New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
elduderino04
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New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#1

Post by elduderino04 »

I truly don't mean to be melodramatic, but am I the only one who is really disappointed by what the new reveal process might mean?

“To better balance the timing between the announcement and actual release of our all-new products, we will be rolling out a new product “reveal” process balancing the excitement and anticipation of the products we show with the timeliness of the products we deliver more carefully than ever before.”
https://www.spyderco.com/reveal/

To me, the forthrightness and transparency Spyderco exhibited previously in openly discussing models and variants in various stages of development was one of the primary aspects that set Spyderco above just about every other brand in the industry. The fact that Sal and others were so open about their plans, testing and development really made me a fan of the company, and it let me plan out my purchases (there have been multiple knives from other brands that I held off on purchasing because I knew Spyderco had something in the pipeline that would better fill a particular role for me). I'm not aware of any other company that is so open about its plans. For most of Spyderco's competitors, everything is held extremely close to the chest, then announced mere days before BLADE or when knives are shipped.

It's not yet certain what this change will mean: Will it just be formal announcements in the Catalog and Supplement that will be delayed? Will the Amsterdam meet still include as many nascent products that are in early development? Will Sal and others be more reluctant to confirm certain models, variants, or sprints are in the pipeline than they previously were? Only time will tell, but I can't help but feel saddened about this change.

I certainly don't blame Sal and Co for changing the policy. Every few weeks or so I would see a different thread here from someone whining about how a particular knife had not yet been made available, or that their preorder from some random retailer was taking too long to fulfill. I'm sure there was a much greater frequency of phone calls the company would have to field from similarly petulant, impatient people complaining about knives that were not yet released. There clearly was a cost to Spyderco being different (and in my view better) than the rest of the industry. I'm just sad that these selfish people have won, and have seemingly forced Spyderco to possibly give up one of my favorite aspects of the brand.

So I will still eagerly buy Spydercos, and will still religiously follow RamZar's excellent yearly thread with announced models. Spyderco will remain one of my favorite companies. But I suspect I will miss the time that we were privileged to have been invited to look behind the curtain so to speak, and I will lament that another company I respect has been forced to bow to the pressure of uninformed, angry individuals.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#2

Post by elduderino04 »

PS, I recognize that I say I don't mean to be melodramatic right after a fairly provocative title. I figured a catchy title might help spur discussion.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#3

Post by ChrisinHove »

I just assumed it’s intention is to wean us off the costly printed catalogue. Whether it also reduces the anticipation for new products remains to be seen....
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#4

Post by rgrad80 »

elduderino04 wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:23 am
But I suspect I will miss the time that we were privileged to have been invited to look behind the curtain so to speak, and I will lament that another company I respect has been forced to bow to the pressure of uninformed, angry individuals.
You could use that new found time to develop other hobbies or heighten your interpersonal relationship skills! This could be a really good change for a lot of people.

I’m pretty sure a company the size of Spyderco isn’t going to fold to the pointless whining of “the angry/ uninformed.”
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#5

Post by awa54 »

rgrad80 wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:08 am
elduderino04 wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 12:23 am
But I suspect I will miss the time that we were privileged to have been invited to look behind the curtain so to speak, and I will lament that another company I respect has been forced to bow to the pressure of uninformed, angry individuals.
You could use that new found time to develop other hobbies or heighten your interpersonal relationship skills! This could be a really good change for a lot of people.

I’m pretty sure a company the size of Spyderco isn’t going to fold to the pointless whining of “the angry/ uninformed.”


Well, the prevalence of threads bemoaning the long lead time of announced models seems to have taken its toll... I'd guess that if there had been fewer of these in the past couple of years, we wouldn't have "Reveal" in place.

The good news is that Sal is still dropping the occasional hint about projects that are in the pipeline.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#6

Post by Evil D »

I really hope this doesn't ruin the yearly Amsterdam thread. That is easily the most exciting part of the year around here, but if Wouter isn't allowed to photo and show any new products that's going to really be a downer.
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sal
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#7

Post by sal »

Hi Elduderino,

I must say I agree with your observations. As you stated, often a few bad apples do ruin the barrel. It's happened more than once as I've watched over the years. Part of life I guess. We'll have to watch the process develop as we more forward. You can be sure that we still work for the ELU and if changes need to be made, we'll make them.

sal

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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#8

Post by Liquid Cobra »

I couldn’t agree more El Duderino. Thank you for posting this as I’ve tried a few times to write how I feel about this situation but failed miserably. I agree with everything you’ve said.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#9

Post by abbazaba »

Well said. This is going to be a very significant change for the forum, possibly affecting the super fans more than anything else.

However, lets see how the first reveal or two works out before we pass too much judgement.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#10

Post by koenigsegg »

But how else can BHQ keep $5 from me for a year before giving me a knife lol

In all seriousness I don't think I mind this, sometimes waiting 10 months for a knife is sort of torture. I'd rather the knife be further along in production before announced.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#11

Post by elduderino04 »

sal wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:55 am
Hi Elduderino,

I must say I agree with your observations. As you stated, often a few bad apples do ruin the barrel. It's happened more than once as I've watched over the years. Part of life I guess. We'll have to watch the process develop as we more forward. You can be sure that we still work for the ELU and if changes need to be made, we'll make them.

sal

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"It takes ll kinds of animals to make a forest, and without the leeches ad mosquitoes, one might appreciate the hawks and the deer".
Thanks Sal, I very much appreciate it. I'm sure the new policy is still being ironed out, and I hope that a middle ground might be possible. Perhaps by applying the policy just to official announcements of upcoming products in the catalog and supplement (such that products are only added there when delivery is imminent), you would hopefully avoid much of the grumbling. Without the official imprimatur of the catalog and stock photography, few if any retailers will begin taking preorders, and fewer people will whine about when delivery will happen. At the same time, less official discussions of the pipeline (your excellent insights and bombshells here on the forum, Wouter's excellent work at the Amsterdam meet, etc) would still allow engagement with the more dedicated customers here and discussion of products that are still much earlier in the development process. There would still be people periodically asking whether anyone has heard of the progress of certain rumored models, but hopefully few if any petulant tirades about "delays" in delivery of unreleased products.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#12

Post by elduderino04 »

abbazaba wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:15 am
Well said. This is going to be a very significant change for the forum, possibly affecting the super fans more than anything else.

However, lets see how the first reveal or two works out before we pass too much judgement.
ChrisinHove wrote: I just assumed it’s intention is to wean us off the costly printed catalogue. Whether it also reduces the anticipation for new products remains to be seen....
Very true, time will tell how the policy is implemented. Hopefully the change is just to the formal catalog/supplement/spyderbyte announcements.
Liquid Cobra wrote: I couldn’t agree more El Duderino. Thank you for posting this as I’ve tried a few times to write how I feel about this situation but failed miserably. I agree with everything you’ve said.
Thanks very much, LC. It took me several revisions as well.
Evil D wrote: I really hope this doesn't ruin the yearly Amsterdam thread. That is easily the most exciting part of the year around here, but if Wouter isn't allowed to photo and show any new products that's going to really be a downer.
100% agree, Wouter's reveals are one of my favorite threads each year. I hope the policy doesn't affect that.
awa54 wrote: Well, the prevalence of threads bemoaning the long lead time of announced models seems to have taken its toll... I'd guess that if there had been fewer of these in the past couple of years, we wouldn't have "Reveal" in place.

The good news is that Sal is still dropping the occasional hint about projects that are in the pipeline.
You're absolutely right, I just hate that these angry, impotent people succeeded in their efforts to ruin things for the rest of us. I sincerely hope that Sal's hints continue unchanged. Time will of course tell...
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#13

Post by Jazz »

If it changes the Amsterdam thread, that’s not gonna go well with any of us. It’s something to look forward to.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#14

Post by vivi »

I took a few years off from this forum. What drew me back was missing out on some sprints I really wanted but found out about too late. That has always been one of the main draws of this place, so I was sad to see that get killed off even if I understand the reasons why it happened.

These days my selection of Spydercos feels pretty figured out, and all the knives I'm looking forward to in 2019 and 2020 are improved versions of those. FFG Pacific Salt, lightweight Police, Salt Swick etc. So I feel like the scope of discussion here is becoming fairly narrow for me. I do like chiming in on sharpening threads though.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#15

Post by fanglekai »

Not a big deal. Knives will be for sale and I'll buy the ones that interest me.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#16

Post by Larry_Mott »

koenigsegg wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:52 am
But how else can BHQ keep $5 from me for a year before giving me a knife lol

In all seriousness I don't think I mind this, sometimes waiting 10 months for a knife is sort of torture. I'd rather the knife be further along in production before announced.
I agree. I remember back in the early years of iPhone/smart phones. You came home from the store with your new phone and started reading about the successor, followed by a thousand rumours and sneak pics until you all but lost interest in the darn thing.
Then again, there might be a golden middle ground, perhaps presenting knives that are, if not guaranteed, but most likely to be available within 12 months get revealed? I don't know..
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#17

Post by Tims »

I’ll throw my hat in and just say, though I stay for the discussion, the main reason I signed up to the forum was to keep abreast of upcoming sprints and new models. The caly 3.5 specifically.
Like Vivi, I have over the years missed out on a few knives because I wasn’t aware of what was going on.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#18

Post by standy99 »

So basically closer from announcing to getting. Less announcing and waiting. ;)

Sound OK to me Sal.







I know from another hobby it was always “when when when when” a day after a announcement even though the release in the announcement was mentioned to be in 3 months.
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#19

Post by Bullwinkle »

sal wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 8:55 am
Hi Elduderino,

I must say I agree with your observations. As you stated, often a few bad apples do ruin the barrel. It's happened more than once as I've watched over the years. Part of life I guess. We'll have to watch the process develop as we more forward. You can be sure that we still work for the ELU and if changes need to be made, we'll make them.

sal

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The FIRST REVEAL might be that you can actually BUY THE KNIFE instead of waiting one or two years or more after they "REVEALED" it to you in the past brochures......!!!

Why the delays is still a mystery.

"It takes ll kinds of animals to make a forest, and without the leeches ad mosquitoes, one might appreciate the hawks and the deer".
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Re: New reveal policy: is it the end of an era?

#20

Post by lonerider1013 »

"Well, the prevalence of threads bemoaning the long lead time of announced models seems to have taken its toll... I'd guess that if there had been fewer of these in the past couple of years, we wouldn't have "Reveal" in place."

I'm okay with a long lead time, if it allows them to work the bugs out of the product excuse the pun.

also it gives me time to save up lol!
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