All About Pocket Knives

Since the last post, I think two events have happened that bear mentioning in this thread. First, the Northwoods Delta Jack craze happened. This shows that no bubble has burst on premium knives, or on the even crazier scalper market that ensued afterward. Second, the #78 American Jacks were produced in large enough numbers that legit buyers had a reasonable chance of getting the knife they wanted. To me the #78 release shows good faith on GEC's part, that they are not trying to create artificial scarcity on a knife they knew would be very popular. I think that GEC produces the highest quality product on the market today, and that KSF has cracked the code on a knife that many people want, plain and simple.

I also wish Queen would produce better knives to compete better with GEC. I got two S&M knives for Christmas, and both were defective. The clip blade on my S&M quart gunstock jack was rapping against the backspring, causing a flat spot on the blade edge. Unacceptable. Back to KSF it went. My S&M stag #99 Executive Jack has a visible gap between the liner and the blade tang, you can see straight through it, yet it inexplicably has a strong pull anyway. Only reason I didn't return it is because my dad got it for me and he said it was the most beautiful knife he's ever seen. So I'm keeping it.

Look, I'm one of the most miserly people you'll meet, and I'm buying GEC knives now because I think they're worth the price. A recent convert to traditional knives, I started out with Case knives and it wasn't long before I wanted something more. So I returned the last defective Case knife I bought and traded up for a Tidioute #14 boy's knife. The first GEC I bought was a #35 Churchill. I returned that Churchill because the sheepsfoot blade was too thin, beautiful though it was in the maroon micarta covers. Now I'm more careful about single backspring, opposite end blades, and crink-grinding, and I make sure I know what I'm getting when I buy a knife. There are some nice looking Queens for sale now, but I'm gun shy about Queens and I'll probably just wait however many years until GEC makes the configurations I want.

Queen has closed their Titusville facility and for all intents and purposes appears to be ceasing operations, pending a big turnaround by the Daniels. Oddly enough, that event seems to have precipitated a run on Queens on the secondary market. I've watched multiple Queen Barlows go for triple what they used to cost. Ironically, the Drake Well Barlow which I've been seeking for under $300 for years popped up on a certain auction site and ended up selling for $80. I only missed out on it because of technical difficulties. Next time I see one I'm putting in a max $150 bid and letting it ride no matter who tries to snipe it.

As far as GEC's products go, and Northwoods now that Queen is no longer in the picture, I can only see current trends continuing/getting more exaggerated. Considering all the 36s, 78s and 81s left at dealers, I wouldn't say GEC is trying to inflate their values by creating 'artificial' rarity as a rule. I do, however, think they tend towards creating scarcity on super-anticipated patterns like the TC Barlow, 77 NF Barlow, 36 Sunfish, Whaler, 25 jacks, and a few others. That, in turn, creates the secondary market we've seen that rivals or beats anything the new Northwoods are fetching. Since the secondary market is purely the domain of collectors and doesn't impact GEC in the slightest, it behooves sellers to snap up these shorter and more popular runs (leading to the "lolly scramble" culture when they are released) and guarantees the cycle continues.

I really did think the 2016 TC Barlow was going to represent a break in that pattern. Unfortunately, with them going for north of $220 on the secondary market, I don't think Charlie's vision of "a Barlow in every pocket" was -- or will be -- met by the TC.

Geez, that's bad news about Queen. I can only hope that after their reorg they come back stronger, with better designs and quality. I think everyone wins when there's healthy competition in the market.

Monk, the news is that Queen is closing down, not reorganizing. Someone might buy the rights to the brand names and have knives made but they would not be the 'real' Queens.
kj

That's bad news indeed. True, I don't like their current products, but I was always hopeful that they'd adjust and make knives that I'd like. We'll just see what happens next. Who knows, maybe their facility and workers will become a second GEC factory and they can double their production! Wasn't Ken Daniels was associated with GEC at one time? Crazy talk, I know. Just wishful thinking. Or, worst case scenario, maybe we'll start seeing $20 Queen brand knives on Amazon made by chicoms like Imperial, Schrade and Camillus. And some Bucks.

Lee