Have recent releases confused you?

[DOUBLE D]

Bad form to knock the OpFocus program.

I’m grateful for it and recognize that Spyderco’s dealer network comes first. Waiting for SFO to show “in stock” is just part of the process.

As the OP, my intent was to get a handle on what’s going on with getting stuff (I’m now reminded of the Kapara and the Smock), into the dealer network.

I’m not complaining, just trying to recalibrate my expectations.

But if this is the new normal, does the Reveal program mean only that we can be sure a revealed model will drop within 90 days. We just can’t be sure where to find it... Seems a weird tradeoff.

Bad form? As the person who wrote the comment you're referring to, I will have to respectfully disagree. It's hardly bad form to state that a benefit is not an actual benefit unless that person can acquire the said benefit. And to have to wait a ridiculous amount of time in order to do so, makes it that much less of a benefit. If you had to wait ten years for a specific model to be available through the opfocus, you would view it as "less" of a benefit. While that is an extreme example, it serves to make the point that any amount of waiting, reduces the amount of benefit the program is. Not to mention the constant calling, and checking the internet to see if a model does actually become available, also makes the whole program that much more frustrating, and less beneficial to the busy military/first responder personnel

Edit... Wanted to clarify that I'm not talking about exclusives obviously, and also not even talking about sprints. But I'm referring to models that are supposed to be regular production models

[The Meat man]

My guess is that Spyderco tends to initially hold back the production quantities on new models, to see how the reception is. Remember each new model represents a tremendous investment in design, materials, tooling and machine costs, etc.

Combine this understandable caution, with the fact that most of the recent releases HAVE been hugely popular, and you have the right conditions for a production vacuum. Then the FOMO (I had to look that up too) mentality kicks in and the problem just feeds on itself.

Give it a few more months and I think you'll start seeing more of these knives regularly available.

I hope. :D

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Pretty sure he is referring to the DLT Trading 20CV PM2 that was sourced from Spyderco to the tune of 800 units and sold out in something like 4 minutes flat.

Before that was a Blade HQ Exclusive Shaman DLC M4 as I recall it was gone almost as soon as it was up for sale.

[p_atrick]

Not to mention the constant calling, and checking the internet to see if a model does actually become available, also makes the whole program that much more frustrating...

So the new app is supposed to have notifications when new models drop. I wonder if something could be done to notify OpFocus program participants.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

My guess is that Spyderco tends to initially hold back the production quantities on new models, to see how the reception is. Remember each new model represents a tremendous investment in design, materials, tooling and machine costs, etc.

Combine this understandable caution, with the fact that most of the recent releases HAVE been hugely popular, and you have the right conditions for a production vacuum. Then the FOMO (I had to look that up too) mentality kicks in and the problem just feeds on itself.

Give it a few more months and I think you'll start seeing more of these knives regularly available.

I hope. :D

Captain your logic is confusing.... especially in light of releases being hugely popular :p

If one has a huge cost and investment in design, tooling and machine costs holding back on production of popular products would indeed be a poor way of recapturing investment.

Today is the 10th of June 2019 lets see when they release some Smock's Not holding my breathe

[p_atrick]

If one has a huge cost and investment in design, tooling and machine costs holding back on production of popular products would indeed be a poor way of recapturing investment.

Sal, Eric, et. al. cannot accurately anticipate user demand. Spending lots of money to introduce a new model AND then stockpile said model only works if the model sells well. Like any business, Spyderco does not want to have lots of unsold inventory on their hands. They make their money back by keeping popular models available over the long-run.

[DOUBLE D]

Edited my last post to include that I am not referring to exclusives and sprints, but to regular production models. Just wanted to clarify

[ferider]

Sal, Eric, et. al. cannot accurately anticipate user demand. Spending lots of money to introduce a new model AND then stockpile said model only works if the model sells well. Like any business, Spyderco does not want to have lots of unsold inventory on their hands. They make their money back by keeping popular models available over the long-run.

I feel the Smock proves you wrong. A second batch came and went as quickly as the first, and popularity was known. Compare that to the Chinook 4 or other regular production collaborations, that came and were there to stay.

I suspect the distribution/stock strategy changed together with the reveal intro. We'll see of course. And - don't get me wrong - I support a healthy business with a good strategy, of course. Then again, transparency would be nice.

[p_atrick]

I feel the Smock proves you wrong. A second batch came and went as quickly as the first, and popularity was known. Compare that to the Chinook 4 or other regular production collaborations, that came and were there to stay.

I suspect the distribution/stock strategy changed together with the reveal intro. We'll see of course. And - don't get me wrong - I support a healthy business with a good strategy, of course. Then again, transparency would be nice.

Well, we are all just guessing here. It seems like Spyderco guessed too low with regards to certain models. The Smock never interested me, so I haven't paid attention. I don't have enough information to say one way or the other, but it does sound like Spyderco made poor assumptions about the Smock on two occasions.

I've also heard rumors about a CQI Kapara; something about the cutout for the compression lock (or something like that). That could be a delay for that model (assuming what I heard was true).

It also seems to me that Spyderco is having a greater number of new models enter the market consecutively - Para 3 LW, Kapara, Smock, Ikuchi, Drunken, Paysan, Sage LW, Native Chief, and I am sure I am forgetting many more. Has it always been like this? It feels like an outlier. That could also explain the bottleneck, too many new models too close together.

If the distribution/stock strategy changed with the introduction of the Reveal (certainly seems plausible), then I hope they CQI that as well.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Sal, Eric, et. al. cannot accurately anticipate user demand. Spending lots of money to introduce a new model AND then stockpile said model only works if the model sells well. Like any business, Spyderco does not want to have lots of unsold inventory on their hands. They make their money back by keeping popular models available over the long-run.

I feel the Smock proves you wrong. A second batch came and went as quickly as the first, and popularity was known. Compare that to the Chinook 4 or other regular production collaborations, that came and were there to stay.

I suspect the distribution/stock strategy changed together with the reveal intro. We'll see of course. And - don't get me wrong - I support a healthy business with a good strategy, of course. Then again, transparency would be nice.

Oh? I guess I missed the second release.... See... Ah Ha see missed business known and proven popularity :D now where is the third batch?

Transparency would be welcome.

I think you are right and 6 months into the year it is proven sufficiently that distribution / stock strategy has changed to go with their new reveal intro. I also think they are loosing business by not having product to sell.

This is how the retailers have strangled themselves, insufficient stock on hand.

Spyderco is not what I would call a retailer but the first rule of making a sale is having product on hand.

Look at what so many retailers did to themselves and still have not learned as they go out of business, especially the malls, huge overhead, renting huge places the size of a warehouse and when the person walks in the store to buy something they do not have it on hand to sell and some poor clerk gets the privilege of saying we can order it for you.

Boom lost sale, customer buys on line from someone else.

There is a balance and I think Spyderco is too far on the conservative side of it right now trying to find a new balance. While I have no idea what the profit structure is for a Paramilitary 2 in 20CV only making 800 of them could not have been that profitable even at retail prices that is only something like $130,000.00

Yep all guessing.

[ugaarguy]

I feel the Smock proves you wrong. A second batch came and went as quickly as the first, and popularity was known. Compare that to the Chinook 4 or other regular production collaborations, that came and were there to stay.

I suspect the distribution/stock strategy changed together with the reveal intro. We'll see of course. And - don't get me wrong - I support a healthy business with a good strategy, of course. Then again, transparency would be nice.

Well, we are all just guessing here. It seems like Spyderco guessed too low with regards to certain models. The Smock never interested me, so I haven't paid attention. I don't have enough information to say one way or the other, but it does sound like Spyderco made poor assumptions about the Smock on two occasions.

I've also heard rumors about a CQI Kapara; something about the cutout for the compression lock (or something like that). That could be a delay for that model (assuming what I heard was true).

It also seems to me that Spyderco is having a greater number of new models enter the market consecutively - Para 3 LW, Kapara, Smock, Ikuchi, Drunken, Paysan, Sage LW, Native Chief, and I am sure I am forgetting many more. Has it always been like this? It feels like an outlier. That could also explain the bottleneck, too many new models too close together.

If the distribution/stock strategy changed with the introduction of the Reveal (certainly seems plausible), then I hope they CQI that as well.

At the roughly 7:28 mark the Blade HQ Spyderco video from The Blade Show, Eric starts talking about the Sage 5 LW. He says that the Sage 5 production models will have a bushing system in pivot for drop free action, and that the bushing system will be added as a CQI upgrade to the Kapara and Ikuchi as well. He implies that it will also be added to other compression lock models. I can't imagine them putting the pivot bushing upgrade in the Kapara and Ikuchi, but not the Smock. I'm wondering if this is the same bushing pivot that gives the Paramilitary 2 it's very smooth, typically drop free, action. That may be what's holding up new batches of those knives from Taichung.

[wrdwrght]

Just curious, what about the recent exclusive releases do you find problematic? I'm genuinely just curious, not sure I have an opinion one way or the other.

Ah! I refer to BHQ and DLT whose exclusives disappeared in a matter of minutes. Rather too naive about the interest in their offerings, they did nothing to assure everyone a fair chance.

[JonLeBlanc]

Just curious, what about the recent exclusive releases do you find problematic? I'm genuinely just curious, not sure I have an opinion one way or the other.

Ah! I refer to BHQ and DLT whose exclusives disappeared in a matter of minutes. Rather too naive about the interest in their offerings, they did nothing to assure everyone a fair chance.

Oh I see ok, I guess I'm kinda glad I'm a weirdo (or just dumb lol) and my tastes aren't too similar to that of many others, because most of the knives I want are the sort that don't fly off the shelves, and so I haven't had too much trouble getting them. But I can certainly sympathize with the frustration of having to "compete" in the sprint/exclusive market for a piece that really only collectors like ourselves seek out. Then again, perhaps that's all part of the fun. Then then again again, not being able to snag a nice knife because people with buckets of liquid cash on hand grab them all while one waits for the next paycheck to be able to afford it must be demoralizing... One wouldn't like that, would one? :cool:

[ferider]

At the roughly 7:28 mark the Blade HQ Spyderco video from The Blade Show, Eric starts talking about the Sage 5 LW. He says that the Sage 5 production models will have a bushing system in pivot for drop free action, and that the bushing system will be added as a CQI upgrade to the Kapara and Ikuchi as well. He implies that it will also be added to other compression lock models. I can't imagine them putting the pivot bushing upgrade in the Kapara and Ikuchi, but not the Smock. I'm wondering if this is the same bushing pivot that gives the Paramilitary 2 it's very smooth, typically drop free, action. That may be what's holding up new batches of those knives from Taichung.

I saw that too. Eric mentioned "lightweights", and Sage, Ikuchi and Kapara CQI (all three having steel liners, and PB washers), to get an improved bushing system. I'm confused what this means. :o

[The Meat man]

My guess is that Spyderco tends to initially hold back the production quantities on new models, to see how the reception is. Remember each new model represents a tremendous investment in design, materials, tooling and machine costs, etc.

Combine this understandable caution, with the fact that most of the recent releases HAVE been hugely popular, and you have the right conditions for a production vacuum. Then the FOMO (I had to look that up too) mentality kicks in and the problem just feeds on itself.

Give it a few more months and I think you'll start seeing more of these knives regularly available.

I hope. :D

Captain your logic is confusing.... especially in light of releases being hugely popular :p

If one has a huge cost and investment in design, tooling and machine costs holding back on production of popular products would indeed be a poor way of recapturing investment.

Today is the 10th of June 2019 lets see when they release some Smock's Not holding my breathe

It's a greater risk on Spyderco's part to produce and stockpile, say, 8,000 pieces versus 800. If the model doesn't sell as well as anticipated, Spyderco (and dealers) may end up sitting on all that surplus inventory for a long time, and dead inventory is bad for any company.

It would make more sense for them to "test the waters", so to speak, with a smaller run, not to recoup cost of production, but to keep their inventory as low as possible until the popularity of the release becomes established.

These numbers are just my examples; I have no idea what Spyderco's actual numbers are. And as others have said, this is mostly just guessing. I may be completely wrong on everything I've said. :o

[araneae]

The simplest answer is often the right one. Perhaps they just don't have the capacity folks. If they could make 'em faster, they'd sell more knives- my guess is capacity is the limiter here. Spyderco is NOT a giant, they are a relatively small company making quality products.

[The Meat man]

The simplest answer is often the right one. Perhaps they just don't have the capacity folks. If they could make 'em faster, they'd sell more knives- my guess is capacity is the limiter here. Spyderco is NOT a giant, they are a relatively small company making quality products.

Good point.

[Nate]

Where's my Bow River!?!?!?

I'm confused. :confused: :D

[araneae]

Where's my Bow River!?!?!?

I'm confused. :confused: :D

They're waiting on sheaths.

[TkoK83Spy]

Whatever happened to the Tropen or Subvert?? Two releases I never saw anything about here besides LC with the Subvert.