Whoa! What Kind Of New Year's Resolution Is This?

Jerry Busse

Jerry Busse

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The Ergo Badger and the Mr. Mojo, as we all know and love them. . . will be GONE!

Here's hopin' you got 'em while we made 'em,

Jerry Busse
 
WHAT !!! I just got a badger less than a month ago, and love it. The Badger is leaving? :( Is her time really up?

Ok, need to be extra carefull that I don't lose this knife.

Never had the pleasure of a Mr. Mojo, but I'm sure it would have been great.

Hmmm, does this mean there are new additions coming in the near future? :D
 
The Badger and the Mojo are both extremely popular models. . . .big, big sellers,. . . . so was the Mean Street. . . . .It all comes down to the luck of the draw.

Yours in Nuclear Good Buys,

Jerry
 
Originally posted by Jerry Busse
It all comes down to the luck of the draw.
Click to expand...

So, among those of us who placed orders for the knives, who determined which of us was actually "lucky" enough to have his order filled? :rolleyes:
 
Nice to see you drop by Derrick. Everyone who places an order with us will have their order filled. . . We may get caught behind on certain models at times, but we do ultimately deliver. . . We do give top priority to military orders and this often bumps many customer's orders back on the schedule . . . Our customers usually understand this and are normally very patient because they know that "true" customer service is defined by the performance of the knife they receive and the guarantee that comes with it.

Considering how many of these blades are out there. . . it is interesting to note that you don't really see many of these models on the used market. . . I think that they will become very collectable.

Thanks,

Jerry Busse
 
So when is the cutoff date to place an order for a badger? I had been meaning to get one.

Also, will there be another model introduced in the 5" range? My legal carry limit is a 5.5" blade. I would have got a badger already, but thought it would be near to impossible to conceal it.
 
Rumble,
I think I will be holding onto all my Badgers, especially after this announcement.;)

They are by far my Favorite Busse. :D:D
 
[sarcastic tone] Great, wonderful ... sure.

Now I can put my BA/E with my straight handle Steel Heart and "keeper" Natural Outlaw.

Only thing is, now my "user" NO will get even more of the use!
 
What makes the Badger an "expendable" design anyway? As one of the smaller ones I figured it would be a busse regular for years to come. I'm just curious as to why a design gets discontinued.?

Still looking in the 5.5" range....

Ant
 
Keepin this at the Top so we can get some more detailed info;

  • As of What (Date) will the Badger E be Discontinued?

    OR

    What is the last date to place an Order for a Badger E?

    How long will it take to be produced?
    (keeping in mind the Military Pref and all the ZT Sets that are still pending)

    Why was the Badger chosen as one of the Designs to "get the Axe"? :D
 
Originally posted by AntDog
What makes the Badger an "expendable" design anyway? As one of the smaller ones I figured it would be a busse regular for years to come. I'm just curious as to why a design gets discontinued.?
Click to expand...

Well, it's not because they weren't successful models...

Originally posted by Jerry Busse
The Badger and the Mojo are both extremely popular models. . . .big, big sellers,. . . . so was the Mean Street. . .
Click to expand...

Since there obviously exists sufficient demand for both models, or 'styles,' I would wager that the answer is one or both of the following two possibilities:
1) Busse Combat is redesigning the knives or creating new and improved models to replace them in the line-up, or,
2) Discontinuing these popular models is a good way to ensure their "collectibility," and, as any shrewd businessman knows, a strong secondary market helps support the primary market.

Thus far, every single discontinued model in the Busse Combat lineage has appreciated in value. Customers who are more concerned with the investment value of a knife than its value as an indespensable tool will thus be more likely to buy any new offering from Busse Combat. They'll gladly stick it in their safe, where it will rest for a year or two perhaps until that model is discontinued as well. These collector-customers make up a growing percentage of Busse Combat Knife owners, and their needs must be accomodated in order to sustain their ongoing patronage.

Perhaps Jerry could correct me if I'm off-base, but his absence from this thread has created an informational vacuum that I have humbly tried to fill with my speculations...
 
Danbo, frick you aren't kiddding. Just read down his collection page, very nice assortment of fine knives! :)
 
hmmmmm... . . . .. . . .very astute speculation Wulf.

There have been two generations of the Badger Attack. . . . thus far.

You are correct in stating that we only redesign a model if we're convinced that we can make a significant improvement in its overall performance and usability. . .

BADGER ATTACK:

Based on almost nine years of feedback . . . (The Badger Attack was introduced in 1993). . . we have developed what we think will be the final evolution of this design. Of course, we will ALWAYS have the Badger Attack in our line-up. . . just as we will ALWAYS have a Steel Heart and Battle Mistress. . . . .and just as we ALWAYS think that we have the “final evolution” of a design. . . . (Hopefully, we never get that stagnant in our design department. . . but this could prove to be the final version. . . . yeah, right ;) ). These standard models may evolve but they will always fill the same general dimensions and target the same mission application as their predecessors. The newest version of the Badger is very cool and it's blade is somewhat reminiscent of it’s granddaddy.

MR. MOJO:

As for the Mr. Mojo, it’s demise falls into an entirely new category for us as far as discontinuing a model. The “Moj” as we so respectively refer to it around the shop is just WAY too expensive to manufacture. The blade catch/Black Label popper on the spine adds so much to the overall width of the design that it takes up an entire width of a bar of INFI to cut out and makes it impossible to get another knife out of the same bar. So, we end up having twice the amount of steel involved. (at $32.00 per pound that hurts a lot!) We usually use 2-3 pounds of steel per large blade when you include the amount of waste and blades lost to warpage, bad grinds, bad laser cuts, etc… (and no we can’t just re-melt it). The “Moj” is eating up almost 6 pounds of steel per blade . . . do that math and you can feel my pain. Originally we thought we would still be pulling two blades per width out of an INFI bar, but the production laser cuts proved to be too “tight” in the long run and we started losing both blades during the cutting process (too much laser blowout). We solved the problem by eliminating the second blade being cut and that doubled our cost in steel. . . . .OUCH!!!!! We had a similar problem with the purebred fighter’s blade catch. . . notice how they disappeared almost immediately? We cut production at 100 pieces each and yes they are SOLD OUT! Double OUCH!

So, if we ever see the Mojo again, it will be coming from the Custom Shop. Marc Fratello, The Busse Custom Shop Director, is pushing for a longer customized version of this bad boy. Perhaps when I stop hemorrhaging from the production run, that might happen. ;)

I can’t imagine that this kind of info is interesting but if you like this kind of production update info let me know and I’ll give you the Epic that has become the “Legendary Nightmare of The ZT Series” ;)

Yours in Nuclear Discontinued Collectibles,

Jerry Busse
 
Originally posted by Jerry Busse
I can’t imagine that this kind of info is interesting but if you like this kind of production update info let me know and I’ll give you the Epic that has become the “Legendary Nightmare of The ZT Series” ;)
Click to expand...

Since my credit card was charged for my ZT SH 5 months ago and I have yet to receive it, I would love to hear the story about the ZT Series.
 
Originally posted by Jerry Busse
I can’t imagine that this kind of info is interesting but if you like this kind of production update info let me know...
Click to expand...
Actually Jerry, I find this sort of background info fascinating. It helps me understand what blade makers go through in the process of running the business side of their operations. It also helps me appreciate that blade making, like many other businesses, is a matter of "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration" and that day-to-day headaches coming from all directions seem to be pretty much the norm, not the exception.

It's way too easy for us end users out here to fantasize that blade making is all about the sizzle of designing whizzy blade shapes, developing hot combinations of materials to meet specific mission requirements, engaging in lots of fun testing around the shop, and hanging out at blade shows garnering adulation (and $$ :) ) from us adoring masses. By now you're probably ROTFLYAO, right??

The delivering of your nuclear blades looks pretty easy from out here. It's sorta like the old Oriental story about an emperor who went to a famous artist to get an ink drawing of a rooster for the palace. After a few years, with no drawing being delivered, the emperor goes back to the house of the artist and demands to know when the drawing will be delivered. The artist grabs a sheet of paper along with his brush & ink and in a matter of a few minutes has executed a magnificent drawing of a rooster that knocks the emperor's socks off. So the emperor asks the artist why, if the drawing can be done so well in a few minutes, had years passed with the artist not delivering the drawing? The artist just stepped to a door and opened it, revealing a large room filled to the top with thousands and thousands of drawings of a rooster. The years of practice made briefly executing the drawing in front of the emperor look easy.

So Jerry, from out here in customerland we don't get much of an indication for the amount of tedious ongoing gruntwork you have to go through to let us see "the voodoo that you do" as we take possession of your nuclear wares. Thanks for giving us a peek.

Yours in glimmerings of nuclear enlightenment,
Greg
 
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