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Hoorah For Jim Frost

(moved from Members and New announcements)

I know he makes a ton of money selling junk knives on late night TV.

I also think his return policies suck and ship and handling charges are outrageous.

And I've heard how he began his cutlery empire selling knives out of his lunch box way too many times.

And who can ever forget:

Despite all this. Jim Frost deserves a lot of credit for turning a lot of people on to knives and knife collecting. Perhaps his import line hurt some of the struggling American Cutlery Companies but many of them had already started out-sourcing production overseas.

And I agree he still sells a lot of junk however, you see Frost pushing more and more Case knives as well as the Michael Prater lines. and more importantly is still attracting new knife enthusiasts to world of knife collecting.

One young man starts off buying a Frost Eagle Eye and then moves onto a Byrd then a Spyderco.

Another sarts off with a Steel Warrior Trapper, then buys a Case and moves on Schatt & Morgan

Still another buys a Frost White Tail then maybe moves onto a Hen & Rooster or a Buck, and beyond

The thing is, a lot of people get their first taste of knife collecting by the likes of Jim Frost, or Taylor Brands LLC, or the House Brands of SMKW and then move onto to better made knives. If it wasn't for the low priced economy knives many of the higher end, made in America companies would eventually die because very few people enter this hobby buying knives that cost $100.

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Replies to This Discussion

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on April 10, 2014 at 18:24

I agree with most everything you said Tobias. Many,many years ago I developed my love of collecting watching these shows. My major beef is the hawking of those knives as being " limited production" or " short run" knives. As a naive and new collector back then, I thought I was getting a collectors item that would increase in value over time- NOT-Unfortunately, I have a half dozen examples of these and so called artist signed,etc(.signature reproduced on thousands of knives). I loved them when I got them, until I realised as a more experienced collector how worthless as a collector item they were.. I agree that he may have turned many onto the joy of knife collecting, but wonder how mantt he disallusioned as well.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 10, 2014 at 18:52

Local cable doesn't carry cutlery corner like the satellite provider did. I think there's a 30 minute airing in the wee hours on Sundays.
Got a roll of the Steel Warriors, somewhere or another, around here. Quality is a bit below Rough Riders.
Had a fellow that I knew that bought some of the "Knives for a buck" deals, and couldn't give them away.

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 10, 2014 at 19:02

John, No doubt, Jim Frost is the "P.T. Barnum" of the cutlery world.

But I think plenty people fell in love with the circus even after they realized Barnum swindled him out of their nickel. The thing is you enjoyed the knife until you found out something better is out there. But I agree, he should knock it off with the "limited run crap."

To me, a Limited Run normally translates to "the number of knives a manufacturer thinks he can sell and the price he has quoted" That is if he thought he could sell thousand he made a thousand. If he thought he could make 10,000 then he made 10,000.

And if demand out strips the production run they change the jigging, shield or tang stamp and make a new "limited run" It's a joke. But the newbie doesn't know that. Maybe we need a Cutlery Corner watchdog group to help the newbie learn from the show but not be taken to the cleaners buying 100 knives for $100!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on April 10, 2014 at 19:18

I think they serve a purpose for sure and not just Frost and Cutlery Corner ,but SMKW and BudK and Kennesaw Cutlery! They all serve a purpose and I believe its to add new comers and even some vets to the hobby. Get them excited on a level, some will get hooked, it will resonate and they become full fledged collectors. I am curious how many make that transition?

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on April 10, 2014 at 23:50

I have no doubt that they have spread the gospel of knife collecting- For that fact alone, they have made a contribution to knife collecting-I just resent the gouging of the naive and the gullible-(me included) . For example. I bought this off of late night TV back in 2000- $35 plus shipping- A Smith & Wesson " New Deer" lockback- Hawked as a "First Production Run:" artist signed. and "gold" circular shield- You can buy it today on Ebay for $8 -13 dollars---- 14 years later. That is the downside to this story -

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on April 11, 2014 at 0:07

I was looking on one of the "Storage Hunters" site and saw a $10.00 BudK knife for $21.00. Someone will buy it, not knowing what it is.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on April 11, 2014 at 1:48

One the one hand those types of guys do the industry a great service by attracting new buyers.

One the other hand the hawk a LOT of crap. I never understand why they can't sell decent stuff....in the same type of priceranges there's all sorts of companies that make decent product.

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 11, 2014 at 5:53

Alexander, I think it is harder for you to understand. America is full of gullible people who are attracted to cheap disposable crap. And a lot of the people watch late night TV and buy stuff simply because it is shiny. They often are tired of the item before it even arrives.

No offense to any Americans present. It is like what Toomy Lee Jones said in Men in Black -- "A person is smart. People are dumb" I know i've made purchases similar to what John made (Probably even worse)

We also have a lot of people living here who are always looking for a way to "get rich quick" 1/4 of the commercials on TV/Radio are on ways to get rich quick or build wealth - 1/4 is on how to improve your sex life - 1/4 is how to lose weight and get in shape and 1/4 is on how to kick an addiction. And in every case the person selling the product is telling you it will be fast, easy, and you won't have to do anything!

Alexander Noot said:

One the one hand those types of guys do the industry a great service by attracting new buyers.

One the other hand the hawk a LOT of crap. I never understand why they can't sell decent stuff....in the same type of priceranges there's all sorts of companies that make decent product.

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 11, 2014 at 6:00

John, no doubt you are correct. No doubt anything sold as a "collectible"

They way I try to define the term is thus:

Collectible: 1) An often ill-defined and therefore meaningless term used to sell knives; especially online. see vintage 2) Typically a collectible is something made for the purpose of collecting. This has no bearing on the actual quality or quantity of the item. Often reproductions or commemorative items are considered collectible. They rarely go up in value. Compare to Collectors Item

Collector’s Item: 1) An often ill-defined and therefore meaningless term used to sell knives; especially online. see vintage 2) Normally, an older, out of production item, that was not designed as collectable with a known appraised value and a demand that out strips current product availability. Compare to collectibles.

Could be worse, You could have bought all those "Combs Custom" knives.

John McCain said:

I have no doubt that they have spread the gospel of knife collecting- For that fact alone, they have made a contribution to knife collecting-I just resent the gouging of the naive and the gullible-(me included) . For example. I bought this off of late night TV back in 2000- $35 plus shipping- A Smith & Wesson " New Deer" lockback- Hawked as a "First Production Run:" artist signed. and "gold" circular shield- You can buy it today on Ebay for $8 -13 dollars---- 14 years later. That is the downside to this story -

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on April 11, 2014 at 9:33

Lots of folks bought 100 knives for $100 and were told you could sell these for $3 or$4 and make some real money. Craigslist, flea markets and farm auctions were swamped. Unfortunately it was hard to give them away from what I saw.

Wonder what the odds of getting Jim Frost here? I would love to ask him about his strategy? Does he have one or is it just a case of moving more product = more profit?

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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on April 11, 2014 at 11:33

I tell you what if you sell volume, then the mega deals that frost offers can turn a profit. There is a guy at the local Swap-O-Rama in Alsip, Illinois who obviously gets these deals and he is selling the swords for $30-$50 and the big blades for $10-$20 and all those crap little knives for $1-$2. I'm sure he is losing a little on all the crappy knives but he makes up for it with the bigger knives and swords.

The Frost stuff is just part of his sales, however. He also sells quite a bit of the Taylor Brands and other cheap tactical and fantasy blades.

As for the Serious knife buyers, he has a catalog and can order just about anything you want. Really nice guy and who works his but off. Has a teen-age daughter who also works hard. So you can make a living doing what Frost says in his TV show, but like every business, you're going to need to bust your butt to succeed and have some sense of what it takes to run a small business.

The guy at the flea market knows his highly motivated, knows his market, and knows his product. I've heard him come right out and say "It's two dollars. It's junk! But if you're looking for something to cut with for a week or two and don't want to ruin your good knife, then spend two bucks and save your good knife." And ten I've seen the customer walk away with a half dozen of the crappy Frost knives with a smile on his face.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on April 11, 2014 at 12:15

Sure that does make sense and after all you have to tip the cowboy hat to him because he is an entrepreneur, fashioned in that old fashioned tradition to work hard and success will follow. I really can't argue that as I find myself cut from the same cloth in many respects.

Yes there are way better knives, but everyone has to start somewhere. Still we wish we could corral him for a chat. Seems like he might have enough stories to keep us entertained for several hours!