anybody else think GEC is losing it?

[Jtabor]

I bought several of them before the insanity hit. They were an excellent $85 pocket knife. They still are.

I buy older knives from various makers as well as some new ones. I won't even consider buying a GEC for the prices being asked currently. They aren't worth it if you intend to use them.

I love the old school patterns. But I have Boker, Schrade, Camillus, and Case knives that truly are vintage and mint or near mint that cost much less.

Has GEC lost their touch?

Not really. They just aren't $250 to $400+ pocket knives.

They were never meant to be.

The supply is being artificially controlled by various speculators.

[eveled]

Who can blame them? They were selling out, then seeing the flippers getting twice as much $$.

Flippers are killing hobbies. My sons can’t even buy sports cards at Walmart. Grown men buy up the entire inventory all at once.

It started with concert tickets now sports cards and pocket knives.

[OLDE CUTLER]

It's an insanity that has gotten into everything.

[1967redrider]

Ammo used to be the same way, not sure what it's like now as I've been stockpiled. Not to derail the GEC thread.

[Jtabor]

The flippers are starting to work on Case knives that are SFOs on the SMKW website. The Peanut Butter and Jelly trapper was $73.

Now they're trying to sell them for $150-$200, lol.

It's a nice looking knife, but it's not worth double or triple.

[Lansky1]

I just got a 38 wharncliffe/clip & its dead on perfection. Not a single flaw, great spring, fit and finish is remarkable. Couldn't be happier - like anything else, nobody's perfect - maybe you just got a lemon.

[ExsoLam]

The flippers are starting to work on Case knives that are SFOs on the SMKW website. The Peanut Butter and Jelly trapper was $73.

Now they're trying to sell them for $150-$200, lol.

It's a nice looking knife, but it's not worth double or triple.

If collectors don't show restraint then flippers definitely won't. I don't really know what kind of solutions there are other than a lottery system or something, but I'm not expecting anyone involved to leave money on the table so I've largely stopped keeping up with releases. Only thing that would change things is more knives from GEC but I don't know if that's even possible anymore, just not that many people who want to work in a knife factory.

I don't know why GEC doesn't just raise their prices. They obviously have room to raise their prices without killing demand, they'd still sell out of everything. It would give flippers less incentive to flip if they have to pay closer to market price, and I'd much rather spend the premium if GEC or a dealer gets my money instead of some flipper who does nothing except siphon money from collectors and contribute nothing to the hobby.

[rwmoss1]

I think they do a great job. There is a lot of labor and "by hand" work in these knives and at times you will see minor flaws, as in any slipjoint knife. If you've never owned a GEC knife, you owe it to yourself to do so. These are outstanding pocket knives.

[Lansky1]

One thing that really impresses me about GEC knives is the opposite ended patterns with single spring (patterns 38, 61, 34, 81) - the way the blades nestle in next to each other - it's practically a piston fit - never any blade rub. The designs and tolerances to make this happen properly always impress me - I do not see that level of fit and finish in other factory knives today.

[Jtabor]

I think they do a great job. There is a lot of labor and "by hand" work in these knives and at times you will see minor flaws, as in any slipjoint knife. If you've never owned a GEC knife, you owe it to yourself to do so. These are outstanding pocket knives.

They do make an outstanding pocket knife, no doubt about it.

[RedRaiderRick]

So GEC dropped a run of pattern 94s today. Sold out in minutes, then within hours a new posting of six 94s, with an $80 bump over the $137 sell price. Does this member have some sort of inside Line on the drops?

[Rookie]

So GEC dropped a run of pattern 94s today. Sold out in minutes, then within hours a new posting of six 94s, with an $80 bump over the $137 sell price. Does this member have some sort of inside Line on the drops?

It seems that out of the 20 or so official dealers, roughly half of the knives are already spoken for before they are offered up for sale. Inside connections and friends of friends, etc. The same guys end up getting 1 of every handle of every drop, and that is not just by them having "good luck". If a dealer gets issued 20 knives to list for sale on their website, they sell 10 privately, and then only list the other 10 online.

That's my opinion. I don't have any direct knowledge of anything going on.

[RedRaiderRick]

I agree that it's got to be some sort of inside deal. That's the first drop of 94's this year as far as I know and the serial numbers indicate 2025 production. I believe I have bought one knife from this particular member but will not buy from again.

[bestgear]

Buying newly released knives with the intent of reselling them for a profit and leveraging the demand for those knives does not make me happy. I too believe these knife flippers have an inside track with a dealer and due to demand exceeding supply they are able to sell new releases for a much higher price. With GEC there is no MAP or MSRP pricing so it’s up to the dealer and market to determine the price.

If a newly released 94 pattern hit the secondary market in 6 months and the price reflected a high demand and low supply, I’d personally be ok with those economics. But a when knife gets released and distributed to dealers and in the same week flippers are cashing in, to me that’s wrong and hurting our hobby for the sake of profit.

Of course all flipping would end if hobbyists just said no but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

[justonemore]

As the years pass, I find myself buying fewer and fewer gecs. I dont even bother with rendezvous anymore. Theyve been ruined by flippers, scalpers and those with more money than sense. Knives that used to be $60-70 are now almost double that while the quality certainly has gone down. And with Randy retiring, im not surprised if quality continues to drop.