2020 is coming...

I just feel that Cold Steel is turning its corporate back to their loyal customer base that has supported them and made them successful over the last forty years.
 
Money talks. Investors demand it. Loyal customers?..... I doubt many corporations care any more.
 
WTF said:
Money talks. Investors demand it. Loyal customers?..... I doubt many corporations care any more.
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I think CS is a privately held company, not traded on Wall Street. Their might be private investors, though.
 
johnnywizzo said:
For what it's worth, I'm beginning to lose interest in Cold Steel products, and I have been a loyal customer since the 1980's.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.
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You are not the only one. This year’s folder offering definitely made me worry about Cold Steel’s direction. Hope they don’t go the way of CRKT and Gerber. Most common complaints about these brands is that they got great designs but shitty executions. Starting to see the same funny stuff here with all the plastic clip, plastic handle, backlock with secondary lock instead of triad lock, all the 14116 8cr 5cr 4034 steel. Im sure they makes money for CS, just like gerber when they start going down market, but at what cost? If the trend continues, I can only hope that the Triad lock patent runs out soon so we can get this from other brands who would take advantage of this great design.
While I’m a big cold steel fan, I'm also pragmatic. Happy to spend my money somewhere else unless CS keep making high quality designs to the best if their potential. 2020 is a regression when it comes to folders.
Im fine not having printed catalogs, there’s only one page im interested(the Air Lite). I can just print that page out myself.
 
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WTF said:
Money talks. Investors demand it. Loyal customers?..... I doubt many corporations care any more.
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I actually don’t think they are being controlled by any corporate overlords(unless you count Lynn), otherwise they won’t be making certain decisions that seems dumb if they only did a bit of due diligence and market research(only black blade, ugly bill boarding etc.).

I think they are more preoccupied with making what the Bossman likes instead of what the customers like. If any, i think Cold Steel could use a bit more corporate governance to help them better their market research and improve their decision making.
 
I agree with a lot that has been said but CS is still the knife company that has the best designs and bang for buck knives for me.

Sure I would love to see the Hold Out and Talwar come back.
This year though has some great knives that I already got like the 4Max Scout and the Kris Voyager.

I will miss printed catalogs and MAP totally blows in any form but CS is still above board.

I haven’t bought a BM or ZT many years and Spyderco is starting to price themselves out for me so I hoping CS can have more hits than misses in the future.
 
I joined in on some of the C.S. gripping, and I see shades of validity to some of the comments. But I live in Canada, with a much weaker dollar compared to the U.S. So with all variables considered a $100.00 knife for you fellows, is likely $150.00 give or take, for me. So I appreciate the cheaper (budget) knife lines, to a certain degree. I will never buy one of those kudu things, or whatever they are called. The point is that your mid level range is my upper cost range (generally) for these variables. I have been waiting patiently for my prefered vendor to get several of the new designs in and I have seen a price bump three times during the wait. I have no idea if this is part of the new C.S. pricing policies, or simply my prefered vendors decision to bump up models that are getting buzz/appreciation. This is not really a rant about pricing, but just an explanation from my end why mid range priced C.S. products are still a very good value from here. C.S. has always been attractive for out of the box thinking and in my consideration, quality materials, design, and construction. And their bringing out mid priced variations of high end knives, that still have decent steel (or actually quite good steel) and reasonable associated materials for grips etc., is something that I am grateful for. If you have $300.00- 400.00 to burn on a higher ender, that's cool, but I don't. I am however still able to cherry pick out some nicer stuff along with the more utilitarian, and be able to afford it. So I can't really kick too much sand at C.S. without being a hypocrite. And I speak for myself only.
 
upnorth said:
I joined in on some of the C.S. gripping, and I see shades of validity to some of the comments. But I live in Canada, with a much weaker dollar compared to the U.S. So with all variables considered a $100.00 knife for you fellows, is likely $150.00 give or take, for me. So I appreciate the cheaper (budget) knife lines, to a certain degree. I will never buy one of those kudu things, or whatever they are called. The point is that your mid level range is my upper cost range (generally) for these variables. I have been waiting patiently for my prefered vendor to get several of the new designs in and I have seen a price bump three times during the wait. I have no idea if this is part of the new C.S. pricing policies, or simply my prefered vendors decision to bump up models that are getting buzz/appreciation. This is not really a rant about pricing, but just an explanation from my end why mid range priced C.S. products are still a very good value from here. C.S. has always been attractive for out of the box thinking and in my consideration, quality materials, design, and construction. And their bringing out mid priced variations of high end knives, that still have decent steel (or actually quite good steel) and reasonable associated materials for grips etc., is something that I am grateful for. If you have $300.00- 400.00 to burn on a higher ender, that's cool, but I don't. I am however still able to cherry pick out some nicer stuff along with the more utilitarian, and be able to afford it. So I can't really kick too much sand at C.S. without being a hypocrite. And I speak for myself only.
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Agree with you... but the Kudu is a good knife and great value :thumbsup:
 
New forum member, lifetime Cold Steel fan. Here are my thoughts on the 2020 line up.

Lynn Thompson Ti-Lite: Very cool. Surprising choice of steel. It seems like the target demographic for a collector piece like this one would be knife aficionados, and a knife in 440C seems unlikely to appeal to this demographic. None the less it is very cool and will undoubtedly sell out.

Black Bear Classic: This is the knife I am most excited about. I would be even more excited if it were offered in some other (non-San Mai) steel. Either that, or upgrade the OSS and OSI to a metal guard. None the less, well done. This is what Cold Steel is all about.

Kris Voyager: Innovative design, good steel, triad lock, very cool, and all that at an reasonable price point.

Mini-Tuff Lites: The FULL SIZED Tuff Lite offers a Triad lock, Aus8 steel, and perfectly designed grip. Perfection. I don't know what the mini brings to the table.

Air Lite Series: Easy home run! Aus10 steel, G10 handle, Triad lock, incredibly light weight... and all that for less than a hundred bucks. Well done Cold Steel!

Kiridashi: Looks interesting as an inexpensive utility knife. I might pick one up just to check it out.

Click N Cut: I can't decide if this is silly or amazing. Lots of utility knives this year. Is Home Depot really the market you are going for?

Micro-Recon: It might be great, but why?

1911 / Double Safe Hunter / Bush Ranger Lite / SR1 Lite series / etc: Low budget Chinese steel, generally no Triad locks. No thanks.

OTHER: Where are the knives that were never delivered last year? I am talking specifically about the A2 or even O2 carbon steel fighting and working knives? Where are the Trailmasters and other Bowies, the Recon Scouts, the Kukris...? Why all the new small folders using cheap Chinese steel and non-triad locks? I kind of feel like you guys have lost the plot, and to be honest it's a kind of sad.
 
I think the SR1 has a lot of potential. I don't think it's for me, but I can see a silly overbuilt folder at a really cheap price point being a hit.
 
AF said:
SR1 Lite has the TriAd lock.
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Yes, which is why I said "generally no triad locks." I had actually detailed my opinion on the SR1 lite as a separate longer entry, but decided that I didn't want to talk too much trash and potentially hurt anyone's feelings. It is, after all, just a pocket knife.

Whatever any of us might think about the steel or the lock or whatever, the reality is that ANY Cold Steel product is likely to deliver a lifetime's worth of exceptional performance. My post was written as feedback to Cold Steel about my own personal reaction to their product lineup. It's MY opinion, and if my wife is to be believed, probably wrong.
 
The Whip said:
I'm not quite to that point yet, primarily because I still find Cold Steel's products far more interesting than those of most other knife companies. But I agree that my enthusiasm definitely is waning.

I realize that it's not easy developing fresh ideas every year and keeping apace with changing market trends. It's a fine line between meeting customer expectations and chasing fads. A good balance of established models and new ideas is healthy, yet hard to maintain.

But I take issue with change for change's sake. For instance, who thought it was a good idea to go from this

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to this?


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Did the replacement of the company's thirty-five-year-old logo generate a lot of new business for Cold Steel? Were there scads of people complaining that they'd buy more Cold Steel knives if it weren't for that scary "World's Strongest, Sharpest Knives" motto?

Likewise, was Cold Steel losing money by producing "Proof" DVDs and paper catalogs? In one of his editorials long ago, Lynn Thompson said that he was redirecting the money Cold Steel previously had spent on advertising in knife magazines that refused to give the company's products any press into the production and distribution of the "Proof" videos. He said that "Proof" DVDs and the catalog would serve to advertise for Cold Steel.

Well, now there are no print ads, "Proof" DVDs, or paper catalogs. The subforum moderator told us that the Special Projects Web site (which also used to be supported by a paper catalog) required "too much maintenance" to keep up. Now there are no Special Projects catalogs or Web site left, either.

Since so many outrageously expensive and burdensome customer niceties have been eliminated to make Cold Steel run much smoother and more efficiently, where exactly are all those advertising dollars going these days? Snappy employee uniforms bearing the new logo? Higher bandwidth for all the new Twitter followers?

See my point, Cold Steel? I'm not here to criticize and tell you how to run your company. I'm just a guy who loves knives, particularly Cold Steel's. But as a lifelong knife aficionado and an admirer of Cold Steel since the beginning, I will tell you this:

Corporate changes that benefit the company but not the loyal buyer will end up hurting the company in the long run.

-Steve
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Yeah I agree! The old Cold Steel forum is gone and now their print catalogs!

The old logo kicked ass too! It was sharp and distinctive!
The current one looks childish and kiddy by comparison! I thought I was looking at counterfeit knives from China the first time I saw it!

Cold Steel will always be the world's strongest, sharpest knives!
 
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