Question for Sal, Spyderco "Q" and fads in general

[scolby]

Sal, I presume that the "Q" was discontinued due to sales. I spoke w/ J. Jensen about this and other spyderco knives and it seems that there is this phenomenom that many good/interesting designs sell like **** until they are discontinued and then they sell out immediately as collector items. (Wegner Jr., Q, R, Spyderkey).



There is currently a "Q" knife (original spyder design) on Ebay and the bidding stands at $85. This is really insane for this knife.



Are you at Spyderco ever tempted to re-introduce models after seeing this kind of activity? Or, are your projected sales volumes goals so large that they would overwhelm this limited demand?



This seems akin to the desire/fad for "retro" products in other arenas, such as automobiles (and clothing).



Is the cost of chasing fads too expensive to be worth it?







"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur

[sal]

Hi Scolby. One of those marketing questions for which there might not be a real marketing answer.

The "Q" was, as many of our models are, a; Hmmmm, this is an interesting concept. Let's make 'em and see what happens".

They were fun and we made some very beautiful logos for companies all over the world. All were very small quantities. Deer running through a forrest, African masks in a jungle, really cool stuff.

Each model that is discontinued is not always for the same reasons.
The "Q" could not command more than the MSRP when we were making them, and "special" custom orders were often less. Because of the high cost of the intricate laser cutting, we couldn't make a profit on the item. In addition, we had a problem with the clips that needed more R&D, and the knife itself was more novel in that you couldn't use it for food (which is often a use for a knife). Taking all things into consideration, it was not a practical business move to continue.

Once they are discontinued, their position is secured in that they become collectable. It is not likely that we will bring the item out again. We have many more new designs/concepts to "play" with as we evolve in our knife knowldege.

If the Spyder "Q" commands $85, imagine what a flying eagle would claim. It would not be fair to any of the ELUs investing their money for us to re-run a diluting variation of their piece.

Our sales volumes are not large when compared to most of the knife companies out there. Naturally, we would enjoy some high volume profitable pieces, but we are also governed by a set of self imposed limitations. We are a higher end company producing primarily "reliable high performance" products. Even our "low priced" "Q" was made with 440C and met our lock strength requirements for a medium duty cutting tool. With these restrictions in place our sales goals are often less than you might imagine for a particular model.

Certainly some of our collaboration models were more a case of giving a custom maker an opportunity in the "big marketplace" that high sales goals projections.

Regarding retro, we have some retros in the works, but they are more retro "Spyder syle" than just looking backwards.

re: fads, we've created a few (one handers, clips, serrations). The "Q" has a few "followers" in the marketplace right now. We've not chased fads in the past. If we can keep innovativing, I imagine we'll avoid chasing fads.

hope this helps.

sal

[Kahz]

Ah, this makes my Q, plain edge, Spyder knife even more special. <img src="tongue.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>

Sal, you had mentioned that the Remote Release may be discontinued, is this a fact?

Kahz

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Clarke's Third Law

[sal]

Hi Kahz. We announce the 2001 line up on 15 OCT, when we send out the new catalogs and prices to our dealers. Until then, I can't say anything is &quot;fact&quot;, sorry.

sal