Sprint Runs and the Abysmal Aftermarket.

[GarageBoy]

Ehh, I learned to sit down and just not chase...
I like sprints, but on the other end, I'm afraid to really use and sharpen away my sprints because in my mind, its not a $150 knife anymore, it's a $300 knife

I just figure, there will be others and I cannot have them all

[Gsg9]

I presume the bulk of Spyderco production is made out of sprint-runs, special runs, websites/cuttlery shops exclusives

If you want a rare and exclusive Spyderco you should probably buy a regular production one :D

Spyderco, the sprint-run company

[guywithopinion]

But that would reduce the choice from three knives to one. Bad for everyone.

True. I feel like that logic mainly depends on thinking that the one run they will keep is the one you wanted to buy but were unable to due to how limited it was. The fact that two other runs you didn't want will never exist doesn't factor in, nor that others would miss out on them.

I can understand it sucks not to get some version you really wanted, and be faced with secondary market prices and considerably more risk/inconvenience when buying. And I don't think too many people think flippers are a good or valuable part of the knife game. But creating a collectible product means that the prices of at least some of your products needs to increase over time. Which requires some amount of both desirability as well as scarcity. I don't see it as loosing out on sales, as some people have suggested. Rather it's helping ensure sales of your next run.

[Freediver]

I wish Spyderco would consider releasing larger batches of the more sought after sprints (like the PM2s).

[GarageBoy]

Like how the calypso Jr was effectively sold out before it arrived

Meanwhile, sadly, theres also plenty of cool models that sit around until they are discontinued

[Halfneck]

I fully understand the disappointment in not being able to get the limited run Spyderco knife you want. When the Delica in Superblue came out I was unable to get it. By the time I was, they were sold out and the secondary market prices were beyond what I was willing to pay.

Maybe one day I'll be able to blow off those kind of prices, but with 2 teenage boys, it's not going to be soon. In the next year the youngest starts driving, and the oldest starts college - I predict knife funds will be low. Then add in stuff like car payments, mortgage, and life in general - priorities. So I look at things like "Will that Superblue Delica do anything more than my current Delica in VG10?" And instead it comes back as a "Want" vs. a "Need". So I pass and miss out.

Last thing I want to do is bemoan Spyderco selling out of all their Sprint releases. I want one of my favorite knife companies to do well and keep making knives. Maybe I miss out on the Superblue Delica, but now I can get the next one in CTS-XHP(No there is not one planned just mentioning a steel I like). So I hope they sell out of every Sprint run they release.

[Blueboost]

I find it tedious to lose a particular design as a user, because the value makes it Ludacris to continue to use. The best, most saught after sprints should have a color variation or something done then made in regular production so they can be used not locked away. The Lum tanto is a good example. While a Sprint run allows another possibility to own, it makes it hard to justify using the knife as intended.