Spyderco custom shop

[MichaelScott]

Cars aren’t knives.

[Larry_Mott]

Cars aren’t knives.

No, but the point is still valid. A Mustang with candy apple paint job and old school chrome reverse rims would be a nice option, but it wouldn't (shouldn't) put Shelby owners panties in a bunch :)
Same with a Spyderco knife that regardless of configuration runs parallell to both stockers and sprints.
It will only get as out of hand as Spyderco lets it.

[Evil D]

Point is, to a collector a knife that is factory made limited production is worth more than a custom knife and that's all this would be is factory customs. It isn't any different than the modded knives that distributors are currently selling with custom scales and acid etched blades.

[wrdwrght]

In my mind, the magic of Spyderco is in its offering of nearly custom-quality knives by way of mass-production techniques. And, oh, at reasonable prices.

I don’t want to see a custom shop.

Want custom? Buy custom. Not good enough, for want of Glesser thoughtfulness? Now you see my point.

[Larry_Mott]

I don’t want to see a custom shop.

I don't think anyone would force you under gun threat to buy a custom shop Spyderco.. :)
I couldn't care less about the Tropen, but fair play to those who love it. Who am i to say "It's a ugly knife that brings nothing of value to the table"
I'll just steer clear of it and don't buy it.

[MichaelScott]

Make X number of Para 3s. Ship them to dealers and distributors, keep some in stock for SFO sales. Run low, demand still high, make more. Repeat.

Make X number of Para 3s with blue G10 & S110v. Ship some to dealers, some to distributors, keep some in house to sell. All sold. The end.

Repeat for other sprints and exclusives (except for the in house part).

Or, stock and manage suppliers for X number (but you don’t know what X will be since you can’t forecast “custom” demand) of parts — scales in many colors and materials, liners, locks of various types and sizes, bushings, screws, clips, blades made of X steel types (again, you can’t determine X because your crystal custom forecaster ball doesn’t work). Oh, and you need another inventory management and order fulfillment system, perhaps more supplier agreements, additional facilities and infrastructure and to hire and train more people to make all of this work.

Why? So a few people who missed sprints or exclusives or have a notion of a certain combination of their favorite knife parts can get what they want?

I spent a long time setting up and managing businesses large and small. This custom knife shop is not a sound business idea, and serves to damage the differentiation from other “bottom line” knife companies that makes Spyderco different and special.

I agree with wrdwrght, if you want a custom knife buy it from a custom knife maker.

[wrdwrght]

I don’t want to see a custom shop.

I don't think anyone would force you under gun threat to buy a custom shop Spyderco.. :)
I couldn't care less about the Tropen, but fair play to those who love it. Who am i to say "It's a ugly knife that brings nothing of value to the table"
I'll just steer clear of it and don't buy it.

True, I’m under no threat. My resistance to the idea has mostly to do with the required change in a philosophy that has served the Glessers so well for so long.

[MattM68]

I’ve always loved the idea of this. Do it for just a Para 2 or 3. I’d pay for extra if I could have my choice of scale color, and potentially the option of a couple blade steels. If I had to wait even a couple of months for it, that’s fine with me! And if they don’t have enough employees to assemble knives, they can hire some of us forum members!

[holeshot]

I’ve always loved the idea of this. Do it for just a Para 2 or 3. I’d pay for extra if I could have my choice of scale color, and potentially the option of a couple blade steels. If I had to wait even a couple of months for it, that’s fine with me! And if they don’t have enough employees to assemble knives, they can hire some of us forum members!

I've always liked the idea as well. I thought I'd try a BM custom mini Crooked River. I like the knife they made for me, yes I did pay $300 for the knife but to me it was worth it. I don't think anyone would order one exactly like mine, so it's my personal factory custom. :)

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I’d be happy to manage the custom shop, already run a small one here myself.

It’s an interesting idea (that Sal has knocked down previously) but it seems they’re already doing something akin to this with the huge amount of Golden sprints and exclusives these days of their big 5: the PM2, Military, Manix 2, Native 5 and now Para 3. All models I have fun swapping around and quite a few of my creations are out in the wild too. :)

[The Meat man]

Personally, I really like the sound of this idea.

Whether or not it would be possible or desirable from Spyderco's viewpoint I cannot say.

[Molle Ninja]

Custom shop already exists ... for distributors.

[Larry_Mott]

Custom shop already exists ... for distributors.

Good point! :)
Too bad i don't know what to do with the spare 599 knives should i decide to order

[Brown_Recluse]

Custom shop already exists ... for distributors.

This. I wonder what kind of rules, if any, there are for distributors when they want to get an exclusive run.

[Molle Ninja]

Custom shop already exists ... for distributors.

Good point! :)
Too bad i don't know what to do with the spare 599 knives should i decide to order

LOL

[talesk]

I’ve always loved the idea of this. Do it for just a Para 2 or 3. I’d pay for extra if I could have my choice of scale color, and potentially the option of a couple blade steels. If I had to wait even a couple of months for it, that’s fine with me! And if they don’t have enough employees to assemble knives, they can hire some of us forum members!

I've always liked the idea as well. I thought I'd try a BM custom mini Crooked River. I like the knife they made for me, yes I did pay $300 for the knife but to me it was worth it. I don't think anyone would order one exactly like mine, so it's my personal factory custom. :) image.png

Fantastic creation!

This is what I was thinking with the proposal. One person's grail is another's meh. It has tremendous personal value but won't ruin sprint collectors.

Nice knife!

[guywithopinion]

No, but the point is still valid. A Mustang with candy apple paint job and old school chrome reverse rims would be a nice option, but it wouldn't (shouldn't) put Shelby owners panties in a bunch :)
Same with a Spyderco knife that regardless of configuration runs parallell to both stockers and sprints.
It will only get as out of hand as Spyderco lets it.

The OP specifically mentioned not paying Sprint scalpers and easing Sprint pricing on the secondary market. This seems to imply configuring a Sprint knife on demand, or else I don't understand how it would prevent Sprint "scalping".

[MacLaren]

Taken to its logical conclusion, clamor for more and more custom options, what would be the value of sprint runs or exclusives?

Bad idea.

Maybe, maybe not. You can still in some cases order a Mustang with any rims you want, decal packages, superchargers etc from a dealership and have Ford custom make you a unique car but it doesn't detract from the value of a Shelby one bit. For collectors I think sprints will always be worth something, but they may be worth less to people who just want users with different steels.

God, I would LOVE to have a Shelby.....don't even go there lol
Maybe one day..

[Larry_Mott]

No, but the point is still valid. A Mustang with candy apple paint job and old school chrome reverse rims would be a nice option, but it wouldn't (shouldn't) put Shelby owners panties in a bunch :)
Same with a Spyderco knife that regardless of configuration runs parallell to both stockers and sprints.
It will only get as out of hand as Spyderco lets it.

The OP specifically mentioned not paying Sprint scalpers and easing Sprint pricing on the secondary market. This seems to imply configuring a Sprint knife on demand, or else I don't understand how it would prevent Sprint "scalping".

Good point, and one that i missed, getting entangled in all the replies..
Again - i think it would be interesting with limited custom offerings, an example that springs to mind is - how about a S110V with other scale options than blurple that try as i might i can't seem to warm up to. Now if they offered a Native in S110V with polished G10 scales i'd click order in a nanosecond. Also it wouldn't clash with any sprint Native i know of.
(Ofcourse) I don't think being able to replicate sprints is a good idea, it takes away the whole point of sprint runs!
I do however hope the scalpers will be weeded out by smarter ordering systems and/or "buyers unite and don't buy their overpriced knives so they choke on them" :)

[guywithopinion]

I do however hope the scalpers will be weeded out by smarter ordering systems and/or "buyers unite and don't buy their overpriced knives so they choke on them" :)

Yes, I'd like to see the people who list sprints and exclusives on eBay before they've even dropped end up choking on their investment. I'm not sure it's too likely to happen. Spyderco has a cure for fighting to get sprints, the collector's club. I suspect it's a pretty steep entry though, in terms of the number of knives you buy on average.

Dealers could implement something similar, offer sprints to their loyal buyers first. Though flippers may tend to be fairly loyal buyers as well, buying each drop to flip. Also this means someone who only owns a few knives but really wants that one sprint or exclusive will have almost no chance at buying it new.

This is wandering off the topic from here, FYI: Right now it seems for some of the knives, there is a window in which to act for someone who really knows they have to have it. Pre-ordering sprints, even that recent Rivers Edge P3 had several days after it dropped where the prevailing opinion was it was ugly. Someone who loved it from the start had ample opportunity to buy it. Of course that's not always true, but sometimes it seems as if the sprint/exclusive complaints are because they couldn't buy a knife at their leisure after others bought it and confirmed it didn't suck.

I also find it interesting when knives that sold out fast are brought back, like the CF M4 PM2 exclusive. KnifeWorks ordered some more to sate the presumed demand, and have been stuck with them in inventory for several months.