Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dennis Hibar on February 23, 2020 at 16:38

I got one (had it on reserve) .... unfortunately, sold it as fast as it arrived.  Nice knife ... but the presentation and pile side covers had too much of a coloring difference for me.  Alas ... such is the nature of bone!!!

The 62 pocket carver I have on reserve should be fine .... cocobolo.

Permalink Reply by Fred Kemp on February 23, 2020 at 16:46

Yeah, on that knife I feel the same way. Honestly, I wasn't crazy about the shield either. Love the pattern though.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Kenneth W. Hill on February 23, 2020 at 21:59

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Kenneth W. Hill on February 23, 2020 at 22:18

 I passed on the banana #62 .  I did buy the #62 Goldenrod Easy Pocket Congress knife.  My #62 camel bone came in with a crack and I sent the knife back to my dealer.  I notice that a few of the banana bones have a marble look to them.  If GEC had any brains , Bill Howard would offer "marble" camel bone.  Another example is smooth "yellow bone".  Most people hate yellow , because it is associated coward ness.  GEC should rename yellow bone to "Lemon Pie Bone".  My #97 Allegheny yellow bone knife looks just like lemon pie. 

Permalink Reply by Fred Kemp on February 24, 2020 at 7:54

I do like the coloring on the Goldenrod better, it's a great look. One of my most prized knifes is a #53 Northfield Cattle Baron jigged Yellow Rose. I don't hate yellow, although I'm not crazy about orange. I think the rose shield and the yellow color look so well together that I put it in a display case!

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on February 24, 2020 at 10:30

I on the other hand love it when they have the odd shields.  Camel bone is one of my favorites because I do not care about bookend sets on the scales and smooth bone has always been one that I look for.  As long as GEC has been around, the specialized shields have meant a sell out.  The only exception I ever saw to that one was the wrench, it did not sell out right away but a year later was a coveted find...go figure

Permalink Reply by Fred Kemp on February 24, 2020 at 12:12

Oh yeah, beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder! I hardly ever buy anything on ebay anymore, but I do look to see kind of what's left over. I liked the wrench shield but wasn't crazy about the patterns. It must be really difficult for dealers to stick their necks out for some patterns and still try to satisfy all of us collectors. I've always kind of wondered if GEC puts any pressure on dealers to stock certain patterns.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on February 24, 2020 at 12:48

I certainly would not say pressure Fred but a dealer is only going to be able to stock in one of 2 ways. 

The authorized dealer buys direct from GEC which means they buy what the company produces, not necessarily every pattern but a pre negotiated number of knives or amount of $ spent annually is usually the program (from any manufacture). 

A dealer authorized or not can purchase from someone else and sell but they will be limited to what can be found other than from the manufacture.  With a company that is successful, this will be extremely limiting.

With GEC specifically, if someone can buy a collection at a reasonable cost, they could offer some of the VERY sought after patterns at a good profit.  That will likely mean they will also have some patterns that they will sell low or hold on to for an extended period of time.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Kenneth W. Hill on February 24, 2020 at 13:08

My #97 Allegheny "Yellow Rose" knife is killer.  I just received my #62 Easy Open Congress Goldenrod Camel bone square bar shield replacement today.  That goldenrod camel bone looks like an antique glass round marble.  I think the banana knives look better with yellow or yellow/brown bovine cattle bone.   I like eating sweeter green/yellow bananas , myself. I don't believe Bill Howard was happy with the camel bone on the banana knives , so he split the order numbers.  I did buy a #43  Oregon Trapper "S" Orange bone knife, in 2018.  I hate Clemson Tigers Orange, but my #43 knife looks like "light strawberry juice" camel bone.   I bought two aqua bone #12 toothpick knives.  I popped the lighter aqua camel bone with Fiebing's leather "navy blue" dye.  I bought two #92 Eureka Jack antique goldenrod camel bone knives last year.  The #92 run looks more goldenrod camel bone than the #62 run.  No such thing as a perfect knife.  GEC bone colors: "IT IS WHAT IT IS !"

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on February 24, 2020 at 13:20

Kenneth,

I have not spoken with Bill Howard specifically about bone in a couple years.  I do know that they were doing their own dying in a room no one was allowed into (rightfully so), even on a private tour.

Many of the early colors and variations came from that room and they may be dying their own camel bone now.  That would account for the differences which again, I personally celebrate :)

As Fred said, beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder and the variations in smooth bone seem to catch a lot of eyes. i do not think the same can be said about variations on jigged bones

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Kenneth W. Hill on February 24, 2020 at 15:25

I do believe GEC is doing their own dying now.  The 2019 #97 maroon micarta knife scales were dark maroon before shaping. GEC showed photos of the lighter maroon scales after mounting.  Then GEC posted photos after re-dying.  Last year I complained about the bone colors on the #12 toothpick knives.  My #12 toothpick copperhead pony cut jigged bone came in better than the DLT SFO #12 Dark Chestnut.  My dark chestnut knife came in super light.  The Charlie C. dark chestnuts were nice and dark .  I was not happy.  The GEC knife was better looking than the DLT SFO. I bought both and I complained about it.  I was sick and tired of brown/yellow edge jigged bone GEC knives.  DLT could not sell many of the SFO #12s , so they posted both knives together and they mixed up the bone names.  Baw-ha !  Ha !  Ha !  Ha !  Ha ! Ha ! That is what happens when a dealer  orders a similar SFO knife to a regular GEC knife offered.  DLT learned their lesson this year and they offered a wonderful #62 SFO selection.  I bought two JSR Sports and More SFO #86 Oil Field Jack Chocolate Almond peach-seed jigged bone knives.  Those knives were announced as Dark Chocolate peach-seed jigged bone.  The first factory scale photos were not appealing at all.  I took a leap of faith and I pre-ordered one.  When that knife was completed , GEC had announced the JSR SFO Chocolate Almond  peach-seed bone color.  The lighter ones are the best.  A super soft brown with chocolate jigged bone highlights.  The best new bone color of 2019.  I think that Chocolate almond is the best brown GEC color to date.  I want more GEC knives in that light Chocolate almond color.  The dark #86 Chocolate almond is my user EDC. It looks great too !

Permalink Reply by Fred Kemp on February 25, 2020 at 14:06

Kenneth,

 You mentioned a Chocolate almond handled #86, so I went looking for something similar. Is this photo close, the color that is? It's from another GEC thread and it's really nice. I would definitely like to see more from GEC like this on any pattern!

Kenneth W. Hill said:

I do believe GEC is doing their own dying now.  The 2019 #97 maroon micarta knife scales were dark maroon before shaping. GEC showed photos of the lighter maroon scales after mounting.  Then GEC posted photos after re-dying.  Last year I complained about the bone colors on the #12 toothpick knives.  My #12 toothpick copperhead pony cut jigged bone came in better than the DLT SFO #12 Dark Chestnut.  My dark chestnut knife came in super light.  The Charlie C. dark chestnuts were nice and dark .  I was not happy.  The GEC knife was better looking than the DLT SFO. I bought both and I complained about it.  I was sick and tired of brown/yellow edge jigged bone GEC knives.  DLT could not sell many of the SFO #12s , so they posted both knives together and they mixed up the bone names.  Baw-ha !  Ha !  Ha !  Ha !  Ha ! Ha ! That is what happens when a dealer  orders a similar SFO knife to a regular GEC knife offered.  DLT learned their lesson this year and they offered a wonderful #62 SFO selection.  I bought two JSR Sports and More SFO #86 Oil Field Jack Chocolate Almond peach-seed jigged bone knives.  Those knives were announced as Dark Chocolate peach-seed jigged bone.  The first factory scale photos were not appealing at all.  I took a leap of faith and I pre-ordered one.  When that knife was completed , GEC had announced the JSR SFO Chocolate Almond  peach-seed bone color.  The lighter ones are the best.  A super soft brown with chocolate jigged bone highlights.  The best new bone color of 2019.  I think that Chocolate almond is the best brown GEC color to date.  I want more GEC knives in that light Chocolate almond color.  The dark #86 Chocolate almond is my user EDC. It looks great too !

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