Sal, Can We Form A Collective, And Order An Exclusive?

[nerdlock]

Slight deviation everyone, but how were the past forum knives been sold...were those only exclusives to forum members (with tenure) or was it available at a limited run to the public?

If there's one thing I really dislike about the Sprint Run format, is that as an international customer with a different time zone, I can never, never really time the drops, and I usually end up paying more on the secondary market. I'm pretty sure other non-CONUS based members here who have vastly differing timezones from the US would agree with me on that.

It would be awesome to have a forum exclusive knife available to members first, then to the public second, without the stress and lost time for other things like work and family just to spend hours and days waiting get a knife. Then again, If this has been implemented by Spyderco already, then awesome! It would give members here more motivation to participate more in discussing ideas and opinions and not just lurk.

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Slight deviation everyone, but how were the past forum knives been sold...were those only exclusives to forum members (with tenure) or was it available at a limited run to the public?

If there's one thing I really dislike about the Sprint Run format, is that as an international customer with a different time zone, I can never, never really time the drops, and I usually end up paying more on the secondary market. I'm pretty sure other non-CONUS based members here who have vastly differing timezones from the US would agree with me on that.

It would be awesome to have a forum exclusive knife available to members first, then to the public second, without the stress and lost time for other things like work and family just to spend hours and days waiting get a knife. Then again, If this has been implemented by Spyderco already, then awesome! It would give members here more motivation to participate more in discussing ideas and opinions and not just lurk.

I definitely wouldn’t want you to miss out, either. Or anyone whom is excited about the model chosen.

Maybe if at some point we announced the date and time that preorders are being opened, at least a week in advance, then you and everyone else would have the opportunity to participate.

[StipeK]

Tnx, Sal.
Nice to be part of collective hive :-)

[Dazen]

The real barrier to this happening will be settling on what knife/steel/scale combo to buy.

I’m totally down to buy 600 copies of my perfect knife with y’all. My enthusiasm for buying YOUR perfect knife, though, could vary significantly.

Collective action is great for some things. I have not found purchasing decisions to be among those things.

Well said. Pretty much sums up any decision we attempt to make here. The real question here is are we all willing to compromise enough on our wants to make it become reality.

Yup, if everyone wants to send me your money for knife below, I’ll place the order and send you the knife in a year or so!

Shaman: Polished and Tumbled 4V Blade, OD Green Canvas Micarta Scales, DLC Liners and Hardware

[steelcity16]

The real barrier to this happening will be settling on what knife/steel/scale combo to buy.

I’m totally down to buy 600 copies of my perfect knife with y’all. My enthusiasm for buying YOUR perfect knife, though, could vary significantly.

Collective action is great for some things. I have not found purchasing decisions to be among those things.

Well said. Pretty much sums up any decision we attempt to make here. The real question here is are we all willing to compromise enough on our wants to make it become reality.

Yup, if everyone wants to send me your money for knife below, I’ll place the order and send you the knife in a year or so!

Shaman: Polished and Tumbled 4V Blade, OD Green Canvas Micarta Scales, DLC Liners and Hardware

DLC 4V blade and I would be in.

[Buddafucco]

Yup, if everyone wants to send me your money for knife below, I’ll place the order and send you the knife in a year or so!

Shaman: Polished and Tumbled 4V Blade, OD Green Canvas Micarta Scales, DLC Liners and Hardware

I'm in!

[Bloke]

I reckon you'd have more chance at herding a mob of cats or winning last months lottery than getting six members here to agree on a particular model let alone six to twelve hundred.

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

[Buddafucco]

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

I'm in!

[steelcity16]

I reckon you'd have more chance at herding a mob of cats or winning last months lottery than getting six members here to agree on a particular model let alone six to twelve hundred.

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

Replace Maxamet with DLC Cruwear and I'm in!

[Buddafucco]

I reckon you'd have more chance at herding a mob of cats or winning last months lottery than getting six members here to agree on a particular model let alone six to twelve hundred.

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

Replace Maxamet with DLC Cruwear and I'm in!

I'm in!

[Mattysc42]

If someone makes a website specifically for crowdfunding spyderco exclusives, it would probably be viable. History has proven that there are enough people out there to sell out sprints and exclusives without too much risk for most models, if not always immediately. It would probably need a couple years and multiple exclusives produced to build the necessary momentum before it could become a solid platform, though.

[Bloke]

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

I'm in!

Where’s that man Killer when you need him?

[Wartstein]

Well folks, what about 600 plain jane VG10 ffg Enduras and let them grind in the Endela serration pattern? Who'd be in there?..

[rak2]

For a business approach, what about partnering with one of the retailers that perhaps already does exclusives instead of trying to work with Spyderco directly. The established company would have the business entity to do business with Spyderco, all of the other functions to make it happen (accounting, legal, shipping, advertising etc.) plus the established knife retailer would have a ready made avenue to sell any/all 'surplus' knives not picked up on by the exclusives club.

Disclaimer: I have no expertise in this arena of business plan development.

rak2

[Doc Dan]

I reckon you'd have more chance at herding a mob of cats or winning last months lottery than getting six members here to agree on a particular model let alone six to twelve hundred.

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

K390

[bearfacedkiller]

Anyhow, if everyone agrees on a Maxamet, satin blade, Military with grey G-10 scales I'm in for two.

I'm in!

Where’s that man Killer when you need him?

Did I hear someone say Maxamet Military?

I’m in!!!!

Life is busy lately.

[sal]

Life is busy lately.

Hi Darby,

Life seems to get busier as one gets older and takes on more responsibility. It seems like there is less time available? I'm convinced that the earth turns faster as you get older, so there is less time.

sal

[prndltech]

Well folks, what about 600 plain jane VG10 ffg Enduras and let them grind in the Endela serration pattern? Who'd be in there?..

Make it a police 4 lightweight and I’m your huckleberry

[yablanowitz]

Yep. And gravity keeps getting stronger, too.

Just out of curiousity, who gets sued if the anonymous person collecting all that money takes off with it instead of placing the order, knowing that he'll have a year's head start before people expect their knives?

[Menipo]

Yep. And gravity keeps getting stronger, too.

Just out of curiousity, who gets sued if the anonymous person collecting all that money takes off with it instead of placing the order, knowing that he'll have a year's head start before people expect their knives?

Any of the structures proposed so far ((1) an anonymous person collecting the money, placing the order and cutting the check, (2) Spyderco willing to manufacture a model + configuration previously "designed" by a certain amount of members of the club in consensus, receiving pre-orders and advance payments, and manufacturing the model only if a certain number of pre-orders are placed (or returning the advanced amounts otherwise), and (3) partnering with an existing dealer which would place the order on the basis of a given number of pre-orders and advance payments received) imply to draft a pile of contracts as it deviates from the standard legal structures used by any company to sell its products (to the best of my knowledge).

No one in his mind would start to think about the legal side of the project (and start to incur in legal fees) unless it is clear that hundreds of people agree on the model + configuration of the knife which should be commissioned. None of the model + configuration which have been proposed here so far has received more than 2 or 3 adhesions ... The vast majority of the adhesions are conditional (change this or that and I'm it!)

As JuPaul said, the "biggest challenge won't be finding investors, but rather getting those investors to agree on a model and configuration", I am afraid.