of green, and red and green Ladybugs. While a couple of those might be hard to find, many of them are still readily available along with a couple others that just don't strike my fancy. Plus there's at least one more, the blue ZDP Delica, due out shortly.

The yellow Salts work find for me if I want hi-visibility and beyond that, handle color doesn't mean an awful lot to me on an FRN knife.

 

[Carl64]

The Salt was nice. When was the last time they made a pink or blue Delica? The Calypso's were all short special runs, and only available in a specific color at once. This was also done mainly because they didn't want to re-make the exact knife which was previously limited edition or whatever. Jesters are neat, but more like usable trinkets. Hardly a good option. Rescues are more specialized knives.

Compare that to years ago when Delicas were available in several colors at once, and you could pick which one you wanted. It's really just not an option, and with the recent discussions I think it's pretty obvious that current offerings are nowhere near what I and others would like.

Plus, note that this thread is about the Delica.

 

[uncleknife]

I would pay 15 - 30 for a Calypso jr more so than the Delica.

 

[The Deacon]

The Salt was nice. When was the last time they made a pink or blue Delica? The Calypso's were all short special runs, and only available in a specific color at once. This was also done mainly because they didn't want to re-make the exact knife which was previously limited edition or whatever. Jesters are neat, but more like usable trinkets. Hardly a good option. Rescues are more specialized knives.

Compare that to years ago when Delicas were available in several colors at once, and you could pick which one you wanted. It's really just not an option, and with the recent discussions I think it's pretty obvious that current offerings are nowhere near what I and others would like.

Plus, note that this thread is about the Delica.

When is the last time Spyderco stopped making something that was selling well?

Blue ATS-55 Delicas can still be found in stock at JFJ's. They have to be over three years old, which tells me they were not exactly a "hot item". The OD Green CE ones with the black blades in VG-10 can be found too if you look around a bit, those weren't exactly a barn-burner either.

I know how you feel Carl, believe me, I'd love to be able to choose between Kiwis with twenty different exotic scale materials, straight from Spyderco. But, as much as they'd appeal to me, I doubt they'd sell well.

Which reminds me, have a nice piece of stablized birdseye maple here, left over from a Kiwi project. Might just have to find someone to turn it into a pair of replacement scales for a ZDP Delica. To me, THAT would be worth spending money on. As has been said in the other thread, the screw construction will lend itself to aftermarket modification for those who want something special.

 

[Carl64]

When is the last time Spyderco stopped making something that was selling well?

Blue ATS-55 Delicas can still be found in stock at JFJ's. They have to be over three years old, which tells me they were not exactly a "hot item".

Yeah, good point. But that's why I was asking everyone about buying replacement slabs. I figured it might be a profitable, or at least not losing, option for Spyderco. No assembly involved and the molds are already there. So I was really wondering what people would pay. Not to many responses so far. I figured at worst people would say "pay extra, are you nuts?" or "not more than 5 bucks." But not much interest I guess.

The OD Green CE ones with the black blades in VG-10 can be found too if you look around a bit, those weren't exactly a barn-burner either.

Those kind of made me mad because they were half-serrated only as far as I could find. My least favorite blade option.

That's another benefit of replacement slabs. No need to carry both serrated and plain versions, because we already have whatever knife we want.

I know how you feel Carl, believe me, I'd love to be able to choose between Kiwis with twenty different exotic scale materials, straight from Spyderco. But, as much as they'd appeal to me, I doubt they'd sell well.

Makes me wonder how that Kopa is selling.

Which reminds me, have a nice piece of stablized birdseye maple here, left over from a Kiwi project. Might just have to find someone to turn it into a pair of replacement scales for a ZDP Delica. To me, THAT would be worth spending money on. As has been said in the other thread, the screw construction will lend itself to aftermarket modification for those who want something special.

That would be fun. It would be a lot easier if they had full size steel liners (not that I want the knife to be like that) to use for an easy stencil and drilling guide.

But I actually like the complex look of a molded FRN handle. I always wanted a carbon fiber Delica "just because," but I like the look of a nicely textured 3D FRN handle better somehow.